Research Catalog

Children in ancient Israel : the Hebrew Bible and Mesopotamia in comparative perspective

Title
Children in ancient Israel : the Hebrew Bible and Mesopotamia in comparative perspective / Shawn W. Flynn.
Author
Flynn, Shawn W.
Publication
  • Oxford, United Kingdom : Oxford University Press, 2018.
  • ©2018

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TextUse in library JFD 18-5657Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315

Details

Description
xiv, 220 pages; 23 cm
Summary
Flynn contributes to the emerging field of childhood studies in the Hebrew Bible by isolating stages of a child's life, and through a comparative perspective, studies the place of children in the domestic cult and their relationship to the deity in that cult. The study gathers data relevant to different stages of a child's life from a plethora of Mesopotamian materials (prayers, myths, medical texts, rituals), and uses that data as an interpretive lens for Israelite texts about children at similar stages such as: pre-born children, the birth stage, breast feeding, adoption, slavery, children's death and burial rituals, childhood delinquency. This analysis presses the questions of value and violence, the importance of the domestic cult for expressing the child's value beyond economic value, and how children were valued in cultures with high infant mortality rates. From the earliest stages to the moments when children die, and to the children's responsibilities in the domestic cult later in life, this study demonstrates that a child is uniquely wrapped up in the domestic cult, and in particular, is connected with the deity. The domestic-cultic value of children forms the much broader understanding of children in the ancient world, through which other more problematic representations can be tested. Throughout the study, it becomes apparent that children's value in the domestic cult is an intentional catalyst for the social promotion of YHWHism.
Subjects
Genre/Form
  • Criticism, interpretation, etc.
  • History.
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references (pages 193-211) and indexes.
Call Number
JFD 18-5657
ISBN
  • 9780198784210
  • 019878421X
LCCN
2017964391
OCLC
1016054018
Author
Flynn, Shawn W., author.
Title
Children in ancient Israel : the Hebrew Bible and Mesopotamia in comparative perspective / Shawn W. Flynn.
Publisher
Oxford, United Kingdom : Oxford University Press, 2018.
Copyright Date
©2018
Edition
First Edition.
Type of Content
text
Type of Medium
unmediated
Type of Carrier
volume
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 193-211) and indexes.
Chronological Term
To 1500
Research Call Number
JFD 18-5657
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