Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T14:07:27.629Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

18 - The Syro-Palestinian Wisdom of the Late Bronze Age

from Part III - Wisdom Literature beyond the Hebrew Bible

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2022

By
Noga Ayali-Darshan
Edited by
Katherine J. Dell
Edited in association with
Suzanna R. Millar  and
Arthur Jan Keefer
Katherine J. Dell
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Suzanna R. Millar
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh
Arthur Jan Keefer
Affiliation:
Eton College
Get access

Summary

Noga Ayali-Darshan covers the wisdom works and vernacular sayings of Syria-Palestine from the Late Bronze Age. This material exists in some form of Akkadian, including Sumero-Akkadian and Akkadian-Hurrian, all of which comes from sites at Ugarit and/or Emar. Darshan organises the works into four types: practical wisdom, critical wisdom, disputation poems and fables, and righteous sufferer compositions. Much of her chapter will introduce readers to the texts themselves, by way of their provenance, language and versions. Additionally, some thematic and particular linguistic reflections are given. In short, this chapter provides an introduction to an emerging and perhaps neglected area of wisdom from the biblical world.

Keywords

Syro-PalestineLate Bronze AgeAkkadianSumero-AkkadianAkkadian-HurrianUgaritEmarpractical wisdomcritical wisdomdisputationsrighteous sufferer
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Companion to Biblical Wisdom Literature , pp. 344 - 365
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Further Reading

Alster, Bendt. Wisdom of Ancient Sumer. Bethesda: 2005.Google Scholar
Arnaud, Daniel. Corpus des textes de bibliothéque de Ras Shamra-Ougarit (1936–2000): en sumérien, babylonien et assyrien. AuOr Sup 23. Barcelona: 2007.Google Scholar
Ayali-Darshan, Noga. ‘The Sequence of Sir 4:26–27 in Light of Akkadian and Aramaic Texts from the Levant and Later Writings’. ZAW 130 (2018): 436–449.Google Scholar
Cohen, Yoram. Wisdom from the Late Bronze Age. Edited by George, Andrew R.. WAW 34. Atlanta: 2013.Google Scholar
Cohen, Yoram. ‘Why “Wisdom”? Copying, Studying, and Collecting Wisdom Literature in the Cuneiform World’. Pages 41–59 in Teaching Morality in Antiquity. Edited by Oshima, Takayoshi M.. ORA 29. Tübingen: 2018.Google Scholar
Greenstein, Edward L. ‘Wisdom in Ugaritic’. Pages 69–89 in Language and Nature: Papers Presented to John Huehnergard on the Occasion of His 60th Birthday. Edited by Hasselbach, Rebecca and Pat-El, Naama. SAOC 67. Chicago: 2012.Google Scholar
Hurowitz, Victor Avigdor. ‘The Wisdom of Šūpê-Amēlī: A Deathbed Debate between a Father and Son’. Pages 37–45 in Wisdom Literature in Mesopotamia and Israel. Edited by Clifford, Richard J.. SymS 36. Atlanta: 2007.Google Scholar
Jiménez, Enrique. The Babylonian Disputation Poems with Editions of The Series of the Poplar, Palm and Vine, The Series of the Spider, and The Story of the Poor, Forlorn Wren. CHANE 87. Leiden: 2017.Google Scholar
Kämmerer, Thomas R. Šimâ milka. Induktion und Reception der mittelbabylonischen Dichtung von Ugarit, Emār und Tell el-ʿAmarna. AOAT 251. Münster: 1998.Google Scholar
Klein, Jacob. ‘The “Bane” of Humanity: A Lifespan of One Hundred Twenty Years’. ASJ 12 (1990): 57–70.Google Scholar
 The Ballad about Early Rulers: Eastern and Western Traditions’. Pages 203–216 in Languages and Cultures in Contact: At the Crossroads of Civilizations in the Syro-Mesopotamian Realm. Proceedings of the 42th RAI. Edited by van Lerberghe, Karel and Voet, Gabriela. OLA 96. Leuven: 1999.Google Scholar
Lambert, Wilfred G. Babylonian Wisdom Literature. Oxford: 1960.Google Scholar
Niehr, Herbert. ‘Weisheit in den Königsepen aus Ugarit’. Pages 70–91 in Teaching Morality in Antiquity. Edited by Oshima, Takayoshi M.. ORA 29. Tübingen: 2018.Google Scholar
Rutz, Matthew T. Bodies of Knowledge in Ancient Mesopotamia: The Diviners of Late Bronze Age Emar and Their Tablet Collection. AMD 9. Leiden: 2013.Google Scholar
Viano, Maurizio. The Reception of Sumerian Literature in the Western Periphery. Antichistica 9/Studi Orientali 4. Venice: 2016.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×