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Proto-Cuneiform Texts from Diverse Collections by Robert K. EnglundReview by: J.-J. GlassnerJournal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 119, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1999), pp. 547-548Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/605985 .
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BRIEF REVIEWS OF BOOKS BRIEF REVIEWS OF BOOKS
Ugaritic Narrative Poetry. Edited by SIMON B. PARKER. Soci-
ety of Biblical Literature Writings from the Ancient World
Series, vol. 9. Altanta: SCHOLARS PRESS, 1997. Pp. viii +
265, illus., maps. $34.95.
Edited by S. B. Parker, this volume presents a number of well- known "literary" Ugaritic texts, compiled under four main
headings: Kirta, Aqhat, Baal, and "Shorter Texts." The transla- tions are by E. L. Greenstein (KTU 1.14-16), S. B. Parker (KTU 1.10-12, 1.17-19, 1.83, 1.100), M. S. Smith (KTU 1.1-6, 1.8, 1.96, 1.133: this version thus anticipates Smith's monumental
Commentary to the Baal Cycle, now underway), Th. J. Lewis
(KTU 1.20-22, 1.23, 1.114), and D. Marcus (KTU 1.24). This volume is among the first of a new series (Writings for
the Ancient World) "designed to provide up-to-date, readable,
English translations of writings recovered from the ancient Near East" (p. vii). It is one of a number of series in different Euro-
pean languages now being prepared (English, French, German, Italian, Spanish). The main difference may be that this new series offers transliterations of the original text, following the model already used in previous editions (Driver, Gibson, del Olmo Lete). The translation is accompanied by a brief introduc- tion and philological notes. These notes are kept to a minimum, and give information on textual and contextual items. All in all, this makes for a highly readable and useful book, of interest to both the general reader and the specialist.
It would be impossible, as well as inappropriate, to go into a detailed discussion of the interpretative options that the various translators make. The notes themselves present alternative views on obscure and debatable texts. In general, the point of view assumed by the authors tends to avoid unconfirmed or hazardous hypotheses and maintains a rather consensual, not to
say conservative, line. This can be seen, for instance, in the in-
terpretation of what are called the "duties of the ideal son" in the Aqhat epic (p. 53), the meaning of the Rephaim/Rapiuma text (pp. 196 ff.) and, in general, the place given to the royal and ancestral ideology-an interpretation far removed from the
strange opinions recently put forward in this connection. I dis-
agree with a number of proposed translations, such as the inter-
pretation of KTU 1.24: 40-50 as a reference "to a human bride called PRBKHTH" (pp. 215, 218), the value "to be generous" for ymn(n) (p. 210: KTU 1.23: 37), and the reading of KTU
Ugaritic Narrative Poetry. Edited by SIMON B. PARKER. Soci-
ety of Biblical Literature Writings from the Ancient World
Series, vol. 9. Altanta: SCHOLARS PRESS, 1997. Pp. viii +
265, illus., maps. $34.95.
Edited by S. B. Parker, this volume presents a number of well- known "literary" Ugaritic texts, compiled under four main
headings: Kirta, Aqhat, Baal, and "Shorter Texts." The transla- tions are by E. L. Greenstein (KTU 1.14-16), S. B. Parker (KTU 1.10-12, 1.17-19, 1.83, 1.100), M. S. Smith (KTU 1.1-6, 1.8, 1.96, 1.133: this version thus anticipates Smith's monumental
Commentary to the Baal Cycle, now underway), Th. J. Lewis
(KTU 1.20-22, 1.23, 1.114), and D. Marcus (KTU 1.24). This volume is among the first of a new series (Writings for
the Ancient World) "designed to provide up-to-date, readable,
English translations of writings recovered from the ancient Near East" (p. vii). It is one of a number of series in different Euro-
pean languages now being prepared (English, French, German, Italian, Spanish). The main difference may be that this new series offers transliterations of the original text, following the model already used in previous editions (Driver, Gibson, del Olmo Lete). The translation is accompanied by a brief introduc- tion and philological notes. These notes are kept to a minimum, and give information on textual and contextual items. All in all, this makes for a highly readable and useful book, of interest to both the general reader and the specialist.
It would be impossible, as well as inappropriate, to go into a detailed discussion of the interpretative options that the various translators make. The notes themselves present alternative views on obscure and debatable texts. In general, the point of view assumed by the authors tends to avoid unconfirmed or hazardous hypotheses and maintains a rather consensual, not to
say conservative, line. This can be seen, for instance, in the in-
terpretation of what are called the "duties of the ideal son" in the Aqhat epic (p. 53), the meaning of the Rephaim/Rapiuma text (pp. 196 ff.) and, in general, the place given to the royal and ancestral ideology-an interpretation far removed from the
strange opinions recently put forward in this connection. I dis-
agree with a number of proposed translations, such as the inter-
pretation of KTU 1.24: 40-50 as a reference "to a human bride called PRBKHTH" (pp. 215, 218), the value "to be generous" for ymn(n) (p. 210: KTU 1.23: 37), and the reading of KTU
1.23: 29 (p. 209; cf. line 14, of which it seems to be Lewis's
dittography, for I know of no other epigraphist who proposes reading line 29 in that fashion: see for example, D. Pardee in The Context of Scripture, ed. W. W. Hallo [Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1997], 280, n. 40). However, I am very happy with proposals such as "majestic" for Ugaritic trrt (p. 16, KTU 1.14 iii 5), with the integration of KTU 1.100: 73 (pp. 222 ff.), and with the
suggestion that the Kirta epic ended on KTU 1.16 vi, as we have it (p. 10). I should also acknowledge the "plausibility" the translator grants my interpretation of KTU 1.96, even if he still supports the commonly proposed emendation of Cnn to Cnt
(p. 225). The book is well printed (correct reading tslh, p. 28: KTU
1.15 iv 24) and has very useful indexes, bibliography and glos- sary. I wish the whole series every success, and offer my con-
gratulations to the editor.
GREGORIO DEL OLMO LETE UNIVERSITY OF BARCELONA
Proto-Cuneiform Texts from Diverse Collections. By ROBERT K. ENGLUND. Materialien zu den friihen Schriftzeugnissen des Vorderen Orients, vol. 4. Berlin: GEBR. MANN VERLAG, 1996. Pp. 110, illustrations, 5 plates DM 72.
R. K. Englund a entrepris la publication exhaustive de l'en- semble des textes archaiques m6sopotamiens, des 6poques d'Uruk et de Jemdet Nasr ou, si l'on prefere, de l'Uruk recent et de I'Uruk tardif. Ce volume est la quatrieme d'une serie encore inachevee (R. K. Englund et J.-P. Gr6goire, The Proto-cuneiform Texts from Jemdet Nasr, MSVO 1 [Berlin: Gebr. Mann, 1991]; R. K. Englund et H. J. Nissen, Die lexikalischen Listen der ar- chaischen Texte aus Uruk, ATU 3 [Berlin: Gebr. Mann, 1993]; R. K. Englund, Archaic Administrative Texts from Uruk: The
Early Campaigns, ATU 5 [Berlin: Gebr. Mann, 1994]). Voici donc quatre-vingt documents en provenance princi-
palement d'Uqair, de Tell Asmar et, peut-etre, de Larsa. A dire vrai, h l'exception de deux tablettes inedites, les nos. 40 et 75,
1.23: 29 (p. 209; cf. line 14, of which it seems to be Lewis's
dittography, for I know of no other epigraphist who proposes reading line 29 in that fashion: see for example, D. Pardee in The Context of Scripture, ed. W. W. Hallo [Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1997], 280, n. 40). However, I am very happy with proposals such as "majestic" for Ugaritic trrt (p. 16, KTU 1.14 iii 5), with the integration of KTU 1.100: 73 (pp. 222 ff.), and with the
suggestion that the Kirta epic ended on KTU 1.16 vi, as we have it (p. 10). I should also acknowledge the "plausibility" the translator grants my interpretation of KTU 1.96, even if he still supports the commonly proposed emendation of Cnn to Cnt
(p. 225). The book is well printed (correct reading tslh, p. 28: KTU
1.15 iv 24) and has very useful indexes, bibliography and glos- sary. I wish the whole series every success, and offer my con-
gratulations to the editor.
GREGORIO DEL OLMO LETE UNIVERSITY OF BARCELONA
Proto-Cuneiform Texts from Diverse Collections. By ROBERT K. ENGLUND. Materialien zu den friihen Schriftzeugnissen des Vorderen Orients, vol. 4. Berlin: GEBR. MANN VERLAG, 1996. Pp. 110, illustrations, 5 plates DM 72.
R. K. Englund a entrepris la publication exhaustive de l'en- semble des textes archaiques m6sopotamiens, des 6poques d'Uruk et de Jemdet Nasr ou, si l'on prefere, de l'Uruk recent et de I'Uruk tardif. Ce volume est la quatrieme d'une serie encore inachevee (R. K. Englund et J.-P. Gr6goire, The Proto-cuneiform Texts from Jemdet Nasr, MSVO 1 [Berlin: Gebr. Mann, 1991]; R. K. Englund et H. J. Nissen, Die lexikalischen Listen der ar- chaischen Texte aus Uruk, ATU 3 [Berlin: Gebr. Mann, 1993]; R. K. Englund, Archaic Administrative Texts from Uruk: The
Early Campaigns, ATU 5 [Berlin: Gebr. Mann, 1994]). Voici donc quatre-vingt documents en provenance princi-
palement d'Uqair, de Tell Asmar et, peut-etre, de Larsa. A dire vrai, h l'exception de deux tablettes inedites, les nos. 40 et 75,
547 547
This content downloaded from 185.44.77.82 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 06:58:07 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Journal of the American Oriental Society 119.3 (1999) Journal of the American Oriental Society 119.3 (1999)
l'ensemble des documents pr6sent6 a deja fait l'objet d'6ditions ant6rieurement. On regrette que la publication du volume 3 de la meme collection (MSVO), annonc6e depuis plusieurs ann6es et vouee a l'edition des tablettes, in6dites celles-la, de la collec- tion Erlenmeyer, soit repouss6e, tant leur contenu pour autant
que l'on sache est important. A la page 19 de son introduction, l'auteur se fait l'adepte
d'une these selon laquelle l'6criture se serait d6veloppee pro- gressivement, au fur et a mesure des besoins de la pratique, les
premiers signes etant exclusivement num6raux, d'autres signes venant se joindre, progressivement, a ce corpus premier, pour finir par constituer un repertoire relativement important tel qu'il est fix6 sur les tablettes de l'Uruk IV ou de l'6poque proto- elamite. Cette position, d6veloppee autrefois par les fouilleurs de Suse, est difficilement recevable aujourd'hui, grace aux travaux de l'6quipe de Berlin conduite par Nissen. L'6tude de la
chronologie et du corpus des signes montrent que l'outil, un
systeme de signes institu6s, est cr6e de maniere tout a fait con- sciente et volontaire, dans un laps de temps relativement court, qu'il est la mise en oeuvre d'un concept et qu'il r6pond a une ambition d'ordre intellectuel, classer le monde selon des criteres objectifs et, partant, avoir prise sur lui; la divination n'est peut-etre pas 6trangere a cette invention. (I1 m'est difficile de ne pas renvoyer a mon ouvrage en pr6paration, L'Invention de l'ecriture en Mesopotamie.)
Ces quelques remarques ne sauraient voiler l'essentiel, l'ex- cellence et la clart6 de la publication.
J.-J. GLASSNER CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE, PARIS
Hidden Wisdom: Esoteric Traditions and the Roots of Chris- tian Mysticism. By GUY G. STROUMSA. Studies in the His-
tory of Religions (Numen book series), vol. 70. Leiden: E. J.
BRILL, 1996. Pp. xii + 183. HFl 110, $71.
At first glance Prof. Stroumsa's new book would appear to be
simply a convenient anthology of ten of his previously or con-
currently published essays on diverse facets of esotericism in
early Christian literature. Assembling this collection, if such were the actual intention, would possess value in its own right, given the importance of the author's contributions to the study of Near Eastern religiosity in late antiquity. However, a more careful perusal of the book's contents reveals that the essays have been specially selected, slightly adjusted, and then art-
fully arranged to advocate a unifying thesis.
According to Stroumsa, a number of literary hints point to the existence and sustained vitality of an esoteric tradition of
l'ensemble des documents pr6sent6 a deja fait l'objet d'6ditions ant6rieurement. On regrette que la publication du volume 3 de la meme collection (MSVO), annonc6e depuis plusieurs ann6es et vouee a l'edition des tablettes, in6dites celles-la, de la collec- tion Erlenmeyer, soit repouss6e, tant leur contenu pour autant
que l'on sache est important. A la page 19 de son introduction, l'auteur se fait l'adepte
d'une these selon laquelle l'6criture se serait d6veloppee pro- gressivement, au fur et a mesure des besoins de la pratique, les
premiers signes etant exclusivement num6raux, d'autres signes venant se joindre, progressivement, a ce corpus premier, pour finir par constituer un repertoire relativement important tel qu'il est fix6 sur les tablettes de l'Uruk IV ou de l'6poque proto- elamite. Cette position, d6veloppee autrefois par les fouilleurs de Suse, est difficilement recevable aujourd'hui, grace aux travaux de l'6quipe de Berlin conduite par Nissen. L'6tude de la
chronologie et du corpus des signes montrent que l'outil, un
systeme de signes institu6s, est cr6e de maniere tout a fait con- sciente et volontaire, dans un laps de temps relativement court, qu'il est la mise en oeuvre d'un concept et qu'il r6pond a une ambition d'ordre intellectuel, classer le monde selon des criteres objectifs et, partant, avoir prise sur lui; la divination n'est peut-etre pas 6trangere a cette invention. (I1 m'est difficile de ne pas renvoyer a mon ouvrage en pr6paration, L'Invention de l'ecriture en Mesopotamie.)
Ces quelques remarques ne sauraient voiler l'essentiel, l'ex- cellence et la clart6 de la publication.
J.-J. GLASSNER CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE, PARIS
Hidden Wisdom: Esoteric Traditions and the Roots of Chris- tian Mysticism. By GUY G. STROUMSA. Studies in the His-
tory of Religions (Numen book series), vol. 70. Leiden: E. J.
BRILL, 1996. Pp. xii + 183. HFl 110, $71.
At first glance Prof. Stroumsa's new book would appear to be
simply a convenient anthology of ten of his previously or con-
currently published essays on diverse facets of esotericism in
early Christian literature. Assembling this collection, if such were the actual intention, would possess value in its own right, given the importance of the author's contributions to the study of Near Eastern religiosity in late antiquity. However, a more careful perusal of the book's contents reveals that the essays have been specially selected, slightly adjusted, and then art-
fully arranged to advocate a unifying thesis.
According to Stroumsa, a number of literary hints point to the existence and sustained vitality of an esoteric tradition of
interpretation accompanying the transmission of Christian doc- trines during the first four centuries of the Common Era. This tradition was predominantly oral in form, and the mode of its
expression was carefully guarded, although some echoes rever- berate in the extant apocryphal apocalypses and revelatory dis- courses-"secret" books-produced among certain Christian
groups. This esoteric dimension within nascent Christianity was firmly rooted in the apocalyptic and visionary milieu of
first-century Judaism. These secret traditions moreover were
adopted and further developed and enriched by gnostic circles, wherein they formed the basis of a distinctive "gnostic mythol- ogy." A reaction against Christian esotericism ensued, resulting in the eventual disappearance of this dimension as an active force from classical Christianity by the fifth century. Neverthe- less the language and mythemic lexicon of Christian esotericism continued to survive, thanks to its appropriation, redefinition, and metaphorization, in what became Christian mysticism. The
"objective" vocabulary of esotericism was transformed into an
expression of "subjective," personal experiences of illumina- tion and mystic unity. The former emphasis upon knowledge was replaced by a concern with soteriology; the "sage" was
effectively supplanted by the "saint." Interested readers will mull the provocative suggestions and
assertions contained in this comprehensive agenda. Stroumsa, generally speaking, mounts a convincing exposition of his basic thesis. The present reviewer would agree that esotericism-in the sense of a restrictive, private oral exposition of written
scriptures that is handed down from teacher to student-does
play a demonstrable role in the earliest layers of Christian lit- erature: the very concept of an "apostolic succession," and the latter's social significance in the formation of early Christian
communities, would be otherwise meaningless. Such teachings probably undergird the production of the many surviving apo- cryphal gospels, acts, and apocalypses. Once scribalized, they in turn augment and reinforce the authority of the group pos- sessing them, while simultaneously encouraging the growth of new oral traditions for self-elucidation. But I disagree with Stroumsa regarding a posited ossification of interpretive tradi- tions in "gnostic myth." The exegetical traditions are certainly there, remythologized, but they in turn now become the focus of expository attention by subsequent generations of tradents. One need only point to the growing evidence for the continuing vitality of gnostic mythemes within the biblically based reli-
gions long after the supposed demise of so-called classical
gnosticism; such longevity would seem to require the existence of a living (esoteric?) interpretive tradition.
JOHN C. REEVES
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHARLOTTE
interpretation accompanying the transmission of Christian doc- trines during the first four centuries of the Common Era. This tradition was predominantly oral in form, and the mode of its
expression was carefully guarded, although some echoes rever- berate in the extant apocryphal apocalypses and revelatory dis- courses-"secret" books-produced among certain Christian
groups. This esoteric dimension within nascent Christianity was firmly rooted in the apocalyptic and visionary milieu of
first-century Judaism. These secret traditions moreover were
adopted and further developed and enriched by gnostic circles, wherein they formed the basis of a distinctive "gnostic mythol- ogy." A reaction against Christian esotericism ensued, resulting in the eventual disappearance of this dimension as an active force from classical Christianity by the fifth century. Neverthe- less the language and mythemic lexicon of Christian esotericism continued to survive, thanks to its appropriation, redefinition, and metaphorization, in what became Christian mysticism. The
"objective" vocabulary of esotericism was transformed into an
expression of "subjective," personal experiences of illumina- tion and mystic unity. The former emphasis upon knowledge was replaced by a concern with soteriology; the "sage" was
effectively supplanted by the "saint." Interested readers will mull the provocative suggestions and
assertions contained in this comprehensive agenda. Stroumsa, generally speaking, mounts a convincing exposition of his basic thesis. The present reviewer would agree that esotericism-in the sense of a restrictive, private oral exposition of written
scriptures that is handed down from teacher to student-does
play a demonstrable role in the earliest layers of Christian lit- erature: the very concept of an "apostolic succession," and the latter's social significance in the formation of early Christian
communities, would be otherwise meaningless. Such teachings probably undergird the production of the many surviving apo- cryphal gospels, acts, and apocalypses. Once scribalized, they in turn augment and reinforce the authority of the group pos- sessing them, while simultaneously encouraging the growth of new oral traditions for self-elucidation. But I disagree with Stroumsa regarding a posited ossification of interpretive tradi- tions in "gnostic myth." The exegetical traditions are certainly there, remythologized, but they in turn now become the focus of expository attention by subsequent generations of tradents. One need only point to the growing evidence for the continuing vitality of gnostic mythemes within the biblically based reli-
gions long after the supposed demise of so-called classical
gnosticism; such longevity would seem to require the existence of a living (esoteric?) interpretive tradition.
JOHN C. REEVES
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHARLOTTE
548 548
This content downloaded from 185.44.77.82 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 06:58:07 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
