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The Bible and Ancient Mesopotamia
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The Bible and Ancient Mesopotamia

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Humanities/Philosophies".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2025) | Viewed by 5974

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Robin Baker

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. School of History, Archaeology and Philosophy, University of Winchester, Winchester SO22 4NR, UK
2. Fellow of University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
3. Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B9, Canada
Interests: biblical textuality; assyriology; the Bible (Hebrew Bible and New Testament) and ancient Mesopotamia; ancient esotericism

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

I am delighted to announce the call for papers for a Special Issue of Religions devoted to the subject of “The Bible and Ancient Mesopotamia”.

In a paper published in 1987, Moshe Yitzhaki presented a citation analysis of scholarly publications issued between 1920 and 1980 to gauge the degree of cross-fertilization between biblical and ancient Near Eastern studies. His data show that it was surprisingly modest. In the past four decades, however, the landscape has changed dramatically. One of the most vibrant fields of current biblical research is investigation of the relationships between Sumerian, Babylonian, and Assyrian theological speculation and literary and scientific practice together with Hebrew biblical textuality, including the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. Alongside this focus on the biblical text, scholars have probed how Mesopotamian culture affected Judean modes of intellectual enquiry and the worldview that they produced. In the era of the Mesopotamian domination of Syro-Palestine, and particularly during the exile, Judean intellectuals—the scribal community—were exposed to Mesopotamian epistemology. This research is currently bringing to light the breadth, depth, and character of its impact.

By marked contrast, the impact of Mesopotamian theological conceptions and rhetorical devices on the writers of the New Testament has received little attention. Generally, New Testament commentators have focused on the corpus’s relationship with Graeco-Roman and Second Temple Jewish material. However, recognition is growing of the fact that substantial portions of the New Testament display an imprint of ideas that originated beyond the Roman Empire’s eastern borders. This is a field ripe for extensive investigation.

We are therefore pleased to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue. Its aims are as follows:

  1. To showcase leading-edge research on the relationship of the biblical record, predominantly the Hebrew Bible but also including the New Testament, apocryphal and pseudepigraphic writings, and the Dead Sea Scrolls, with ancient Mesopotamia.
  2. To disseminate this research rapidly to a wide readership.

In line with the journal’s focus, papers are invited that examine this comparative topic of the transmission of ideas in the ancient Near East through one or more of the following lenses: theology, religion and literature, religion and linguistics, religion and science, religion and art, the role of religion in culture and society, and the history and ideology of religions.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200–300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editor (robin.baker@winchester.ac.uk) or to the Editorial Office of Religions (religions@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editor for the purpose of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

Deadline for abstract submission: 30 June 2023

Deadline for full manuscript submission: 15 December 2024

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Robin Baker
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Sumer
  • Babylon
  • Assyria
  • Hebrew Bible
  • New Testament
  • Apocrypha
  • Pseudepigrapha
  • Dead Sea Scrolls
  • comparative religion
  • religious transmission in the ancient Near East

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 274 KiB  
Article
Marking Nations Around New Jerusalem: The Mental Map of Ezekiel in the Babylonian Context
by Selim Ferruh Adalı
Religions 2025, 16(5), 648; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050648 - 20 May 2025
Viewed by 194
Abstract
The present study looks at how gentilics, usually attested in traditional biblical topoi from the Pentateuch, are re-contextualized in Ezekiel to provide a mental map of the peoples of the known Earth during the Exilic period. The basic constituents of Ezekiel’s mental map [...] Read more.
The present study looks at how gentilics, usually attested in traditional biblical topoi from the Pentateuch, are re-contextualized in Ezekiel to provide a mental map of the peoples of the known Earth during the Exilic period. The basic constituents of Ezekiel’s mental map of foreign peoples recall some of the configurations known from the Babylonian mental map tradition. One known iteration of the latter is the Babylonian World Map (BM 92687). The document presents several interesting features as to how mental maps are formed in the Babylonian context. Its composition may date back to the late eighth century BCE. It is an iteration of the Babylonian mental map with a unique unmarked epicentre. Furthermore, it was probably impressed on clay on the occasion of a military campaign or itinerant work concerning specific toponyms in southern Babylonia. Finally, it was copied for scribal purposes in the Neo-Babylonian period. The present study proposes that these dynamics of the Babylonian mental map help understand Ezekiel’s mental map of foreign peoples. Aspects of Ezekiel’s mental map owe to an older Hebrew tradition partly known from the Pentateuch, although it is a unique iteration for Ezekiel’s oracles against the nations with historical references to the Exilic period. Jerusalem is the epicentre. Two main rings of foreign peoples encircle Jerusalem. The first circle comprises Judah’s neighbours from the east, south, west, and northwest. The second circle picks up from the northwest going up the coast, then south to Egypt, and finally east and northeast with Gog of Magog. Ezekiel concludes with the Temple Vision confirming Jerusalem’s central position. This case study implies that Ezekiel encountered and independently adapted aspects of the Mesopotamian mental map. Comparisons such as the one attempted here can illustrate the potential of ancient Near Eastern intertextuality and cultural hybridity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Bible and Ancient Mesopotamia)
18 pages, 1597 KiB  
Article
‘Spirits of the Dead’ or ‘Necromancers’? The eṭemmū in an Old Assyrian Letter Reinterpreted in Light of Hebrew ’ōbôt, yidde‘ōnîm, and ’iṭṭîm
by Alinda Damsma
Religions 2025, 16(5), 614; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050614 - 13 May 2025
Viewed by 253
Abstract
The Old Assyrian archive from Kanesh, dated to ca. 1950–1850 BCE, has yielded a letter that refers to the consultation of the spirits of the dead (eṭemmū), thus making it the world’s oldest actual attestation of necromancy. However, whereas the immediate [...] Read more.
The Old Assyrian archive from Kanesh, dated to ca. 1950–1850 BCE, has yielded a letter that refers to the consultation of the spirits of the dead (eṭemmū), thus making it the world’s oldest actual attestation of necromancy. However, whereas the immediate context mentions the šā’ilātum, ‘the women dream interpreters’, and the bāriātum, ‘the women omen interpreters’, a necromantic professional is lacking in relation to the questioning of the eṭemmū. Earlier studies have explained this discrepancy by suggesting that necromancy was part of the skill set of the aforementioned female professionals, or that the communication with the spirits happened directly, without the immediate involvement of a skilled specialist. The present article rather argues that the term eṭemmu, ‘spirit of the dead’, had a wider semantic range than hitherto held. In rare cases, it could also designate a necromancer. This proposal is supported by an identical semantic phenomenon in another ancient Semitic language. The biblical Hebrew terms ʼōbôt and yidde‘ōnîm not only refer to the spirits of the dead but also to necromancers. The same might be argued for the apparent Hebrew cognate of Akkadian eṭemmū, the hapax legomenon ’iṭṭîm in Isaiah 19:3. On the strength of the findings presented in this study, it is concluded that the fleeting blending of the spirit with the necromancer lies at the heart of this semantic merger. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Bible and Ancient Mesopotamia)
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12 pages, 342 KiB  
Article
New Evidence for Asherata/Asherah
by Richard S. Hess
Religions 2025, 16(4), 397; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16040397 - 21 Mar 2025
Viewed by 733
Abstract
This paper examines the appearance of published West Semitic spellings of the name of the deity commonly referred to as Asherah. In light of new evidence from the Bronze Age Amorite sources, as well as the complete publication of the inscriptions at Kuntillet [...] Read more.
This paper examines the appearance of published West Semitic spellings of the name of the deity commonly referred to as Asherah. In light of new evidence from the Bronze Age Amorite sources, as well as the complete publication of the inscriptions at Kuntillet ʿAjrud, a review of the analysis and discussion concerning the identification of the deity is undertaken. The purpose will be to ascertain the significance of the witness of epigraphic Hebrew texts at Kuntillet ʿAjrud and Khirbet el-Qom in light of earlier Bronze Age evidence, the biblical attestations, the conceptualization of deity, and the understanding of Iron Age epigraphic Hebrew spellings of the feminine singular suffix, as well as pronominal suffixes. The more complete availability of textual witnesses provides a foundation on which to argue the degree of continuity across more than a thousand years of the appearance of the deity in the West Semitic world. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Bible and Ancient Mesopotamia)
31 pages, 667 KiB  
Article
Thomas/Twin in the Fourth Gospel and the Gospel of Thomas: The Mesopotamian Background of an Early Christian Motif
by Robin Baker
Religions 2025, 16(2), 151; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16020151 - 28 Jan 2025
Viewed by 1342
Abstract
This study examines the Thomas/twin motif in the Gospels of John and Thomas, which plays a significant role in each. By analyzing the motif’s meaning, deployment, and development in the two Gospels against Mesopotamian models, this study brings a fresh perspective to [...] Read more.
This study examines the Thomas/twin motif in the Gospels of John and Thomas, which plays a significant role in each. By analyzing the motif’s meaning, deployment, and development in the two Gospels against Mesopotamian models, this study brings a fresh perspective to the much-debated topic of the Gospel of Thomas’s place of origin. This study demonstrates that Thomas betrays a knowledge of cuneiform polyvalence and argues that this corroborates the historical tradition that it originated in Mesopotamia. The findings also support the claim that the work is theologically sophisticated despite its disarming surface appearance. Similarly, Mesopotamian hermeneutics shed light on some enigmas of the Fourth Gospel’s symbolism, esotericism, and theology conveyed in the rhetorical and symbolic role of Thomas called Didymos. This study concludes that, in both Gospels, the figure of Thomas/twin is paradigmatic for every adherent of Jesus, but the Gospels have drawn on Mesopotamian sources in different ways. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Bible and Ancient Mesopotamia)
16 pages, 414 KiB  
Article
The Impact of the Assyrian Conquests on Judahite Society: The Social, Psychological, and Physical Contexts for Religious Development
by Avraham Faust
Religions 2025, 16(2), 120; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16020120 - 23 Jan 2025
Viewed by 1216
Abstract
Various scholars have noted Mesopotamian impact on various aspects of Israelite religious beliefs and practices and extrapolated from these on the broader nature of the relations between the regions. Indeed, no society is an island, and influences are inevitable, especially when a small, [...] Read more.
Various scholars have noted Mesopotamian impact on various aspects of Israelite religious beliefs and practices and extrapolated from these on the broader nature of the relations between the regions. Indeed, no society is an island, and influences are inevitable, especially when a small, peripheral society is in contact with a powerful center. Still, insufficient attention has been paid to the social and cultural contexts of the interaction, and studies have often extrapolated from examples that are exceptional. A systematic examination of the cultural and social reactions in Judah to the intensifying interaction with Assyria reveals that avoidance, subversion, and resistance were far more prevalent than emulation. The large-scale death and deportations that accompanied the destruction of sites and regions by the Assyrian armies in the last third of the 8th century (mostly outside Judah) resulted in an understanding that nothing was secure anymore, that complete kinship groups could be annihilated overnight, and that long-held traditions could simply vanish. This gave rise to a mentality of “life in the shadow of the bomb”, which explains many subsequent developments in Judah, providing the context for various religious changes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Bible and Ancient Mesopotamia)
12 pages, 588 KiB  
Article
The Story of the Watchers as a Counter Narrative: Enochic Responses to the Authority of Mesopotamian Sages
by Amar Annus
Religions 2024, 15(9), 1024; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15091024 - 23 Aug 2024
Viewed by 1410
Abstract
The extant texts of Enochic Judaism present accounts about the early history of humankind, which use the motifs familiar from the ancient Mesopotamian historiography. The different versions of the Jewish story of the Watchers originate as counter narratives about the antediluvian sages, or [...] Read more.
The extant texts of Enochic Judaism present accounts about the early history of humankind, which use the motifs familiar from the ancient Mesopotamian historiography. The different versions of the Jewish story of the Watchers originate as counter narratives about the antediluvian sages, or apkallus, which are known from the cuneiform literature. The myth of Adapa in Akkadian offers a version of the narrative in which the sage was promoted in heaven to a god-like status, which concept is corroborated with an entry in the cuneiform compendium Tintir and the Chronicle of the Esagila. This tradition also associated Adapa with the immortalized flood survivor. In the form of a counter narrative, the Enochic texts of Judaism attributed the heavenly assumption to Enoch and presented the Watchers as the demonic entities subordinated to him. The fall of the Watchers, the promotion of Enoch, and the primordial battle against evil forces are depicted in the Animal Apocalypse of 1 Enoch 85–90. A very similar scenario is found in the Chronicle of Esagila, which describes the early history of humankind from the Babylonian perspective. It can be demonstrated that the Animal Apocalypse uses this or a similar cuneiform historiographic source as the basis of its counter narrative. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Bible and Ancient Mesopotamia)
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