Iconoclasm and Text Destruction in the Ancient Near East and Beyond

edited by Natalie N. May

Extent: 528 pages

Publisher: Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures

Subjects: Ancient Near East

Series: Oriental Institute Seminars

Series volume number: 8, 8

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(December 2012)

ISBN: 9781885923905

Price: $14.95

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Synopsis
Contributing Authors

The eighth in the Oriental Institute Seminar Series. The purpose of the conference was to analyze the cases of and reasons for mutilation of texts and images in Near Eastern antiquity. Explores iconoclasm and text destruction through examination of the anthropological, cultural, historical, and political aspects of these practices.

The eighth in the Oriental Institute Seminar Series, this volume contains papers that emerged from the seminar Iconoclasm and Text Destruction in the Ancient Near East and Beyond, held at the Oriental Institute April 8-9, 2011. The purpose of the conference was to analyze the cases of and reasons for mutilation of texts and images in Near Eastern antiquity. Destruction of images and texts has a universal character; it is inherent in various societies and periods of human history. Together with the mutilation of human beings, it was a widespread and highly significant phenomenon in the ancient Near East. However, the goals meant to be realized by this process differed from those aimed at in other cultures. For example, iconoclasm of the French and Russian revolutions, as well as the Post-Soviet iconoclasm, did not have any religious purposes. Moreover, modern comprehension of iconoclasm is strongly influenced by its conception during the Reformation. This volume explores iconoclasm and text destruction in ancient Near Eastern antiquity through examination of the anthropological, cultural, historical, and political aspects of these practices. Broad interdisciplinary comparison with similar phenomena in the other cultures and periods contribute to better understanding them.

Edited by Natalie N May

Other Titles in this Series

The Late Third Millennium in the Ancient Near East

Chronology, C14, and Climate Change

Volume 11, 11

edited by Felix Hoflmayer

Household Studies in Complex Societies

(Micro) Archaeological and Textual Approaches

Volume 10, 10

edited by Miriam Muller

Structures of Power

Law and Gender Across the Ancient Near East and Beyond

Volume 12, 12

by Ilan Peled

Heaven on Earth

Temples, Ritual, and Cosmic Symbolism in the Ancient World

Volume 9, 9

edited by Deena Ragavan

Slaves and Households in the Near East

Volume 7, 7

edited by Laura Culbertson

Religion and Power

Divine Kingship in the Ancient World and Beyond

Volume 4, 4

edited by Nicole Brisch

Nomads, Tribes and the State in the Ancient Near East

Cross-disciplinary Perspectives

Volume 5, 5

edited by Jeffrey Szuchman

Divination and Interpretation of Signs in the Ancient World

Volume 6, 6

edited by Amar Annus

Changing Social Identity with the Spread of Islam

Archaeological Perspectives

Volume 1, 1

edited by Donald Whitcomb

Margins of Writing, Origins of Cultures

New Approaches to Writing and Reading in the Ancient Near East. Papers from a Symposium held February 25-26, 2005

Volume 2, 2

by Seth Sanders, edited by Sarite Sanders

Performing Death

Social Analyses of Funerary Traditions in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean

Volume 3, 3

by Nicola Laneri

Irrigation in Early States

New Directions

Volume 13, 13

edited by Stephanie Rost

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