OBO SA 41 – Alexander Ahrens / Aegyptiaca in der nördlichen Levante

In dieser interdisziplinären Studie untersucht Alexander Ahrens ägyptische Objekte, die in der nördlichen Levante (Libanon, Syrien und Regionen der Türkei) in Kontexten des zweiten Jahrtausends v. Chr. gefunden wurden. Er stützt sich auf Methoden der Archäologie und der soziokulturellen Theorie, um mittels einer eingehenden Analyse der Fundkontexte Strategien der Rezeption und eine damit verbundene Emulation der ägyptischen materiellen Kultur und ihrer spezifischen Motivik durch nordlevantinische Eliten zu charakterisieren. Die Studie vermittelt so ein besseres Verständnis der Komplexität und Vielfalt interkultureller Beziehungen im bronzezeitlichen östlichen Mittelmeerraum.

In this interdisciplinary study, Alexander Ahrens examines Egyptian objects found in the northern Levant (covering the modern states of Lebanon, Syria, and parts of Turkey) in archaeological contexts dated to the second millennium BCE. Drawing on methods from archaeology and sociocultural theory, he provides a characterization of the perception and accompanying emulation of Egyptian material culture within northern Levantine elite spheres. Analyzing many of the artifacts’ find contexts, he proposes a new way to explore their ancient perception and reception through the study of archaeological and historical sources. The book thus enhances our understanding of the complexity and diversity of intercultural relations in the eastern Mediterranean during the Bronze Age.

2020, pages XX-451,
ISBN 978-90-429-4369-8

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OBO 292 – Innocent Himbaza (éd.) / The Text of Leviticus

Proceedings of the Third International Colloquium of the Dominique Barthélemy Institute, held in Fribourg (October 2015).

The book of Leviticus is by far the most quoted in rabbinic literature such as the Mishna or the Talmud, while it has been marginalized in the Christian tradition. Nevertheless, scholars of both traditions have again become highly interested in it for some decades now. As shown by many recent publications, the book is thoroughly studied for textual, literary, historical and reception aspects.
It has often been said and written that the text of Leviticus is stable in comparison to many other books of the Hebrew Bible, and that its Greek translation is quite literal. Yet, the text of Leviticus continues to raise questions, not only regarding its content and textual witnesses, but also its interpretation, history and reception. The third international colloquium of the Dominique Barthélemy Institute, held in Fribourg in October 2015, aimed to bring together some specialists of the text of Leviticus in order to advance research on its textual witnesses and the aforementioned topics.
The articles collected in this book reflect the width of current research. They deal with the witnesses to the text of Leviticus in the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Masoretic Text, the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Septuagint. They also study the book’s Hebrew editing; its relation to other books such as Joshua, Luke-Acts and Flavius Josephus; and the challenge of its translation, with a case study in French.

Le livre du Lévitique est de loin le plus cité dans la littérature juive, notamment la Mishna ou le Talmud, alors qu’il a été marginalisé dans la tradition chrétienne. Néanmoins, depuis quelques décennies, les chercheurs des deux bords se sont intéressés à ce livre. De nombreuses publications récentes montrent qu’il est étudié dans tous ses aspects textuels, littéraires, historique et dans sa réception.
On a souvent affirmé que le texte du Lévitique est plus stable que celui de beaucoup d’autres livres de la Bible hébraïque, que sa traduction grecque est littérale, etc. Pourtant, ce texte continue de soulever des questions, non seulement en ce qui concerne ses témoins textuels, mais aussi son interprétation, son histoire et sa réception. Tenu à Fribourg en Octobre 2015, le troisième colloque international de l’Institut Dominique Barthélemy entendait rassembler quelques spécialistes du texte du Lévitique pour avancer dans la recherche sur ces différents sujets.
Les études rassemblées dans ce volume reflètent le vaste champ de recherche sur ce livre biblique. Elles touchent à la manière dont le Lévitique apparaît dans les témoins textuels, notamment les manuscrits de la Mer Morte, le Texte Massorétique, le Pentateuque Samaritain et la Septante. Elles abordent également les défis de son édition hébraïque, ses relations avec d’autres livres comme Josué, Luc-Actes et Flavius Josèphe et enfin les enjeux de sa traduction française.

2020, pages XII-278,
ISBN 978-90-429-4344-5

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OBO SA 39 – Othmar Keel / 700 Skarabäen und Verwandtes aus Palästina/Israel. Die Sammlung Keel

Die Sammlung der hier veröffentlichten Skarabäen und verwandten Siegel-Amulette entstand zwischen 1975 und 2012 parallel zur Arbeit am „Corpus der Stempelsiegel-Amulette aus Palästina/Israel“. Der Zweck war, zu verhindern, dass zahlreiche ungewöhnliche und interessante Stücke in nie veröffentlichten Privatsammlungen oder als Bestandteile von Schmuck von der Bildfläche verschwanden, und zu garantieren, dass sie der Wissenschaft und der Öffentlichkeit erhalten und zugänglich bleiben. Die 700 Stücke wurden so ausgewählt, dass sie alle wichtigen in Kanaan/Palästina produzierten oder dahin importierten Gruppen und Motive repräsentieren und so eine Art Lehrbuch zu dieser Thematik darstellen. In diesem Sinne sind die vorliegende Sammlung und der Katalog einmalig.

The scarabs and related seal amulets published here form a collection that was assembled between 1975 and 2012 during work on the author’s Corpus of stamp-seal amulets from Palestine/Israel. The aim was to prevent numerous unusual and interesting pieces disappearing from view in unpublished private collections or as items of jewellery, and to guarantee researchers and the public continuing access to them. The 700 pieces were selected in such a way that the most significant groups and motifs that were produced in or imported into Canaan/Palestine are represented and, collectively, form a kind of textbook on the subject. In that respect, the collection and this catalogue are both unique.

2020, pages XIX-319,
ISBN 978-90-429-4198-4

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OBO 290 – Nathan Wasserman / The Flood: The Akkadian Sources. A New Edition, Commentary, and a Literary Discussion

The story of the primeval cataclysmic flood which wiped out all life on earth, save for one family, is found in different ancient Mesopotamian texts whence it reached the Biblical and Classical literary traditions. The present book systematically collects the earliest attestations of the myth of the Flood, namely all the cuneiform-written Akkadian sources – from the Old Babylonian to the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian periods, including Tablet XI of the Epic of Gilgamesh –, presenting them in a new synoptic edition and English translation which are accompanied by a detailed philological commentary and an extensive literary discussion. The book also includes a complete glossary of the Akkadian sources.

2020, pages X-187,
ISBN 978-90-429-4173-1

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OBO 289 – Stéphanie Anthonioz, Alice Mouton & Daniel Petit (éds.) / When Gods Speak to Men. Divine Speech according to Textual Sources in the Ancient Mediterranean Basin

The nature of divine speech in Antiquity in the Mediterranean Basin has often been the object of scholarly analysis, especially regarding its divinatory context and questions of genre and rhetoric. The present volume not only provokes a dialogue with this past research, but seeks to respond to a problem that has received little consideration until now: the articulation of divine speech with the various forms of its representation (linguistic, literary, and material). The aim is to analyze the nature of divine speech through its materiality and the impact of the latter on the former’s definition and evolution.

La recherche s’est souvent intéressée à la nature du discours divin dans l’Antiquité, par exemple, les contextes divinatoires ou encore les questions de forme et de rhétorique. Si le présent volume n’exclut pas que ces questions soient à nouveau abordées, il vise cependant à répondre plus précisément à une question qui n’a pas encore été traitée, à savoir l’articulation du discours divin avec ses différentes formes de représentations (linguistiques, littéraires et matérielles). Le but est d’étudier ces différentes représentations et de montrer comment elles participent de la définition même et du statut du discours en question.

2019, pages X-138,
ISBN 978-90-429-4132-8

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OBO 288 – Patrick Wyssmann / Vielfältig geprägt. Das spätperserzeitliche Samaria und seine Münzbilder

Im Zentrum des Bandes stehen die Münzen aus der perserzeitlichen Provinz Samaria und die auf ihnen dargestellte Bildwelt. Das Corpus des sogenannten Samarian Coinage umfasst heute rund 250 Münztypen, wovon 165 mit relativer Sicherheit in Samaria verortet werden können. Dabei handelt es sich um Silbermünzen (Drachmen, Obolen, Hemiobolen und Viertelobolen), die zwischen 401 und 332 v. Chr. geprägt wurden und sich ikonographisch durch ihre grosse Vielfalt auszeichnen. Eine umfassende Untersuchung ihrer Bilder verspricht wichtige Rückschlüsse auf Geschichte und Kultur der Region und ihrer Bewohner. Die vorliegende Arbeit liefert eine detaillierte ikonographische Analyse auf der Grundlage des kritisch aufgearbeiteten numismatischen Materials und unter Einbezug vieler Vergleichsstücke. Ein neuer Ansatz bei der Datierung der Prägetätigkeit in Samaria führt zu einem besseren Verständnis der Münzbilder: Die Unterteilung in vier Prägephasen macht es möglich, die Präferenzen der jeweiligen Prägeherren bei der Bildwahl genauer zu erfassen und sie vor dem Hintergrund der historischen Ereignisse im Palästina des 4. Jahrhunderts v. Chr. zu interpretieren. Durch die minutiöse Auswertung der Bildquellen gelingt es so, neues Licht auf Samaria am Vorabend der hellenistischen Zeit zu werfen.

The coins from the province of Samaria in the Persian Period and the imagery depicted on them are at the centre of this volume. The corpus, normally referred to as Samarian Coinage, presently consists of approximately 250 coin types; the provenience from Samaria can be established with relative certainty for 165 of these types. Silver coins (drachms, obols, hemiobols, and quarter obols) minted between 401 and 332 BCE, they are characterised by a wide iconographic variety. A comprehensive study of the images on these coins promises important insights into the region’s history and culture. The present monograph provides a detailed iconographic analysis on the basis of a critical study of the numismatic material with reference to numerous comparative items. A new approach to dating the coin minting in Samaria results in a better understanding of the coin imagery, as the division into four minting phases enables a closer examination of each coin issuer’s preferences. The meticulous evaluation of the pictorial sources, interpreted against the historical background of the 4th century BCE, sheds new light on Samaria before the dawn of the Hellenistic Period.

2019, pages XII-368,
ISBN 978-90-429-4123-6

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OBO 287 – Thomas Römer, Hervé Gonzalez & Lionel Marti (éds.) / Représenter dieux et hommes dans le Proche-Orient ancien et dans la Bible

Actes du colloque organisé par le Collège de France, Paris, les 5 et 6 mai 2015.

What was the function of representing deities and also humans in the ancient Near-East? Which were the different ways of making gods visible, and the specific functions of these representations? Might these material and visual representations help us to better understand official cults, as well as private cults? What was the role of images in the royal cult? Was the king the only “image” of the gods, or could all humans fulfill this role? Why were cult images forbidden? Does the biblical prohibition have any precedent or parallel in the ancient Near-East, or elsewhere? And how do the ways of representing gods and humans change in the absence of cultic images?
The conference Representing Gods and Humans in the Ancient Near-East and in the Bible, held at the Collège de France, Paris, on May 5-6 2015, sought to shed light on these questions surrounding the image, a critical issue for our understanding of ancient as well as modern religions.

2019, pages XII-386,
ISBN 978-90-429-3973-8

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OBO SA 40 – Pascal Attinger, Antoine Cavigneaux, Catherine Mittermayer & Mirko Novák (éds.) / Text and Image

This book contains the proceedings of the 61e Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, which was held in Geneva and Bern in Switzerland from 22nd until 26th June 2015. The overarching conference theme “Text and Image” addressed a topic of fundamental importance for historical research on ancient Near Eastern cultures and societies. The aim of the conference was to stimulate an interdisciplinary dialogue between the closely related, but increasingly diverging disciplines of Near Eastern Archaeology and Assyriology. Fifty-one articles are published in three languages, including contributions to the main topic and to a number of workshops organized in the context of the RAI, as well as reports on an extraordinary session devoted to cultural heritage.

2018, pages XXIV-526,
ISBN 978-90-429-3713-0

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