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Papers by Ada Taggar-Cohen
ORIENT, Volume 58, 2023, 157–170
This paper offers a glance at the way two of the most prestigious royal priestesses in the Hittit... more This paper offers a glance at the way two of the most prestigious royal priestesses in the Hittite kingdom performed their cultic duties in rituals: how their royal status was manifested through their actions, and the way the accompanying personnel treated them. Both royal priestesses held legal and economic power within the cult, and thus their actions were of great importance. In the two specific rituals to be presented, whereas the NIN. DINGIR acted as a medium for the deity, the queen satiated the goddess in a physical way. Their displays of devotion to the gods were a central part of maintaining the well-being of the Hittite kingdom, and thus are part of royal ideology manifestation.
Keywords: Hittite rituals, Hittite royal family, Hittite Royal priestesses, Hittite royal ideology, Hittite cult
Penn State University Press eBooks, Jan 7, 2016
Ada Taggar-Cohen
The present article explores the way the law in Hittite royal view, regarded as a prerogative of ... more The present article explores the way the law in Hittite royal view, regarded as a prerogative of the king-while based on the "customs of the land"-was formulized through "royal decrees." By this formulization, the king enacted "royal legal sacrifice" under the adjudication of the royal court. Hittite royal rituals were enacted using written texts, which manifestly represent "narrativized ritual." Hittite festivals and rituals evolved over the years from local traditions involving specific gods through centralized royal legalization into a demanding calendar of festivals for different gods. In the final part of this article I suggest that Hittite material may help us perceive how biblical rituals have been narrativized in the Priestly texts.
"Now it happened in those days" Studies in Biblical, Assyrian, and Other Ancient Near Eastern Historiography Presented to Mordechai Cogan , 2017
At present, we are able to draw a general picture of some 500 years of Hittite rule in Anatolia. ... more At
present, we are able to draw a general picture of some 500 years of Hittite
rule in Anatolia. In the following, I will review current scholarly views of
Hittite historiographical writing and tackle the issue of its reliability, giving
examples from various kinds of Hittite textual genres. In the final part
of the article, I will suggest the use of my interpretation of Hittite texts in
the analysis of biblical texts. (vol. 2 pp. 553-584)
基督教研究, 2006
ヨシュア記24章は、イスラエルとその神の間に結ばれた契約についての旧約聖書伝承の、一つの段階を提示している。シケムでの会合が政治的、かつ祭儀的な内容の古い伝承をも反映していることは広く認められて... more ヨシュア記24章は、イスラエルとその神の間に結ばれた契約についての旧約聖書伝承の、一つの段階を提示している。シケムでの会合が政治的、かつ祭儀的な内容の古い伝承をも反映していることは広く認められており、形成と編集のなされた時代は複数提唱されている。 本論文はヨシュア記24章が、祭司文書Hに属する祭司集団「神聖学派」(その主な資料はレビ記 17-26章)による作品であることを提示する。その論拠は契約の根底に法的言語を用いながらYHWHの神聖さが表されていることである。H特有である他の言語的特徴もこの議論を支持している。またこれらの論拠から、ヨシュア記24章の起源が捕囚期前にあることを提示する。
In contemporary research most scholars refrain from pointing out direct cultural relations betwee... more In contemporary research most scholars refrain from pointing out direct cultural relations between the Hittites of Anatolia, who flourished during the second half of the second millennium BCE, and the Israelite kingdoms, which existed in Canaan in the first half of the first millennium BCE. However, both cultures belonged to the milieu of the Ancient Near East, which witnessed intensive communication between Egypt in the south, Anatolia in the north and Mesopotamia in the east; there is therefore a common ground for their religious concepts and practices to be explored. This paper will present the Hittite concept of the divine, including gods and goddesses and their cult, and will try to draw some possible correlations with the ancient Israelite cult and beliefs. Some specific characteristics of the Hittite divine entities will be pointed out and an attempt will be made to explain through them some Israelite traditions.
Current Issues in Priestly and Related Literature: The Legacy of Jacob Milgrom and Beyond, edited by Roy E. Gane and Ada Taggar-Cohen (Resources for Biblical Study 82; Atlanta: SBL Press, 2015), 419-434.
PhD dissertation written at the department of Bible and ANE at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, 2003
The casting of lots, for a wide range of purposes, was a common practice among the different cult... more The casting of lots, for a wide range of purposes, was a common practice among the different cultures of the ancient Near East (ANE). The division of land, the election of officials, the working order of priests, choosing a sacrificial animal—in these, as well as in other instances in which a choosing process had to take place, the result was often determined by the casting of lots. This was done not in the sphere of human practice alone, for even the gods are apt to reach a decision by the casting of lots. The common goal of all of these practices seems to have been to reveal some inherent, hidden truth, perhaps even a cosmic one. The casting of lots does not lead to an arbitrary decision, and the result is not an indication of pure chance. It reveals the fate of individuals as determined by forces stronger than the gods themselves. In the Babylonian story of the flood, AtraH asis, tablet I, lines 11–12, 1 the gods cast lots in order to divide the universe among themselves. Anu, th...
Conference on Jewish Studies 6 (CJS6), 2013
Hebrew Studies, 2011
While scholarly and popular books concerning the Bible are still being published in Hebrew in gre... more While scholarly and popular books concerning the Bible are still being published in Hebrew in great numbers, Hebrew books on the cultures of the ancient Near East (ANE), cultures that form the essential background for understanding the world from which the Bible emerged, are few and far between. It is therefore no wonder that Professor Itamar Singer's The Hittites and Their Civilization is the first comprehensive volume in Hebrew dedicated to the Hittites, who are the less celebrated ancient inhabitants of the region, compared with the Egyptians, Babylonians, or Assyrians. The publication of a detailed study of the Hittites and their culture in Hebrew, written by the leading Israeli Hittitologist, is therefore a particularly happy occasion. The book, which is based on the most up-to-date scholarship, is written in a popular format. It is highly readable and of much interest as an introduction to this great and ancient civilization. The culture of the Hittites flourished in Anatolia during the second mil lennium B.C.E., first as a localized kingdom and eventually as a powerful re gional empire. At its zenith, the empire brought large parts of northern Mesopotamia and Syria under its domination and confronted the powerful Egyptian empire under Ramses II with equal force. The capital of the Hittites, Hattusa, was the mightiest metropolis of the ancient world, and even a century of extensive excavations has not exhausted its treasures. However, both the kingdom and capital, as well as the culture of the Hittites were lost and forgotten, and their rediscovery came relatively late compared with those of ancient Egypt, Sumer, Akkad, Babylon, Assyria, Persia, and Greece, all of which reemerged from the shadows of the past during the nineteenth century owing to the inspired work of archaeologists, historians, linguists, and the decipherers of forgotten scripts. The Hittite empire was re discovered only about a century ago, and to a certain extent remained mar ginal in spite of the exciting discoveries associated with it. For example, the
Journal of the Interdisciplinary Study of Monotheistic Religions Jismor, 2005
The intensive study of texts from Ugarit, North-Syria and Mesopotamia allows for a new and better... more The intensive study of texts from Ugarit, North-Syria and Mesopotamia allows for a new and better understanding of the religious world of Ancient Israel. The outcome of the extensive work on these texts enables scholars to put the Israelite religion in a historical perspective, and to trace the changes and developments in beliefs and in cultic customs and traditions.
In this article I examine Exodus 19-40 as a document reflecting the cultic activities of the Israelite religion at its birth. These activities are read in light of cultic practices found in Akkadian texts from Emar, and in Hittite texts from central Anatolia, all texts dated to the second Millennium BCE. This reading reveals a new characteristic of Moses as a religious leader, and provides the contrast between different layers of the Exodus text.
Canon&Culture, 2020
A short historical survey of scholarly interpretations of the concept of bérit in the Hebrew Bib... more A short historical survey of scholarly interpretations of the
concept of bérit in the Hebrew Bible is offered in this
article as a background to understanding the urge for different
interpretations offered by scholars in recent decades. The survey
starts with a detailed discussion of the contribution of
Mendenhall’s interpretations of the biblical covenant in light
of legal treaties from the Ancient Near East during the second
millennium BCE. Those mainly Hittite international treaties
opened the door for a new interpretation of the biblical texts
in light of legal rather than just religious relations between the
God of Israel and his people.
The second part of the article shows how the Hittite
treaty-documents have led to new interpretations of the Hebrew
Bible covenant, based on ancient Near Eastern legal-political
as well as cultic material, and how it may still be used in current
research, together with Mesopotamian-Akkadian documents,
which were also brought into that discussion. The major dispute
between scholars today is the attempt to pose an historical
measurement on the possible connection between the Hittite
legal documents titled in Hittite išḫiul- which are dated to the
second half of the second millennium, and the Akkadian
documents titled adê mainly of the first millennium BCE, with
the Hebrew Bible texts drawn during the first millennium.
ORIENT, Volume 58, 2023, 157–170
This paper offers a glance at the way two of the most prestigious royal priestesses in the Hittit... more This paper offers a glance at the way two of the most prestigious royal priestesses in the Hittite kingdom performed their cultic duties in rituals: how their royal status was manifested through their actions, and the way the accompanying personnel treated them. Both royal priestesses held legal and economic power within the cult, and thus their actions were of great importance. In the two specific rituals to be presented, whereas the NIN. DINGIR acted as a medium for the deity, the queen satiated the goddess in a physical way. Their displays of devotion to the gods were a central part of maintaining the well-being of the Hittite kingdom, and thus are part of royal ideology manifestation.
Keywords: Hittite rituals, Hittite royal family, Hittite Royal priestesses, Hittite royal ideology, Hittite cult
Penn State University Press eBooks, Jan 7, 2016
Ada Taggar-Cohen
The present article explores the way the law in Hittite royal view, regarded as a prerogative of ... more The present article explores the way the law in Hittite royal view, regarded as a prerogative of the king-while based on the "customs of the land"-was formulized through "royal decrees." By this formulization, the king enacted "royal legal sacrifice" under the adjudication of the royal court. Hittite royal rituals were enacted using written texts, which manifestly represent "narrativized ritual." Hittite festivals and rituals evolved over the years from local traditions involving specific gods through centralized royal legalization into a demanding calendar of festivals for different gods. In the final part of this article I suggest that Hittite material may help us perceive how biblical rituals have been narrativized in the Priestly texts.
"Now it happened in those days" Studies in Biblical, Assyrian, and Other Ancient Near Eastern Historiography Presented to Mordechai Cogan , 2017
At present, we are able to draw a general picture of some 500 years of Hittite rule in Anatolia. ... more At
present, we are able to draw a general picture of some 500 years of Hittite
rule in Anatolia. In the following, I will review current scholarly views of
Hittite historiographical writing and tackle the issue of its reliability, giving
examples from various kinds of Hittite textual genres. In the final part
of the article, I will suggest the use of my interpretation of Hittite texts in
the analysis of biblical texts. (vol. 2 pp. 553-584)
基督教研究, 2006
ヨシュア記24章は、イスラエルとその神の間に結ばれた契約についての旧約聖書伝承の、一つの段階を提示している。シケムでの会合が政治的、かつ祭儀的な内容の古い伝承をも反映していることは広く認められて... more ヨシュア記24章は、イスラエルとその神の間に結ばれた契約についての旧約聖書伝承の、一つの段階を提示している。シケムでの会合が政治的、かつ祭儀的な内容の古い伝承をも反映していることは広く認められており、形成と編集のなされた時代は複数提唱されている。 本論文はヨシュア記24章が、祭司文書Hに属する祭司集団「神聖学派」(その主な資料はレビ記 17-26章)による作品であることを提示する。その論拠は契約の根底に法的言語を用いながらYHWHの神聖さが表されていることである。H特有である他の言語的特徴もこの議論を支持している。またこれらの論拠から、ヨシュア記24章の起源が捕囚期前にあることを提示する。
In contemporary research most scholars refrain from pointing out direct cultural relations betwee... more In contemporary research most scholars refrain from pointing out direct cultural relations between the Hittites of Anatolia, who flourished during the second half of the second millennium BCE, and the Israelite kingdoms, which existed in Canaan in the first half of the first millennium BCE. However, both cultures belonged to the milieu of the Ancient Near East, which witnessed intensive communication between Egypt in the south, Anatolia in the north and Mesopotamia in the east; there is therefore a common ground for their religious concepts and practices to be explored. This paper will present the Hittite concept of the divine, including gods and goddesses and their cult, and will try to draw some possible correlations with the ancient Israelite cult and beliefs. Some specific characteristics of the Hittite divine entities will be pointed out and an attempt will be made to explain through them some Israelite traditions.
Current Issues in Priestly and Related Literature: The Legacy of Jacob Milgrom and Beyond, edited by Roy E. Gane and Ada Taggar-Cohen (Resources for Biblical Study 82; Atlanta: SBL Press, 2015), 419-434.
PhD dissertation written at the department of Bible and ANE at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, 2003
The casting of lots, for a wide range of purposes, was a common practice among the different cult... more The casting of lots, for a wide range of purposes, was a common practice among the different cultures of the ancient Near East (ANE). The division of land, the election of officials, the working order of priests, choosing a sacrificial animal—in these, as well as in other instances in which a choosing process had to take place, the result was often determined by the casting of lots. This was done not in the sphere of human practice alone, for even the gods are apt to reach a decision by the casting of lots. The common goal of all of these practices seems to have been to reveal some inherent, hidden truth, perhaps even a cosmic one. The casting of lots does not lead to an arbitrary decision, and the result is not an indication of pure chance. It reveals the fate of individuals as determined by forces stronger than the gods themselves. In the Babylonian story of the flood, AtraH asis, tablet I, lines 11–12, 1 the gods cast lots in order to divide the universe among themselves. Anu, th...
Conference on Jewish Studies 6 (CJS6), 2013
Hebrew Studies, 2011
While scholarly and popular books concerning the Bible are still being published in Hebrew in gre... more While scholarly and popular books concerning the Bible are still being published in Hebrew in great numbers, Hebrew books on the cultures of the ancient Near East (ANE), cultures that form the essential background for understanding the world from which the Bible emerged, are few and far between. It is therefore no wonder that Professor Itamar Singer's The Hittites and Their Civilization is the first comprehensive volume in Hebrew dedicated to the Hittites, who are the less celebrated ancient inhabitants of the region, compared with the Egyptians, Babylonians, or Assyrians. The publication of a detailed study of the Hittites and their culture in Hebrew, written by the leading Israeli Hittitologist, is therefore a particularly happy occasion. The book, which is based on the most up-to-date scholarship, is written in a popular format. It is highly readable and of much interest as an introduction to this great and ancient civilization. The culture of the Hittites flourished in Anatolia during the second mil lennium B.C.E., first as a localized kingdom and eventually as a powerful re gional empire. At its zenith, the empire brought large parts of northern Mesopotamia and Syria under its domination and confronted the powerful Egyptian empire under Ramses II with equal force. The capital of the Hittites, Hattusa, was the mightiest metropolis of the ancient world, and even a century of extensive excavations has not exhausted its treasures. However, both the kingdom and capital, as well as the culture of the Hittites were lost and forgotten, and their rediscovery came relatively late compared with those of ancient Egypt, Sumer, Akkad, Babylon, Assyria, Persia, and Greece, all of which reemerged from the shadows of the past during the nineteenth century owing to the inspired work of archaeologists, historians, linguists, and the decipherers of forgotten scripts. The Hittite empire was re discovered only about a century ago, and to a certain extent remained mar ginal in spite of the exciting discoveries associated with it. For example, the
Journal of the Interdisciplinary Study of Monotheistic Religions Jismor, 2005
The intensive study of texts from Ugarit, North-Syria and Mesopotamia allows for a new and better... more The intensive study of texts from Ugarit, North-Syria and Mesopotamia allows for a new and better understanding of the religious world of Ancient Israel. The outcome of the extensive work on these texts enables scholars to put the Israelite religion in a historical perspective, and to trace the changes and developments in beliefs and in cultic customs and traditions.
In this article I examine Exodus 19-40 as a document reflecting the cultic activities of the Israelite religion at its birth. These activities are read in light of cultic practices found in Akkadian texts from Emar, and in Hittite texts from central Anatolia, all texts dated to the second Millennium BCE. This reading reveals a new characteristic of Moses as a religious leader, and provides the contrast between different layers of the Exodus text.
Canon&Culture, 2020
A short historical survey of scholarly interpretations of the concept of bérit in the Hebrew Bib... more A short historical survey of scholarly interpretations of the
concept of bérit in the Hebrew Bible is offered in this
article as a background to understanding the urge for different
interpretations offered by scholars in recent decades. The survey
starts with a detailed discussion of the contribution of
Mendenhall’s interpretations of the biblical covenant in light
of legal treaties from the Ancient Near East during the second
millennium BCE. Those mainly Hittite international treaties
opened the door for a new interpretation of the biblical texts
in light of legal rather than just religious relations between the
God of Israel and his people.
The second part of the article shows how the Hittite
treaty-documents have led to new interpretations of the Hebrew
Bible covenant, based on ancient Near Eastern legal-political
as well as cultic material, and how it may still be used in current
research, together with Mesopotamian-Akkadian documents,
which were also brought into that discussion. The major dispute
between scholars today is the attempt to pose an historical
measurement on the possible connection between the Hittite
legal documents titled in Hittite išḫiul- which are dated to the
second half of the second millennium, and the Akkadian
documents titled adê mainly of the first millennium BCE, with
the Hebrew Bible texts drawn during the first millennium.
Tracing the Ritual Body: Catherine Bell and Rituals of the Ancient Biblical World, 2024
A new edited volume by Ada Taggar Cohen, Richard E. DeMaris and Jonathan Schwiebert Description ... more A new edited volume by Ada Taggar Cohen, Richard E. DeMaris and Jonathan Schwiebert
Description
This volume utilizes Catherine Bell's ritual theory to shed new light on the many rituals reflected in ancient Mediterranean texts. In recent decades scholars of religion have come to realize that ritual and bodily practices are just as important for religion as beliefs and doctrine. With the development of ritual studies in the 1990s there arose a critical framework for investigating ritual and practice. Only recently, however, has Bell's theorizing been employed to study the rituals portrayed in ancient texts. This cross-disciplinary examination assesses the utility of Bell's theorizing for studying the textual evidence for rituals of the ancient Near East, the Hebrew Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the New Testament, and other early Christian literature.
The contributors to this volume illustrate a path away from regarding rituals as inert and fixed and toward a more complex and vibrant interactive model of ritual behaviour. In this volume, as each scholar works to recover the traces of long-past rituals in a particular set of materials, these and other concepts are consciously employed to guide or challenge the investigation, pushing beyond previous conclusions about ancient rituals. The contributors' attention to theory, and especially the social context, practical function, and symbolic interpretation, set this collection apart from studies that consider the rituals in more traditional textual ways.
Contributors: Editors and Roy E. Gane, Dan Belnap, Hannah Harrington, Jade Weimer, Ritva H. Williams, Russell C. D. Arnold
Key words: Catherine Bell, Ritual, Ritualization, Biblical Studies, Ritual and Body, Ancient Mediterranean Rituals
![Research paper thumbnail of 現代ヘブライ語における前置詞の重要性－ヘブライ語の歴史と発展に関する一考察－ Ada Hebrew book [Japanese and Hebrew]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/56244276/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](現代ヘブライ語における前置詞の重要性－ヘブライ語の歴史と発展に関する一考察－ (有限会社リトン , 2018). [Japanese and Hebrew] (Hebrew Title: מש... more 現代ヘブライ語における前置詞の重要性－ヘブライ語の歴史と発展に関する一考察－
(有限会社リトン , 2018). [Japanese and Hebrew]
(Hebrew Title: משקלן הסגולי של מילות היחס בעברית המודרנית על רקע עיון הסטורי בהתפתחות השפה העברית)
(English Title: The Significance of Prepositions in Modern Hebrew With Historical and Developmental Study of the Hebrew Language; Tokyo: Lithon Publishing House, 2018)
In most parts of the ancient world, priests were involved in similar activities of officiating to... more In most parts of the ancient world, priests were involved in similar activities of officiating to the gods. Sharing what seems to be mutual human tendencies to express devotion to the gods through similar types of activity, each culture also had its unique material, spiritual and social traditions, expressed, among other ways, also in the life and work of its priests. The division of the priests into different groups, the specific tasks of each group, the social position of the priests and their interaction with the rulers and the society - in these and many other aspects - signs of diversity and uniqueness can be found side by side with mutual affinities.
This book focuses on the Hittite priesthood of the second millennium BCE, and, through the study of Hittite texts, offers a view of the major cult functionaries, whom those texts identify as priests, as well as of the priestly role of the royal family.
