Martti Nissinen – författare

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.Ancient Prophecy: Near Eastern, Biblical, and Greek Perspectives is the first monograph-length comparative study on prophetic divination in ancient Near Eastern, biblical, and Greek sources. Prophecy is one of the ways humans have believed to become conversant with what is believed to be superhuman knowledge. The prophetic process of communication involves the prophet, her/his audience, and the deity from whom the message allegedly comes from. Martti Nissinen introduces a wealth ofancient sources documenting the prophetic phenomenon around the ancient Eastern Mediterranean, whether cuneiform tablets from Mesopotamia, the Hebrew Bible, Greek inscriptions, or ancient historians.Nissinen provides an up-to-date presentation of textual sources, the number of which has increased substantially in recent times. In addition, the study includes four analytical comparative chapters. The first demonstrates the altered state of consciousness to be one of the central characteristics of the prophets'' public behavior. The second discusses the prophets'' affiliation with temples, which are the typical venues of the prophetic performance. The third delves into the relationshipbetween prophets and kings, which can be both critical and supportive. The fourth shows gender-inclusiveness to be one of the peculiar features of the prophetic agency, which could be executed by women, men, and genderless persons as well. The ways prophetic divination manifests itself in ancient sourcesdepend not only on the socio-religious position of the prophets in a given society, but also on the genre and purpose of the sources. Nissinen contends that, even though the view of the ancient prophetic landscape is restricted by the fragmentary and secondary nature of the sources, it is possible to reconstruct essential features of prophetic divination at the socio-religious roots of the Western civilization.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.Ancient Prophecy: Near Eastern, Biblical, and Greek Perspectives is the first monograph-length comparative study on prophetic divination in ancient Near Eastern, biblical, and Greek sources. Prophecy is one of the ways humans have believed to become conversant with what is believed to be superhuman knowledge. The prophetic process of communication involves the prophet, her/his audience, and the deity from whom the message allegedly comes from. Martti Nissinen introduces a wealth of ancient sources documenting the prophetic phenomenon around the ancient Eastern Mediterranean, whether cuneiform tablets from Mesopotamia, the Hebrew Bible, Greek inscriptions, or ancient historians.Nissinen provides an up-to-date presentation of textual sources, the number of which has increased substantially in recent times. In addition, the study includes four analytical comparative chapters. The first demonstrates the altered state of consciousness to be one of the central characteristics of the prophets' public behavior. The second discusses the prophets' affiliation with temples, which are the typical venues of the prophetic performance. The third delves into the relationship between prophets and kings, which can be both critical and supportive. The fourth shows gender-inclusiveness to be one of the peculiar features of the prophetic agency, which could be executed by women, men, and genderless persons as well. The ways prophetic divination manifests itself in ancient sources depend not only on the socio-religious position of the prophets in a given society, but also on the genre and purpose of the sources. Nissinen contends that, even though the view of the ancient prophetic landscape is restricted by the fragmentary and secondary nature of the sources, it is possible to reconstruct essential features of prophetic divination at the socio-religious roots of the Western civilization.

The title of this volume, Sacred Marriages, consciously plays with the traditional concept of sacred marriage, but the plural form, “sacred marriages,” gives the reader an idea that something more is at stake here than a monomaniacal idea of manifestations deriving from a single prototype. Following the guidelines of one of the contributors, Ruben Zimmermann, the editors tentatively define “sacred marriage” as a “real or symbolic union of two complementary entities, imagined as gendered, in a religious context.” “Sacred marriages” (plural), then, refers to various expressions of this kind of union in different cultures that seek to overcome, to cite Zimmermann again, “the great dualism of human and cosmic existence.”The subtitle indicates that the contributors are primarily interested in different aspects of the divine-human sexual metaphor—that is, the imagining and reenactment of a gendered relationship between the human and divine worlds. This metaphor, which is essentially about relationship rather than sexual acts, can find textual, ritual, mythical, and social expressions in different times and places.Indeed, the sacred marriage ritual itself should be considered not a manifestation of the “sacralized power of sexuality experienced in sexual intercourse” but one way of objectifying the divine-human sexual metaphor.

Prophecy was a wide-spread phenomenon in the ancient world - not only in ancient Israel but in the whole Eastern Mediterranean cultural sphere. This is demonstrated by documents from the ancient Near East, that have been the object of Martti Nissinen’s research for more than twenty years. Nissinen's studies have had a formative influence on the study of the prophetic phenomenon. The present volume presents a selection of thirty-one essays, bringing together essential aspects of prophetic divination in the ancient Near East. The first section of the volume discusses prophecy from theoretical perspectives. The second sections contains studies on prophecy in texts from Mari and Assyria and other cuneiform sources. The third section discusses biblical prophecy in its ancient Near Eastern context, while the fourth section focuses on prophets and prophecy in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Even prophecy in the Dead Sea Scrolls is discussed in the fifth section. The articles are essential reading for anyone studying ancient prophetic phenomenon.

Prophecy was a wide-spread phenomenon in the ancient world - not only in ancient Israel but in the whole Eastern Mediterranean cultural sphere. This is demonstrated by documents from the ancient Near East, that have been the object of Martti Nissinen’s research for more than twenty years. Nissinen''s studies have had a formative influence on the study of the prophetic phenomenon. The present volume presents a selection of thirty-one essays, bringing together essential aspects of prophetic divination in the ancient Near East.

The first section of the volume discusses prophecy from theoretical perspectives. The second sections contains studies on prophecy in texts from Mari and Assyria and other cuneiform sources. The third section discusses biblical prophecy in its ancient Near Eastern context, while the fourth section focuses on prophets and prophecy in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Even prophecy in the Dead Sea Scrolls is discussed in the fifth section.

The articles are essential reading for anyone studying ancient prophetic phenomenon.

Besides commemorating the scholar Julius Wellhausen (1844–1918), the series of lectures aims to continue and publicise research in the fields he represented and their neighbouring philological-historical disciplines. In the course of his life, Julius Wellhausen conducted research in three fields: the Old Testament, the New Testament and ancient Arabia, or to put it another way: Judaism, Christianity and early Islam. The annual lectures, named after Wellhausen, are held by the Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen.

Julius Wellhausen hat maßgeblich zum Verständnis der biblischen Prophetie beigetragen und gilt als einer der Erzväter des Prophetenbildes des 20. Jahrhunderts. Zusammen mit seinen Zeitgenossen rechnete er mit der evolutionären Entwicklung der israelitischen Religion, wobei die großen biblischen Propheten eine entscheidende Rolle spielten, indem sie die alte, der altorientalischen Umgebung ähnelnde Volksreligion “zu etwas anderem” machten. Zur Zeit Wellhausens waren die Quellen der außerbiblischen altorientalischen Prophetie schlecht bekannt, heute sind wir besser in der Lage, die biblische Prophetie gegen ihre altorientalische Hintergrund betrachten. Anhand der uns heute bekanntenTexten sind die „Reste altorientalischen Prophetentums“, d.h., die der altorientalisch-ostmediterranen Prophetie typischen Eigenschaften im Alten und sogar im Neuen Testament deutlich zu sehen. Unter solchen Merkmalen werden sowohl der Wort-Gottes-Begriff, die Verschriftlichung der Prophetie und die politische Bedeutung der Prophetie als auch der Tempel als die „geistige Heimat“ der Propheten, die Genderinklusivität und die prophetische Ekstase betrachtet.

Julius Wellhausen hat maßgeblich zum Verständnis der biblischen Prophetie beigetragen und gilt als einer der Erzväter des Prophetenbildes des 20. Jahrhunderts. Zusammen mit seinen Zeitgenossen rechnete er mit der evolutionären Entwicklung der israelitischen Religion, wobei die großen biblischen Propheten eine entscheidende Rolle spielten, indem sie die alte, der altorientalischen Umgebung ähnelnde Volksreligion “zu etwas anderem” machten. Zur Zeit Wellhausens waren die Quellen der außerbiblischen altorientalischen Prophetie schlecht bekannt, heute sind wir besser in der Lage, die biblische Prophetie gegen ihre altorientalische Hintergrund betrachten. Anhand der uns heute bekanntenTexten sind die „Reste altorientalischen Prophetentums“, d.h., die der altorientalisch-ostmediterranen Prophetie typischen Eigenschaften im Alten und sogar im Neuen Testament deutlich zu sehen. Unter solchen Merkmalen werden sowohl der Wort-Gottes-Begriff, die Verschriftlichung der Prophetie und die politische Bedeutung der Prophetie als auch der Tempel als die „geistige Heimat“ der Propheten, die Genderinklusivität und die prophetische Ekstase betrachtet.

Prophecy was a wide-spread phenomenon in the ancient world - not only in ancient Israel but in the whole Eastern Mediterranean cultural sphere. This is demonstrated by documents from the ancient Near East, that have been the object of Martti Nissinen’s research for more than twenty years. Nissinen's studies have had a formative influence on the study of the prophetic phenomenon. The present volume presents a selection of thirty-one essays, bringing together essential aspects of prophetic divination in the ancient Near East. The first section of the volume discusses prophecy from theoretical perspectives. The second sections contains studies on prophecy in texts from Mari and Assyria and other cuneiform sources. The third section discusses biblical prophecy in its ancient Near Eastern context, while the fourth section focuses on prophets and prophecy in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Even prophecy in the Dead Sea Scrolls is discussed in the fifth section. The articles are essential reading for anyone studying ancient prophetic phenomenon.

Experts of deuterocanonical and cognate literature shed light on how an individual or a group understood catastrophes in the late Second Temple Judaism. The essays in this volume carefully study questions like: What kind of acts lead to a catastrophe? Is there a chance to avoid a catastrophe? How to respond to a catastrophic situation? Ancient thinkers had strategies for survival and adapting to new situations. The contributors here select and analyze relevant passages covering the main works of the era from Ben Sira to the Book of Judith, from the Book of Tobit to early rabbinic liturgy. They focus on cognitive, psychological, social and ritual mechanisms that helped the ancient authors and their audiences cope with calamities. Disasters do not belong only to the past. Even in the present times people feel themselves weak and vulnerable in front of threatening catastrophes. The strategies developed by the ancient people can offer us insights to topics such as hope and solidarity.

Experts of deuterocanonical and cognate literature shed light on how an individual or a group understood catastrophes in the late Second Temple Judaism. The essays in this volume carefully study questions like: What kind of acts lead to a catastrophe? Is there a chance to avoid a catastrophe? How to respond to a catastrophic situation? Ancient thinkers had strategies for survival and adapting to new situations. The contributors here select and analyze relevant passages covering the main works of the era from Ben Sira to the Book of Judith, from the Book of Tobit to early rabbinic liturgy. They focus on cognitive, psychological, social and ritual mechanisms that helped the ancient authors and their audiences cope with calamities. Disasters do not belong only to the past. Even in the present times people feel themselves weak and vulnerable in front of threatening catastrophes. The strategies developed by the ancient people can offer us insights to topics such as hope and solidarity.

Experts of deuterocanonical and cognate literature shed light on how an individual or a group understood catastrophes in the late Second Temple Judaism. The essays in this volume carefully study questions like: What kind of acts lead to a catastrophe? Is there a chance to avoid a catastrophe? How to respond to a catastrophic situation? Ancient thinkers had strategies for survival and adapting to new situations. The contributors here select and analyze relevant passages covering the main works of the era from Ben Sira to the Book of Judith, from the Book of Tobit to early rabbinic liturgy. They focus on cognitive, psychological, social and ritual mechanisms that helped the ancient authors and their audiences cope with calamities. Disasters do not belong only to the past. Even in the present times people feel themselves weak and vulnerable in front of threatening catastrophes. The strategies developed by the ancient people can offer us insights to topics such as hope and solidarity.

This collection of essays examines the interrelationships between text and image particularly the ways in which iconography and/or references to images are used to depict prophetic actions or support prophetic messages. Textual and iconographic remains are examined from Israel and Judah, Egypt, Greece and Persia, often with direct relationship with Israelite and Judean religion and prophetic activity. This volume originated in the Prophetic Texts and Their Ancient Contexts session in the 2005 Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting. This richly-illustrated volume includes images from the Near Eastern and Mediterranean areas, and include Judean rosette seal impressions, representations of Ishtar, Achaemenid royal iconography, Minoan gold rings, cylinder impressions and various reliefs.