Literary Depictions of the Scribal Profession in the Story of Ahiqar and Jeremiah 36

James D. Moore

Published by De Gruyter 2021

Literary Depictions of the Scribal Profession in the Story of Ahiqar and Jeremiah 36

James D. Moore

Volume 541 in the series Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110753042

Overview
Contents

About this book

This is the first study to compare the allusions to scribal culture found in the Aramaic Story of Ahiqar and the Hebrew Tale of Jeremiah and Baruch’s Scroll in Jeremiah 36. It is shown that disguised in the royal propagandistic message of Ahiqar is a sophisticated Aramaic critique on the social practices of Akkadian scribal culture. Jeremiah 36, however, uses loci of scribal activity as well as allusions to scribal interactions and the techniques of the scribal craft to construct a subversive tale. When studied from a comparative perspective it is argued that the Story of Ahiqar, which has long been associated with the well-known court tale genre, is an example of a subgenre which is here called the scribal conflict narrative, and Jeremiah 36 is found to be a second example of or a response to it. This observation is arrived at by means of rigorous manuscript examination combined with narrative analysis, which identified, among other things, the development of autobiographical and biographical styles of the same ancient narrative. This study not only provides new perspectives on scribal culture, Ahiqar studies, and Jeremiah studies, but it may have far reaching implications for other ancient sources.

Author / Editor information

James D. Moore, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Content Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
1. Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. Allusions to the Aramaic Scribal Profession in the Story of Ahiqar Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	39
3. Allusions to the Hebrew Scribal Profession in the Tale of Jeremiah and Baruch’s Scroll Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	84
4. The Story of Ahiqar and the Tale of Jeremiah and Baruch’s Scroll in Comparative Perspective Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	135
5. Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	169
Appendix: Syriac Ahiqar Manuscripts Cited Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	173
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	175
Index of Ancient Sources Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	193
Selected Terms Discussed Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	205
Abbreviations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	211

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Scholars in the field of Theology, Hebrew Bible, Ancient Near East.
Pages
- Front matter: 10
- Main content: 212
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 2
- Tables: 0
Keywords: Scribal Culture; Baruch's Scroll; Jeremia; Ahiqar.

eBook

Published: December 6, 2021
ISBN: 9783110753042

Hardcover

Published: December 20, 2021
ISBN: 9783110752540