Books by Takayoshi Oshima
The conference volume of the Minerva Center for Research on Israel and Aram in Biblical Times (RI... more The conference volume of the Minerva Center for Research on Israel and Aram in Biblical Times (RIAB; aramisrael.org) includes lectures given at the center conference in Leipzig in 2018 on the topic of writing and rewriting history through targeted destruction in the Syria-Palestine-Mesopotamia region. An international group of scientists examined the topic from a multi- and interdisciplinary approach: Archaeological, ancient near eastern and biblical studies focused on the destruction of ancient sites in Israel and Judah in the 1st millennium BC; The perspective of the defeated Israelites, Jerusalemites and Judeans is presented in detail in the writings of the Old Testament and in post-Biblical literature, demonstrating that the destruction of the past was an instigator of culture and identity; The longue durée of the practice of redesigning the past by deliberately destroying cultural heritage in order to shape the present according to current interests is tangible through the practice of the Neo-Assyrian Empire up to the modern age and the example of the Arab-Muslim conquest of Aram, as well as current Turkish politics.
Proceedings of two conferences of the RIAB Minerva Center
Leipziger Altorientalistische Studien
This monograph analyses the two most important Babylonian wisdom texts: Ludlul Bēl Nēmeqi (also k... more This monograph analyses the two most important Babylonian wisdom texts: Ludlul Bēl Nēmeqi (also known as the Babylonian Job or the Babylonian Righteous Sufferer ) and the so-called Babylonian Theodicy . On the basis of the hitherto published as well as newly available, unpublished cuneiform manuscripts, the author establishes a new critical text for each poem and gives an English translation. He offers detailed philological and critical notes to the texts, discussing both the textual and the interpretive issues evoked by individual words and passages. In addition, however, each poem is preceded by a lengthy discussion of its origins, intention, and plot, as well as by more general considerations of its cultural and historical background, including short but important observations on the relationship to Old Testament wisdom literature.
The Babylonian Theodicy is a lengthy dialogue between two learned men, the "Sufferer" and the "Fr... more The Babylonian Theodicy is a lengthy dialogue between two learned men, the "Sufferer" and the "Friend," taking the form of an acrostic poem divided into 27 stanzas. Each stanza is exactly 11 lines long and represents a speech by one of the two speakers mainly on social injustice and piety, those of the Sufferer alternating with counterarguments of the Friend. The text unquestionably is a literary masterpiece and, as one of the most important pieces of Mesopotamian wisdom literature, a must for every aspiring Assyriologist. Because of its many affinities with the biblical book of Job, it also is of obvious interest to biblical scholars, theologians, and students of Ancient Near Eastern religions.
This volume, based on nine different manuscripts (two of them new) and numerous new joins, offers the most complete edition of the text available so far. It is now possible to fully or partially recover 272 of the original 297 lines of the composition. The cuneiform text, sign list and glossary attached to the edition make it possible for the first time to read the entire composition in class. The volume also contains an up-to-date introduction to the text, a bibliography of previous studies, and a detailed philological commentary.
http://www.amazon.com/Cuneiform-Canaan-Wayne-Horowitz/dp/9652210625
http://www.mohr.de/nc/theologie/schriftenreihen/detail/buch/babylonian-prayers-to-marduk.html
Papers by Takayoshi Oshima
Israel Exploration Journal, 2014
A tiny fragment of a cuneiform tablet was recovered in the Ophel excavations in Jerusalem in 2013... more A tiny fragment of a cuneiform tablet was recovered in the Ophel excavations in Jerusalem in 2013. Even smaller than the fragment recovered in the 2009–2010 excavations (published in IEJ 60 in 2010), the fragment preserves only parts of five signs. Nevertheless, on the basis of the provenance study and an analysis of the physical tablet and sign forms, we are able to suggest a Ramesside date for the tablet and propose that this fragment, like the earlier tablet, comes from a royal letter. 140 MICHAEL D. PRESS: The Chronology of Philistine Figurines ABSTRACT: This article provides new perspectives on the development of Philistine figurines over the course of the Iron Age I. It begins by surveying the major types of figurines in Philistia in this period and considering changes in the assemblage, based primarily on the stratigraphy of the major sites with significant figurine corpora (Ashdod, Ashkelon, Miqne). It then moves to a comparison of developments within Philistia to those in the Aegean and Cyprus. Again, sites with stratigraphic sequences are the most important sources of data, both on Cyprus (Enkomi, Kition, Sinda) and in the Aegean (Lefkandi, Mycenae). Of note is the fact that Philistine figurine developments parallel Cypriot and Mycenaean Greek developments through most of the twelfth century, supporting the idea of continuing contact among the three regions for several decades. Through careful consideration of comparative stratigraphy, then, figurine assemblages—despite their relatively small size— can provide an important supplementary source of data for the chronological debate regarding the Iron Age I. This article provides new perspectives on the development of Philistine figurines over the course of the Iron Age I. It begins by surveying the major types of figurines in Philistia in this period and considering changes in the assemblage, based primarily on the stratigraphy of the major sites with significant figurine corpora (Ashdod, Ashkelon, Miqne). It then moves to a comparison of developments within Philistia to those in the Aegean and Cyprus. Again, sites with stratigraphic sequences are the most important sources of data, both on Cyprus (Enkomi, Kition, Sinda) and in the Aegean (Lefkandi, Mycenae). Of note is the fact that Philistine figurine developments parallel Cypriot and Mycenaean Greek developments through most of the twelfth century, supporting the idea of continuing contact among the three regions for several decades. Through careful consideration of comparative stratigraphy, then, figurine assemblages—despite their relatively small size— can provide an important supplementary source of data for the chronological debate regarding the Iron Age I. 172 ITZHAQ SHAI and JOE UZIEL: Addressing Survey Methodology in the Southern Levant: Applying Different Methods for the Survey of Tel Burna, Israel ABSTRACT: Surveying in the southern Levant has until recently been limited to basic methods of surface artefact collection. While recent regional studies have begun to integrate other methods, surveys conducted on individual sites—particularly multiperiod settlements (tels)—remain outdated. The following study presents the results of two different survey methods applied at the site of Tel Burna, Israel—surface artefact collection and test-pit surveying—and conducts a three-way comparison between the two survey methods and the excavation results, in an effort to promote survey methodology in the region and to determine the best way for surveying such sites. This will help to reduce the expense and damage caused by excavation, while providing further information on the sites, not obtainable through excavation. Surveying in the southern Levant has until recently been limited to basic methods of surface artefact collection. While recent regional studies have begun to integrate other methods, surveys conducted on individual sites—particularly multiperiod settlements (tels)—remain outdated. The following study presents the results of two different survey methods applied at the site of Tel Burna, Israel—surface artefact collection and test-pit surveying—and conducts a three-way comparison between the two survey methods and the excavation results, in an effort to promote survey methodology in the region and to determine the best way for surveying such sites. This will help to reduce the expense and damage caused by excavation, while providing further information on the sites, not obtainable through excavation. 191 ERIC MITCHELL, R. ADAM DODD and S. CAMERON COYLE: More ‘Boundary of Gezer’ Inscriptions: One New and Another Rediscovered ABSTRACT: The article discusses two Boundary of Gezer inscriptions found in 2012. One inscription, classified as no. 4, had previously been discovered by Clermont-Ganneau but was never fully published, and had not been seen in the field since his time. The other is a newly discovered thirteenth Gezer boundary inscription; the tenth one with both רזג מחת and ΑΛΚΙΟΥ. In an…
Mesopotamian Medicine and Magic, 2018
Israel Exploration Journal, 2012
Israel Exploration Journal, 2010
Israel Exploration Journal, 2010
Asmall fragment of a Late Bronze Age letter in Akkadian was discovered in the Ophel excavations i... more Asmall fragment of a Late Bronze Age letter in Akkadian was discovered in the Ophel excavations in Jerusalem. Its sign-forms suggest that it is a rough contemporary of the Amarna letters, including the letters of Abdi-Heba, the ruler of Jerusalem. The analysis of the tablet by optical mineralogy, supported by XRF spectrometry, reveals that its raw material is typical of the Terra Rossa soils of the Central Hill Country. It is suggested, therefore, that it was a local product of Jerusalem scribes, made of locally available soil. This, coupled with the fact that its find site is close to what must have been the acropolis of LB Jerusalem, makes it likely that the letter fragment does in fact come from a letter of a king of Jerusalem. It may well be an archival copy of a letter from Jerusalem to the Pharoah.
Journal of the American Oriental Society, 2002
Moral Norm Formation and Transformation in Ancient Israel, 2017
Oshima (ed), Teaching Morality in Antiquity Wisdom Texts, Oral Traditions, and Images Edited by
Berlejung/Filitz (eds), The Physicality of the Other Masks from the Ancient Near East and the Eastern Mediterranean, 2018
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Books by Takayoshi Oshima
This volume, based on nine different manuscripts (two of them new) and numerous new joins, offers the most complete edition of the text available so far. It is now possible to fully or partially recover 272 of the original 297 lines of the composition. The cuneiform text, sign list and glossary attached to the edition make it possible for the first time to read the entire composition in class. The volume also contains an up-to-date introduction to the text, a bibliography of previous studies, and a detailed philological commentary.
Papers by Takayoshi Oshima
This volume, based on nine different manuscripts (two of them new) and numerous new joins, offers the most complete edition of the text available so far. It is now possible to fully or partially recover 272 of the original 297 lines of the composition. The cuneiform text, sign list and glossary attached to the edition make it possible for the first time to read the entire composition in class. The volume also contains an up-to-date introduction to the text, a bibliography of previous studies, and a detailed philological commentary.
and its benefit. Although the poem does not specify their identities, judging from the contents, it seems that the protagonists are based on ancient scribes or temple scholars. It is very likely that they were also the intended audience of this poem. The first protagonist, customarily called ‘the sufferer’, repeatedly bewails his unrewarded devotion to the gods and unmerited plight. Apparently, his worldview was moulded by the traditional Mesopotamian belief: various Sumero-Babylonian didactic
texts teach that, for demonstrating piety by means of prayers, gifts, libation and offerings, the gods will reward people with health and wealth. These ancient precepts also warn people of possible divine punishments for neglecting cultic obligations. The sufferer of the Babylonia Theodicy presents his plight and the richness of the godless as the proof of the senselessness of piety. On the other hand, the second protagonist, apparently an older and more learned man than the sufferer, advocates worship of the gods. He asserts that, unlike wild animals, humankind is capable of acknowledging the divine and, through rituals, can gain insights into the divine wisdom, no matter how incomprehensible
the gods’ decisions might seem. He also teaches that the true reward for one’s piety is not wealth but divine grace. Judging from the fact that the sufferer eventually accepts the friend’s position, it is very likely that, unlike previously suggested by various scholars, its author actually identified himself with the second protagonist, the friend.