On the Origin of Watchers: A Comparative Study of the Antediluvian Wisdom in Mesopotamian and Jewish Traditions (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Antediluvian Origin of Evil in the Mesopotamian and Jewish Traditions A Comparative Study
Akten des VIII. gemeinsamen Symposiums der THEOLOGISCHEN FAKULTÄT DER UNIVERSITÄT TARTU, der DEUTSCHEN RELIGIONSGESCHICHTLICHEN STUDIENGESELLSCHAFT, der ESTNISCHEN STUDIENGESELLSCHAFT FÜR MORGENLANDKUNDE und der STUDIENGESELLSCHAFT FÜR THEOLOGIE am 2. und 3. Oktober 2009 an der Universität Tartu/Estland herausgegeben von 2012 Ugarit-Verlag Münster Ideas of Man in the Conceptions of the Religions / Das Menschenbild in den Konzeptionen der Religionen. Akten des VIII. gemeinsamen Symposiums der THEOLOGISCHEN FAKULTÄT DER UNIVERSITÄT TARTU, der DEUTSCHEN RELIGIONSGESCHICHTLICHEN STUDIENGESELLSCHAFT, der ESTNISCHEN STUDIENGESELLSCHAFT FÜR MORGENLANDKUNDE und der STUDIENGESELLSCHAFT FÜR THEOLOGIE am 2. und 3. Oktober 2009 an der Universität Tartu/Estland herausgegeben von Tarmo Kulmar und Rüdiger Schmitt Forschungen zur Anthropologie und Religionsgeschichte, Bd. 43
Religions, 2024
The extant texts of Enochic Judaism present accounts about the early history of humankind, which use the motifs familiar from the ancient Mesopotamian historiography. The different versions of the Jewish story of the Watchers originate as counter narratives about the antediluvian sages, or apkallus, which are known from the cuneiform literature. The myth of Adapa in Akkadian offers a version of the narrative in which the sage was promoted in heaven to a god-like status, which concept is corroborated with an entry in the cuneiform compendium Tintir and the Chronicle of the Esagila. This tradition also associated Adapa with the immortalized flood survivor. In the form of a counter narrative, the Enochic texts of Judaism attributed the heavenly assumption to Enoch and presented the Watchers as the demonic entities subordinated to him. The fall of the Watchers, the promotion of Enoch, and the primordial battle against evil forces are depicted in the Animal Apocalypse of 1 Enoch 85–90. A very similar scenario is found in the Chronicle of Esagila, which describes the early history of humankind from the Babylonian perspective. It can be demonstrated that the Animal Apocalypse uses this or a similar cuneiform historiographic source as the basis of its counter narrative.
sOme OTherwOrldly jOurneys in mesOPOTamian, jewish, mandaean and yeZidi TradiTiOns
aBsTracT This paper tries to demonstrate that some motifs in the descriptions of the soul's journey to the hereafter in Mandaean and Yezidi beliefs have parallels in ancient Mesopotamian texts. The same motifs are applied to heavenly ascents in Jewish apocalypticism and mysticism, and also in some Mandaean texts. The Netherworld or Paradise images in those descriptions often correspond to specific features in Babylonian mystical texts and literature. The continuity of the Mesopotamian intellectual traditions in the later world, especially in Jewish mysticism has been a favourite area of research for Simo Parpola during the last two decades. The assumption of a Mesopotamian heritage in the Jewish traditions such as Kabbala still raises considerable controversy among many scholars, and the cognate models of reconstruction are often said to belong to the methods of the " Helsinki school ". I am rather sceptical about the existence of such a school as a real institution either in the past or present, and moreover, the evidence seems to indicate that the influence of professor Parpola's ideas in the scholarship of ancient Near Eastern religion is more widespread than just the Helsinki area. Prof. Parpola has given a fresh impetus to comparative studies in Near Eastern religions, both ancient and modern. While reading religious and literary texts from the Middle East, irrespective of their age and origins, one is frequently struck by how similar the texts in different languages, ages and regions can be, both in style and content. The intermixture of cultures and traditions is evident in every step one takes in the study of the ancient Near East, but only much luck and scholarly open-mindedness can enlighten us to see how precisely religious ideas, the pieces of ancient wisdom spread and circulated from one culture to another. One such case was analyzed by Peter Kingsley in 1 The present paper was written by a partial support of a grant from Estonian Science Foundation, no. 6625.
Towards a Comparative Approach to Demonology in Antiquity: The Case of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia
Archiv für Religionsgeschichte, Band 14, Heft 1, 2013
This essay provides a general introduction to demonology in antiquity as well as a focus on ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. It is also meant as an introduction to those papers which were originally presented at the international conference titled “Evil Spirits, Monsters and Benevolent Protectors: Demonology in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia,” held on April 23, 2012 at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World of New York University, contained in the first section of this volume. Questions of the definition and function of demons in ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations are raised and discussed in light of a comparative approach to the study of ancient religions.