Prophecy in its ancient Near Eastern context: Mesopotamian, biblical, and

PROPHECY IN ITS ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN CONTEXT

SOCIETY OFBIBliCAL liTERATURE

JrlJZ' SYMPOSIUM SERIES

Christopher R.

~1atthews,

Editor

Number 13 PROPHECY IN ITS ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN CONTEXT MESOPOTAMJAS, BIBUCAl., AND ARABIAN PERSPECTIVES

edited by Manti Nissinen

Martti Nissinen, editor

PROPHECY IN ITS ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN CONTEXT MESOPOTAMIAN, BIBLICAL, AND ARABIAN PERSPECTIVES

Society of Biblical Literature Atlanta

PROPHECY IN ITS ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN CONTEXT MESOPOTAMIAN, BIBLICAL, AND ARABIAN PERSPECTIVES

edited by Martti \Iissinen Copyright © 2000 by the Society of Biblical Literature All rights reserved. :-.Jo part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form m hv any mpans, e)Petronic or mechanical. including photocopying and recording, OJ' by means of any information storage or r('(J'iC\·~!1 system, except ;is may be expressly permitted by the 11)76 Copyright Act or in "'Titing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed in writing to the Rights and Permissions Office, Society of Biblical Literatllre, 82;; Houston Mill Road, Atlant;t. GA 30333-0399, CSA.

Librdry of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Prophecy in its ancient Near Eastern context: Mesopotamian, hihlical, and Arahian perspectives ,/ \fartti Nissinen, editor.

p. CIlI. - (SHI. symposium spries ; no. I~) Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBr-; 0-8841+026-1 (pbk. : alk. paprr) 1. Prophecy-Comparative studies-Congresses. 2. l\liddle East-ReligionComparatiw studies-Congresses. T. :-.Jissinen, Marui. II. Symposium series (Society of Biblical Literature) ; no. 1'>. BL633.P75 2000

291.2'117-oc21

00-061927

OR 07 011 05 04 03 02 0 I 00 Prinled ill lhe U lIited Stales of America oil ;tcid-fret' paper ~

~

CONTENTS

PrcEICC

Vll

Abbreviations

IX

Part One STUDIES IN METHOD 1. Comparare neusse est? Ancient Israelite and Ancient Near Eastern Prophecy in a Compararjvc Perspective Hans :Yl. Barstad

3

2. Ancient Near Eastern Prophecy from an Anthropological Perspective l.est<~r L. (;m.bbe

13

3. Defining Prophecy and Prophetic Literature David L Petersen

33

Part Two STUDIES IN SOURCES 1. A Company of Prophets: Mari, Assyria, brad

47

Herbert B. Huffman

5. Mesopotamian Prophecy bel'ween Immanence and 'Transcendence: A Comparison of Old Babylonian and Neo-Assyri;m Prophecy Karl'i van dn' Toorn 6. The Socioreligiolls Role of the Martti Xissinen

~eo-Assyrian

71

Prophets

89

7. Arabian Prophecy Jaakko Hiimeen-Anttila

llS

Index of Ancient Documents

149

Index of Modern Authors (;ited

157

Con tri bu tors

161

PREFACE

It is cOlllmon kuowledge that the phenomenon called "prophec(-transmissioll of allegedly diville messages by a human intermediary to a third party-is well attested, not only in the Hebrew Bible, but also in a number of ancient Near Eastern sources from different times and places. Up to the present, the suhject has been difficult to study because of the virtual inaccessibili1)' of many important sOUln's. TocL1Y, however, the situation has changed. This is largely due to rcccllt cditioll~ of the two 1lI,~jor extrabiblical corpora of prophetic documents, the eighteenlh-century B.C.E. \etters from Mari by Jean.\{al-ie Durand (1988) and the seventh-ccntury B.C.E. Assyriall prophetic oracles by Simo Parpola (1997), which have made the sonrces available to all readers. Even biblical prophecy can now be examined, hetter than ('Vel' before, agaillst its ancient Near Eastern background. The seven rontributiollS collected in this volume are published to provide all readers \vith recent information abollt the poorly knmnl sources of anciem Near Eastern prophecy, and to open new vistas of research for spccialists-cuneiformist'; as well as scholars in hiblical and religious studies. The artides are based on papers read at sessions of the Prophecy in the Ancient 1\ea1' East Group at the Society of Biblical Literature International \-leeLing in Lahti, Finland, 011 July 21. 1999. The two sessions were the first within the Society of Biblical Literature dedicated specificallv to the study of ancient Near Eastern prophecy. The temporal and geographiGtl distributioll of the :sources examined in this book ranges from Mari of the eighteenth century B.LE., to the Hehrew Bible, to Assytia of the sevellth ('cntury lI.e.E., and to Arabian documents from the seventh century LE. The articles are written from manifold perspectives, including methodological, socioreligious, anthropological, as well as historical vie\\l1oints. The main concern of Part One is methodological; it concentrates nn comparative studies and prohlems of definition. HailS M. Barstad considers the benefit;; and limitations, in principle, of the comparative method in tlw study of prophecy, and Lester L Grabbe, using sources \'11

'nil

P1f/aCf

frolll ancient and modern times, illustrates prophecy as an anthropological phenomenon. David L. Petersen critiques current definitions of prophecy, emphasizing the transmissive nature of prophetic activit), rather than the personal or societal qualities of the prophets. Part '1\\10 discllsses sources of prophecy fmm different periods. Herbert B. llufflllon SllIyeys the parallel and conflicting aspecL" of prophecv and prophets ill sources from l\1ari. Assyria, and the Hebrew Bible. Karel van del' Toorn uses the prophetic sources from Mari and A~S)Tia to demonstrate the theological differences between them. My own essay presents Neo-Assyrian sources that illuminate relations bern'een the Assyrian prophets and the goddess EtaI', the king of A<;syria, and the diviners. Jaakko Hamecn-Antlila deals with pre-Islamic and early Islamic attitudes to prophecy and the development of Arabian prophecy into the orthodox Islamic doctrine that regards Muhammad as the sole prophet. It is my pleasant duty to thank all the authors for their contributions, tl1<' interested audience of the Lahti sessions for proposing publication of the papers, as well as Greg Glover, Dil"ector of Puhlishing for SBL, and Rex D. \1atthews and Christopher R. Matthews, editors of the SBL Symposium Series, for their kind cooperation. Special thanks are due to my friendJuhana Saukkonen for his able and accurate work in preparing the manuscript for publishing. MARTn NlSSI!'\EN

HelsiIlki, Finland

ABBREVIATIONS

A.

Tahlet signature of texts from Man

AAA

Annals of Archaeology and Anthropology

ABD

.1nchor Bibl£ Dictionary. Edited by D. K Freedman. 6 vols.

New York, 1992

A.BL

Ass)Tian and Babylonian Letters Belonging to the Kouyur~jik Collpctions olthe Brili.,h Museum. Edited by R. F. Harper. 14 vols. Chicago, 1892-1914

A.cOr

A.eta orientalia

AfOB

Archiv fiir Orientforschung: Beiheft

•1NET

Ancient Near Eastern Tn:ts Relating to the Old Testament .

Edited by.J. B. Pritchard. 3d ed. Princeton, 1969 AOAl'

AJter Orient und Altes Testament

/10F

AltO'nentalische FO'rschungen

ARM

Archives royales de Mari

ATD

Das Altc

BCSMS

Bull£tin of the Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Sltufies

Bib

Biblira

BSOAS

Bulletin of the School of Oriental and Afn:wn Studies

HfiTL

\.\'. G. l.amhert, Bab,ifmian Wisdom Literature. Oxford, 1960

Bl

Biblische h.:itschrift

CAD

T(~stament

Deut'\ch

The Assyrian Dictifmary of the Oriental Institute of the Univer-

sity of Chicago. Chicago, 1956CBQ

Catholic Bibliml

Quarter~1J

ix

x

J1bbrn.'iatiolls

CRRAI

Comptes Rendu, Rencontre Assyriologique Intenlationalc

C1'

Cuneiflinn Ti'xts from Babylonian Tab{"ts in the British ;\!usfum

LM

C Buissicr, Dunmu:nls (l.H'Vril'lls Bouillol\, IWl4-1l'l99

D~

Di\ine name

ER

,d(llil~ £lUX prfsagl'l.

Paris:

The Encyrlopedia of Ri'li{!:io/l. Edited by ,\1. Eliade. ] 6 'loIs. ~ewYork,

1987

FLP

Tablets in the collectioll5 of the Free Library of Pennsylvania

G,-\G

\V. von Soden, Gnmd,iss del' akkadisdlell Grammatik. 2d ed. Rome, ] 969

HRf)

Hml'frColiins Rib!" Didimza,)'. Edited hy P. J. Achtemeier et (11. 2d ed. San Francisco, 1996

ICC

International Critical Commentm-y

JRT

Issues in Religion and Theology

f/'INESCU

Journal of the Aurinll Nan l;'astern Socidy of Columbia

(:nivn:sity lflOS

Journal 0fth" Amrrimn Or/mlal Socil'ly

JBL

Ja-umal of Biblical Lilnalul1'

.ICS

Journal of CUllei/orm Studies

.lEO!,

.laarbrri,-ht llOI1 hrl \!ooraziatisch-l\'rJ'jltisrh G/'7.ekclzaj) (Genoo(.\cli.ajl) Ex ont'nle lux

,f!\~'i)L

Journal oj Nor/huJ/'sl Semiti!' /'anglll1gt'\

jR'lS

Joul7lal

}50T

Joumalfor the Stud), of the OM Tl'stament

.JSOTSup

Journal for the Stud" of the Old Teslament: Supplemt'nt Series

KUB

KI'"i/srhrijtwkundJ?n aus Boghazkiii

0/ thl' Royal A.siatic Society

Abbreviations

lAS

Xl

Simo Pal-pola, IAters from ;ls~ynfln Scholars to the Kings Esarhadd<Jn and As.H1rhani/ml. Vois. 1-2. Kevelaer, Germany: Butzon & Bercker; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener, 1970-1983 E. Ebeling and E Ki:'cher, htrranJche KeiL\'rln~/ttexte (Jus Amu: Berlin, 19!):~

:M.

Tablet signature of text~ from Mari

MARl

Alan: Annales de reclwrches intnriisci/}linaires

MDP

xkII10ires de la Delegation ell Perse

At~L

Mutnialien z.um sUlfU'risdU!1l Lexilwn. Edited by Benno

I--aIl
VOI.l've{l('s assyriologiqu('s bmlf's I't ufilitaiTl's

NBL

:Vru('s Bibel-Lexikon. Edited by M. G()rg and B. Lang. Zllrich: Iknziger, 1997

OAC

Orientis antiqui collectio

ORO

Orbis biblicus et orientaJis

OECT

Oxford Editions of Cuneiform Texts

Or

Orirntalia (NS)

OTL

Old Ti.~staIllcIIt Library

PNA

The Pmsoflography f?/ t/t{' N('()-ll.l.lyriari Empim. Edited by Karen Radner. Helsinki: Neo-A"~;yrian Text Corpus Project, 1998-

PTMS

Pittsburgh Theological M:onograph Series

RA..

Revue Ii 'assyriologie et d 'arrhiologi(, orientalt'

RB

Rn.'W' bihlique

ReS

Jean-Malie Durand, "La religion en Siria durante la epoca de los reinos amoreos segtlll la documentacion de l'vlari." Pp. 127-5~13 in Mitologia y reliffi6n del antig'llo oriente, 2/1. Edited by P. Mander andJ.-M. Durand. Estudios Orientales 8. Sabaclell, Spain: AUSA, 1995

RHR

RevuE' dl' l'histoire des religions

Abhn>lIiatious

XII

RL4

Rmll.('xikon der Assyrio/Dgie. Edited by G. A. Barton. New

Haven, 1929 SAA.

State Archives of Assyria

SAAS

State Archives of A~syria Studies

SBLSBS

Society of Biblical Literature Sources for Biblical Study

SBLSymS

Society of Biblical Literature Symposium Series

SBLWAW

Society of Biblical Literature Writings from the Ancient World

SHANE

Studies in the History of rhe Ancient Near East

Sm

Tablets in the collections of the Blitish Museum

SS~

Studia semitica neerlandica

SmdOr

Studia orientalia (monographs and article collections)

T

l~tblel

TeL

Textes cuneiforITIt's. "tuStT dll Louvre

TCS

Texts from Cuneiform Sources

11)P

R. Labat, TraitI' aklwdien ti" diagnostics et prornostirs medimax. Paris: Academie Internationale d'Histoire des Sciences, 195)

1:,)51

John C. L. Gibson, Textbook of SY"ian Semitic Inscriptions. Vols. 1-3. Oxford: Clarendon, 1971-1982

UF

Ugarit..Forschlmgen

VAB

Vorderasiatische Bibliothek

VS

Vorderasiatische Schriftdenkmiiler

vr

v~tus

VTSup

Vetus Testamentum Supplements

lVO

Die

YOS

Yale Oriental Series, Texts

ZTK

'/Ritschri/t jiil' Theologif and Kirche

signature of texts from Mari

Testamentum

n·~:lt de~

Orients

Part One

STUDIES IN METHOD

1 Comparare necesse est? Ancient Israelite and Ancient Near Eastern Prophecy in a Comparative Perspective

Hans iH. Ban·tad BackgrOlUld Scholars have, during recent years, dated the Prophetical Bouks of t.lw Hebrew Bible later and laler. It has even been claimed that these texts are compositions from the Pel-sian period and have little to do with a histOlical prophetic movement in preexilic Israel. I Moreover, increasing prohlems in relating ancient texL~ to any external historical reality, due to. aIllong otlwr things. the collapse of historicism in the hU1l1allitie~ iII general, have made illllon: difficult to I1I
)SOl'Sllp :.!41; European Seminar in Historical Methodolob'1' I; Shellielcl: Shdlidd ;\cadt'mir Pn'5s, 1997:.,5\7-64. ~ Among the texts trIost widely lIsed for comparing biblical and ancient ;>';ear Eastern pl'Ophecy are those from ancient ;vlari, J\'eo-Ass\'I'ian texLS. anel a few West Semitic texts. The Mari prophetic texts alT accessibk in j.-.\1. Durand. A1'(hivf~' 1n.l'(nlaires de Mm? 1/1 (ARM 26; Paris: Editions Recherche SlIl' Ie, Civilisations. 1988). Ttw hibliography on Ma,-i propllf'cy is enormous ,1I10 cannot be prmioed here. FOI' a COtllplete bibliography 011 Mari. see J-G. Heintz, Bililiogm/lhir til' Mari-An-ht;(){ogif' t'! 1Pxtes (l<J}}--1988) (Travallx elu C;ruupe dt' Recherches el l\'Etucles SeIllili4ues Anciennes [GRESA J, {fnivcrsiH' oC's Seienres HllIllaines de Slrasbollrg 3; Wie,;.. lialit'n: Han
3

4

Pro'phecy in Its Ancient :Vear l~'ast('m Context

The "popularity" of comparative studies has, as we know, varied over the years. Given the present situation in prophetic research, however, we must reckon it possible that we will see growing interest in comparative studies, at least in this particular field. For this reason, it seems worthwhile to reflect on some of the problems we may t~n­ counter in comparative studies of biblical prophetic texts. This essay can hardly address the matter in detail; other restraints have to be considered. For instance, it is possible to chardctetize all human activity, in one way or another, as "comparative." There are, consequently, no limitations to what we may put into the somewhat imprecise category, "comparative studies." This statement also applies when we keep strictly to biblical .md. ancielll Near Eastern "prophetic" texts. Even if we refrain from becoming too philosophical-which may easily happen-the word. "comparative" brings to mind. linguistic, literary, histolico-religious, anthropological, and psychological associathor: "Suppk'nwnt J (1989-1990)," Akkadim 77 (1992): 1-37; "Supplement II (1991-1992)-Addenda & Corrigenda: Editioll du 31 Dec. 1992: J\kkadica 81 (199:1): 1-22; \'lith the collahoration of D. Bodi and L. Millot: "Bibliographic de Mari: Supplement III (1992-1993)." Akkadim 86 (1994): 1-23; "Supplement IV (1993-1994)-Addenda & Corrigenda: Edition du 31 Dec. 1994," A.kkadira 9] (1995): 1-22. For the Neo-Assyrian prophetic text;;. see 111e edition by S. Parpola. lhsvriarl Prophe(u's (SA.\ 9: Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. 1997), and the accompanying study by M. Nissinen, IlF(erenres to Prophecy in NPf}AI~yrian SOltYCPf (SA-AS 7; Helsinki: :>leo-Assyrian Tt'xl CO'1)US Project. 1(98). "Prophetic textsfrom other ancient Near Fasten! cultures an: discLlssed in several scholarly cono'ibutions of vall';ng quality. All excellent work (with bibliography) is M. Weippert, "Aspekte israelitischef Prophetie im Lichte verwaudler Erscheinllngen dcs Alten Ot;ents," in Ad />t-ne el jidelitf'r seminandwn: pf'stgabe fur Karlhl'irlJ. Ddler (ed. G, Maller and U. Magel); AOAT 220; Kevelaer, Germany: BUtLOI1 & Bercker; Neukirchen\1uyn: NeukilThener. 1988), 287-319. See also B. Margalit, "l\;inth-Century Israelite Prophecy in the Light of Contemporary NWSClllitic Epigraphs," in '''''nd Mosp srhril'b dif'ses Lipd auf': Slwlim ZUff/ Alii'll 'J,'slalfw'It /tlld ZWII A/tf'1! Onml, l'fstsrhrifi Fir Oswald roret~ (ed. 1>.t Dietrich ,mei 1. Kotlsieper; AOAT 2:'0; l\·lllllster: t'garit-Verlag, 1998), 51 r)-32. Useful is Omcles l'I pmI'M/ie, dans l'antlquitt': Art!!" rill Colloque de Slms""urg, 15·~17 juin 1995 (t>d. J·G, Heintz; Travaux du CellLn:- de Recherche sur Ie Proche-Orient et la Gree€' antiques 15: Paris: De BOt'card, 1997). Still lacking is a synthesis of West Semitic prophecy similar 10 the excellent study by S. B. Parker, Stories in SoitJ/ure and Insoipllons: Comparative Studies on Nan-alil!es in NorthulI-'s! Snniti, {Tl.lrriptiotis and th" Hebrew Bible (New York: Oxford {l n iwrsity Press. 1997). Many observatiol1;' ill Parker's book, however, relate to prophccy. Relutt,d as· pecL~ are dealt with in A, Jeffers. l\-fllglt (lI/li /)illina/io1l ill Aruienl l'al./'stinl' I/nd Syria (Studies in the History and CUltllH' of the Anciell! NC
C·o·mparare

nf~[P,SSe

pst? f\ncient Israelite and

J\N~~

Prophecy

!)

tions. The literature in these fields is so vast and vaIied thal it be(:omes nonsensical to refer to it in the present context. Instead, I ask a simple question: In what way(s) may reading "prophetic" texts from the ancient Near East be of value in our attempts to better understand biblical prophecy? Since my ambitions are fairly modest, I will nOI attempt an answer. I merely look at some of the problems connected vrith the question. In my view, the best starting point is to look at recent publications.

Taxonomy A multitude of books and artides, in vanous lan!,TJ.Iages, addres,'i comparative studies and the Hebrew Bible. Nevertheless, relatively few deal with problems of comparison in biblical research in a methodological and theoretical manner. 4 When forced to do so we may divide comparative studies into two main groups. There is nothing original in this, and similar divisions have heen madt> by other scholars.·~ Thus, we may dassify comparative studies as "historjcal,~ lor lack of a better word, or as "typological," -1 A selection includes S. Talmon, "The 'Comparative Method' in Biblical Interpretation: Principle5 and Problems: in Congress Vorum<>, Gotlingnl, 1977 (VTSup 29; Leiden: Brill, 1978). 320-56; M. Malul, 171<> Comparative lvlethod m Ancient lliear E.asttTrt and Biblical Lt'gal Studies (AOAT 227; Kevdaer, Gennany: BUUOT! & BeH:ker; Neukil'chen-Vluyn: NeukirchentT, 199()) , 1-7S and passim; T. LOllgman III. Firtimwl Akkadian Autobiogmt,hy: A Generir and ComtJarative Stud, (Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns. 19(1).22-36; S. L. Liebennan. ";\rc Biblical P;lI'allels Euclidean'" Maarav8 (1992): 81-94; K.. van der Toorn. ·Parallels in Biblical Research: Purposes of Comparison," in The BiMe and Its H'c>rid (division A of ProCt'f'dings of the Elevf'1Ith Gmgress oj Jewish Studie,,; Jemsalem: 'World Union of Jewish Studies, 1994). 1-8: F. B!l~spf1ug and F. Dunand. eds .. I.e comparali.llne f'1I histoiTe des religions: iletes du Col{mIne intematuJ7lale d" SlrasbouT{!;, 18-20 septembre 1996 (P"ris: Cerf, 19(7). l'Vkntioll should also he made of the scytTal book." resulting from seminars directed by W. W. Ballo: C. D. Evans, W. W. Hallo. andJ B. White. cds .. ScrijJ/ure in (;(I7II1:xl: Eua),.1' U7/ the Cumparativ!' !H"tliud (l'T;"'1S 34: Pittsburgh: l'ickwi<:k. 1980): W. W. Hallo.J C. Moyer, and L. G. Perdue, "ds., Scripture in Context II: MOTe Essays on the Com/'amtil.Y' J·11:lhod (Winona Lake. Ind.: Eisenbrauns. 198:3): W. \\!. Ballo, B. W. Jones. and G. L. Mattingly. eds., nIl' Bibl<> in the Li"ht oj CUl1eijrmn Litemlure: Srripturr ill Cantt'xl lIJ (Ancient Near Eastern Texts and Studies 8: Lewiston, N.Y.: 1...1"lIen, 1990); K. L. Younger, W. W. Hallo, and B. F. Bano. cds., 1111' 8iblimi Canon ill Comp"raliv<' l'enpective: Scripture in Context IV (Ancient :\("ar Eastern Text.s and Studies II: I.("",islun. N.Y.: :'VIellell, 1991). ~ There are wany other ways in whil:h one lIIay distinguish among comparative approaches. See. for instance, the use of the tClTllinology "limited" and "unlimited comparison" in J. G, Platvoet. Comparing Reli{!jons, II Limita(i.!f Appma(h: All Allal~'-

6

Prophecy in Us .4ncimt Near Eastern Cmltext

which the 'ea
Comparam rteresse est? Ancien t Israeli Ie and

A~E

Prophecy

7

quire extreme measures. In the context of the ancient world, this includes human sacrifice. We know of a similar instance from ancient China, in which human saClifice was required when a severe drought had lasted for seven years.'l In theJephthah story, then, we find several examples of what we call "typological" similarities. In view of the distinction just made, when scholars compare the Hebrew pr()phel~ and, for example, divinato)'y practices of modern, traditional societies, 10 these comparisons are termed "typological." Comparisons between ancient Israelite and ancient 1\:ear Eastern prophetic texl" have, for the most part, been of a "historical~' kind. With the increasillg interest in the social sciences in biblical studies, we will undoubtedly witness an increase in typological compmisons. \ I Some scholars of a more historical disposition bdieve that t}vo1ogical comparisons are less important, or less "tme," and that little may be g-ained from them. Clearly this is not the case. T)pologica\ comparisons are simply different. There are, however, some problems involved. It may sometimes be very difficult, jf not impossible. to decide whether a parallel phellomenon in two different but historically related cultures should be classitied as "historical" or "tYVological." The categories in such cases may have to be combined. \\Then we do find interesting similarities in closely related cultural systems, the similarities may result from how humans, as mentioned above. behave in similar manners in similar situations. R D. Baird. CalegolY F'ormatioll and th" fits/my o/Rf'ligiort (2<1 cd.: History and RC";lson 1; Berlin; Mouton de Gruyter, 1991), 3f)-'~6. 9 S. Allen. "Drought. 1·{lIman Sacritice. and the Mandate of Heaven in a Lost Text f!"Om Shang 81m," BSOAS 47 (1984): 523-39. IIi Examples of, and references to. sHch comparisons appear in R. R. Wilson. Pmphec'i and Socifty ill Alwent fmll'l (Philadelphia: Furuess Press, 1980); Snneia 21

(cd. R. C. Culley and T W. Overholt; theme. "Alllhropo\ogical Perspectives on 010 Testanwnt Prophecy") (1982); 1'. \V. Ovnholt, Chanru-L~ vI Prophecy: The S{)f:ial /))nmn/I's (!f Pyophetir Al"lilli(y (Minneapolis: Fllnress Press, 1989); ) .. L. Grahhe, Prips!." I'm/JMls, Divinf'l'S, Sagrs: A Soria-hisionml Study of Rf'lip;ious Specialists in Anril'l1t Israel (Valley For~e. Pa.: Tlinity Press International, 199')). For empha~is on divination and power. see]. N. Bremmn, "Prophets, Seers, and Politics in Greece. Israel. and Early Modern Europe." Numerl 10 (199~): 150-8~. II /\-' D. Fit'Jlsy has reminded liS ("Using the NllI'r ClIltlln' of Ah·ica ill Cllderstanding the Old Testament: An EvaluatlOlI:'I~OT38 [1987]: 73): "Both Old Testament specialists and anthropologists have ill sollie way or other compared the Old Testament Wilh primitive cultures {<.)[' at kaSI 200 years:' hensy is taking this information from the useful survcy by J. W. Rog{TSOn, Anthmpolo{;y ami the Old '[»s. (amnii (Growing Points in Theology; Oxford: BI'Kkwcll. 1978).

,Ill

Pmphpcy in Its A nfiml Near HastfTn (;ontfxt

Method When we turn to the more practical side. everyone would agree that sound method is vital for the success of comparative approaches. Yet I do not believe it possible to follow some scholars, who claim that \ve need a set of rules to guide comparative studies.1~ Each scholar needs to work out how to proceed. Method in comparative studies is no different from method in other fields of biblical study, for instance in exegesis; what is needed is craftsmanship and good judgmen t. There are some principles on which we may all agree. Obviously, there should be a reasoll for lllakiIlg comparisoIls. \-\le IlO IOIlger Ileed comparative studies of the "Frazcr-l;aster lype."l~ MallY years ago, Ringgren wrole: "All too oftell. research ill this area has turIled iIlto a kind of 'parallel hunting': the endeavor has been to find extra-biblical parallels for biblical ideas or customs-and as soon as such a parallel is found, all problems seem to be solved: the parallel is there, what more do we need?"14 These are vv'isc words, but are they easy to put into practice? Ha~ thele been a revolution ill biblical studies siIlt:e others before and after Ringgrcn issued similar appeals? I think !lOt. It is, for instance, clear that many recent works do not movc beyond the mention that similarities between texts exist, I-efcrring to the similarities briefly. Such short surveys of textual parallels may be useful when we regard them as exactly that: useful surveys. We should not, however, confuse such "lists" '\li.th comparative studies. Along the same lines, we find scholarly cOlltriblltjons that arc t~lr

I"

12 See, for instance, Talmon. '"'Compardtive Method,'" 356. 1:, The reference is to the aftermath of Sir James Fra:ler's The C,oidrn Bough: it Studv in lHagic (md Religion (12 vols.; London: Macmillan. 1890-1915). I am not con~ideling that genre known as "Ancienl Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Te~talllellt: EWII if ,lIeh tomes usually han~ more to do Wilh the saks of publishing houses than with cOlllparative studies, it is not lIecessal'~ to disapprove of the genre, asJ. M. &.\sson does ("Oil Relating 'Religious "lexls' to the Old Testament." }\.faarav 3 1982J: 217-25). In my \'iew. such collections are lIseful according to the quality of the indi,idual works. A IJseful addition to this well-known literary genre is Canonical Compositions from the Biblical World (vol. 1 of The Context o[Srriptnrr; ed. W. W. Hallo and K 1,. Younger: Leiden: Brill. 1997). scheduled to appear in two volumes, j., H. Ringgrcu, -nl(' IllJP~(t of till' Ancient Near East on Isr.u;litc'1hdition,"' in Tradition and Tlumlop:y in fhp O{dli-stamf'nl (ed. D. A. Knight; Philad(~lphia: ForLress Press, 197i). 31-46, at 32. 15 Ringgrcn himself falls within this category when he gives scattered references to "prophecy" in Egypt. Fbla, Mari, Uruk, Assyria, Bahylonia, L"g;irit, Phoenicia.

r

Comparare necesst' est? Ancient Israelite and ANE Prophecy

9

more exhaustive. and that seem intended as comparative studies. W. Fauth, in a recent study,J6 gives a learned, useful. and thorough treatment of Hittite divination before he describes divination in the historical books of the Hebrew Bible, listing many interesting examples. There is, however, no real attempt to compare the Hittite and the biblical texts. li Fauth's work contains two entirely different studies on two quite distinct topics, both vny useful, and both lacking a comparative perspective. Fauth's view on Israelite prophecy appears to be strongly influenced by the works of Georg Fohrer. which raises another problem in comparative studies. When we comp,ue biblical "prophecy" with "prophecy" in other texts or cultures it is always ollr own views of prophecy that we compare, The quality of these views may vary, to say the least. For instance. being an expert on biblical prophecy does not necessarily imply expertise on Mesopotamian matters, Even if we are experts, we have to consider that, <1.5 in most scholarly fields, t.here appears to be little consensus in prophetic studies. For example, two methodologically sound studies in the historical comparative category are those by Noort on Mari prophecy18 and by Shupak on Egyptian prophecy. 19 Even though Aram, Moab, and Deir 'Alia. hut fails to make 1\10re out of these references. See H. Ringgren, "Prophec)' in the Ancient r\ear East," in israrE Projlhetir Tradition: t.'s, sms in Honour of Peter R. Ackroyd (ed. R. Coggins, A. Phillips, and M. Knibb: Cambridge: C;ulliJridge tTniversity Press. 1982). I-II. Another example would be the article by A. Lemaire. "Le5 gmupes prophetiques r\7oW Pamllels (1"11>' hm/("(J·Finnish Syml'u.liwn. lO.. llth NOll. jf.J90. lite Finnish Ilistitute, ['anI) (SludOr 70; Helsinki: Finnish Ori· ental Society. 1~i:~). 39-5:', Lemaire comments hriefly on "prophecy" in l'vlari. AssYI'ia. Phoenicia, Ammon, Moab, and Aral1l. and in the Old Testament, New Testament., and early Judaism, hut does not compare the different groups, 16 'vV. Fauth. "Hetllitischt: Beschw()rungsp,"iesterinnen-israelitische Propheten: Differente Ph:"inotypen mag-iselIn Religiositi-it ill Vonkrasien," in Dieui(h ano Koltsieper. ''l'nd Most .Idmrb din!') Linl auf," 21'19-318. 1i I was left with similal feelings afterl'eading- Wilson's PmjJhny and SOf"iet} in ,411' (ient brad. III the chapter "Prophecv in the Aucient Near East," Wilson survey~ the phenomenon in :-"'!esopotarnia, Eb'Ypt, Palestine, and Syria in a fairly representative way. bas.,.d Oil secondarY sources. Since, however, no actual comparisons are made, I was a little astonished to read hi~ conclu,ion: "'nw evidenc.,. that we have been ahle 10 gkan from ancient Near Eastern sources indicates that intermediation in antifluity hao some of the same f"catlll'es t hal are attest("d in mo(\ern soci· eties" (133). III E. Noon, Unt"T!>lU:hungen Win Gotie,IJl'.ldleid in 1I1m"i: Die ";'tJfll"itm'/Jhl'iU'" in dn "ltteslam,'lItlichm Forse/wng (AOA1" 202: Kevelaer, Gellllany: Butzoll & Bucker: Neukirchen-vluvn: Neukirchener, 19771. 19 N. Shupak. "Egvptian 'Prophecy' 'and Biblical Prophecy: Did th.,. Phenomc'

10

Prophecy in Its A.ncient Nmr Eastern Contf'xt

a student of biblical prophecy for many years, I cannot say that I alv,:ays recognize the phenomenon of biblic,ll prophecy as conceived (likewise differently) by Noort or Shupak. I am not saying that I am right and they are wrong-that is not my point. But we have a problem when ~cholar A. and scholar B compare phenomenon }"to phenomenon Z, when they have widely difkrcnt views on what Yis. One cOllsequence is that, iII any comparative stlldy, one has to pay much lllore attention to what is being compared than has normally been the case. I end this shorl survey by introducing another vital problem in comparative studies, exemplified by a model study by a distinguished "comparativist," :\Iarui Nissincll, who has published several important studies 011 tbe subject. 20 Unfortunately, it is not possible to deal with his Ulany interesting conclusions in cielail.:!l I melltioI\ Dilly onl' example. In his 199~) article on the relevance of Neo-Assyrian prophecy fOI" Old Testament research, Nissinell identified many relevant similarities in the two corpora. In his conclusion, he notes that many examples in the :\eu-Assyrian prophetir texts have few parallels ill the Prophetic Books of the Hebrew Bihle (with the exception of Isa 40-~)5).:?~ The Historical Books and the book of Psalms, however, abound in interesting parallels. This conclusion is important not only for what it tells us about similarities between Neo-A'is)Tian prophetic text, and the Old Testament. It also has significant methodological implications. The method lIsed by Nissinen is purely literary. based 011 "genre" identification. He restricts himself, ill other words, to the illnon of Prophecy. in the Biblical Sense. [xiSl in Ancient Egypt?" .1EOL 31 (1989-1990): ;)--l(). 20 ]\"issincn, "Die Relevanz der neuassyrischen Prophetic fiir die alttestamentliche Forschung.·' in Afe.w/JOtamira-·.( :~ariliffl-Biblim: Festsell/if! .fill" Kurt /J,..rg:rho/ «('(I. M. Dietl"ich and O. Lort:"u: ADAT 232; K('veiatT, (;t:rmall~·: Butzon .'\: Ikrcker; Nf'llkirchen-Vlllyn: Ncukirchener. 1993).217-58. All important work IlY NissiIl('n 011 :\'eo-Assvlian prophecy, Rp/m'No'I (0 ProjJ/my. is cited ill II. :) abol·e. Set· aho bv the same author: ··Fabell(' Prophetic in IWlI;1SSITischer tlnd dcuteronomistischer lJarstellung." ill Das Dellieronolllium llnd st'irlt' (2ueriJl'::.iehungm (cd. T. \'eijola; Schriften der Finnischen Exegetischen Gesellschaft 62; Helsinki: Finnish Exegetical Society; G{)ltingen: Vandenho('ck .'\: Ruprecht. 1996). 172-95. Zl See, for instance. Nissinen, Hejnnlff'l 10 PmtJ/wfV. 1(;4: "In times of crisis the prophets enc()llr,~g('d the king with their words, proclaiming the love of the gods. paniclliarly that of IStal·, fOl the dhincly c/]()s('n king, and their Sllpport Jor his rightfi.1l undertakings. especiallv the military olles. But lheir wonh Wert' not rcpt-atec! ollly when the king"s lile or I uk ""s in dangel. they cuuld be leferred to ill peacehll time~ as well, if a political decisioll required a divinc authorization." 22 Nissinen, "Relevanl- der neuassyrisdlen Prophetic: 249.

,,1.

Comparare IlI!cess(' est? Ancient Israelite and ANF. Prophecy

11

lernal reality of the text when making his comparisons. This is vcry important. Some scholars have unclear or unconsciolls views Oil the relationship between the texts they read and extemal prophecy as a social and historical phenomenon. 23 R. P. Ca.rroll, in particular, has warned against this confusioIl, which appears most likely in sociological and anthropological HlOdcls,2,' It is essential that all comparisons 'lr start ii'om the literary leveL-') Only when this has beell done is it possible to proceed and, t:ventually, to reconstnlct prophecy as a historical phenomenon. Due to the nature of the sources and the highly stereotypical and cOll\'entionallanguage of ancient Near Eastern literary geHres, this attempt will often be more problematic than has hitherto been assumed.

23 A study like that of I{. van def Toorn. "Old Babylonian Prophecy between the Oral and the Written: JNSL 24 (1998): 34-70, is, for all its cxcellence, sometimes problematic Oil this point. Evell more problematic is the monograph by the samc author: Sin and Sanction in Israel and '''kwjJolamia: :\ CompamtiT'l' Study (SS:'-l 22: Asscn: Van COrnllTl. 198fi), ~4 R. P, Carroll, "Prophet\, and Society: in 11t!, World o/Awil'll! l.mud: Sv(irliog'l(al. AJllliwj;ologim{. (/lid i'oliliwl Pcnpt'dhll's 11::",1.\'.1 by Mrmbn.l 0/ thl' Sor;dy for Old TrslaIIINII Study) (ed. R E. Clcmellls; Cambridge: Cambridge Lnivc-rsity Press. I CJ89). 20:\-2[,.11 does not follow from Carroll's article that one should not I1se sociologic
I-·n.

2 Ancient Near Eastern Prophecy from an Anthropological Perspective Lester L. Grabbe With the first discoveries of prophetic material among the ancient Eastern texts, it was natural to compare them with the prophetic literature in the Hebrew Rible. This sort of compadson continues and will continue in the future, and rightly so. Yet one area that is potentially a rich source of comparative data on ancient Ncar Eastern prophecy has so far been neglected: social anthropolot,r), (often referred to in North America as cultural anthropology). The data from social anthropology have been applied to biblical prophecy, especially in recent years, but little attempt has been made to apply the social sciences to ancient Near Eastern prophecy.l I think this can be done ,vith mutual benefit to both disciplincs.~ My purpose is modest, since in a hrief essay one can only give an outline. I discuss methodological considerations and then illustrate the potential value of anthropological data with several examples. ~ear

I For purposes of this essay. I concentrate on t.he Mari material. mainly as collected in Jean-Marie Durand, Archives ipis/alair!'s dR Mari 1/ I (ARM 26; Paris: Editions Rt"chen:he sur les Civilisations, 1988). Further text.ual matet'ial appt"ars in Maria d(:Tong Ellis, "The Goddess Kititum Speaks to King Ibalpicl: Oracie Text~ flOm Ishchali," MARI5 (1987): 235--66. For the \leo-Assyrian prophecies, see SilllO Parpola, As.I)'1"i(/1/ Pn.phe("ies (SAA 9; Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. 1997). 2 For ill/ormation 011 the anthropological study of pl"ophe<:y. see Illy two stud· ies, Pries", Pmp'wt~, lJiIlirwl.l, Sage,,: A ,)ario-his/oriml Stud. a/Religi()us Sjm:iaii;t.I in :Incient Israel (Valley Forge, Pa.: Trinity Press International, 1995), esp. 95-98 and 186-92; ''The Social Setting of Early Jewish Apoca11'pticism." juunlalfar tlU' Stud, af the PSf'udePigrajJha 4 (1989): 27-47. See also Robert R. Wilson. Prophet) and SO<'ietv in (\nrim.! "Tad (Philadelphia: Forlres., Press, 1980),21-88, and Thomas W. 0\'eI"l101I, Pmjilln) in Cmss-Cultuml Pn:stiPrti,w: ;\ Sf"rllrrebook for Riblzral Rl'smrr111>r5 (sm $BS 17; :\llanta: Sch()br~ Press, 1986). A 1l1ll11ber of illdividu,t1 sllidie, are also cited ill the footnotes below.

Pm/Jhl'l)' ill Its ,1ncit'lli Nl'ar Eastern Cnntt'xt

Methodological Considerations It mllst. be remembered-though it is 100 often forgotten-that the use of sociology and anthropology in ollr discipline has one purpose only: to provirle a heuristic method.:> I\·lodcls derived from the social sciences are not data. bllt only a means of illterrop;ating the textual and other sources. TI1f'Y allow us to ~isk questions in a new way and t.hen to go back to the original sources, to see whether the questions can he answererl. Such models are themseh'cs the' result of interpretation; they arc not to be imposed on the familiar data but to be tested against it. There are always rlangers ill sHch a comparative exercise, anrl. to help avoid them, it has often been pointed 0111 lhat the first step is to compare systems rather than indivirlual points of difference. 1\\'0 details of separate cultures that seelll remarkahly similar may appear only t()rtuitously similar when each is studied as pal-t of a whole system. Different cultures may llIap reality in a differellt way, so that episorlic practices OJ' belief's become significallt Dilly when the total culture is takell into accoUlIl. The comparisoll of isolated l'xamples may giye mislearling results. Yet we should be careful about being too rigid. \\rays of vie\\ing the world are sometimes strikingly the same in detail, eyen when the cultural systems are diilt-rent. One example is the way the maternalllTlc1e is regarded ill a variety of cultures. l Wit.hout debating this particlllar argumellt., the observatioll iIIustrmes that certain cultural elements may be similar, even when the systems al-e different, awl that comparison of the isolaterl case is still justifierl. Nevertheless. the cultural system as a whole still needs to be considered, and the value of similarities at the level of details may be limited. The irnportant point is to be open to a wide range of suggestions about the dala, but to he rigorous in testing these queries. Ollt' of the first difIiculties in any cross-cultural comparison, in the 3 I already have djscus~ed lllethodological issucs in P1i('sts. PrOPhd.I, Divin;>n. Sages (11-19) and abo ill the al'licle, "Sup-llI'bs or Onl)' H)p-lIrbs) Prophets and Populations" in Evpry City Shall Bf' [«maken: l !rbanism and l'rol,/tl'l'i ill ,'\w:iml lsrad I1nd thl< ,"mr 1:'(1.,[ (ed. L. 1.. (:r;thhe and R. IIa01k; .JSOTSup: Shdlield: Shcffield Academic Pres", forthcomin!l:). I Rohert A. Oden,.JL, 'Jacob as Fathn, Husband. alId :\ephew: Kilbhip Studks and the Parl"ian:'hal :\an
ANt: Prophecy from an Anthropological Perspective

15

case of prophecy, is the social and cultural setting of the prophecies and prophets to be compared. The ancient Near Eastern prophecies ofMari were delivered in a state headed by a king. The extant prophecies are often associated with the king or even directed at him, 'with cOllrt figures such as the queen, scribes, priests and other temple personnel involved. The king is warned to be careful; he is encouraged by being told that he will defeat his enemies; he is scolded tI)r neglecting the deity who instif.,'ated the revelation. The prophetic revelation, which might be in the fOim of dreams or visions, frequently ('omes in the precincts of a temple. By contrast. the prophecies and prophetic figures known to the social anthropologists usually have a different context. Many prophets have arisen during or in the aftermath of a colonial situation and can be grouped with "protest" or "millenarian" or "nativistic" movemcnts. EYcn when prophecy was a native phenomenon, the data of how it functioned were often collected in the colonial or postcolonial situation, in which the native element had been modified or adapted. Then· was seldom a king. thoug'h there may have been a native leader or some son. even if not officially recognized by the colonial administralion. A significant problem in comparing ancient :';ear Eastern prophets with modern prophetic figures studied by anthropologists is in ha\ing the actual words of the prophetic messages. Although the Man text.~ often describe prophetic actions. both they and the other Near Eastern prophecies are characterized by using the words of the prophets themselves (see below on the question of ipsissima verba). Anthropological reports, on the other hand, often do not quote thc messages of the prophetic figures verbatim. Instead, we usually read a summary of what the prophet said and did, often with occasions and settings lumped together to describe all ongoing pattern rather than the exact words said on a specific occasion.:; This makes comparison of the messages in the t'l'm cultures more problematic. " Fortunatdy, Ihel'c are a few exceptions. Perhaps the best is given by R. (;. Willis ("]{;\swa; Oral Tradition of a Fipa Prophet," ilfrim 40 [1970]: 248-.56). Another S{)Ulce roughly con temporal), with a prophetic figure and quoting sOllie of his words appears in Jeremy Pernnenon's work ("The Historv of Simon Killlbangu, Prophet. by the Writers Ntinangani ami !l-:zungu. 1921: An Introduction and Au notated 'l\'anslation," jourmil of Rt'hgion in A/rim 23 [1993J; 194-2:31) and in Donald MacKay and Daniel NlOni-Nzinga ("Kimbangu's Interlocutor: Nyuvudi's :Vsamll c

Hi

Prophet) in Jt.1 A ncient Near Eastern Context

Despite the difficulties. it is possible to make useful comparisons between prophecies from the ancient Neal- East and anthropological studies. What follows are comparisons in a variety of areas. A~ already noted, many prophecies from the ancient Near East in some way relate to the' king. This is not surprising, giVe'Il the context ill which they were preserved. Prophecies about people of lower status or prophecies opposing the king were not likely to he preserved by slate scribes or in official archives. The prophetic material that modern scholars discovered was in official archives and reflects the interests of those who assembled the archives or who ordned the material archived.

Selected Examples Shamanum and Modes of Revelation The variOlls texts from Mesopotamia indicate a Humber of modes of revelation. Dreams of va rio liS sorts are a favorite means of recei';ing di,inc rncssages. ti A good example is the \fari text reporting a dream in the temple of Dagall by a lTIan named Malik-Dagan. 7 The message of the text, howev(T, apart from the framework of the dl-eam, does not differ from that of other Mari prophecies. Another example is the ,;ision of the apilum Qisti-Diritim, reported to Zimri-Lim through his wife Sibtu, although the broken text makes interpretation difficult.!! Although today we might ,,,ish to distinguish between a dream and a vision, it is ditficult to find dear ditkrentiation in the ancient sources. Recei\ing divine messages hy (Ireams and visions is also known in case studies compiled by social anthropologists. One example concems the American Indian figure known as the Delaware prophet (discussed in more detail below), who went on a journey and received a revelation. He insisted that it was an actual journey, but, from our perspective, some aspects look like visions. Another example is that of Handsome Lake, who foullded a religious movement (called Gai'wiiD, Miangullza [The SlOTY of the pmpheL~l." journal o/Reli{!;1on in Africa :~3 [1993J: 232-65), 6 In the ~lari texts. dreams are found in ARM 26 22,1-,10. See also Jack J\i1. Sasson, "MaTi Dreams," -"10.')' 10:1 ( 198,~): 2il')-93. 7 ARM 262:'.3; Sasson. "Mari Dreams," 200-01. 8 ,\R"v1 26 208. Set' Jack :vi. Sasson. "An Apocalyptic Vision from lvhtri? Speculations on ARM 109: lHMU 1 (l9t12): 1:>1-67; abo William L Moran, "New Evidence from Mari on the History of Prophecy: Bib [I() (1969): 15-56. esp. 50-52.

ANt: Prophecy from an Anthropological Perspective

17

~good word") in ahout J800 among the Seneca Indians of Ne",' York.9 He became very ill and was thought to have died, but he awoke suddenly and told of a vision which included a visit to the afterlife. This vision became the basis for his new religion. In some cases. the prophet seems to be the medium for a spirit's speech. This phenomenon has characteristics in common with figures knOVv'11 in other cultures as shamans and spilit lllt'diulllS. Unfortunately, the tenn "shaman" is popularly used in a Vvide variety of contexts in which, dUling an earlier, less politically correct age, "medicine man" or even <\~itch doctor" would have been used. Although specialists do not agree on a single definition, the rather loose usc of the . re('nl yt'ars ' h Ie. 10 IN·'evert IlC I ess. many anterm " S1laman ". 111 IS regrelta thropologists would accept that the "central idea of shamanism is to establish means of contact with the supernatural world by tht> ecstatic experience of a professional and inspired intermediary, the shaman."ll The sh;unan was first rt>cognizt>d as a constituent of Siberian hunting trihes, and the word "shaman" itself was borrowed from the lal1;! General accounts appear in Brian R. Wilson (lHagic and A'liltellnium: .4 Soci~ lugical Stud, of Religious Movem"ntJ of Prowsl among Tribal and Third, World PmplcJ [London: Heinemann, 1973]. :~87-97) and A. F. C. \-\lallace (The Death and Reln'rth of the Senem l ~ew York: Random House, 1969]). Original reports of this vision ap!war in A. C. Park!"r (nil' Code ofl1rwd.mme rake, the Sf'tlera Prophet [New York State ~luseul!I, Bulletin 16:-\; Albany: ~cw York Stale :V!useUIII. 191~]) alld A. F. C. VVaJ· lace ("Halliday Jackson's .Journal ((l the Selleca Indians. 1798-1800." PPnllsylvania l/is/ory 19 [1952J: 117-47, "25-49), Wallace has attcmpted to rrcoustrul"t the original vision from the various reports (Dealh and Rebirlh of the ScIlCW. 242-48). \0 ~lircea Eliade ha~ emphasized the technique of inducing a trance state (ecstasy) as the common feamr!' of shamanism (Shamani.lm: A.rrhair Tpchniquf'\ of fe· \(asy [Bollill)!;en Series 76; Princeton: Princeton University Press, 196·4J: Eliade et ,11.. "Shanunisrn," FR 13:201-2~~). However. he has been criticized for focusing on the hist{Jrv-okdigions aspect of the problem wilhoull'aying ad(~qu;J.le attention to the sociolog-ical featllres of shamanism (~ee Ale Hultkranu, "Ecological and Phenomenological Aspects (lfShamanism." in SIl/mum/slIt i1l Sib,..,ia leel. v. Di6szcgi and ~1. Hopp.il; Budapest: Akademiai Kiad6, 19781. 27-58, e",p. 30-31). II Hultkranlz, "Ecological and Phenomenological ,'\.spect_~ of Shamanism," 30. Recent bibliography on shamanism includes Di6szegi and Hoppal, Shamanism ill Silwria; CarE\1artill Edsman. ed., Studies ill Shamanism (Suipta Institllti Donneliani Ahot'nsis 1; Stockholm: Alrnqvist and Wiksdl, 19ti7): Julta PeutikiiiIlen. ed., Shamanism and ;\'ortlwm r.:w/ogy (Religiou and Society 'It); Berlin emel New 'York: Muuton c\e (-;ruyter. 1(96); Caroline Humphlel' with Crgungc Onon, Shaman> ilnd t~'{d('ls: Exprri£?IU'. Klllywll'figp, and Pmt'f>I among the D1I1I,. ,HoT/KOls (Oxford Studie~ in Social and Cultural Anthropology; Oxford: Clarendon, 1996).

iR

Pmphe(), in Its Ancient

;\1('(11" 1~·a.5lfm

Context

guage of one of these tribes, the Tungus. Although some would restI'ict the term to this specific context, to do so would ignore the anthropological l-ecognition that similar social phenomena may occur in different societies, Shamanism occllrs around the world but is restricted to particular societies. 1~ It is found mainly in Siberia and inner Asia, North AmeIica. and South America. Although found sporadiGilly elsewhere (Southeast Asia. Japan, Australia. Oceania), shamanism is not ubiquitous in premodern societies. nor should eveIl' prophetic figure or di"iner in traditional societies be called a shaman, The main characteristic of the shaman is that he or she is a master of spiriL.,. The shaman differs from a spirit medium in that the shamaII actively employs the spirits rather than serving as a passive vehicle for the spirit. Nevertheless, both shamans and spirit mediums have a good deal in common, and some aspecL<; of the Mesopotamian propheto; find parallels ill shamans and spirit mediums. From the Mali and Neo-A~syIian texts it appears that some-perhaps most-of the prophets were spirit mediums rather than shamans in the dassic sense. Bolh the iipilum and mUhllltm appeal- in many rases to have n~reived messages ilIvoluntarily. \Vhen prophets speak openly in a temple, this looks like spontaneous spirit possession: the spirit comes upon them, and they become a mouthpiece for the deity. I:, However, sometimes the prophetic figure simply delivers an oflicial message,14 while, Oil a few occasions, the king or official makes inquiry of tlw prophet J:j In the last two cases. ~ome prophets. especially those responding to questions. possibly were able to control the spirit.~ to obtain a message. If so, they would compare well v.ith the shamans of other cultures. \Ve should be careful, since the texts are not clear: some prophetic figures may have taken the initiative to seek out and take cbarge of spirits. The immediate impl'essioIl, though. is that the !t,·lari prophet.~ were mailIly spirit mediullIs,

Prophets in a Monarchic Context Few prophecies studied by social anthropologists relate to kings, because many were preserved in contexts relating to European c01oniza12 Eliade et al.. ·Shamanism'·; IIHltkrantL.. "Ecological and Phenomenological Aspects of ShamanisTll," 52-5'1. l~ A good example is ARt.I 26 21:1; d. also IIOS. 19:); 204: 21'1: 219: 237. H F..g., :-\Rtv126 197: 208; 221; 221-bis. 15 F..g., ARM 26199: 207; 212.

A:"JE Proplwcy from all ,\.nthropological Perspective

19

tion. III mallY cases, these prophecies appear in resistance to foreign domination, cultural influence, and imperialism. Nevertheless. a few relate to native kings and. more impOrL,l1t, others have useful parallels to prophecies directed at ancient )'.;ear Eastern kings. Olle example sharing characteristics with the ancient Near E;L~t.crn prophecies comes from the Kiganda religion of eastern AJi·ica. Hi in which two levels of prophecy corresponded to "state" and "community," or to mItT and the common people. The prophets of the national shrines were mainly concerned with prophesying for the king and a few senior officials;17 however. one figure managed to bridge the division between the people and the national shrines in the 19S0s and 1960s. u'; Kigaanira began as a di\'iner but experienced a call from the god of war, who was usually associated with the national s}u·ines. He prophesied restoration of the tJ'aditiollal king of Buganda, who had been exiled by the British colonial administration. The reason for the exile.' according to Kigaanira, was that the people had turned from their traditional gods and religion. If they repented, the king would return, which happened a few mollths later. Similar to Old Bahylonian and Nco-Assyrian prophecies, which relate to victory of the king over his enemies, many modem prophecies are set durillg military action. Even in different cultures, prophetic figures have pm\ided support for the political leader. 19 The data draw attention not on I;.: to what we know from Mari texts but also, signit1rantly, to thf' area,', where they prm.ide little or 110 informatioll. One well-documented example is the ShawlIce leader TecllIIltha and his prophet brother Tensk\...,atawa, who clashed witll the American . L ' }1 century.-"0 T1Je context .IS expanslOl1 westwarcI'III tile earI y nlneteent a bit different from that of the :'vlari prophets in that the prophetic movement bt~gan before military action, but it well illustrates what is missin!4 [rom our knowledge of the Mari propheL". vVhal helps is that Hi Peter Rigby. "Prophets, Diviners, and Prophelism: The Recent History of Kigallda Religion." journal ofAnthmpolOJ,.rical Research:H (1975): 116-48. ) 7 Ibid., 131. lR Ibid., 1~1:3-39. 19 Midl,leI Ada... pi ()vides a number of case studies from the Far r:ast (PIOPlll'/s of Rrhdlion: MillJ>lIaril.lll Pmle.'! Alo<wments agnimf Ihp j';llmlwan Colonial Ordrr [Studies ill Comparativp World History; Chapel Hill: University of :-';onJI Carolina Press; Cambridge: Call1h''idge t'niversity Pre~, 1979]). 20 James Mooney, The Ghost-Dancf RRli[!:ion and Ihe Sioux Oull>reak of 189(} (1896: repr., Lincoln: l'ni\'ersiry of Nebraska Press, 199]),670-91.

20

Prophecy in Its Anrient Near Eastt>m Context

we have some more or less contempora1l' accollnts of how Ten~ skwatawa became a prophet. In 1805, when tribes were being pushed west of the Ohio River and many Native Americans were succumbing to alcohol, a man who had been noteworthy mainly for stupidity and intoxication allllounced to friends and relatives that he had had a re\"~ elation. III the revelation, he had journeyed to the spirit world, at which he had been allowed to look but not to enter. The two young men who guided him gave him a message to take to his people, a mes~ sage that included the renunciation of alcohol; the eschewing of white men's clothing. powder, and shot, and even the use of flint and steel to make a fin~; alld marriag'c between whites and Indians, He adorned the name of T(~nskwalawa ("Open Door"). His fame and following spread over the ellsuing years, with many tribes agreeing to return to the "old ways." His influence was important when his brother Tecumtha began to unite the tribes in an alliance against the continued encroachments of white settlers. Tecumtha started to organize resistance by visiting the various tribes. bringing the tomahawk which, if accepted, served as a symbol of support in war. The story of military preparations and political negotiations shows Tecumtha's astuteness and remarkable leadership, but this is beyond our purpose, except to note that he first attempted to negotiate v.~th William Henry Harrison, governor of tlle Indiana Territory and later to hecome president, to have the Ohio River made the boundalY between white settlement and indian lands. During olle of Tecumtha's ,;isjt~ to the Creek Indiam of Alaballla. a chief accepted the tomahawk; however, T('cumtha judged that he was dissembling and stated: Yuu do not believe the (;reat Spirit has sent me, You shall know. J leave Tuckhabalchee directly, and sh •• 11 go straight to Dctroit. When I
After Tecumtha left, many natives were worried and convinced that something bad would happen. On the day fixed by Tecumtha's statement, there was a great rumbling. The people ran out of their houses, which were then shaken to the ",'Tound by the famous New Madrid "1 earthquakc.21

Ibid, 687,

ANF Prophecy ti-om an Anthropological Perspective

21

Tecumtha's preparations were short-circuited by his brothel- the prophet. '·\,11ile Tecumtha was away, Tenskwatawa declared war on the United States. Wl1en Govemor Harrison decided to challenge him, the prophet performed lites that he argued would render Indian forces immune to the American bullets. On this basis, his warriors fought ferociously and bravely, but when they ttmnd that his assurances wert'" llntnlc, they rehlsed to listen to him and abandoned his leadership. His brother Tecumtha returned to find his hard-won following in disarray and his cause lost.

Divine Assistance in Military Endeallors The promise of imIIlunity from the weapons of the enemy, as predicted by Tenskwatawa, is known from lIlallY modern prophets who have supported rebel movements. For example, in the late nineteenth century, a prophet named Rembe was active among the Lugbara of Uganda. ''\'hen the British took over in 1914. they received blame for outbreaks of various illnesses. Rembe dispensed a t}lJe of holy ",ater that, ostensibly, would lIot only protect the people from the human and cattle diseases, but would also ttlrn bullets into watCl'. Unfortunately, Rembe was captured and executed by the colonial administration in 1920. 22 Promises of protection against enemy weapons are also known in other contexts,~;\ such as Mari prophecy: Thus they (spoke): "A battle "ill not be fought. Right on alTiving his (lsmeDagan's) auxiliary troops wil.l be scattereci; furthermore, they will ell! off the head of Eme-Dagan and put (it) under tilt· fnot of my lord. Thus (my lord will say): 'The army of ISme-Dagan is large, and if! afrrivJe, will his auxiliary troops be scattered from him?' ... Hf'
Prophetic Lifestyle Another area in which social anthropology can be helpful is ill behavior and mode of life. Such aspects as the prophetic call, the mode of revelation, and the prophet's continuing life and acprophet~'

~2 Be'~jamin C. Ray, African H.£bgwm: Svmbol, Ritual, and Community (Englewood Cliffs, l'<J.: Prentice-Hall, 19i6). 114-15. :!:, Adas, Prophets RRbellirm; 1·47-59. 24 AR.>V{ 26 20i: 19-~6, translation fWIII \-lorall ("New Evidellt:e form Mari," 48). reading tiUimi in line 36. Durand translates somewhat differently because he reads {J,,/iini in line 36 (Archives, 436).

ot

Prophecy in Its A /lriell( Near Eastl'l'N Context tivilies have been documented in lIlalIY ditli.'rent societies. Sadly, there are few data on such points among the Mari prophets, although, in one area. we have some information. Prophets are frequently Ilott'd for their strange actions or strange way of life. Sometimes this behavior affects them after they are called by the deity but before they n:cognile their calling; it is lIot llllusual for such strange behavior to be the first signal that the deity has chosen that persoll. III most cases, we have no infonllation in cuneiform texts on the call of the pl'ophet~, but the prophetic reports of M:lIi sometimes desClibe behavior or dress in ways that suggest difftTences from other people. One of the most interesting reports is a lext desnibing a strallge symbolic act,~:') in which a fltuhhtan of Dagan cailed for food and was ),riVl'1I a lamb, which he ate raw. He assl'mbled the city cldtTS at. the gate and described the devoUl'ing of the lamb as a sign of pestilence. This is no more unusual than the ~ller prophet Ngundcng, who, during his prophetic call, spent weeks wandering the bush and eating nothing but tobacco. Hlud. grass, alld dung.~(i At til1les, he also spent long pCI"iods sitting Oil a pointe(l stake. The idea that the prophet has strange dress or habits is well-known from the hiblical prophets, including such figures as .John the Baptist. That Isaiah wandered the streets ofJerusalem naked (Isa 20) was. probably as strange to the city's inhabitant~ as eating raw lamh was to the city elders of Mari. There are lIIany examples of st.range behavior while the prophet is possessed Iw a spirit. For example, Venier Elwin describes all Indian ceremony to drive a tiger away after it had killed a man.~7 At one point the spirit of the lord of the animals, in the form of a medium, comes upon the father of the dead man, and the medium begins to growl and run around like a tiger, at one point seizing a chicken, te
thropology; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994). 78-82. 27 Vnrin Eh,in, The BlZi!{1Z (London: John Murray. 19:~9), 300-304. Elwin's

ANE Prophecy from an Anthropological Perspective

2~

Testing the Propheb' In a number of the prophetic reports from Mari, the person sending the report also sends a lock of the prophet's hair and a piece of cloth from the prophet's garment?' These items were to be tested by the normal process or extispifY to determine whether the prophet W'dS genuine. This would have been typifal, since it "'as customary to (011finn any oracle by seeking another oracle or by seeing whether the samt:~ message was received through another form of divination. 29 Although testing the prophet was, consequently, part of the regular .Mesopotamian inquiry into the future, it parallels the idea of not ac· cepting the prophetic word at hicl' ,·allle. The Bible mentions a number of criteria fiJI' assessing the genuinem:ss of a prophet or prophecy.:)o Ol1e of the most obvious is asking . '\1 whether the predicted event came to pass (Deut 18:21-22).. I cannot call to mind an example from anthropological study in which a prophet is tested by divinatory methods, but it is clear that fulfillment is a JlI~iol' dement in whether to helieYe or to continue belieying ill a prophetic figure. There are many examples in which the pJ'()phet's following disappeared when a Im~jor prediction failed to materialize; COllversely, skeptics came to accept the prophet's authority when a predicted event took place (e.g., the prediction of Tecumtha noted above). Since many prophets have helped organize or support military action, defeat in an important hattlc is usually sufficiellt to discredit them, at least in the eyes of many f()llowers (e.g., the failure of Tenskwatawa to protect his followers from the whitc soldiers' bullets). Prophetic testing is often carried out in prophetic conflict. .:\1though this might be slightly different from testing the validity of an book has not Iwen available to me, ,111d tht information here was gleaned from ex, tracts in Owrholt. ProphPl), in Cross-Cultural Pnspl'ctive. 233-57. ~R E.g" AR1\J 26 204; 2n: 237. See also John E Cragham, C.SS.R.. "The Al?M X 'Prophetic' Texts: TIlcir Media. Style, .md Structure," j;\!\1::~CU 6 (1974): 39-,",7. esp. ;)3-;)5. 2~1 See. e.g .. AR.\I 26 18~)-bis: 199; 207: 212. where confirrnatory prophetic me,,· sages are mentioned or sought. gO Sec Grabbe (Prie.I{.I. Pro/)hets, Divinns. Sagl's. ll3-15) for a summal), of these and also other criteria suggested hv modnTl scholars. As noted, lIIany of tlltse alt problematk--(>ven contradinOlv-when consiciered funher. :{ J As ",ill he ohviolls to lIlan~, this CI iterioll is not vel')' helpful since (a) many biblical pmphecie~ have not cOllle to pa~ and (b) prophetic filltlIlment is often said to be cOJltillgent on the response of the people (Jonah; Ezek 33:1-20).

24

PmphelJ in Its Anriell{ ;Vt?ar hlStrm COlltJ'xt

or<.tcle, such prophetiC" contests are an important means of determining whether people still believe in the prophet. Jeremiah exposes Hananiah as a false pl"Ophet when Jeremiah's prophecy of his death comes tme, while Hananiah's alleged prophecv that the people would returll from exile within two vears was shown false (lei 28). The l\'UCl" prophet Ngundeng sct variolls tests, often of a physical Ilature, fi:,r those claimillg to be prophets anrl coming to pnwe themselves against him.'l:! Ngundeng harl erected a huge earth mound about fifty feet high, with steep sirles. He was apparently able to run up to the top of this mounrl without faltering, and one of his challenges to rival propbets was to do the samc. Those who failerl the test became his sub-scryjents, slIch as the female prophet l\'yakollg B(ll~ who was set to grinding corn anrl given as a consort to one of Nglllldellg's followers when her power "disappeared into the mound" part of the way up.

Literary Prophecies So far Wt~ have been dealing with "real" prophecies, those uuered by prophetic tigures at a knoV'm time anrl place. Rut within cuneiform literature is a group of writings referrerl to as ;'prophecies," "apocalypses:' or, most recently, "predictive texts."~:\ Some of these writings (sllch as the l'ruk and Dynastic prophecies) contain ex eventu. prophecies anrl remind one of apocalyptic writings such as Dan 11. The problem, however, is not just ol1e of "real" versus "literary" prophecies, because the distinction is not alwavs dear-cllt. The rlifticulties are well illustrated by the recently published oracle text.~ from Ishehali.''I! There are only two, and much of olle is broken off. The legible text (FLP 1674) is in the fi:)J"]n ofa letter from the goddess Kititum to Ibalpicl, king of ESl1l1nna, a contemporary of HamIllurabi of Babvlo[J and Zimri-Lim of \-fari. It reads;35

o

King Ib
:"".Johnson, SUrf" ProfJIUfS. 97-100. :,3 Sec Maria deJong Ellis. "OhsfThitions on Mesopotamian Oracles and Pruphetk Texts: Lilt'rary and Historiographic Considerations." .les 41 (19R9): 127-.'i6, esp. 14f:i-4.'i.

:14 DeJong Ellis, "Goddess Kititum." 3c> Ibid., 240.

A;..JE Prophecy from an Anthropological Perspective

2:)

omy will not diminish. Wherevel in the laud your hand has laid hold. the 'food of peace' \\ill be secme .... (And) I, Kititum, will strengthen tIl(' foundations of vour [hmne. I have established a protective spirit for you. Be ready [0 hear mel"

This fonnat leaves many intrif,Tlling questions: Was the prophecy SPOlltaneous or instigated? Vl""ho received it? "Vas it received as an audition. a dH:am, a vision, or in some otlwr way? Yet it is very much like Kear Eastern prophecies that hegin, ~Thus says (DN)." The message is that Kititum opens the seCl·ets of t11e gods to lbalpiel and will strengthen his throne and reward his rule with peace, increased domains. and prosperilv. This is because the king has honored her by speaking her Hame. The content. is thus similar ro a Dlllnher of the Mari prophecie~. No delnauds are made on the king, howt'ver, except to continue to listt'11 to the goddess, because that is what he has been doing. (One should compare similar messages from Yhwh to Isnlelite kings and others, such as Gen 26:2-5 and 2 Sam 7:8-16.) The editor of the text hum Ishchali has noted its literary character. Although dt:JOllg Ellis aCCepL'i that the t('xt is probably based on a report of a revelation, she believes that the scribe has clothed it in his own literary form. Two points can be made: The first is that we do not know if this tt'xt was based on an actual oracle. The editor thinks that it was, but this is an educated gm'ss. The second point is that even if t.he t.ext were based on an actual oracle, the scribe lIlay have provided the present form and wording.:1t\ This has implications for the question of whether we have the lpsi~sima vl'7ba of the prophets, whether in .\1csopotamia or the OT. EYt'11 when a prophecy is based on actual speech from a human intermediary. can we be certain that we have the Ofigillal words? It is often diffICult to distinguish hetween actual prophetic oracles and literary prophecies created hy scrihes. For example, evell the '\-fad prophecies, which. in general. wert' written at roughly the same time

3G According to Durand, when the prophecies of the (ipilum were written, thev were cOllched in a mOl"<' st)phi~lictled language than would have been t'xpPCled froll! the (ll'iginal utterances (Arrhir'f,I, :\90-9~). Simon B. Parker POilll$ Ollt how those reporting the prophecy "did not alw;IYs think it important to replicate the precise wording of oracles" and mixed illterpretatioJl \\ith l~porting ("Official AI, titudes toward Prophecy at Mari and in Israel," ~T 43 [1993): 50-68, esp. 57-64).

26

Pro/iheey in Its ilncirnl Nmr /,'rzstern Context

the\' were uttered, were recorded bv scdbes who lIla\' have pal-a, . '7 • phrased or used stereotypical language.' :--io one questions that texts like the Dynastic Prophecy are literary writings, probably sClibal products, and are unlikely to have arisen in a temple or from a prophetic figure. Yet they are not that different fi'om the prophecies recorded among the Mari texts nor from the recently published :"';eo-A~syt'ian prophccies. 'Vhat they show is that a prophetic tradition has been adapted and used in a scribal text for a particular aim, This practice has an interesting parallel in what has beell referred to as "prophecy" among the preseut-day Hopi Indians of the American Southwest.'Ii) Knowledge of ancestl'al tt'aditiolls (novati) is a source of power in the Hopi society. Leadership-both seculal' and religious-resides largely in possession of certain central ritual objects, but the one possessing them must also possess the associated tradition. songs, and ritual knowledge. One has to be a "sage" who possesses esoteric knowledge to hold authority in Hopi society. One dement of tradition is the important ancestral myth, the "Emergence Myth," which describes how the Hopi and other pe()ple~ came frolll lower worlds into the present world. This myth is an import~tnt cultural artifact. used as a means of understanding the world and abo as a basis for Hopi self~un­ derstanding. Hopi prophecy is .1ltested (pl'Obably t()r the past several centuries at least) and weIl documented t()r the late nineteenth and iuto the tweutieth cellturv: Hopi prophecy can lx' formally defined as statelllenl.~ abom the future which were reportedly pronounced bv the Hopi tutelary deity, Maasaw, and by [he fi~)t people who appeared at Sipaapuni, lhe place of the emergence of mankind.-'"

Prophecies are given in several contexts: (1) in recitation of or reference to the emtTgcnce myth; (2) in ritual songs: and (~1) in modern prose narrative such as pamphlets. newspapel' illterviews, and letters 3i It is also widell' helieved that any gelluine words of Isaiah of Jerusalem, :'vlicah, Jeremiah. or other prophets have heen edited, reworked. and supplemented by disciples alld bltt'r scriht's who passed dOWIl the tradition. The situation with ancient Near Eastern literary plUphecies is not different [\'OIn problems facing the OT scholar, 'Ii> Armin W, Geelll, Tllf' hll'enliofl IIi Pmphec),: COl/linuity and Meaning ill flopi [n, dian Religion (Berkeley and Los Angeles: L' niversity of California Press. 1994). :{9 Ibid, . 169-70.

ANE Prophecy Ii-om an Anthropological Perspective

'27

(often as a form of rhetoric to influence European Americans). There are no prophets as such because there are no revelations in the normal sense, and certainly no ecstatic states. The prophecies are presented as predictions but are, in fact. interpretations of the core myth in the light of current events. Such events as the two world wars. the atomic bomb. space travel, and lhe like are alleged to have been i(necast, though there is no ('\idcnfc that sHch predictions were given in advance; rather. these ,UT ex I't'entu prophecies. Prophecy among the Hopi is thus hermeneutic of the myth_ It encourages hearers to relate primordial limes and conditions to contemporary times: The pre,ent apocalyptic conditioll5 are identified with the primordial ones. thus fusing past with prescnt. AmI this fusion not only confrollls past conditions ',ith present on("s. but it also provides past solutions to present problems .... IPlrophecy incorporatt's contemporaneous affairs into the interpreth'e framework of prophetic di.~collrse and suhject~ those afhirs and the f()rces behind them to evaluat.ion in terms of conceiw-d tradition. This evaluation, or pronouncin~ of judgment, derives authority from tradition and SCI YeS as a meclta,. , 40 . nism in social and political stratcgy.

Hopi prophecy is a means of iUlcrpreting socicty, it'; changes and crises, and also a means to change and shape society and its atlitudes. The prophecies often have moral or spiritual messages, as well as social and political ones. Those adumbrating the prophecies could be said to function in mallY ways as "sages" and interpreters of sacred texts. Consequently. Hopi prophecy differs in wallY ways from the oracles given bv prophetic figures; nt'vcnhdess, esst'lltial features are shared with the "literary prophecies."

Stereotypical Language The language and messages of the Mari and Neo-Assyrian prophecies af(: remarkably monotonollS, The same proverb ("under the straw, the water flows") is used se\'eral times in the Mari prophecies. H The king is told not to do auything without consulting the diviners. He is told not to fear because the god/goddess is \~ith him. and that he

40 Ibid., R\ 165. 41 ARM 26 197: 199; 202. Howt'vc'r, Parker argucs that these uses are related. being tluee rcporH of esscntially the same message ("Official Attitudes toward Prophecy." 57-60).

28

Pmpllf'cy in Its A uriI'm Near Eastern Contn.:t

will oven:ome his enemies. This stereotypical language reuses a limited set of messages from traditional material. The language reminds one of the messages Native American resistance movements used to get Indians to return to older practices and to give up the "pnverted" ways of the whites. Smohalla, t4)f example, arose as a prophet among an American Indian trihe of the Pacific Northwest in the mid-ninetl'enth century when there was conflict with white authorities over the native lands 42 A concerted effort was being made to move the Indian tribes away from their ancestral homes and to induce them to become farmers and hOfllesteadel·s. The religion founded by Smohalla may have been int1uenced by Christianity to sOllIe extent, but the fundamentals were those of the ahoriginal religion in the area. Although there is no evidence that Smohalla ever advocated ,iolent resistance, he opposed the whites' plans as contrary to the di"ine \\iIL According to him, Indian groups were given homelands hy the creator, Nami Piap. A "holy covenant" existed between man and God. One of the conditions this placed OIl the Indians was notlO divide the land, not to farm it, to sell it, or otherwise to disturb it aher the customs of the whites. 4 :' He preached against his fellow countrymen who had abandoned the traditions of the ancestors and had become farmers. Like Jeremiah (6: 16), Smohalla called them back to the "old paths," to ohedience to (;od\ laws as laid down from the beginning. He denounced law-breaking and violatioll of t.he divine covenant. As already noted in the introductioll to this article, the problem with finding good comparative examples of stereotypical language is that prophetic figures are seldom quoted explicitly in ethnographic and anthropological report~. There arc exceptions to this situation, 14 bllt . thev, are few.

42 Mooney. Gho.I/-Dancp [leligion, 708--$1; c:. E. Trafzer and \1. A. Beach. "Smohalla, the Washani, and Religion as a Factor in Northwestern Indian History," A meriran Indian QUlJrtf'Tl}' 9 (1985): 309-24; Click Relander, Drummer.; and Dream.ers (with a foreword by FI'ederick Webb Hodge; 1953: repr., Seattle: Northwest Interpretive A~s()ci'lti()n, 1986). 4,\ Mooney, Gho,(·[)rl1/re Rl'lip:i(m, 720-21: see also tlte extract of his deso'iplion of native cosmologY in Wayne Moyuill (with Charles Van 1)0[(,11). <'ds" (;I'eat Domml'rlts in A.m('r7colI Indian Hislorr (New York: Praq~cr, 197:3; reprinted wit.h new fore word by Dee Brown, "\ewYod~; Da Capo, 1995),36-:17. 44 Sce the source, in n. 5 above.

ANE Prophecy from an Anthropological Pe-rspective

29

The Prophetic Call: All Example of Missing Data Comparing :Vfari prophetic reports with those of North American Indian prophets is instructive, for it reveals what is missing from the l\Iari reports: information on the prophetic caIl or pel-sona. The prophets in the ?L!ri report~ arc ciphers without personality or backgronnrl, even ifwt, often know their names and even professions. Yet if the analogy with prophets ill other cultures has validity, the ~lari prophets must in most cases have encountered the divine prior to their wlitten revelations. This may not apply to the .I'angzl-priest who received a revelation while sleeping in the temple, but, for most of the muhMim. the "pc of call knO'wT1 among shamans and spirit mediulIls everywhere prohahly li('s hehind revelations reported in the Mari letters. Th(' importance of this experience can be gleaned from the reports about th(' caIl of another Amerindian figuft~, the Delaware prophet. His messag(' was similar to Tenskwatawa's; indeed, because he prophesied not long b('fore Tenskwata'\V~l, one could art-rue for a strong influence on the latter. In allY case. the information 011 the Delaware prophet'S call has reached us in IIlI!ch more detail. He was sought for seeking to know the "Master of Life" and telr a joumey westward in hopes of finding him. After journeying for many days, he claims to have been guided to the Master of Life on the top of a mountain (he always al-gued that this was not a vision, but an actual experience), where he was told to tell his people to give lip polygamy, drunkenness, white men's clothing, the use of flint and steel to make ti.re, ancl fightiug among t.hemselves. He preacherl the j()llowing message, ,.,.hich he claimed to have received in person from the M.aster of Life: Hear what the Great Spirit has ordered me to tell you~ You are to make saClifin,s, in the Illanner that J shall direcl: to put off entin·]), from yourselves the clIstoms which you have adopted sinn' the white people ralII<' among us. YOll are to leturn to that fonnel' happy SLue. ill which we lived in peace ,mel pJent}, belrne th~'M~ strangel s came LO disturb \IS; and, above all. you lllust abstaill from drinking their deadly be.I(}f/, whidl they have /olceu upon us, for the sake of in(Teasing their gains and diminishing our numbers, Then will the Great Spirit give success to our arms; then he will give us strength to conquer Ollr enemies. to drive thelll from hence, and re(over the passage to the heavenl" re<'iolls V ' . n which they have taken from liS . . '

The Delaware pmplwt apparently also had seen a pirture of paradise

45

Moone\', r;}/Os£.1)ancf Relil:,>7on, 667.

Prvj)ht'()' in lis Anril'nl Nl'ar Eastnn ContRxt and hell, which he depicted on a small buckskin Illap that he would draw and sell to his hearers. One cannot help wondering wh,lt spiritual journey and encounter \\lth the di\ll1e the .\fari prophets might have described if they had had the opportunity \Ve III list assume that most, at some point, experienced what can be described as
ReaLtions tv Failure of Prophecy: A'lOther Example of Missing Data Among the prophecies from Jvhui are seYerai addressed to the Mari king Zimri-Lim, which predict that he will defeat his enemies Babylon and its king, Hammurabi. 011(' says: . and then the aphim (If Dagan 01 TlltftlllJ ,II"OSe ,Illd spoke as follows: "0 Bahylon! How must you be constantl) treated? I am going to gather YOU into J llf't. . . . I \\ill d[elilver into the power of ~iIIlri-Li[mJ the houses of the snen confederates and all tht'ir poss<ess>ions. ",I I

This was a false prophecy, as we know: Hammurabi and the Babylonians defeated Zimri-Lim and lOok control of r>.Lui. Zinlli-Lim's palace, and probably much of the CilY. was bumed. We read no further of Zinni-Lim and du not kllow what hapP<:lIcd to him. This absence makes us realize that another piece of information is missing from present data on \LHi: the explanation of why the prophecies tailed. This is illustrated by considering the aftermath of the- Spanish conquest of King MOlltezuma alld the ALte("~ of r>.lexico. 4R Our knowledge of an apparent prophetic tradition amol1g the Aztccs, 16 In the discussion when this paper was presented ill Lahti, Herbert Huffmnn suggested that the nature of the texts precluded this sort of inform~lti()n from having hef'11 recorded. I agree that the natllre of tbe texts is the main problem. but I wOlllcl l"!lJation, I am dependent Oil St"phen A. COhWll, .. 'No Longel' Will Tht're Be a Mexico': Ollll'llS, Prophecies, and the' Conque'sl oflhe Aztec Empire,·' Aml'Ti(lIIlndinn Quarlrr/l 9 (1')8".,): 2:)9-58.

ANt: Prophecy from an Anthropological Perspective

:H

uIlfortunately, is all ii'om postcolonial sources. This makes determining the original prophecies problematic, although some aspects can be detennined with reasonable certainty. A copy of a preconquest history, called the Florentine Codex, mentions eight omens that preceded the arrival of Cortez. The conquest was not just a case of superior foreigners overcoming unsophisticated and backward natives; rather, there had been warnings of disaster. This disaster was brought on because the god Huitzilopochtli had abandoned his people, a fate facilitated by the arrogance of the last ruler, Montezuma. After the fall of Mari, there likely were those who wondered about ~lari 's own prophecies. and pnhaps some of the prophetic figures tll<:mseives were perplexed about their OWII revelations. The chances are that some sort of posHrauIlI
Conclusions 1 have tried to illustrate the potential value of social anthropolo)"y in better understanding ancient Near East.ern prophecy. Some of the examples may be 1110re convincing than others, but the poin t is that they show how uoss-cultural comparisons can sometimes be helpful. Such compalison will not add to the data, for an)' theory or interpretation must be based on the anciellt lexls themselves. Comparative examples from the social sciences suggest new ways of intcrrogating the data and a broader context for examining the phenomena extracted from the specific texts. A~ the examples above indicate, comparison can be made on a variety of levels. The most helpful level is comparison of entire cultures. This may not be practical, howevel', especially whell cultures difler significantly or when little is knowlI of one or bOlh. More practical in most cases is the comparison of similar phenomena in two or more cultures, such as divinatory practices or prophetism . .\9

Robert P. Carroll discusses the variOllS ways in which prophets and writers

lIlay have dealt with the "Lliiure" of prophecy (IVlwfl Pmtlhery Fmini [London: SPCK, 1979]). Ill' applir's theories (kveloped bv Leon Festinger in 11 '111.1'011 ufCog flili,,~ Diuonuru(' (l.oudon: Tavistock. 1962) and hy Leon Fcstinger, Henry W. Riecken, and Stanky SchachleI in lWIt·" f'rofihnv Fail>; A Soda! fwd I\yrhdogirn/ Studv of' a iVIodl'm Group 71wt Predicted tit" Desimction of't/w WmM (Minneapolis: l'ni-

vt'rsit)' of Minnesota Press, 1956).

Pmphery in h\ Aru'ient i',JmT l:'(J.ltern Context

Finally, specific cultural artifacts (detailed practices, 'views, rites) can be compared. These are the most hazardous comparisons in the sense that similarities or differences may be superficial and have 110 significance when the entire society is taken into account. Nevertheless, study has found some shared details in societies which are otherwise rather diverse ill structure. For example, it is common tor prophetic figure~ to exhibit behavior that would normally be considered odd or even unacceptable, This seems, across many different societies, to be a part of the prophetic persona, More important from our point of view, almost all such figures experience some sort of call. We do not have this information for the Mari prophets, hilt it might be usef\ll to search for. Cross-cultllral comparisons can sometimes he madc because onc culture has influenced the other. Although it is theoretically possible that Mari and/or the Nco-Assyrian prophecies influenced Israel, the distance in time and space makes this unlikely, Similar conditions and situations, however, may yield similar reslllts \~ithollt cllltural cont.act; direct ur indirect illfluence dues Ilot haw' to be assumed. Anthropological comparison with ancient Near Eastern prophecy has only begun. The recent publication of textual material makes the contributions of the social sciences more important ill getting the most (lut of these new data,

3 Defining Prophecy and Prophetic Literature DQ1Jid L Petersen A5 the new millcIlnium begins, it seems appropriate to determine gains in our understanding of prophecy and prophetic literature, particularly as we seek to comprehend tlwsc phenomena in Israel and in the larger ancient Near Eastern environment. In this essay. I do several things. First, I offer a typology of dillerent ways ill which propheL'i have been defined or understood. During this discussioIl, I advocate the notion of prophet as intermediary. Second, I review one recent definition, which appcars in the Nelles Bibel-Vxikon article on prophecy in the ancient Near East, to examinc its place in this typology. Third, I offer a few basic comments about biblical prophetic literature that grow out of an assessment of prophets as intermediaries. Fourth. and finally, I make several ohservat ions about the relationship betweeIl prophecy and prophetic lileralUre in ancient Ylesopotamia and that in ancient Israel.

Typology Biblical scholars, both present allel past. have created different. def:initions of what it means to be a prophet. At the outset, I offer a sixfold typology of definitions that might help set the stage for a new period of studies in prophecy and prophetic literature. prophl?t has an intrnse f'xjwrieuc(' of tIlt! deity, This notioIl has worked il~e\f out in val'ious '\lays. Influential early proponents of this view were I lermaIlIl C~unke\ and Gustav Holscher. Gunkel published several versions of his ideas, the first appearing in 1903. 1 He maintained t.hat the prophets had distinctive, usually private, expedences in which the deity was I'evealed to them. 'These experiences were, in I.

Tfu~

1 H, Gunkel, "Die gdwimen Ertahrungen der Propheten J~raels: rine religionspsy.hologisc he Sludie," Du, SudwlI drr Z"it: Blr/fler Dl'ulsrhl'r 7.ukunft I (]l)()."\): 112-53.

34

theory, hidden from others, but they could involve external manifestations. Gunkel used the term "ecstasy" to describe this experience, a term that to this day has remained prominent in discussions of prophets. In similar fashion, Holschu, influenced by the wdtings of \\'ilhelm Wundt, maintainen fhat t.he key to lms"<;ion a common denominator or ~i7lt' qua non for all prophetic behm;or? It seems clear that. mllch of what prophets did involved beha'v;or apart from ecstasy, for example, Isaiah walking and talking ,,;th tht> king- (Isa 7). Further, much prophetic literature offers no direct ('vidence of extraordinary emotional involvemcnt. In sum, though sOllle prophetic behm;or might be ch,iracterin'n as ecstasy (or a slate of possession), ecstasy is not a hallmark of all prophetic aeti,;ty. 2. Thf jnvjlhet speaks or writes in a distillctltll:' way. Here the focus has been on the literature attributed to prophets, much of it poetic. Attention to Hehrew Bible poetic literature has, perforce, han an impact on notions of prophecy; one should. Ilole especially the work ofJoharm Gottfried Herder. I However, there have been more recent pro. . pOlH:nts of this view. Some scholars refer to a poetic spirit as the source of prophetic acti\ity, Abraham Heschel prmided a classic exposition of this position, writing that "the prophet is a poet" or "prophecy is po-

2 {;. Holscher. j)if Pmphpffl1; Ulltn:wdIlW!!!'/1 WI rl'l(t;iu1IIgfMhi, hte lsmds (I.cipzig: Hil1TidlS, (914). :1.J. I.indblom. Pmldl''',! in ilruil'llf bmd (PhilarlC'lphia: Fol'tress Pres" 19(2), -16 . .1.J. C. Herder, Thl'Sl'ilit 0/ }lehrl"111 Porlry (2 vols.: 1782-1783; Burlington, Va .. E. Smith, ]83:-1).

J.

Defining Prophecy and Prophetic Literature

35

ctry."~ More recently. David Noel Freedmall wrote tbat "poetry and

prophecy in the biblical tradition share so many of the same features and overlap to such an extent that one cannot be understood in terms of the other. Poetry was the central medium of propbecy."f, Tb be sure, considerahle: prophetic literature is written in poetry. However, many forms ofprophe:tic lite:rature occur in prose: the vision report and the prophetic legend, to name two prominent examples. A~ Yehoshua Gitay has demonstrated, the sdf-n)TJsciolis use of prose in a prophetic texL for example, in Isa 8. senTS the prophet's rhetorical interests. 7 To argue that prophetic literature may be equated with poetry is to ignOlT constitutive elements of prophetic behavior and literatllre. Hence, we should take care to avoid thinking that prophets wert' essentially poets. They could act ill a manner that resulted in the creation of prose as well as poetry.

3. Til" jnophet acts in a partirular social setting. This notion grew initially out of form-critical ohservations and may be traced to the vigOl-ous logic of Sigmund Mowincke1.~ :\1m'linckel followed lip 011 <.t claim of GUllkel, namely. that then" were prophetic elemenL~ in the Psalms. What (;unkel deemed to he a literary rclatiollship-a psalmist borrowing language from prophetic books--was for Mowinckel a social reality. Mowinckel contended that prophets were cultic officials. priests active at the temple. Pm another way, prophets. according to Mowinckel. were active in a particular social setting. l\lowinckcl's theon: sparked what has come to be known as the "cultic prophecy thesis." There have, however. been other claims for a prophetic social setting. For example. Frank Cross argued that prophets were embedded in the royal institutions of ancient Israel. 9 They were iJlvolved early on in militarv activity, in designating kings, and in making-judgments on He,dwI. Thf' Pmph"t~ (New York: Harper & Row, l~lfi2). D. Freedman oflers these judgments in "Pottery, Poet! y, and Prophecy: An Essay Oil Biblical Poe .JBL 96 (1977): ~>-26, ,tnd in "Discourse on Prophetic Discourse," in The QUf'S' jin' Ihe Kiu!!;dom (1/ God: Studies ill HOllO,. (if Gi'Orge 1-:. Afmrimhall (ed. H, Hufhnoll et al.; '''.'inona Lake, Ind.: Eisenhrauns, 1983), 141-58, 7 Y Giray. ·Oratorical Rhf'tOl~C: The Question of Prophetic Language with Special Attention to Isaiah," Am.\'/rnlamw CailirH 10 (19H~'): 7~-K\. I< S. Mowinckel. PJa/mells/udim lfJ: KIIUIIIII'/Ihlil' IIlId pmphptis(he Psafll/{'// (l\ristiaIlia. Norway:,Jacoh Dyh,,~Hl, 1923). ~l F. Cross. Callaanite !Hylh and Hebrew J';pi( (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, }9n), 223-29. 'i A.

Ii

tr,'. "

36

Prophecy in Its Ancient Ntar Eaoftrm Contt:,'1:{

roval individuals. Thollgh these functions changed over time, prophets remained dose to this center of Israelite society. Cross thought it significant that prophecy cornmenced in Israel at about the same time as monarchy, and that it ceased at about the same time that the monarchy disappeared. Both Mowinckel and Cross maintained that the prophets were inextricably linked to specific social contexts, the cult alld the monarchy, respectively Here too one must raise questions. To be sure, some prophets were priests, most clearly Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah. The book of Joel surely reflects ritual activit,' that took place at the temple. However, what was true for some pn)phets in Illis vein was not true for all. There is olle imponant corollary to theses of the sort adumbrated by Mowinckel and Cross. If prophets are active ill a particular social setting and if that social setting were to disappear, then one might expect prophecy itself to change in some fundamental way. In other words, there are social prncquisitcs f()r prophecy.1O However, not all social contexts elicit intermediation. -"I.nd not all intcnnediation grows out of the same social context. 4. The pr'ophl'f possesses distinctive penonal qualities, for example, charisma. The work of Max Weber has pride of place here. 1l Weber maintained that a pc rS()JJaJ f()rc(', charisma, was the hallmark of prophets. They wen" imbued with a pownful presence of the holy, which made people pay attention. This spirit (niiih) distinguished prophetic authority from that of other religious kadel'S. However, '·V('her's own articulation of the issue has presented problems. Weber maintained that charisma \vas not simply a psychological quality; rather, it also had a sociological side. Charisma-as charismatic authority, to hc distinguished trom traditional and from bureaucratic authority-worked itself Ollt by creatillg a following. One would. therefore, expcct a charismatic prophet to attran a group of followers or disciples. This is not always the case ",ith individuals in the Hebrew Bible whom we characterize as prophets. 'Were we to lise '\'eber's definition, we would, as Dorothy Emmett contends, "have to

or

10 On which see 'r OH,rl1oll, Chat"",/; "fl')"Pill'{,: T/u' Sorlfll fhnamin l'ru/)h.·,), (:>.lillueapolis: F'.JIut'" Pn.';'s, 19H<)). 11 'Weber's analvsis about prophets as an ideal type lTI
Defining Prophecy and Prophetic Literature restrict the notion of prophet to a type of messianic or millenarian pl·eacher or religious revolutionary. This would be to deny it to many of the kinds of people who are generally kno\"n as prophets-the Hebrew prophets, for instance-and this would seem unnaturaL"I:? The key issue is the existence of a group of followers around a putative charismatic prophet. Such a group, "the sons of the pr()pheL~," is attested in the case of Elisha. There is indica60n of such a collectivity in Isa 8:16, a text that refers to "my disciples." But apart from that limited evidence, there is little warrant for arguing that Israel's prophets exercised char·ismatic authority through the creation of a disciple band or some other group gathered around the prophet. 5. Thf! tJrophet is an inln7f1pdiary. This general notion has been aniculated in various ways. James Ross focused Oil the messenger formula, "thlls says the Lord," and deemed the prophets to be messengersmessengers from God to humans. 13 James Muilenburg spoke about the prophet~ as mcdiators-indi\;duals, particularly in the covenant context, who stood between the deity and hurnans.l-l Ilowever, we achieve greatest clarity when. using (TOSs-cultural examples, we deem prophets to be intermediaries of a more genel-al sort, those on dIe boundary between the human and di";ne worlds. Robert 'Nilson's and Thomas Overholt's work has been salutary here.];i The general vocabuhul of prophets as intermediaries works beyond the boundaries of the Bible. For those of us interested in placing biblical prophetic literature and beha\;or ",cjthin it~ larger cultural enviroIl, the language of intermediation bears special promise. One m,~jor advantage of adopting the language of intermediary is that it allows one to identif\- different kinds of intermediaries. This is important because we have prima facie reason to think that tht'fe were ditkrcnl kinds of prophets-at Mari, in the Nco-Assyrian texts, and in ancient Israel. In all three settings. we confront labels that hint at dif~ ferent kinds of intermediation. At :'.1ari, the roster includes indi\idu'lIs known as muhhiim, al)ilum, assinnu, nabum, qam(m>atum, as well as l~ D. Emmett, "Prophets and Their Societies," IRAS 86 (1956): 16. I~ Ross. "The Prophet as Yahweh '$ \1cs.senger,'· in 1'101'''''(')' in hral'i: Search /iff

J

an Idmtity (eu. D.

Pt~lersell;

IRT 10; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 19R7). I J 2-21.

J \1\1ilenblllg. "The ·Otlice· of the Prophet ill Anciellllsrael,'· ill niP Bib/;' in Modern Sr:holanhip {eel. J Hyatt; 1\ashviJlc: Abingdon Prt'ss. lY67}. 74-97. ].j

15 R. Wilson, Pmp!;!'()' and Society in Arlcitmt israel (Philadelphia: Fortress Press. 1980), and Overholt. Chamu:ls of Prophi''''.

Prophf'()1 in Its A rlcil'rlt Nfar

Fas/ern Context

private persons. In the Neo-Assyrian corpus, we read about the mggimu, mahhu, and ,{abrll. And in the biblical material. we confront the labels rr)' (;, 1J(!'!..e, nab!', and 'I,;; hii'i'liihim. The significance of these labels is open to debate. At this point, I simply suggest t.hat they probably reflect different beha\,iors. 16 For example, the term wI> is rooted in a biblical text, 1 Sam 9, which involves somethillg ak.in to a diviuation report. This is a different kind of prophetic activity than that associated with Elisha as 'iJi lui'i'liihim, when he curses the boys or causes an ax head to float (:.! Kgs 2::.!~i-25: 6:1-7). Put simply, intermediation took place through different lx-havlors, which are themselves rdlected in the various labels.

6, The prophet has a dislinrtil.'f' messap;e. Some scholars have maintained that prophets, particularlv in Israel, were important because they espoused a distinctive message or theological perspective. The most famous of such claims is surely that of \\'ellhausen, who maintained that prophe'ts wert> responsible for articulating "cthical monotheism" in ancif'l1t Israf'l, a new amalgam anti high watermark in ethical and theological thought. ThclT ha., been a s\\ing away from such a notion. particularly in the work of von Rad, who, f()llowing E. Rohland, maintained that prophets were recasting earlier traditions rather than f()rging new ones, 17 Thc spirit of Wellhausen, however, is alive and well, as is evident from such claims as Koch's, that prophets were respollsible for creating "an ethical, futuri5tic monotheism."ls Koch speaks as well of the prophets who generated the lIotion of a "lIIl'tahistory." "For the first tiIlle in the history of mankind, human beings dared to make hope the foundation of their ontology and their theology. The prophets theref()lT brought a futuristic turn into the thinking of following centuries, a sClIse of incompleteness and a further purpose to be found in the course of world event,.,,19 For Koch, the prophets had a distinctive me~sag('~they were theological il1l1ovators, My own view is that certain prophets may have offered innovative ideas, for example, Isaiah's idea [hat Yahweh had an overarching 16 Sec D, Petersen, nIP Roll'S of r'TfI!'l" Pm/llirt, (JSOTSup 17; Sheffield: .ISo-1' Press, 198 J). 17 G. von Rad. Old '[i"talllnit Ihl'Olog) (vol. 2: New York: Harpn & Row, 1968), lR K. Koch. 'Thf PrO/'ilt'h: nil' Assyrian Period (Philadelphia: FortIess Press. 1983), \3, 19 Ibid" J 63,

Defining Prophecy and Prophetic Literature plan for the world. Nevertheless, it is difficult to speak of a characteristic prophetic message, whether inside or outside Israel. More generally accepted are expositions on less grandiose features of prophetic literature. For example, James Mays has argued on behalf of an ethical tradition in the eighth-century prophets regarding justio'.2° Such an argument holds special importance, particularlv if one views the prophets are intermediaries. One wishes \0 know, in a particular cultural setting, if there were "content" in that intermediation or if the prophets could say vinuaJly anything in that process .

• These then are the primary options-definitions that focus on religious experience, distinctive literature, social selling, personal charisma, the prophet's role as intermediary, and distinctive message. However, only one of these typologies, the notion of prophet as intermediary, seems compreht'l1sive t'l1ollgh to help understand prophets throughout the ancient Near East, illcluding thuse allested in the Hebrew Bible and in the Old Babylonian and Neo-Assyrian texts.

Recent Definitions Now it is time to ask: How is recent scholarly discussion related to this typology? A.5 a case in point, I reflect brief1y on a dictionary entry, published ill the Neues Bibel-Lexikon (I 997), relevant to discussions of prophecy in Israel and the (llIciellt Near East.:!l III that vulume, a prophet is defined a,s lal person who (a) through a cogniti,·e {'xpelience (visioll, an auditory experience, an audio-visual appearance, a dream or the like) becomes the suhject of the revelation of a deity, or several deities and, in addition. (b) is comciolls of beillg COlllllli~siolled by the dt,ity 01 deities ill q\le~ljoll 10 ("ollvev the n:\"elatioll in a H"I"hal form (as it "prophecy·' or a "prophetic specch"), or 11uough I1Olwcrh"l (·omnlllllic-ati\'c acts ("symhoMf ans") , to it third part'· who (onsri(utes th" actual addressee of the message:-

20 J. Mays, ~Justice; Perspectives frolll the Prophetic Tradition," in Pcrersen. I'ruphefY in i.mU'/. IH-51l. 21 M. \'I'cippcn, "Prophcti{' im Alten Orient," NBL 19i. 22 This English tldllslation is prO\ided by M. Nissinen, Iv-jN"f'ncl'S 10 Prophecj in Xeo-Anyrian SourCr.5 (SAAS 7; Helsinki: :t\eo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project, 1998), 5.

40

Pmplwc), in Its ilncient Near Easterll Context

This definitioll appears to reflect one of the types I have just examined, namely, the empha~is on prophets as individuals who had peCllliar forms of experience, a view associated with Gunkel and Lindblom. In this recent definition, the experience is described as "cognitive." which pr('sumably means that the experience can be articulated or expressed. vVhen we reflect on this defiIlition from the perspective of the prior analysis, several problems appear. First, the definition appeals to "experience," not to observable behavioL Unless the experience as such is reported, one has no reason to claim that someone is a prophet. Second, how arc we to understand text~ or reports that include no references to such experience? For example. what should wt' think about ARM 26414, which narrates the activity and words of Atamrum, the apilum of Samas? Here we deal \o\1.th a person who has a down-to-earth message: "Send me a discreet sClibe and I will have (him) "'-'Tite down the news which Shamash has sent me for the king.,':l:> There is no implicil or explicit reference lo a distinctive cogllilive experience, othn than the reference to "the news" that SamLls had sent. Third, the definition refers to the "consciolls[ Hess] of being commissioned by the deity." Even in the biblical material, only four prophetic books (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel. and Amos) olIn overt reports about such self-consciousness. (We should note that a number of scholars do not think that these lexL~ reflect the selt~ulldt'rstalldil1g of the prophets, hilt are instead later additions.) Arc we then to disallow the rest of the Prophetic Books in the Hebrew Bihle, such as Zephaniah orJoeL from being construed as prophetic literature simply because they do not include commissioning narratives or reports about a sense of call? The S~Ulle may be said for prophetic texts from either Mali or Nineveh. ·These texL~ do 110t routinely report 011 prophets' consciousness of being called or commissioned by the deity. We should say that some prophetic t.exts offer evidence of a sense of call. but mal1Y do not. Hence, it is risky to define prophets as individuals who possessed this con\1.ction of divine commission. The definition in the Neues Bibel-Lexikon reflects (he first category ~:\ H. HUtlillOl1. "The Expansion 01 Prophecy in the Mali .-\I·chives: New Texts . .\lcw Readings, )\ew Information." in f'ropht:ry rwd Prophets: Thf Dl1wrsity of Crmtnn-

tomr)' IsslU's ill Sdwlunhip (ed. Y. Cilay: Semeia Studies: Atlanta: SOliely of Biblical Literature, 1997), 11.

Defining Prophecy and Prophetic Literature

41

examined, namely, an individual who has a distinctive form of experience. However. as we have seen, the disadvantage of this concept is that it prc\'ents us from thinking that there were prophets of difTel-ent sorts, some in states of possession, others not. To be fair, the definition docs specif\' variolls experiences, tin example. \ision or audition, which might, in turn, he manifest in divers{' heha\iors rdlected hy the different prophetic lahels. Still, this careflllly constmcted ddinition of "prophet" appears overly monolithic and excessively reliant on the Gunkel and Lindblom heritage concerning biblical prophets.

Prophets and Prophetic Literature I now propose a relation betwecII the typolobTY of prophets as illtermediaries and prophetic liter
42

Pmphpry in Its Anrimt ,\ira,- /';as(rl'll Contf'xt

auditions. Prophetic words as such, often, though not exclusively, in poetic form. are primary. (4) The hagiographic literature of prophetic lRgenda is a direct reflection of a holy man's behavior, of the )is hil' flohim.. This styIe of literature focuses on the powerful holy in the wodd of the probnc. Bihlical literature otkrs direct evidence of the Sifz illl IAum that proOIlCCO sllch literature, the storytelling eminmment attesteo in 2 Kgs i·H.~') (!») There is some eVlocnce ofpmjJhptir his{oriogmphJ, in which prophets are \ieweo as indi\iduals who act as scribes (1 ChI' 29:29). \'foreover. a lIlunber of scholars have pointed to a level of redaction in Deuteronomistic history that seems to reflect tl1(' worlo of tht' prophets. namely. one in which the prophetic word has special power (e.g., I Kgs 12:1:'}). Prophets who wrote from this perspective created historiographic Iiteratlln~. vVe may make the same sorts of claims when we examine the Nt'oAssyrian material. For example, one would expect the ht'havlor of the "shouter," themggimu. to result in either speeches or reports of public encounter. Those kinos of' literature are. in het. prominent. in the Neo-Assyrian corpus. More generally, that corpus indudes both oracular collections and references to prophetic activity in tcXL~ sHch as royal inscriptions. 2ti We mav conclude that, both ill Israel and in the larger ancient Near Eastern environ, different forms of prophetic literature st('m from diverse foons of in termediation.

Mesopotamian and Israelite Prophecy It is lIot the purpose of this essay to compare biblical and ancient Near Eastern texts systematically. Other essays in this volume have that as their agenda. However, the material published by Simo Parpola has made me cOllscious of two things. First. the number of prophetic labels in the Neo-Assyrian perioo is much smaller than it had bcell at !\lari. The term mgp;imu by the ~eo-Assyrian period had become 1101'malivc. Other \t:rms-lIwhhti, nssin nu, izj)iltll-had blIen out of llSC. As a biblical scholar, I find this case strikingly similar to the prominence that the term niibi' achit'ves in ancient Israel. Over time, it too becomes normative, with hoze, TO' f;, and )i,~ hi/ ilohim becoming far less 2,) On which see..\. Rofe, '/1", J>wjJitf'/iml 'itorie;; 1'111' ;'liarmtillfS ahout Ilu' Pmjlhf'ls ill fhe lId",'w BiiJIi', 'f/wit /'i/(!rarv 'lrf!l's and Histo)'y (Jerusalelll: !'.Iagne" 1988). 26 S. Parpola. AH\I'/arl I'rojJhl'rit.l (SA,\ 9; Helsinki: Helsinki Cniversity Pres.', 19(7), liii.

Defining Prophecy and Prophetic Literature prominent. One wonders what linguistic or social forces were at work for this process to occur both in the Levant and :\lesopotamia. Second, the Neo-As,<;)Tian prophetic texts arc important for understanding the formation of prophetic literature. At Mari, individual texts were archived. There is minimal, if any, ('vidence of integrating variolls oracles or reports. In contrast. at Nineveh. individual oracles were integrated into collectiolls. Such archival and editOli.al activity permits[01' the first time with prophetic literature olltside the Bible-examination of what biblical scholars have labeled redaction criticism. This is one of the most fascinating aspects of the Neo-Assyrian mateli.als. It is striking that such collet"ting may have been going on in both Israel and Nineveh at about the same ti111e-with Amo,~ and La-dagil-ili. A Ilurnb(T of (!ucstjons arise. What was the Israelite analog to the tuppa f(w111at, in which several oracles were collected? \'Vhy in Israel were the sayine,"S of one prophet combined whereas, in Nine\'ch, the collections included the oracles of different individuals? Collection One (SA--\ 4 I), ti)r example. includes oracles from ten individuals, eight of whom arc named. In Collection One, TlO individual is repl'escnted by more than one oracle. This is not because only one oraclc per individlIal was part of the tradition, For example, the sayings of La-dagil-ili are preserved in the first, second, and third collections, Although he is mentioned only once in the third collection (SAA 9 3), it may be that more than one of the oracles ill that collection stcms from him. If the hiblical collections fOCIiS on Ol1t· named individual, the ~eo­ Assyrian collections are, according to Parpola. oriented around chronological and thematic issues. The most overtly unified collection, the third, reflects the making of a covenant, along with its implications. Collection One appears to offer oracles and reports that reHect on a military campaign and its successful conclusion; Collection 'n.,.,o (SAA 9 2) offers oracles concerning the initial political problems that attended Esarhaddon's accession. Is it too IIllich to suggest that similar collections may have existed early in the formation of Israel's prophetic litel-ature? Amos]-2 seems to offer an analog, as might the woe oracles in Isa 1-39.

Prof)hery in Its /\nrient ,"lim!" Fastem Context

Summary In this essay, I have charted ways one might understand prophet.,;. In that regard, I have argued, consistent "'lith scholarly perspectives of the last third of the twentieth century, that prophet.s should be understood as intermediaries who acted in different ways, as various prophetic labels suggest. Further, J have related the forms of intermediation, as reflected in the specific labels both in Israel and in the larger ancient Near Eastern context, to types of prophetic literature. both biblical and extrabiblical. I have suggested that the recent publication of Neo-Assyrian prophetic texts may help gain new perspective Ull the formation of prophetic colkctiolJs in ancient Israel. Such analysis cOlllributes to ollr understanding of prophetic behavior both in Israel and in the ancient Near East. along with the literature that derives from that behavior.

Part Two

STUDIES IN SOURCES

4 A Company of Prophets: Man, Assyria, Israel Herbert B. Hujjlnon "A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose" is the most \~idely cited line by the American writer Gertrude Stein, but by this saying-printed as a motto on her notepaper-she demonstrates her subversive. experiI1Ielltal attitude toward the rules of language and wIlting.l Stein is not ilItending to offer a botanical observation that all roses are the same. And when we shift fro III flowers to people, in particular to the religious roles of va no us indi\iduaIs, we cannot say, identii)'ing all as one, "a pliest is a priest is a priest is a priest." Priests are not all the same, and priests in ancient Egypt or Mesopotamia are not the same as plicst~ in ancient Israel or in the Christian church. although thtTe are o\'erlapping roles. Nor call we say, by way of identification, "a prophet is a prophet is a prophet is a prophet." III the "company" of prophets in the ancient ~ear East there are many "subsidiaries," so to speak, sharing commonalities but engaging in distinctive practices and contributing in different ways to the religious life of their communities, Wilfred Cantwell Smith has downplayed the importance of analyzing the "plain" phenomeuological data among religious systems or traditions, such ,L~ comparing the design and architectural placement of altars, which we might call the "manifestation" aspect of religion. Rather, Smith emphasizes "the role of those data in the lives of the persons concerned."2 This emphasis more closely approximates what. \ve might call the "essence" or "meaning" of the religions ~ctivity. as emphasized by the phenomenologists of religion, The point is illustrated by SIlIith's (on ten tion that the familiar proposition, Uthe Qur' an is to Islam as the Bible is to Christianity," though in no way absurd, is an oversimplification that should be supplemented by the proposition 1 On this phrase. ,,(~e Gertrude Stein's Autubiogmphy ojAlife B. 10k/as (We(>k-End Library ed.; London: John Lane. 1935). UH--8!'>. :1 W, G Smith, On Understanding [,lam: Sdertl'fi Slud;", (Religion and R('awfl 19; The Hague, Paris, and New York: \1outon, 1981). ~33.

47

Prophet), in Its Anrienl Near Easlnn Con{.f'xt that "the Qur'an is to Islam as the persoll of Jesus Christ is to Chrislianity.,,3 He illustrates this point elsewhere by his suggestion that, rather than the role of Jesus. the role of the apostle Paul in Christianity is most comparable to the role of .'vlub.ammad in Islam.~ In accordance with this perspective, this t'ssay attempt); to sketch not only tht' pht'nomenological similarities hut also the different contextual roks of prophets from .'vfari, Assvria, and Israel. In the royal archives of .'vfari, the l\'eo-Assvrian texts, and tilt' Hebrew Bible, together with related texts, WI'" find a commonality in distinctive settings and with differing manifestations. The commonality is that proplwts (I) prl'"sl'"llt communications from Ihl'" divine world, normally for a third party, and serve as ml'"diators who mayor may not idelltify "'
Marl The royal archives of Mari of the eigJ1teenth century R.C.E., in addition to two rilualtexts that melltion prophels," tell about prophetic activity in approximately fifty of some eight thousand letters 6 and in :> Ibio., 23R-:'l9. W. C. Smith. hlmll in lH()d~'m !1illol'Y (PrinceLOn: I'dnceLOll University Press, 1957). 17-1H. 11.13. "je,Ul-Marie Durand and Michae1l;uichard, ·'Les ritue1s d(' Mari," in Flrm/£{!:Ium IflUlianum Ill: RefUf"i1 detlldps a /a memoire de }H(ln,,-Thert~,e Barn'let (e<1. D. Charpin and J.-M. DUI'and; Memoires de NARC 4; Paris: SEPOA, 1997), 19-63. 6'Jean-Mal'ie Durand, Archives qJisfoklirr,\ de lIrlari II 1 (ARlI,{ .. 26; Paris: Editions Recherche sur les Civilisations, 1988\. )lote also Dominique Charpin et aI., Arrhivt'S ifJi,,/,)/aiTl's df' Man 1/2 (ARM 26; Paris: l~ditions Recherche sur ks Civilisations, 1988). Reference to Mari [exts will be bi' editioll number in AR~.f ZO, lIn]c'ss otherv.;sc indicat('d. For '\. 1121 +, see Bertrand l.afollt, "Le roi de ~Ltri el ks prophetes de diell Adad." RA. 78 (1984): 7-18; for A. 1968, sec Je<m-Mark Durand, "I.e mythologeme de combat entre Ie diet! de 1'00'age et la mer en Mesopotalllie," AH1U7 (1993): 41-til. -I

A Company of Prophets

,19

ahout twelve of some twelve thousand economi< and administrative texts. i Prophetic activity is sparsely reported. These reporL~, however, come from as far away as Aleppo in the west and Babylon in the east, and identifY the speakers by a variety of titles. The titles that occur most freyuently are a/Jiiumjapiltum, "answerer," and muhhl1m/muhIl'utum, "ecstatic." The less-frequent titles are assinnum, "cult singer," and nabii, ~ones called," and the title qarnmatl1m is of uncertain translation. s These titles are provided by the correspondents and represent the community's identification of these:' individuals' roles; the titles are not given as selheference. There is one letter (194), however, in which the apilum, "answerer," of SamaS identjties himself ,h~ the sellder and mentions another [(lPi] lum. Many who convey messages from thp gods, however, are 1I0t identified by a prophetic title, although they may be prominent persons in the royal court. Some may be a "chief temple administrator" (Sangii). Also impressive is the array of deities mentioned: the apilum/iipiltum speaks for the gods Addu, Addu or Halab, Addu of Kallassu, Dagan, Dagan of'Thuu!. Dagan of SubatullI. Marduk, ~ergal. and Samas. and for the atliliated goddesses Allnunitum, Diritum, and Hisametum; the assinnum speaks for Annunitum: the muhhum/muhhuturn speaks for the gods Addu, Amn of Hubsalum/Nergal, Dagan, Dagan ofTerqa, Dagan of Tuttul, and Itur-Mer, and for the goddesses Annunitum. IStar, IStar ofInadan, and ~inhursagga/Sala(s): the qammatum is connected with Dagan of Tel'qa. The prophets without title are connected with the goddesses AUl1unitulll, Belet-biri, and Belel-ekallim, and the gods Dagan, Dagan of Terqa. and ltur-Mer. The prophets are widely dispersed and connected with a similarly wide range of deities. These prophetic messages are taken seriously bv the political authorities, but they arc not the first or preferred means of cOlllmunicating with the gods. Prophetic messages are clcarly subordinate to other, more common means of divinc communication. The messages, in the 7 Jean-Marie Durand, "Les prop he ties des tcxtes de Mari," in Oracles e/ prophe!ieJ dans l'al1liquil,;: it elI'S dn colloque de Strasbourg, J5-17Juin 1995 (ed. J-G. Heintz; L ni,"ersite des sciences humaines de StTasbollrg, Travaux ciu Centre de rechel'che SUI' Ie Proche-Orient et Ia CH~ce antjques 15: Pal'i,; DC' Boccarci, 1997), 11,)-:14, esp. 115-16. See aho the list compiled Iw Manti l\issinen ill this volume, 90, II. 8. il Althongh nalni i, cognate v,~th Hebr('w ni/hr, th(' precise meaning of the term in the Mari text (ARM 26 216) is ullde,uc Durand (ReS 3;t~-'H, 4:> I) now allows that qammatum (ARM 26197; 199; 2(3), which may refer to a particlllal- hairstyle. could be a personal name rather than a title.

50

Prophecy in lis A.ncient Nra]" Fastf'Tll

Cmltl'xt

absem:e of pen;onal cOJlnnunicatiol1 (for which tbt'rt': are only indirect are reported in letters to the king, In this official communication, the messengers are subject to review by technical divination, normally by extispicy, but on occasion by other means, whether through sickness (a sign of being touched bY' the divine), the ofli:ling of s,lCritice, or trustworthiness (ARM 26 233:5;~). The letters report ti-cqucntly that, either voluntarily or as a re.-fari text (ARM 26 21!l:2!l), the king's correspondent advises, regarding the hair and hem of a muhh-Il.m, "Let Illy lord make purification" (li::ahki) , An Old Babylonian text from Karana ("rell al-Rimah) tells ahollt a sick man whose hair amI hem were suhmitted to technical divination, which cleared him of "sin/guilt" in connection with his illnessY Similarly, in the tamltu texts, the person for whom the divinatorv question was submitted could be represented by "a piece of the fringe '1,,10 o f'I' llS garment or 0 f'h'IS f'II1gernal, Another iJldicatioll of the messages' secoJldary status is that they were subject to n',iew before being rommunicatcd to the king. The king's correspondent, Queen Sipt\!, in som(~ instam'cs t~xamined the prophetic message by special divination involving drink; by putting a question "lth reference to an assinnum ("for five days," or, "on the fifth hint~),

(j Stephanie Dalky ('t .il., 7hp Old Jialrjkmian Tabf""/Tom Tid! oj Rlmah ([Lonoon:] British School of Archaeology in Iraq. J 976), no. 65, pp. 64--65. 10 \,y. G. Larnhen. "The 'tarnilll' "kXL\," ill 1.11 divinaliott I'fI :Hr.l"upolamil: wlleinll/f" et dan:; u'> rigiom t'oiJilU'J (eRR:\) 1'1; Paris: Presses Unhersilailcs de France, 1966), 120-21; idem, "Questions Addressed to the Babylonian Oracle: The larmlll ]exts," in Heintz, Omdes et ProjJhflies. 8:)-98, <'sp. 91-92.

A Company of Pmphets day"; ARM 2(212); by investigating '''signs,' male and female" (ARM 26207); and by getting a favorable answer regarding the king and an unfavorable answer regarding the king's enemy. Verification is also sought for a numb(T of dream messages (AR~l 26 82; 142; 225; 229; 239). and sometimes, the corresponrlent notes, confirmation was not attained (AR~I 26142; A. 1121+). Tn three texlS. the king's correspondent, having reported a prophetic message, advises him not to proceed without extispicy, that is, technical divination (AR~1 26 204. involving an apiltum; ARM 26217, coming from an unidentified woman; ARl\-126 239. a princess's dream). In A. 196H, reporting on all (ipilum of Addu of Aleppo. the prophet himself advises King Zimri-Lirn not to depart v,rithollt a (favOI'able) omen, presumably referring to an extispicy II Ycr we also tinrl, in ARM 26 199, that Lupahum, an iipilum of Dagan, is dispatched b) the king to Dagan of Tuttul to inquire about a report that the king had received. The apilum obtained a report and went to Ocr (in the lVlari area), to which he had gone previollsly. hearing a gift and a warning for the goddess DidtullI about hel- trust in Esnunna, He then gave the king's correspondent a message supporting a cautious policy toward ESnunna. a policy the king subsequently rejected. The prophets are both male and female. Among the references to the higher-status "answerers" (iiPihl./. the men predominate. with a ratio of about sixteen-tn-two; one of the !llen--<:ounted once-is cited in three ditferent text'i. Among the reli>rences (0 the "ecstatics" (111111111(1). the men predominate by a lesser margin. about twenty- or twentv-one-lO-eiglH, although the nature of the references does not allow a precise count. The two "cult singers" (assinmi) al-e "male," whether intact or castrat.es, and thel'e are three references to a qammatum-perhaps the same person-if this is viewed as a title and not a personal name. References to the prophets as a group-iipilil. ml1hMi. anrl to some nab-il-occasionally might intend to include women as well as men. Among persons not identified by one of the prophetic titles. the gender distribution is much more even, abollt nine-to-ten, \\'ith men in a slight minority. I:'! 11 See Dominique Charpin. >oLe (ontl'xt hi~toriqu(' l't g~ographiqt!e de~ propheties dam ks texles n:lrouvcs a f>.1ari," llCS,lI,fS 2?, (1992): 21-;)1, I'Sp. 29-:'I(): fOlthe text. see Durand, "Mythologeme de Lomba!," 44-4:\ lines l2'-l'r. 12 This (()lUll includes the text puhlished hy Claw, Wileke ("Dag-an-nahmis Traum," WO 17 [J986j: 11-16). which presumably comes from Mad and dates to

52

Prophecy in Its Anrient Near t;astp:m Context

In giving messages the prophets appear individually. although ill one dream message (ARM 26 227), a woman. whose name is only pardy preserved. reports that she saw avo deceased "ecstatics" (lnuhhu) who had ajoint message for the king. "Ecstatics" speak in ARM 26 24:~. and allother text rders to "tive I muhl hu of Addu." I:! hut the clean'st indicat.ion of group activity is the Hanaean nab71 gatherer! to responr! to an inquiry froHl the king (ARM 2(216) in the t;lshion of divinatory questions asked by the banl-di"iner (and reminiscent of 1 Kgs 22). In addition. ARM 27 32 refers to "ecstatics" of the god Amu (of) Hubsalum. who may also have been (or accompanied) elders of the town of Gassum on their way to see the king; this group seizer! four men of Yamutbal anr! took them to a regional olIicial. but this is not reported as ritual or oracular activity. Those given the prophetic titles iipdum/apiltum ("answerer"), mullhum/muhhiitum ("ecstatic"), alld qam71ullwn. if a title. were cultic personnel, although nut priests who officiater! in the sacrificial or general cubm. Rather, they were part of fhe temple entourage that specialized in verhal communication from the deity. The assinnum (~cult singer") is well attested elsewhere as a cult f1lnctionary assodater! with IStar and her congeners, and engager! in singing. dancing. ecstasy, and perhaps cross-dressing, but in the r.,·fari context the GssinrwTll's role may have been more restricted. 14 The title apilum/a/Jiltum, "answerer." implies providing an answer to a CJuery, although a muhhiltum. ar!vises the king that "1 will continue to answer" (atanatlpal. ARM 26237:26). The title muhhtlm/mllhhzi.tum. "ecstatic," points to the process through which answers are received. and. inr!eed. one of the ISlaI' ritual texts refers to the muhllll7n becoming ec.~tatic, as confirmed in one of the letters.l~ Others are cited as "becoming ecstatic," namely. Selibum. an assinnum the tim(" of the nMin ~'lari an:hives (see Durand. !\r(hiv~s, 462-63, n. 49), although it is not from the ~·fari exc,watiom. The text reports on an offering prompted hva dream. but the dream irs('lfis lIot reported. The name of tIlt' dreamer. who is male. occurs as a feminine name in ARM 10 116. 13 For the reference to five [mull] hilS of Addu. see G. ()zan, "Les lettres de Manatan," in Charpin and Durand. Horill'gium maria/lut/1 Ill, 303, no. 1525 (= M. 9451). 14 See Stefan M. :'vlalli ... KurgarTu lind rlSSinnH llnd ihr Stand in der babylon ischen G ...sellsrhalt: in .\lIjirll.(ritt>r und l?ill1d{!;l'I1ppm: lin/raw w eilm- Soziaiwschirlitp tUS Allm Onpnts (cd. \'. Haas; Xenia: Konstanler Althistonsche Vorfl'age Ilnd Forschullgen 32: KOllslam:. Germany: l.'niversitatsvedag. 1992), 159-71. 15 For th ... IStar ritual, see Durand and (;uic:hard. "Rit\lcls de ;\-lari," 5:1-54, lines ji.23', 26'; note that the hTa-gamil who becomes ecstatic in ARM 26222 is identified as a muhhum in ARM 21 333:34' and 23 446:9'.

A Company of Prophets (AR1\1 26 213; d. 197, 198), and Ahatum, a young (StTValll?) womaIl

(A.&,\1 26 214), both in the temple of AnIlunitum. The apilum. who had a somewhat higher status among the prophets, anrl the muhhllm arc associated even by their titles with providing messages from the gods. Their messages art" also frequelltly connected with sacrifice or other temple event, at which lilll(" the prophet "arises and speaks." When these prophets convey a complaint to the king, the complaint often refers to royal neglect of the deity's cult or cuitic property (ARl\1 26220; 221; A. 1121+; A. 1968; etc). Presumably, the Hanaean naln1 group was also associated with the cultus. Many messages, however, derive from pt"rsolls wilhout a prophetic tilk-speakers identified by name, resirlence, or status. l\Iany such messages derive from the women of the Mari court. Strikingly. a ,{ang/i, "chief temple administrator," reports a revelatory dream (ARM 26 238); another ,(allgU speaks ill olle of the dreams of the queen mother, Addudud (ARM 26 237); and a third .~angll. reports to Queen Siptu, the king's correspondent. on a young woman's dream (ARM :!6 214).](; Vinually all of the messages are addressed to the king-we are rlealing wiLh the royal archives, after all. But 011 occasion the message arldresses local pt"ople conceming what they shoulrl do. The letter ARI\J 26 221-bis, from the king's representative in Terqa, reports that a muh}nim addressed him regarding (re)builrling a gate, the second request cast dearly in the plural, as if adrlressed to tlw people of Terqa or at least to the "governor" and his workers (lines 23-:)0): "I If (?) 1 you (pl.) do not build that gate, 1£1 cal]amity (?) will occur. You (pl.) are [no]t gelling anywhere. IThils is what that muhhiim [saiJd to me. But I am [eng]aged with the ha[r]v[est]. To turn ov[er] my [ser]vants, I cannot rlo." On another occasion the muhh spoke to a public audience (ARM 26 2lfl), presumahly with the intent of putting pressure on the king to order variolls cities to return sacred items. The correspondent notes that this message was delivered "in the assemhly of the elrlers." Other messages are rlehyered at the temple gate, where presumably the public would also be present. The prophetic messages typically assure the kiIlg of success or warn of possihle dangers. At times, howf'\,er, the pr()phet~ express concern

um

J(i :\ot(' the Ishchali t.exts from the an'hive of the ,i'(J.llf.,'{L~ of the:' KilitUlll te:'Hlple:', in which the goddess Kilillllll .Idlh esses lhe king, lbal·pi-EJ. directly (Mal ia de.l0ug Ellis, "The Goddes:; Kititulll Speaks [0 King Ibalpiel: Oracle Texts from r,hchali," "lAW"> \19871: 2$:>--(6).

5·1

Pruphny ill Its :1nrient Near j,'as({'m Context

that c('rtaill cuI tic acts, sHch as special sacTifices, have been neglected (ARM 26220; 221; 231; sce also ARM 26 224). But the prophet may also raise-even repeatedly (having done so five times previously)-issues of cult property (A. 1121 +). Requests for regular information also occur (Dagan of Terqa, 2:3:~). All of these reqlJcst.~ an: rcprcsclltn\ as being inlhe king's selfint.erest (e.g., ARM 2tl 194; 217; 218; 219; 227). ComislcIlt Wilh acting in the king's selt~int('r('st, prophets are mentioned in scveral administrativc texts as having received gifts or supplies from the king. All dtJilwTl is mentioned several times as having received a garment. bronze nails. silver ring. and a donkey distributed fWIII boolY: a muhh1'i.rn receives clothing ami jewelry; a qammiitwn recciycs a gannclIl and lIose ring. One muhll1(1/l receives a silver ring "whell he gave the message to the king" (ARM 25 H:2: 12~( 5; sec Durand. :'trchivf5, 380). Sometimes the prophets request thcse gift.~ directly (e.g., ARM 26199; 206). Contrasted with these modest incursions inlO the king's realm, howcver, is the special asscrtin:llcss of thc iijlilum-prophets of Addu of Alcppo/Kallassu. Speaking from the historical dominance of the Aleppo kingdom ill the life of Zimri·Lim and his hunily. and within the protection of an independent jurisdiction, a series of messages reminds Zimri-Lim. "\Vhat I have given I can take away.~ and makes specific requests (A. 1121 +). The Mari representative, seemingly emoarrassed by the message, appeals to his tradiliollal dUly to convey information about what others arc doing and saying about the king, and notes the warnings that lIlight kad to future dis;'i.~tel·s if igllored. The same letter reports an admollition {i'om Addu to the king of Mari, "\'Vhen a plaintiff: male or female, makes an appeal to YOll, take note and give them justice," together with an assurance of benefits for an allentive king. Anolher leiter from Zimri-Lim's represelllative ill Aleppo (A. 19(8)' again citiIlg the beneficellce that Addu h,{s shown the killg, adds. "Whenevcr allyone with a claim crit's out to . saying. 'I have been wlrong]ed.' stalld up
A Company of Prophets rewal the lawsuit for him; Illay he examine his case, may he calm his ~17 ' Ilcart. ... Another sign of assertiveness appears in a letter (ARM 26 194) apparently sent from Northeast Syria (.Jebel Sir!jar area) by the apilum of Samas. This jijJilum seems to serve as a clearinghouse for distant requests of deities (from Sippar to the southeast to Aleppo to the west), possihly from \\~thin a council of the gods or as a cult functionary associated \\ith \'alious deities. H, Insisting on direct communication by bypassing the king's representative, the apilum demands a "safeguarded" scrihe (AR.\1 26 414; granting, following Durand, that this letter is cOIlIlccted with AR~1 26 194) and suhmits a multitude of rcquesL~-f()r a throne and a royal daughter to Sippar; tahoo items f(»)' Addu of Aleppo; a gift [01' Dag-ilII; items, including a sword, for ;\JergaJ, king of Hubsalum. The list concludes , •.'ith the assurance of perpetual kingship {or Zimn-Lim and a request that the king ~sen [d] to my feet (anyone with a) [c1]aim." :Vlost striking is a muhhum of Dagan's dramatic action. The mulllnim asks !()). a lamh and pr()ce(~ds to eat it, raw. in public-reminiscent of the Sumerian stereotype of the Arnorite who "e,tl,> uncooked meal."j\l Thereupon the muhhllm requests ,,~despread cullic restitution and adds, "For the well-being of your Lord. Zi[mn-Lim], clothe me with a gannent" (AR~I 26 206:23-24). The king's correspondent prmides him with a garment In another text, a qmnmiitlltn. or the Lady QammatUI1J of Da~an of Terqa, having- wamed the king aboul proceeding in peace negotiations with ESJlUIlJla (ARM 26 199), requests and receives a garment and a nose ring. In stronger f~tshion, Dagan's prophetic voices opposed, in Zimri-Lim's sixth year-following a year or more of warfare-his conclusion of a treaty \~ith Esnunna. The situation is daIiticd by examining the exteJlsive correspondence on the relationship hetween lVlari and ESnuuna. Promising victory for ZiJllri>

17 ivlartha T. Roth, Law Collections from :1vlewpolamia and ;\Si{l Minor (SBLWAW 6: Atlanta: Scholars Pres:;, 1995). 133-:H (xlvii 59-78). I:H (xlviii 3-19}. ]8 Regarding the divine council, see Abraham Malamat. "The Secret Council and Prophetic InmiYement in Mati and IsraeL" in Prophrtle und gesrhirhtlirhf' Wirklichkrit im altl'lI flr(w/: h'.5tsrhri/f /iir Siq{/rjed Henmann ((·d. R. Liwak and S. Wagnn; Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1991),231-36. :'>Jole also thaI cu1ti(~ I~rsollllel {:ould be affiliated with a number of dt'ities.. even within a gil'ell temple. which honor~ a primarv deitv and aJIiliated deities. Ii! See 'Samuel :-'-oah Kramci-. 171t'Sume-riaTlS. TheiT History, Cu.lllll'l'. and Chamrtn (Chicago: llniversitv of Chica).{o PI<:'ss, 1963). 253.

56

Prophet',' ill Its Ancient Near f:astel'l1 Context

Lim, Lupahum. an apilum of Dagan who had arrived from Tuttul, as well as a qamrniitum of Dagan of Terqa-apparcntly independent of each other, although reported in the same letter-oppose an agreement between "'Iari and EsnllJlna, advising that Esnunna is not trustwurthy. The !jlllllmalum says, "'Vater rulJS under the straw" (ARM 26197; 199; see also 2()~ for thc same phrast: fmlll a muhllllm).~o The same ({pilum. I.lJpahum. warns the goddess Diritum in Der (Mari area) not to trust Esnunna. This is an example of different gods, that is. dif~ fcrent temple communities. promoting conflicting policies. although both surely represented themselvcs as acting in the best ilJterests of the king. The difkrcnre, howevCI, is aired without direct polemic. Ziuu-i-Lim, 011 his part, made the treaty wilh ESlIlIHna. acknowledging ESTlUlIlla as his superior.:!1 In all this prophetic activity, however, it is important to remember Durand's observation that the prophecies are intended "to properlv channel the royal power. not. to challenge it."~~ The prophet's inspiration is not always indicated. Between fifteen aud twenty-depending on which texts one ilJcludes-n~ceive their message in a dream, with onc text rd(,ITillg- to incubation (ARl\I 26 2:~2). At least six revelations take place withiIl a temple, or the person goe:; to a temple in a dream. The presence of the di\inc. a special "state of consciollsness," mav be illdicated by the prophet's sickness (AR.M 26371). Several times the mcssage states that a deity "sent" the prophet (messenger) or the message (assinf/um, ARM 26 212; muhIlilm. A&'\1 26 220; 221; untitkd persoll. AR<1Io1 26 210: 2T~; 240), alld an (l!iillim refers to "the message which SalJlas scnt me for the kin).( (ARM 26 414). Ecstasy iL<;elf is mentioneel tive times-once for an assinnum. twice for a rnuhhtnn (including the reference in an IStar ritual), twice for private womcn. Such inspiration is suggested in the many l'efen:nces in ""hieh the prophet "got up" (jtbe), often in the temple and in cOlJnection with sacritice, alJd spoke (as "answerer," six tim<:s; as "ecstatic." twicc). anel is associated espeGially wit h /Slar and her associates. 20 On this pnH'erb, s('(' Jack M. Sasson, "Water beneath Siraw: Adventures of a Pmphelic Phrase ill the \1ari Archives." in Soh'ing RuJdln and Untying Knots: Bibiiw( E'pigllljJhir, and SmIllie Studi,'s in l{uTIo,. "Jjona.5 (:. (;Ifmjifld (ed. A. Zcvit. S. Gilin. and M, Sokoloff; \\>'iIlOIl
A Company of Prophets

57

Neo-Assyria Surprisingly, of the Nco-Assyrian prophetic text~, the most important individual tablet "'-dS published in 1875 and made available to llonculleifonnists ill English translation ill 1H78; two other major texts were published in 1893. six years prior to the puhlication of the WcnAmun text ill 1899. Yet the Neo-Assyrian texts were almost systematically neglected until the late 1960s, in spite of reminders of their existence.:::> The ~eo-Assyrian prophetic texts are not only from the Neo-A.$svrian period. They are also written in literary Nco-Assyrian, which did not add to thdr accessibility 10 scholars. These texts reflect a more llarrow range in titles and geography than is the case fIX the !l.lari evidence. None of the titles known from i\Iari occurs in the oracle texts. which use, rather. the specifically Nco-Assyrian term rag!-,rirnu/mggilltu, "proclaimer," with some prophecies ascribed to a selutu, "votaress." llowever, the title Iltah/l'll. "('cstatic," a variant of \lari ml/hlllln!. is used as an alternate term for raggimli in Fsarhaddon's inscriptions not writtCIl in "pure" Neo-i,,"ssyrian, and tbe terms mggimu and mahh{j are joined in the Esarhaddon succession treatyY4 Again. as generally in the Mari texts, the t.itles do not occur as a self~reference. Collections SAA 9 1-2 of the prophet report'> identify the speakers by Bailie and place of residence. Possibly because she breaks with the patterIl of the IStar affiliates. one speaker is identified bv title as a votaress Udiitu) of the king (SAA 9 1.7). Another text identifies a prophetic speaker as a sehdu-votaress of IStar of Arhela.C!5 Collection 23 For the process of discovery and publication, see Simo Parpola, Assyrian l'lliphl'('if'\ (S:\:\ 9: Hdsinki: Helsinki l'lIi\'t:r~ity Press, 1997), xiii-·xi\·. Note also the

attelltion given to sUllie uf these textlS as a potelltially separate category by Morris Jastlow (Rehgioll BabyluTlil'Tl.1 11 lid ItlSyriOls Ivol. ~/ I; Gicsscn. Germany: 'fopdman n. 19121, 1:16-74. esp. 158). Bruno Meissller writes that sOl11e of the texts showed that "es im Zweistromlandc aIll1\ich wic im alren Israel anch Propheten ~t'gt'bt'n [hat I. die ohne Zuhilfenahmt' der Wahrsagekullst Iediglich dllfch gottliche EinKt'bllngcn die Zukunft yerkiindeten" (Bahlanim und Assyriell [vol. 2: Heidelberg: Carl Winter. 1925], 281, hut ,f. 243). Some of the oracles were available in standard handbooks. bm thc\' othcrwise remained ignored. ~~ Parpola. ihlyrinn ProIJhp('il's, xlv-xlvi: SiJTlo Parpola awl fulzukn \\"at
Proph~'(y in

lis Anril'1lt ;\:'('111" /,'(JstrTn Cnut('x{

SAA 9 :J is apparently assigned to someone whose nallIe seems lost. with only a portion of the last sign preserved-[ ... DI] '.;GIR. boldly restored by Parpola as [La-dagil-iJli-but who is identified ,-L~ a mggimu, "proclaimer," of [Arbel]a who speaks for the national god, A.ssur, as well as IStar of Arbela (SAA 9;{.5 iv :H~~12). A long individual prophecy report derives from a mggintll (SAA 9 7). In otlwr texts of the ='Jeo-Assyrian period, however, there are a number of occurrences of the tille raggimu/mggintu, including one in which the king prmides temporary quarters to a mggimu named Quqi.26 The gender distribution is dominated by women: twelve kmale prophets and five to six male prophets, plus one or two of ullcertain gender. The prophetic texts arc also more concentrated in the deities illvolved. Front and ccnlcr is the powerful goddess IStar of AJ'bela, seconded by a closely parallel deity, Mullissu (l'\inlil), wife of A~sur (Enlil). The two are identified in SA.A 9 2.4 ii 30, ~The word of IStar of Arbela, the word of Queen Mullissu," and the tvvo also are linked in SAA 95,7 (" ... his Illother is \1l\\IisslI ... his [dry] nurse is the Lady ofArlle/a," r. 6), and Y. The national god, Assur. is cited as the oraClllar source only in SAA Y 3, in \vhich he plays a prominent role together with IStar of Arbela. One prophecy. from a speaker identified as both male and female-presumably by scribal error but possibly, as Parpola suggest~, for a gender-neutral person-speaks for BcI (Marduk). IStar of Arbela, and :\abu (SAA 91.4). This multiple representation is reminiS(:ent of the Mari leiter ARI\I 26 ] 9,1. bllt may reflect a ('lillie functiollary associated v.;th s('veral deities or a speaker admirted to the di\;ne council with its multiple \'(lices.:!' The Neo-Assydan prophets, like the Mari prophets, were taken seriously hy the royal court-in this case Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal, the primaIy addressees. These prophets seem to have had easy access to the royal coun, and there is no e\irienrt' for a process or verification. Anot.her indication of the messages' high standing is that the report texts focus solely and immediately on the divine words, unlike the Mari leiters in which the king's correspondent often advises him of the prophetic message as one of several news items. Th(~ Assyrian texts may begin, "The word of IStar of Arbela ... ,. (SAA 9 j:l), ~JStar of ~6 F. \1. Fales andl. N. PO,;lgale, /tn/mial :ldminil/mli>."· RJ'{'on:i;. 1'111'1 J (SAA 7: Helsinki: Helsinki University PrC'ss, 19\)21, no. 9 r. i 23. 27 Parpola, AU),rian PmjJhl'cies, xvjii~xx\i, it

A Company of Prophet~ ArbellaJ has said ... " (SAA 9 6:1). or "The ra~rintu-prophetess ... (has saio)" (SA.A.9 7: 1 )-reports that provioe no context apart fi'om what call be reconstructed from the prophecies themselves. Furthermore. more than two-thirds of the Assyrian prophecies are preserved as part of collectioll tabIeL~, a secondary stage that involved the royal scriptorium-perhaps even OIlt' spn:itic scribt:-gathel'illg tive to six or evell len or lnorc prophetic oracles (or sets of oraclt-s. e.g., SAA 9 1.6) onto one archival tablet. The prophecies were copied for posterity, as they might have been in view of the emphasis on reassurance to the royal f~lmily. with on Iv a rare complaint of neglect by the deity mixed in (e.g .. SAA 93.5). The prophecies were gathered ann transferred as ,t body to iudividual collection tablets, and therehy were incorporated into the otlicial archives. In this collection pnKess there is also evidence of scribal redaction. For example. in the standardized attribution in collection SAA 9 I, seven times (as preserved) one reads the phrase "from the mouth of so-and-so of such-and-such a place"; however, onct'. as mentioned, the slight variant occurs for a different category of speaker, "jj'Olll the mouth of so-and-so, the .~eli(lu-votares~ of the king." The other speakers lllay have been identilied as a Guegory in the first lines of the tablet. now lost. The pattefll of individuallIlessages is broken only by allusions, such as the letter in which Bc1-usezib, a prominent astrologer, asks the king why he had sHlnmolleo mggimnnu and ragf!:imlilu, "prophets and prophetesses," to assist in undersl;:lIlding and dealillg with tilt: troubles he hao reponed. Rllt the writer's chief questiolJ seems to he, "vVhy has the king .. , not summoned l11e?,,28 He seems to be saying that he would have been more effective than the prophets. even if thev may haye been present as a group. The assertive role of the raggimu is emphasized in the collection of prophetic oracles reporting on a symbolic treaty cOlllmitment by the national goo, ASSur. promising victory in battle for king Esarhaodon. The oracle. SAA 9 3.3. is (written down and) deposited in the temple in the presence of the gods: also included is divine vengeance against the enemies of Esarhaddon. who had cried out to ASSUI' for help. The written covenant is also presented to the king, with full ritual. At the 2H Parpoht, I.fUns from AS'~Y'ian and Jiabvioni(lll Sdwlan (SAA IO; f1ebinki: Helsinki llniversily Press, 19!1~). no. J09 (Ali!. 1216); \1anti ~issillen. Rrji'rnw·.1 to ProPhHY in Neo-A..uyrirl11 Sourees (SA,AS 7; Helsinki: NC'O,:\ss;Tian 'leX! Corpus Pro· jC'Ct.. 1998),89-95.

60

Pmphery in Its A ncienl ,'iea,. Eastern Con lexl

initiative of ISlal' of Arbela, a coven,mt meal is then carried Ollt symbolically. with provision for reminders to those who have sworn loyalty to the king, that they might "remember me (Istar) and keep this covenant which I have made on behalf of Esarhaddon" (SAA 9 3.4 iii 13-15). The collection concludes with !Star's charge of neglect by Esarhaddoll and hel- reminder of her continlling prOlection of tilt' king. The concluding attribution assigns tlw speech 10 a m{fgimu, prt'sumably fi-om [Arbell a. Parpola's restoration of the prophet's name as the other\\;se attested La-dagil-ili is a bold but plausible restonltion. Apart from the prophecy reports, which provide limited information about the cOJltext, there are a Ilumher of letters that tell about prophetic activity. These letters show that the prophets were involvt'd in matters affecting the kingship. Tn Olle letter, a raggintu who had already taken the king's clothes to Bahylollia prophesied about removing a throne from the temple for use in a ritual elsewhere that would be beneficial for king Esarhaddon, hut the king's represen tative would not release the throne without the king's permission.~q This mg{finlll is pf.'rhaps thf.' same ra{(ghttu mentioned in another letter, who, prior to the death and burial of a substitute king, reportedly prophesied to the substitute king-himself apparently of high stallding-that ht' would take over the kini,rship, that is, that the suhstitute king would serve iII successfullv diverting danger from Esarhaddon.~o The inscriptions of Assurbanipal include the often-cited reference to a .;abnt, a "visionary. a seC! of dre<1Ills," who had a revelation from Etar of Arbela ill which he saw and heard her assure the king that she would fight his battle (against Elam). and that the king could relax and await her victOI-Y.~1 But the ."5abni does not speak directly for the deity. Throughout, with the exception of a few requests for cllitic attellSAA I:{ :n; sC'c also Simo Parrnla, I.dln.> jimn :\.H)'l1fW Srho/ars 10 Ihr KmW and /\sSlirha II ipal. ParI I: Trxl< (AOAT E>/ I; Kt'velan, Germany: Bu!zo!l & Ikr·cker; Nellkirdwll-Vluyn: NeukircheJler. 1970).271-·7;;>, ,Hid l'artll: Comnwnlary and Appmdirrs (AOAT 5/2; Kevelacr. Germany: Bullnn & Berder; Neukirchenvluyn: Neukirchener, 1983). :129. anti Nissinen, Re(m'n(p,. 78--Sl. :'10 SAA 10 3[J2; see also Parpola. LA'tters!tnm iI.I,fj'17rln Sd/O/.ars. I--II. no. 280. :11 Maximilian Streck. AS.lurbanipalund dif'/f/zlm aHyrlw-!wn Kiinige hi5 wm [InlPTgangf' Nillivrh's (VAH 7; I.eipzig: Hinrichs. 1916). 2:114--19. 11'\1'\--95 (esp. B v 49--76); Rvkle Horge!". lil:ilrii,W' Will /n.I(/m/tI'll1l'f7k Aml/ballipal" (\-Viesbaden: Harrassowilz. 199/i), 101<'. 22,"\--2[.. 1\'01,·: abo) another dream revehltion \~ithollt any tiirect spcech \Parpnla. ;\ssVl7afl PrOPIU(/fI, (iv. II. 23'), regarding AHI. 1249 SA-A 13 139). 2\1

l~~~m}wddon

A Company of Prophets

61

lioll, the focus of the prophecies is reassurance to the king or royal family (queen mother), at times, as with the symbolic covenant, in dramatic fashion. Departing from the usual assurance to the king-apart frolll some complaints of neglect by IStar, as already mentioned-is the letter in which an IInidentitied woman, speaking on behalf of a deity, tells a royal representative to ''say in the king's presence" thaI certain ilems, given to others. should be returned [0 (he deity who would then show beneficence to the king?2 There are also rare references to prophets in connection with ordinary people. An aged scribe, having fallen from favor, pleading poverty and the lack of transportatiou, despairing of assistance b-om the king, appealed to a mggimll to no avail-'"he lacked a vision" (dig/u). So the old scribe turned again to the king-perhaps intrigued by being seen as IllOle effectivt' than a raggzmu.

:i?;

In contrast to the Mari situation, in which steps arc frequently taken to check a message's authenticity, the Nco-Assyrian prophecies have little indication of verification. Verification may have been reserved for dangerolls or IInhlvorable prophecies. FOI' example, a letter reports a divine word from the god Nusku through a slave girl belonging to Bel-ahu-tlSur. a word endorsing a conspirator as king-th.is endorsement, of course, is disquieting. The king is advised to summoll the girl and to perform a ritual, probably an extispicy. The slave owner is to be sUIllIlloned, together with others connected wilh the suspected cOllspirator; they shall all pt'rish, it is predicted. The king is to check on others who might have told of the cOllspiracy but, coutrary to their dUly to inform, did not.:H In related letters from the same sender. the follow-up advice is that possible conspirators should be put to death; the advice is presented as a word from Mullissu-"this word, it is from MullisSIl"-thus suggesting that :'vlullissu, COIIlIlIOIlly cited for Iwr concern {i)r the king"s well-being, overrules Nusku,:h The writer insists that he is only carrying out his duty to the king, a~ oue bound by oath 10 report any disquieting Hews, The foclls seems to be on the possibility of conspiracy-whoeyer was involved, in whatever role-rather t.han on the confirmation of a seemingly di,;ne word or a cOIltroversy 12 SAA Ll HI. :1:1 SAA 10 294; Nissinf'l1. Rpterencps, 84-88. :\<1 Nissincn, !?rjPTnllt's, 1OS...'J I. :,5 CI53 17;8-9; Nissinen, Rr!erences. 111-15.

62

Prophny in Its Anewn! Near Fastern Con!"x!

among the gods. The possibility tlla! Nusku is speaking truly IS '! The issue is not so much whether the prophecy is "tllle" or "false," wlH'thcr fj'om a deity or not-the process apparently ignores the possibility that an IlJ1hlyorable word could be ii'om a deity-but whether the word is inimicable to the king. The king's self~interest determines truth or falsehood, which is not an uncommon position for a politiealleadel',:IH Littk information is presented regarding the inspiration of the prophet.s. Ilowever. given the association or equation ill the royal inscriptions of the mggimu with the lIIah/di-even though mah/lIls arc never identilied explicitly with individual pl'Ophetic messages in :\eoAssyriall texts, hut appear only as a summary calt'gorv-inspiration was presumably by means of ecstasy, the "madness" of the mahhu. Dreams are eited only for others, such as the ,salmi. In the Neo-i\.ssyrian texts, prophet'y has a higher statlts than reflected in the ~1ad texts. The prophetic words, focllsing on TT,\SSUranee, were gathered into offkial collections that report only the words :l6 \\:11,\1 is most likelY involved .•1, :.Iissinell nOles, is an apparent cuntroversv between Ihe :'\Iorlh Syrian center of Han~lIl and the A"yrian heartland (ibid" 121-24). ],;,onethc-Iess. performing an extispi<:y ritual on the slave-girl speaker-if that was to happ,"n-would plOvide the only :.Ieo-Aswri;m example of '''dwcking' the a('cnr,leV of a proplwrv bv 1Ilt',m, 01 another diYillatofv melhod" (125), l'ltim;;tely, IiI,' conspil"\r~ JIl,IV have been pan of all ('lahOLite plot alld coullterplot. with the sllpposed SLKce~SOI actuallva dUllhle ag{,llt of the king (F,()-?13). :n SAA, 2 6: 108-22, :H~ ;-';issinell ("Falsche Prophetic in nella~syrischer Ilnd dcuteronomistischcr Darstellung."' in Das f)eutemllimiulli lind spin!' Qw,r/Jl'zi,'hllllgen [ed. 1'. \'cUola; ~'hriflen del Finnischen Exegetischen Gesellschaft 62; Helsinki: Finnische Exegt"lisclie Gesellschaft; (;(jttingen: \'anrtcniIo('ck & RUpI edtL 19!Hi I, 177) seems to cast lhe issue a, tnl{' or lInlnlt"-"jt'dt~1l :\ll,drlllk del' l'nu't'uc"-htll allows that -trut' prophec" C;JllllOt. ill am instanct'. be dire([cd against the king OJ hi, crown prince" (I RO); set' his dis(w;sioll (J 'I'\-!1) concluding that thert" is no su('(c."flll test n
A CompanY of Prophel~ themselves, which seem to have taken on signifkance apan from their context, with but brief identifications of the speakers. But prophecy again, as indicated, inter alia, by the paucity of textual evidence COl11pared to other forms of divine communication, is not the communication with higllt.'st status. The prophetic activity is a.,sociated parliUllarly with the psychically anive ClIlt of IStar of /\rhda and her clost' associates, and points primarily to individual revelations.

Israel Turning more brit'lly to prophecy in ancient Israel, on which there has heen intensiVt' study for a considerable time, we face a 1H1mher of differences.:1<) \Vhatcvcr the at times somewhat grandiose claims, Israel is in reality a small-scale society, not a major intnnational power like the kingdom of j\,fari or the Nco-Assyrian Empire. Apart hom a few inscriptions, principally olle of the Lachish letters, we have no contemporal'y dOCUllIeIlts or virtually contemporary collections of prophetic texb.-H) Instead of the brief periods reflected by the other two ("01'puscs, with little obvious n:daniuIl, the biblical corpus reflects a long tradition of' prophecy. preserved with cow;iderable redaction. Rather than presenting ~snapsh()t~" in time, the biblical tradition is a manylayered portrait that has been considerably retouched, Addit.ionally, a high percentage of thL' prophet.s-and not only the 450 and 400, rcspectively, cited in 1 Kgs 1 H--mcnliollcd ill t.he biblical tradition are prophet<; of Baal or Asherah:11 The canonical or "classical" propheL~, even purported prophets of YahwL'h, regarded themselves outIlumbered by prophet" who did not have access to God's true intcntjons (1 Kgs 22). There wert' direct conflicts among the prophets. Israel also understood its foundational figures, specifically Moses, but also Samllel, to have beell n:ligious g'L'IlL'ralists best slllllmarized bv the

3~1 For a re-ce-nt Slll'ye-)' of prophecy ill Isr<1el, see Joseph BJenkinsopp, A His/(lT} (If PropJu'C)' in israel (revised and enlarged edition; Louis\ilk: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996), 'HI Oil the I.achi,h rcfen'Ilce. sec SimoIl B, P<1J'ker, "The L,IChich Letters and Of~ licial Reactions to l'Iophccies," ill l'fI(utwring ATI<'iml StrJllfS: Elsa,s in fHemrw( 0/ H./\",j/ Rirl/(mison (("d. L. M. Hoplc'; Winona L!ke, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1'1'14). 65-7H. -II Then: lTIay have been considerable overlap between the prophets of.i\"helah and the prophets of Baal. givt>n the ancient Near Eastern practin' of individual at~ filiation wi th the cult of more than one deity.

Prophecy in !to A.ncient ;Vrar Enstn"1l. (.'ontf'xt

terms nahi) or )£s )e/ohirn. Israel honored prophecy, and many prophets had a powerful inf1uence beyond their own historical moment. Furthermore, from an early pel'iod Israel had an exdusivist group for whom religious legitimacy could only be f:oHnef:ted with Yahweh. As such, Israel had to deal with the issue of tnw 3ml false prophecy in a different way than its neighbors.

Individuals and Groups In sheer numhers. the biblical references are unlike what we know from Mari or Assyria: 450 prophets of Baal (l Kgs 18:22); four hundred of' Asl1('rah (1 Kgs 18:EI): four hUlldred prophets of Yahweh under the leadership of Zedekiah hen Kcnaanah (1 Kgs 22:6); one hundred prophets concealed in GiVeS hy Ahah's chief dOI11f'stic official. Obadiah (1 Kgs 18:13): one hundred members or a prophetic band (bine han-nibi'im) mil:aculously fed by Elisha (2 Kgs 4:43); seventy elders for whol11 Yahweh subdivided the spirit given to Moses. such that they "prophesied" (i.e .. became ecstatic). if bllt once (]\;um II :25); and the fifty-strong group that seardwd for Elijah (2 Kgs 2). But the vast 1l1~jority of these "prophets" were really ecstatics, not prophets in the sense of conveying divine messages. It is the same for the prophetic groups (hf'bf'/ nfhi'im or {ahriga( hall-nr;bi)im) in the time of Samuel (I Sam 10:5, ] 0; 19:20). These groups focused on the cult of ecstasy. without parallel in the ~Lui or Nco-Assyrian texts, which report only iudividual ecstasy. although there are some indications of group ecstasy ill olhtT texts.!:! Plural tiJnlls ji)r the a/)i/llm and muhlilim occur in the ~lari texts, as noted, and there are references to mgl!;imiinll and raggimiitu (plurals) in Assyrian texts. But the only indication of group activity by the Mari or Ass}'J'ian prophets is the Mari reference to naMis (ARM 26 216), who apparentlv otfer a ('ollcniw response to inquiry in a way parallel to I Kgs 22. :\-1any of the Israelite pn)phets must ha\'c been clIltie or at least court personnel, although, given the tlnidity of roles, it is difficult to identify individual prophets in this regard. Gad is identified as hanniibi' fllize diiwid (2 Sam 24: 11). as fu)ze diiwld (I Chr 21:9), and as ~,oze hmn-rnf'lek (2 ChI' 29:25); Jahazid, a well-credel1tialcd Levi.tt: of t.he ,1:1

The most striking referellce appear, in a Middle Babvlonian text from

{'gal'il

(Ugrmlica 5 IH2.II), which says that "my brothns. like ecst
bathed/drenched in their own blood,"

A Company of Prophels

65

Asaph clan, is overwhelmed by the spil-it of Cod dllling the royal petition for aid in war, and offers a di\ine oracle of assurance to the king and the people (2 Chr 20). The otlcr is similar to some of the :vIari prophetic texts, but that does not mean that Jahaziel was institlltionally progl·31I1Il1ed. The prophets who proclaimed what the king or the people wanted to hear-at least from the perspective of the present biblical text-might he s1lspect, hut that does not ill itself qualify thelll as regularized cui tie prophets. The titles for Israel's prophets offer little continuity with the !\'lari and A.ssyrian titles. hut those titles are, for the most part, transparent in the local language. In the Israelite tradition, the titles occur occasiollally ill self·reference, but typically, like the :\'ear Eastern titles. are supplied by others. The most com mOil Israelite title, I/{lbi', which fUJH:tionally means "an ecstatic who might also prophesy"-the somewhat elusive etymology is not as relevant as the usage-now has its linguistic parallel in the one Mari text, alld nallli. is also knm~11 as a title from Late Bronze Emar, together with the related munabbi ·atu. But there is no secure information about the function of these persons at EmaI'they may be "singers. wl :1 Only the fitle nabi) identifies the groups of prophets reported in the Bible, although the leader of snch a group may also be called by the second-fllos! frequent title, 'if (hri-j'dohim, the simple "man of (the) god." This title is also used of David a few times and has a possible \lear Eastern parallel. 11 The third title, lu);;i, "visiollary," is used of Gad, Iddo, Jehu, and Amos-I1t'ver as a self-reF erellct'-and again has its parallel outside the !\olari-Assyria traditions, speciticallv in North Syria (Zakkur inscription, ca. ROO B.c'E., as a plural) and in til(' Balaam tradition of ninth-century Transjordan.'I:,

l~ Sec Daniel Fl"ming. "The Elymological Origins 01 the) leur"", /lalit: Tht' Ont' Who Invokes God:' CBQ:)5 (1993): 217-24. H For a possible Hittite parallel in the Plague Prayers of ~lursilis, (a/llu!tsa-).l:il1lIiwmt-, "hom me habile du dieu: see Rent' Lebrun, Hymrw\ d pnerps hittiles (Homo Rdigiosus 4: LOllv
66

Prcr/J/iecy in lis l1ncimt NmT Eastf'rII Context

Gender Unlike Mali and Assyria, the prophets in Israel are predominantly male, unless the plurals wit.h reference to the large prophetic groups conceal some females. The only women with the title lleHi' (I are \Iiriam, the singf'r; Deborah, the siuger, war leader, ami judge; the woman who presumably was so titled as Isaiah's wife; Huldah, the we1lknown contemporary of King Josiah; and Noadiah, the prophetic opponent of Nehemiah. There are also the women who prophesy "from their (own) hearts" (mitmabbf ot) in Ezek 13: 17, but with their attrih\ltt'd functions they are more likely being described as ecstatics, although their specific roll' is dit1iclilt to sort OIH fi'om the polemics. Ifi Of these women, only Iluldah is specifically associaH'd with a prophecy, and .:\oadiah (MT) is, perhaps slanderously, viewed as C11se because of her opposition to l\:ehemiah. Yet the high-status Mcui (lpilum/iipiltum, with only two females out of sixteen or more-unlike tilt' mOlT balanced muhhtun/mllhhiitum and the rather evenly distributed prophets without titles-may offer a due to the gender distribution in Israel. The society Illay have \'icwed the role as properly masculine in spite of its IlIore cgalit'lriaIl charismatic origination. In spite of many similarities. it is clear that prophec\' played a more promiIlenr role in Israel than in the Mari society-.ll

Standing \Vhatever Israelite prophets' popularity in their 0\~11 lifetime, they clearly wen: of immeIlse and lasting importance. Apart ii'om their models among the foundational figures, the propheL~ were involved in the anointing and discarding-public or private-of kings. (Granted, at limes thcy apparently thought they were endorsing a Iliif!:id rather than a m~l~k.) A prophet even declared that a fon~igIl killg. Cyrus, was the coming "anoiIlted onc." In this role they haw a t(>rcrunner ill what the iillilmll of Addu. from Il()rtbea~t Syria, declared about the king of Mari. The standing of the prophet is exemplified by the encounter. perhaps legcndary. but nonetheless revealing. between the powerful King Ahab of Israel and the prophet Elijah: Ahab tells Elijah [hat hc is ,I(i On this l('XI, set' now Nancy R. BUWCll. 'Thc Daughter!> of Yo Ill' Peoph·: Female Prophets in Ezekiel 13:17-23,"JBL lit! (1999): ,1li-:-t-1.

47 Note Simon B, Parker. "Official Attitude, towal'd Prophen' at ~1ari and in Israel," Vf43 (1993): 50-68. esp. 67-68,

A Company of Prophets

67

"the one who troubles Israel," and Elijah responds, "1 have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have" (1 Kgs 8:17-18). The prophets often address the king directly, and their words otherwise are easilY conveyed. In most of these encounters that annoyed the king, the prophet nonetheless slUviw:d. The member of the prophetic band who carried out Elisha's orders and anoint.ed Jehu may have been dismissed by Jehu as a Il/j{ugga', "a crazy man," bllt Jehll was ready to act on what the "crazy man" did (2 Kgs 9:1-13). The prophets arc oftell consulted, even though the king-just like the people-may reject the message. The prophets-as with the symbolic treaty described by the nll,,&rimu of lStar' of Arbela-could also serve as covenant mediators. Samuel is a prime example. They n~ay also announce a new covenant-f()r example, Hosea and Jeremiih-and tlley frequently take initiative as innovators, as illustrated by Hosea, Second Isaiah, and others. The prophets are both adyocates of established traditions and harbingers of nt'w possibilities. The Israelite prophets, individually and cUlllldatively, played a ilIOn.' important role in Israel than t1wir countel1)arts in Mari or Assvria. The message of the prophet~ is both judgment and salvationrarely one without the other. Thev express God's ultimate commitment to Israel and insist that, whatever the prcscIIt. Israel will have a splendorous futllre. They also place themselves within the community, whatever iL" future. As with the muhhum in the "\{ari text who dramaticalIy ate raw lamb, the Israelite prophets often reinforced lheir message \\~th strange symbolic act~. A primary addressee is the king, but the focns is not the king's Pt'fsonal safety and welI-being-on how to keep the king safely in power or to improve the king's attent.ion to cultic acts-but on the king's beh~i\'ior as it connected with the overall worship of Yahweh and the maintenance o(justice and righteousness in the king's realm. i

The Charge of Falsehood One consequence of the exclllsi\ist tradition prevalent among certain groups in Israel, and of the pl"ophetic penchant for thinking and acting indepcndeIllly of the reigning monarch, is conflict between the kings and the propheL'i alld conflict among the prophets themselves. Unlike l\1ari and AssYlia, in which different cult centers might have had different agendas and rnight have offered conflicting or unsought ad-

6R

PropheC)' ill Its Aucimt Near E(/\{rrn Couto;t

vice, but ill which no 01le charged deliherate falsehood, Israelite prophets were willing to charge each orherwith being deceptive or false. Intriguingly, the accusel' does not always say that the false prophet is aware of falsehood or that the prophets are making something up (see Ezek 13:2-4). In the revealing story in I Kgs ~2. \Iicaiah says that he overheard the deliberation in Yahweh's council that !erl to the rccolIlIlleIHlatioll, ~\ppro\'{'d by (;od, "I \\:ill go and he a lying spirit in the mouths of all f the kjng'sj prophets" (Y. 22). According to Micaiah. the king's prophets wcre heing duped in recommending battle. Ezekiel 14:9-10 affirms that prophets who speak deceptively may have heen intemionally deceived by (~()(i. III response to Micaiah's charge of a I}ing spirit, Zedekiah hell Kcna'anah. the leader of the li:mr hundrerl, immediatelv disputes this allegation and defenrls his authenticity. The king's respollse was to do what he wanted, albeit \\;th precautions, and to clap Micaiah into jail. This was bad news for .\Iicaiah, but be-or the redactor-appealed to another criterion of falsehood: "If you (0 king) C\'l'T do get horne satdy, Yahweh h;L~ not spoken through me." But, whatever happenf'd, Micaiah was in serious trouble. In another story (2 Kgs H), Elisha openly oilers a two-pronged oracle to Hatael of Damascus: (al King Ben-Hadarl is going to die, but tell him he will recover; (b) Hazael will herome king in place of Ben-Hadad. HazaeI follows Elisha's achice but decides to help the prediction by suffocating Ben-Harlad. \hcaiah's appeal to historical outcome as a means of verification, a criterioll IIsed hy others as well, especially the Deuterollomistic tradition, does not help people make decisions at the moment. The appeal also lack.~ darity, as for many of the \videly lwralded prophecies that have not come true. such as the announcement of the peaceful kingdom. Evcn when known, thcse outcomes arc am higuous. {n Jer :)7:18-19,jert'miah complains to the king that, unlike the unpunished prophets who said that the Rabvlonians wO\lld not attack Israel, Jeremiah, despite historical vindication. does not get respect. Another example is the inlerplav hetweenJeremiah and those haking raisin cakes fl)r the Queen of Heaven. Although bakers ceased their practice, pres\lmablv at least in part at Jert'miah 's urging (jcr 7: 16-20), the fall of Jerusalem was not advertcrl. The dCHHces of the quccn wok this as a sign of the goddess's anger rather than of insutlicient repentance toward Yahweh, aud resumed their baking Un 44:24-28). In the dispute between Jeremiah alld Hananiah, the suggestion is

A Company of Prophets

69

that truth is on the side of those who prophesy disaster. This standard has difficulties, not only for prophets of salvation such as Second Isaiah. bllt also for those who judge what constitutes a disaster. Note, however, that Hananiah not only predict.s an early return from Babylon of the temple furnishings. which presumably would please mostJudeans, he alsu predicts-according to the text-the return of King Jehoiachin (leI' 28:4). which, considering theJuclean power structures, would lIot have been good news for Jehoiachin's uncle, King Zedekiah, and somewhat risky for Hananiah. 4 /j Also acceptable as an accusation but not susceptible to velification is the charge that false prophets proclaim their personal dreams as revelatOl-Y, rather thall having heen givcn access to the deliberations of Cod's council Ucr 23). Ideology played a primary role in judging falsehood. If the prophecy was displeasing to the king or the people, or whoever was arbiter, it was likely to be discarded out of hand. Deuteronomy 13 advises I hat a prophet or a dreamer who otfers signs or wOllders, who uses the accomplished signs or wonders to encourage people [0 follow another god, is being used by Cod to test the people. Such a misleading prophet, even if being llsed by God. should be put to death. More restrictive is the intimation in Deut 18:14-20 t.hat the coming prophetor any prophet-must be from \\1lhin the community and must be like \toses; that is, IlO futnre prophet could disagree with Moses and be genuine. In short, thne was no real means of empirical verification.

Inspiration The prophet~ report theophanies, ,isions. auditions, and dreams, while ha\ing their own vehicles of choice for revelation. Ecstasy underlies milch of Israelite prophecy, although thefe mllst have been those adept at quickly puuing thelllselves into an erst,Hie or "altered state of consciousness."

48 Roben P. Carroll nott's that Han,Uliah "is in deli,Ulc(> of Zedekiah, thl' COllrt and the Babylonians," a formidable list of opponen.t~ (/nrrniah [OTL; Philadelphia: \Vestrninster Press, 198(;1. 54~~). Hananiah is 1I00just playing to the crowd.

70

Pro!,hfCV in Its Ancient Nmr Hastrm Cun/exl

Conclusion Among prophets in Mari. Assyria. and Israel. we find many variations and "exaggerations" of the possibilities of prophetic revelation. There are Illany possibilities. and each comlllllllity is distinctive. Prophecy was a living phenomenon. and each COlIllIlllIlity, for unknown reasons, selectcci different options t\-OHI the prophetic alteruatives. The three corpuses are valuable because of the range of activity they report. As such, it is easier to see commonalities and anomalies among prophets, and to appreciate different ways in which prophetic revelation playeci a role in societies of the ancient ]'\car East.!9

19 I am preparing a bO(lklellgth treallllt'lll. of plOphecy in the ancient Near Fast, which will expanrl ami, hop('fillly. c1arifv poillLs lIerc. FOI \lari, the masterful sturlres hv.J.-M. Durand, D. Charpin. andJack:V1. Sasson olTn a wealth of insight ano information, and Abraham Malalllat has been a keen observer of tht' mutual illumillatioll of prophecy in tht, Mari texts and in Israel (see especiall)' his iHari and the Frlrl}' bmelilf F:x,twrimcp [Schweich Lectures, 1981: Oxford: Oxford University Press. 19891, 70-12l, ami his Mari find thl' /liMp [SH,-\;"lF. 12; Leidell: Elil!. 1998 J). For tht' Nco-As5Ylian texts, the cited sllH.lics hy Parpo];t and Nissinen have special import;mn'; set' also Manti ;,\issint'll. "Die Rele\'alll del' Hella.ssyd.schcll Prophetic fiir die alttest.Mllclllliche For~(hllng." in ;Hl'w/lo/r11l1il'fl-l'Wllilica-Biblim: i'i'.\(srim/! fiir Kurt Bergeriw(ed. ~r. DiNrich and O. LOI'efz; AOAT 232; Ke\'claer, Germany: BUIlOH & lkrckcr; Neukirchen-\luyn: J:\'('ukirchencr, 19\)3),217-:'>8.

5 Mesopotamian Prophecy between Immanence and Transcendence: A Comparison of Old Babylonian and N eo-Assyrian Prophecy Karel van der Toorn Introduction Over the past century. many genres of the Hebrew Bible have been fiuitfully compared Vvith relevant literature from neighboring ci\ilizations of the ancient Near East. Biblical Jaws. rituals. historiography. prayers. and wisdo1l\ have counterparts in the literature of the \ksopotamians, Hittites, Canaallites. and Egyptians. Prophecy. however. was long cOl1sidered a ulliqudy biblical phenomenon. Since the publication of a considerable number of ancient Mesopotamian prophecies, this \iew can no longer be upheld. Biblical scholars who realize this fact have devoted their efforts to studies of the relationship hetween biblical aJl(i Mesopotamian prophecy. Such is not the aim of this contributioll. I limit myself to all investigation of Mesopotamial1 prophecy in order to demonstrate the internal differences and developments of what is often treated as a monolithic phenomenon. \\'hile not entering into a comparison with the Bible. I am convinced that the conclusions of this study \vill he relevant to student,; of Ilebrew prophecy as well. The ('vidence for ancient Mesopotamian prophecy is limited to Old Habyloniall and Nco-Assyrian texts. The vast majority of the Old Babylonian texts come from the archives of Mari; they are conveniently accessible in al1 edition by Jean-~'larie Durand. 1 The Neo-AssYlian texts I Jeall·Marie DIU
71

,-

""')

PlVphecy in lIs !lncient Sear /,'astf'm Conti'xt

come from the As~urbanipal lihrary in Nineveh: they have been recently collected and translated by Simo Parpola. 2 Nco-Assyrian prophecy is a thollsand years younger than its Old Babylonian connterpart. If only for that reason, theIl. methodological rigor requires us 10 treal lhe lwo bodies of evidence separately; they :.hould not be put ill one box as though they reflect the same phenomenon. Yet once the distinct nature of Old Bahylonian and Neo-Assyrian prophecy is recognized, there is also something to be learned from a comparison betwecll them. Such comparisons have been made before. usually \\;th a fOCllS on their similarities (the ecstatic nature of prophecy, its role as
Ibalpiel: Oracle Texts from lshcltali." MAW c, (19<"7): 23:;-66 (FL1' Hi74 and FL1' 2064 \; .I('an-Marie Durand, "I.e mythologc!l1e du combat clItre k diett de l' orage cl la mer en MesOpot;\I11IC," /HARt7 (199:~): 41-IH, ('sp. ·B-45 (A. 196B): ARI,1 26233; 238; :)712 Simo Pal-pola. A.J.IW?(/1/ Pmt1hl'(ies (SAA 9; Helsinki: Helsinki L'niversit), Pr'ess, 1997\. See also SAA 1:{ 139. For report' on prophecy sec Manti Nissinell. Re!'emitl's to Pmph,'cy in Nea-Assyrirl1l Sourers (SAAS 7: Helsinki: Nco-Assvrian Text Corpus Projen. 1998). ~ See. e.g., ~!anfl·inl Dietrich. "Proheti!' in dell Kcilschrifttextcn." ./ahhurh !iir A,nlhmpologir und Rf'ligirlTlsgl's('hidlle 1 (1973): I :'-H; Karel \'an der Toom. "I:ol".Kle de \'ic!oire (ulllme expressioll proph(~!jl/u(' all Proche-Orient ancien," HE 94 (1987): 63-97; Herbert B. J Iutfmon, "Ancient Ncar Eastern Prophecv." AHI) 5:477-82.

Prophet:y between Immanence ano Transcenoence

7~)

Prophecy in Writing In a study dealing with the so-called "prophetic letters" from Old Babylonian ;VIan, I noted that the Babylonian prophets were primarily speakers. whose OJ-acies wefe meant for a one-rime oral performance. Although we only know abollt these propheries by written reports . .."riting was not llsed as a means of preservation. but as an aid in the communication of the pl'ophetic message 011 a synchronic level. that is, to contemporaries of the pmphets. 1 No attempt was made by the Old Babylonian scribes to rollen prophetic utterances for later generatiolls. OIlCt' the events addressed bv a prophet had come to pass, the prophecy had served its plllvose. Prophecies were punctual, rt'It'vant only in cOIlllectioll with single historical events. Beyono those events, prophecies lost their value. The situation of the Neo-Assyrian prophecies is strikinglv different. The maJority of the known Neo-Assyrian prophecies have been preserved in oracle collectjons (SA/\ 9 nos. l_/J)r, In these collections we filld the text of about twenty prophecies, carh followf'o by the name or the prophet or prophetess (.\G pi) ano his or her city of provenaIlce. A.lthough the historical circumstances can often be tentatively reconstructed. there is no explicit reference to them in the texts or their subscriptions. The same holds true fOf the spot where the prophecy was ddivereo. It should be noted, in this connection, that the 1.OWII or city from which the prophets come need not coincide with the place whf're they spoke their prophecy. There are several cast's in which the two clearly differ. A woman hum Dara-ahuya, a town in the mountains, delivered her proplH:cy, tojudge by its contents, in Arbela (SAA 9 U~); Tasnwtu-eres, a prophet of unknown pnwenance, prophesied in the city of Arbela as well (SAA 96); and the woman DlmmL~a-amur (or Sinqisa-amur) [rom Arbela spoke a prophccv in Nineveh (SAA 9 9).6 The Neo-AssyriaIl collection tablets are relatively large, vertical tablets with two or three c()lumll~. This type, known as tuptJU, was used for lI-eaties, census list~, inventories, as well as ii.)I· collections of all sorts, including royal decrees and the like. They were specifically ·1 Karel van del' 100m, "Old B,lbylonian Prophecy he(,,'cen the Oral and the \-\:rittt'Il," fNS," 24 (IYYil): ~)5-70. toSp. 69.

:\ Parpola, A.Hy,iau Propl/nil's. 6 011 DllllnaS
74

Prophecy in Its Ancicnt Near Eastern Context

orawlI lip for archival storage ann rchTcncc purposes. Then' IS t"\,idence that information recoroeo on these collection tablets was copied fl"Om smaller u'iltu tablets containing inoi\ioual prophetic repons. Once these had been enpico, they were routinely oestroved. Indeed, there is virtually no ovedap betwet~J\ the prophecies ill the collection tablets and thost, kIlown fro111 oracle reports OJ! 11' iltll tablets.' Three Ollt of the fOllr oracle collections presently at our disposal were all compiled by the same scribe. in contradistinction to the reports (u:'iltus) written by different s(Tibes.~ These facts point to a oeliberate policy on the part of the royal bureaucracy to pl'eserve at least a hl.ir number of the individual prophecies for later lise. The collectioJl tablets, thell, dissociate the individual prophecies from their im1l1ediate historical c011texts. To what. lise were they put:' A minimalist. answer to this question would see the collection tablets as archival documents that were kept as records. Such a solution is Ullattractive because there is no information Oil chronology or historical circumstances. A maxilllalist ,IllSWel to Olll' question-what is the PUI'pose of the collection tahlets?-would see them as documents containing revelations relevant beyond their original context. The lack of historical infonnation points toward this solution. These prophecies were not exhallSted. so to speak, by their first fulfillment. They remained relevant, also with respect to new circumstances. The plausibilitv of the maxirnalist view incrt'ast's as nne inYt'stigates the incentiw for the compilation of the collections. A goon illustratiOll is Oracle Collection Ont' (l follow the llumbering adopted by Simo Parpola in SAA 9). Its ten prophecies refer to the evcnts surrounding the accession of Esarhaodol1 in 6H I. as a stuoy of the various \l1orif~-battle, the crossing of the river. exile of the crown prince while his half~brotllf'rs are ill power. l1-illlllphal celebration. ann so o1l-indicates. Thematically there i~ a striking resembla1lce to r\inneh Inscription A, in which Fsarhadrlon oescribes his aCCt"ssiOll to til(> throne, his overcoming all difficulties, and the constant encouragement he received fi-om the gods by means of prophetsY Nineveh In7 Sec ihid .. liii. R Sec

ibid., Iv-lvi. See Rvkle BOlger, Die 111.1(11 I ijl'" I .'\wr/uuldort; KUllig.' WI! '\SSY/,WI/ (AlOE 9: (;r;17.. Ausllia: Sdbs(vcrlag. 1\1:)1;; repr., ()~nabn-lck, (;crmanv: Hiblin-Verlag, 19(7). 40-45. For a study of the references to prophets in this texl. see ;\lissil1('n. Rr/rn7Ire". 30-34. '.I

Prophccy between Immanence and Transcendence

75

scription A was written at the beginning of 673. This was the time Fsarhaddon designated Assurbanipal as his successor. The purpose of the inscription, \·..,ritten almost ten years after the reported events, was to remind potential critics and pretenders to the throne of the support t.he heir designate would enjoy. Just as the gods had stood by Es;u"haddon, so they would stand by Assurbanipal. A similar mutivation may be supposed to lie behind the compilation of the first oracle collection. The oracles of encouragement which Esarhaddon once received were still valid for his son. If this tentatin> reconstruction of the genesis and purpose of Oracle Collection Olle has merit-and let me acknowledge my debt to Simo Parpola for the reconstrllction III-the Neo-A~syrian oracle collections would lIot allest to the mere preseryation, but to the recycling of prophecy. The assumption underlying this procedure implies that divine words once spoken do not lose their vahdity after a first fulfillment. II The prophetic oracles lend themselves to a second life by virtue of a dual characteristic: the" are formulated in general terms (tlHls they typically rekr to "your enemy" rather than to named adversaries), and they are set ",ithin a royal ideology focusing on the king as a representative of a dynasty.):! Promises of support for one member of that dynasty hold good for his legitimate heir as well. The dynastic perspective of the Nco-Assyrian prophecies hecomes very explicit ill the t()lIowillg quotation: Vou shall be ,ale ill YOllI palace. YUill' on t I,(" Iap 0 f· ,.. "murl;t. I:l

~()Il

alld vOllr g-ralllisof) shall rule as kings

We may draw a parallel with the dynastic prophecy concerning the house of David in 2 Sam 7:12, which served to legitimate David's successors as well:

Au'man Prophecies, Ixviii-lxix. 11 So, too. :'-iis,inell, RJ:ferfWf'. 172 ("the prophecies w("re no longer disposablt' fld hoc I\tteran(e~ (ollrnning a ~pecial case but became part of the written tradition, a referellct' r("cord that rould be us("d ami interpreted bv succeeding generations"'). I~ Note the prominence of the tl1('n1<' of the birth and ".uly "ollLl! of Lhe kin)/; (e.g. SAA 9 1.4 ii :!O'-26'); the insistence 011 his being the rZf>lu khlU, "rightful heir" (SAA 9 Ui iv .')-0, :!(); and the "('veria'Ling" establishment of the thmnc (S ..\A 9 Ui iii 19'-22'). 13 SAA 9 un \i 2r)-:)o; (f. 2.3 ii 1:)"-14". 10 Parpo]a,

76

Pro/lh('(:y in Its A.t/dmt N('(tr Eastern Context When YOllr elavs arc fultillecl and )'ou lie dowlI wilh yom falhers, I will raise lip your offspring after "Oil, who shall (on1(' forth from your body, and I will eSlablish his kingdom,

Although the dynastic outlook is not entirely lacking in the Old Babylonian prophecies, it~ scope is merely l'etrospective. 14 The long-term vision inherent to the dynastic outlook of the Nco-Assyrian oracles is consonant with the recycling of prophet:y, evell if it docs not constitute by itself a compelling reason for recycling. Concomitant with the Nco-Assyrian eff<)rt to collect certain prophecies and to preserve them I'm' posterity are references to earlier prophecies as anthoritative texts. \\ie find sllch references both in the prophedes themselves and in letters of counsel to the king. Manfred \Veippert has studied the phenomenon of prophecy qlloted in pJ"Ophecy.l~ His most telling example is a prophecy by :\.-fulissu-kabtat, speaking in the name of Mulissu, addressing King Assurbanipal. lI; 'The first half of the prophecy COIlsists of a morc or less literal reminder of a prophecy Assurbanipal receivcd when still (Town princc. This prophecy has now come true ~llld should iufllse the king with confidence in the sccond prophecy, introduced by the phras(", "And now ~-lulissu says . .-,]7 Quotation of an earlier prophecy in correspondence addressed to the king is found in a letter bv r-.;abU-nadin-sumi to EsarhaddOll. He quotes a line h'om an oraclc by IStar of Nineveh alld IStar of Arbela, saying: "We ~hall root out from Assyria thost' who are not loyal to the killg. our lord." This prophL'lic utterance is pllt fi:)rth iII support of measures of banishment against a trollblemaker whose identity we cannot eSlablish. IK Both the prophecy collections and the prophetic quotations are significant as novel understandings of prophecy-novel, that is, by ("om11 Thus Addu i~ s;lid to haw returned Zimri-Lim to the throne of his [ather; set' l.afont, "Roi de ~'lari el les prophi,tcs," i-IR. esp. 11. 16-1H, ')1; A. 19b5 r. 1'-2' (M.4lU 7 l199~I:n-·15.\. Cf. ARM 26217:'21-23: "[What] I ~avt' of old in the hand [ofvOllr falhers] J [now] will gi[vc) to YOll." l~ Manfred ''\-'eippert. .. 'Das Fruherc, sielle, ist eingelJ"OIIen .. .": (:1'>1"1' Selbstzitate im itltorientalischen Prophetenspruch." in Orarlf's ft f,ropMlif5 dans !(mtiqUl/';: Jicte.5 du Col!oqued"Strasbourg, 15-17./11in 1995 (cd. Jean-Georges Heintz; Cnivt'rsite des Sciellces Humailles de Sllasbourg. Travaux fill Centre de Recherche Sill' Ie l'Hlche~OricJlI CI Ia Greel' anliyues I ;1; Pari", De Bo('card. 1997l. J4 7-69. th SAA 9 7. The (exl is discllssed in ibid., E13-:J7. 17 SAA () 7: 12. For the rcndering of this Iiut', see ihid., I ;)ti anel n. '12. It'SAA 10 284, quotalion rev. !i-H. For itn eXlensive dist'msioJl see l\'issint'll, Ivy: I'Il'11CfS,

102-:,.

Propht'TY hetvvlTI1 ImmanenlT and Tr,msccndcm:e

77

pan~on with the Old Babylonian pr()phecic~. Pmphecies are no longer ad hoc utterances, meaningful once but irrelevant ever after, but on the contrary are valid over a longer period of time. Prophecy is the word of God, and the word of God transcends the situation to v.:hich it originally applied. It has cndUl'ing significance. The same cOllception explains the lise of prophecy in a ritual context, a prime example of which is tilt" so-(,allerl Covenant of ASSllr. The latter is a ('01lection of prophecies to be recited at the (annual?) celebration of Esarharlrlon's kingship. I!! Neo-Assvrian propIH'('Y thus t{)J'cshadows what mav be termerl the "frozen" prophecy in the Babyloniall liwrh'y of the New Year Festival as it had beell preserved ill Hellenistic Lruk. lutroduced by the characteristic phrase Iii tajJallah ("fear I1of"), the priest assures tbe king Illat Bel will bless him ti:)rcver, rlestroy his el1t'mies, and overthrow his ad"ersaries.~o Neo-A'>s)Tian prophecy, then, is closer to biblical prophecy than the Olrl Babylonian prophecies, not onl" in time but also with respect to the underlying view of prophecy as the worrl of God with enduring vallie, applicahle to 1110re than one situation. \Vhereas Old Babylonian prophecy is punctual, so to speak, "eo-Assyrian prophecy is durativc, transcending the historical circumstances which prol1lpterl its first deliverance.

The Person of the Prophet A second point in which Nco-Asspian prophecy differs from Old Babylonian prophecy-and in which, incirlentally, it resembles biblical prophecy-pertains to the person of the prophet. The Neo-Assyrian prophets whose prophecies have been preserverl on collection tableto; or oracle reports are accredited prophets: accredited. that is, by the royal bureaucracy, 011 the strength of the COlltents of their prerlictions. They are never anonymous. Their name
7R

ProjJhu)' in lis Anclmt }I.jear Eastern Context

these names tllrn up more than OIlce in the doclIlIlents at our disposal. Thus the prophet La-dagil-ili from Arbela is mentioned as the author (or lIledium, if one prefel-s) of six different prophecies. 21 Sinqisa-amur (DunnilSa-amur) and Bay,j are Jikev.ise prophets with more than one "official" prophecy to their n,um~.~~ The authority of (he prophecy assllmes the authority of the prophet in Yliestion. The Old Babylonian prophets, preceding their :\eo-Assvrian counterparts by more than a millenniulll, found themselves in a different situation. Their indi\idual identity (personal name and city of provenance) was of little cOllcern to their contemporaries. ·We do know the names of" some of the Mari prophets, but the:'.t' have not bet"n recorded b('cause the identity of the prophet conferred authority on his message.:!:! Old Rabylonian prophccies were checked by means of extispicy. This so-called jliqittum procedure was not meant to assess the authenticity of the prophetic experience, but to establish whether or 21 1I0t the prophet's message should be acted upon. Although some token of the prophet's icit-ntity was needed to perform the piqittum (a fringe of dot bing, a loc k of hai r), the idellti t)" ()f the prophet never by itself guarantet"d the validity of his prophecy. The Neo-Assyrian prophets diffned from their Old Babylonian colleagues in yet another aspen. \\1lt'reas t.he Old Babylonian prophets might be connected to the cults of a variety of gods (Adad, Sal1las., Dagan, Marduk. Anllullitlllll, Diritlllll, Rekt-ekallim, l\inhllrsagga), the overwhelming majOlity ()f the Neo-Assyrian proplwts are fOlllJ(~cted ill olle form or another with the clIlt of the goddess IStilL;!!> 'When gods other than IStar. such as Bel or Nabii, address the killg by means of prophecy, they use the channel of a prophet Of prophetess :!l

SAA 9 un; 2.,j; :"),2-:1.

Cj 1..4: 2.2 (B'IV~I). 2:1 AmoIlg the Old Babvtolliall prophets identifi('d bv nallle, we fillt! Isi-ahum, an apilllll! ,\Cove ill the temple of Hi~amHII!l1 (ARM 26 195); field.null. all "ssiI/I/UJ1i ofAnllunitum (d. ll. 29); Lupahum, the apilulllofDagan U\R:\-12fi 199:5): Hubaturn, a prophetess of Annunit.um (AR.\1 26 200:5): the api/tum Innibana (ARM 26204:4); Qisti-Dil·itum. the iipilul1I of DirilUm (ARM 26 2{)8::>-ti); Ili-hazn'l}'a. an flssinnum of Annunitum (ARM 26 212): the lay prophetess Ahatu!l1 (ARM 26 214:6-7); one It ra-gamil (ARM 26 222: 12); the ("("statics Hadnu,EI and IdclinKubi (ARM 26 n7): and Abiya, the ii/dum of Addu of Aleppo (,H.ARi 7 r 199:~J: 4.'\ A. 19I.itV~). See also ,\RM 26 nos. 21 I: 221-bis. ;;4 Sec Dur,md, An-hi.,,!''', ·109. 2~ See Parpota, ,1,I.\W)(11I Pmphprirs. xlvii-xlviii.

:11 SAA 91.2; 25; 9; 10 (Sinqisa-.unur,·Uunn.1sa-anlllr): SAA

Prophecy between Immanence and Transcendence

79

ofIstar. 26 Unlike SiIl10 Parpola, I do nOllhink this means that in these cases IStar is "putting on new masks" to speak on behalf of other members of some sort of Holy Trinitv. 2i Bel and Nabu can speak for themselves, but they do so through the agency of the !Star prophets. The distinctioIl might seem a sIlbtlc OIle, but it is not without importann:. In Nco-A>;sjTian times, prophecy was a type of divinatioll pertaining to the province of Etar, as cxtispicy was a type of divinatioIl connected with the gods Sama.s and Adad. Neo-Alisjlian prophecy owes its privileged link to the cult of Etar to the shamanistic nature which the two have in common. The Nco-Assyrian prophets arc ecstatics. They "shout" (raKc"tlnu) and "go ilIto a frenzy" (mahii, N-steIIl). Such beh,tvior fiL~ well with the character of the cult of lSt.ar, which was strongly shalIlaIlistic. IStar was deemed capable to produce, by way of ecstasy, a metamorphosis in her worshipers. ~len might be turned into women, and women were made to behave as men. If ever there was a possession cult in Mesopotamia, it was connected to IStar?' Prophecy, being a type of divinatioll based on inspiration, is at home in such a cult. Then; is evidence that at least some of the Nco-A~S}'lian prophetesses were in reality men, or rather self~cas­ trated transvestites.~X) Their outward appearance was interpreted as a display of IStar's transforming powers. Possessed by the divine, they were the obvious persons to become mouth pieces of the gods. The association between prophecy alld the cult of !Star (or one of her al\omorphs) was not unknown in Old Babylonian times. A case in point is that of Selebum, a transvestite (assimwm) belonging to the cult personnel of Annunitum, mentioned as the medium of prophetic oracles in three Mari letters.:lO "\'hat remained an occasional link in Mari, however, has become a structural connection in first-millennium As~yria. By then, prophets, as a rule, are named individuals whom IStar has endowed with powers to act as a medium hetween gods and humallkilId. We TIlay perhaps speak, in this connection, of a professionalization of prophecy 2(> See, e.g., SA-A 9 1.4; SAA 13 139. 2i Parpob. Assyrian Proph,'l'ie.l. xviii. 21'1 Brig-itte CroIlf'herg-. Loh drr .War: Gebet und Ritual an
29 Such as Sava and 1IIls,a-
HO

Pmph{'{) in Its Ancient Near Eastern Cuntex{

The Cultic Context of Prophecy Man: The Temple as the Theater of Prophecy A third difference between Old Rahvlonian and Nco-Assyrian prophecy concerns its cull.ic context. The Old Bahylonian gods grant prophetic revelations only in the sanctuary. Dreams may OCCllr at other places, but prophecy, properly speaking, is conti ned to tl1(" tf'mpie. This is an important point that has not always received the attention it deserves. The point can be illustrated with a few examples from the !'.lari archives. The royal sen'anl who is to keep the king informed about the prophecies from '[(>[qa, a huno1ls rdigiollS center, hears the oracles as they happen "in the temple of the god.'
bit

dim illmjS.I'li

11

If.lnmnll

a[nJa serf.ivJa

:~2 A. 1121 +- 2T~1 (~ RA R4 r !fIR 7] : 7-1 HI: 29-:\0 (Addu temple at Aleppo): AR~r 26 19;')5-7 (temple of Hisalllitlllll); 204:4--5 (Belel-ebllilll Lempk): 209:4-7 (dming sacrifices for Dagan\: 211 ::,-9 (Rekl-ekallilll tt'lIlple): 219:4'-(j' (Nillhurs-7. :l-1 AR~1 26 202: 15-6: cf. 7-8;.r, ARM 26 200::{-6 (Annunitllm temple): 215:9-16 (Dagan temple at Tuuul): 227:6-20 (Abba temple. dream report); 2:~7:22-:~ (Annunitlllll temple). ~!i ARM 262125-12; ('f. r. ]0'-11'. in which the nss;mmln (transvestite) of An· nllnilllnl cOllle~ to the palace and delivers an orade rect'ived ill the telliple of An· Illlllitulll.

:17

ARM 26 210: II (a woman married

10

a ti'cc citizen.

220:19 (muhhl11ll of Dagan); 221:15 (flIllhhlim of Dag'iIl). :1;; ARM 26 212 r. lO'-ll'; cr. no. -114:32-3,

Oil

hehalf of Dagan);

Prophecy betweell Immanence and Transcendellff:'

81

ill several dream reports as well. The dream of one l\lalik-Dagan offers a fine illustration. In my dream I ,,-as going, together \\ilh a companion, from the districl of SaggaratlllTl, t hrollgh the upper district, to Mari. Before I got [0 my destination, I entered Terqa. As soon 'IS I had come into Terqa I visited the temple of Bagan, and did obei~,lllce to Dagan, As I did nbeisance, Dagan opt'nt'ci his mouth ami spoke to me in these terms: Have the Y;lminitc: rulers ;md their al'mies lIladt' pt'ace with ZinlI'i·Lim', army that has ('()me up? I said: They did not make peact', Just before I left he spoke to me: \\lw is it that Zimri-Lim', messengers are not steadily prescnt before me? And whv doeslI't he put a complete report before me? Had he done so, I would hav(' deliven'd the Yaminites ill to Zimri-Lim', hand a long tim(' ago, Go now, I send you, You shall sav to Zimri·Lim: Send lilt' yuur messengers and put a (ompkte re:porl before: me:, ThC'11 I will, nMkc th(' iY Yaminite:s crawl in a I1shC'rman's hox and put tht'lfl at your disposal.

There is nothing in this account to suggest that Malik-Dagan was iIi the temple when he received the dream; this is not a case of incubation or temple s\eep,40 And yet his dream was clearly a reYe\ation, fulminating in his being commissioned to deliver a message to the king, :'IJot only docs this account show the close links that exist betweeIl messenger prophecies and certain dream experiences; it also rct1ect~ that prophets normally recei\'t~ their rew,lations in the temple, Whcll they were not in the temple in person, t1w)' visited the temple in their dreams:H T'he dream report ofl\hlik-Dagan puts int.o reHefre! another aspect. of Old Rahylonian prophecy, It is clear horn the description that Dagan is supposed TO speak from within his image, In fact, the author of the letter makes no distinction hetwccn the god and his image, It is evident from other texts that the prophet who makes himself the mouthpiece of the god rises and stands before the god, that is, the image of the god, in whose name he delivers an oracle. Note the following description: :,9

AR~1

26 233:9-39,

40 For a likely case of incubation, see ARM 26232:7-9: "Dagan, vour lord, put

me to sleep and no one dared la lauch me, Dagan spoke to me as follows, , ,"; cr, no, 235, possibly a dream received in the temple of A.lIflUnituI1I; and no, 238, a dream bv the supervisor of the temple of Itur·mer, presumabJ" received in the temple l)Ieciucl. AR.\I 2G 236 n:ports ,t vision (dreamr) received in the temple of itarmer, 'li See also ARM 26 227:6-20 (dream about TWO muhhu in tIl(' temple of tht' god Abba): 230 (dialogue iwtweeu old man and lIur-mer in the s!e!ae-rnnple of Dagan); 237:8-21 (events in the temple of Belet-ekallim); 240 (temple of Bclerekallim?),

Prophecy in Its A/lcierl! :Vear Eastern Context Ami the ('cstatk (muhll1im) rose bcfof(, (H.;I) Dagan and spoke as !()I!ows: Shall [ never drink clean water? \Vrite to your Lord that he ~hnuld let me drink cle;m 42 ' water'

This texl renders explicit a procedure that remain~ implicit in most other texts, ill which it is simply said that the prophet "rises" or "stands" in the temple. In all cases, however, the prophet put~ himself in front of the god ill whose name he speaks ~lI\d thus makes hilIlseif an extension of that god. There is no room for misunderstanding as to who is speaking. That is why we never find, in any of the reports describing a prophecy delivered in the temple, a phrase identifYing the divine speaker.·\:1 The expression II.mrna DN-lIUl ("thus god so-and-so") is restricted to letters from gods or their aj,ilulII. II Tht' only time the pruphet finds it necessary to say that )!,od so-and-so has sent him (D)J Lstmranni) is when the prophecy is transrnittt.'d to sumeone outside the sanctuaryot" The Botf:l~/onnd, then, does not belong to the prophecy properly speaking, but to the introductioll to the secondarily transmitted pmphecy. A~a:

Messages from HealJen

When we turn to the Nco-Assyrian prophecies, we enter a different world. The collection tablets contain no indication where the oracks were first delivered. That a number of proplwtesses were votaries (SdlJtU) need not imply that their oracles were delivered in the temple.·Hi In the oracle reports we read of a prophecy given "ill the city of Arbela" (5AA 9 6 r. 12) and tind nne dated prophecy (SAA 9 9 r. 6'-7'). ~eo·Assyrian texts containing references to prophetic activities sug-

42 ARM 2t.i 215:1:>-21. See also ARM 26 227:6rr "In nl\' dream Hadnn-EI and ludin-Kubi, thl! eesr;Hies. were alive ;lI1ct went hefore Abba. They spoke as follows ... " (follows an orark from rhe god Abba). 4:1 Compare the tcxt~ fIIclltiOlwd in 11, ~2. ARM 26 2n:7 i" IlU exceptiun. because the phmse umma :~nnunilu.mma is not a quotation from the prophecy, but an explanation by Queen Sibtll. who sent the letrer. The one time one does encoutcr a self~introduction is A. 1121 + 2731:14-15, 49-50 (= RA 78 [1984): 17-18), but then' it serves no! to reveal the identitv of the divine speaker, but to underline the favors formerly hestowed hy the f,!;O(i. ·11 Sec ARM 26 192; 193: l~H; and FL!' 1671 (~ AHlU c) r 1\:187]: 2:~5-6tj, ('sp. 240). ,n See n. ,,(j, 46 See, e.g .. SAA I:~ 148.

Prophecy between Immanence and Transcendence

Hj

gest that the oracles might OCCllr anywhere, be it inside or-more frequently-outside the temple. "~I Turnillg to the oracles themselves. we encounter additional evidence for setting the prophecy outside the temple. The most telling example, in this respect, is an oracle hy the WOJllan Bayii froJll A.rbda, in which the gods Bel, IStar of Arhela, and Nahil arc successively introduced as speakers (SAA 9 1.,1). -nlOlIgh IStar had a 1~1l1101lS temple in Arbela, there is not the slightest hint in our records that it contained chapels for the images of Bel and NahlL l8 "\-'e must assume that Saya gave her prophecy in one piece in the absence of the images of Bel and :'\labll. There is also internal e"idelKe in the oracle of Bay,l indicating that the audience could not he sure on hehalf of which deity she was speak~ ing. Each god had to be identified bv a formula of self~introduction. Modern readers would not be aware of the multiplicity of divine voices if it were not for the fact that the gods present themselves with the words "[ am Rei" (17'), ") am 'star of Arbela·' (;W'), and '" am Nalni, lord of tilt' styl\ls~ (:~H'). Such formulae of sell~introdllction art' t'xtremel), rare in the Old Babylonian prophecies. The only t.ime one does OCCllr, it serves not to identify the god, but to underscore his support of the king in the past. 49 There is reason to belieye that the omnipresence of divine self~introduction in the l\eo-A'isyrian prophecies is not merely a matter of style. The audience needed to hear this, otherwise the\' would not know which god was speaking. Such ambiguity is not inherent in the situations in which the Old Babylonian prophecies were originally delivered. 17 See 1\issinen. Reform cps. passim, but esp. 28 and n. 121; 64-6:) (prophf'L~ among the military. pnwiding oracks during a royal campaign). Sec also Simo Parpola. iR((f'r., fmm Assyrifln Sdw/ars to Ihi' KiI1R.I Emrizaddon Ilnd AHm·/zrmifi"/ (AOAT :i/l; Kevdael', GelTlI,Ul\': BtllZoll & Ben:ker; Neukin:hen-\lllyll: Nt'ukin:ht'Ilt'r. 1970). no. 29 r. 7-11. l'arpola's no. :>]7 (~SAA 1'1 '17) shows Ihal Neo..As-Wlian prophecies could also be delivered in temples; see !\:issillen, 1&/irl'1l(f.\. 7S-Hl. Some relevant texts not discussed bv !\:issinen are now to be found in SAA. 13: no. IJ9 (= Robert Francis Harper. /lss,riar/ aT/d Babylonian Letters [London and Chicago: Lul.ac, lK92-1914]' no. 1249); no. 1<14 (" CT53. no. 969); no. 148 (= CT ;-):~, 110. 413). lH Sec Brigitte Men/d, /1.Hrrisclw 'li'1lljll'l: Band 1 (Studia Pohl, Series Maior }O: Rome: Bihlical Institute Press, 19RI), 6-lO. 49 Set' II. .1:\. TIle case of ARl\,. 26194:,1. 1I1l11l11ld l"TI'-ma op[ mll/[im anakul. is uncertain because of the lacuna in the text and slightly different. as the context is epistolarv.

Pm/Jhecy in Its AI/cie-Nt ,Veal' Faste-rll Conff'xt

The Neo-A~s)'Tiall prophets, then, were apparelltly not bOlllId to be in the presence of the divine image in ordel- to receive a message from the god. Prophecy occurred regularly outside the sanctuary. The gods resided in heaven, and from there they could reach their human mouthpieces in any number of circuIIIstances.

The Realm of the Divine Actions A. careful reading of the Old Babylonian texts on the one hand, and the Neo-A;.;syrian texts on the other, reveals a further difference between the two bodies of prophecies. This fourth difT("renc("-the last Olle I discLIss ill this essay-concerns the way in which the gods come to the aid of the king. Whereas the Old Babylonian gods secure the success of the king by their' pre~ellce OIl earth, as auxiliaries of his army, the Neo-Assyrian deities influence the outcome of political and military conflict by an intervemion from heaven. In the Old Babylonian prophecies, the bank in which the gods b('coIl1e involved remains 'within the human horizon; in the i'\co-Assyrian texts, however, the battle takes on ('osmic dimcIlsions. Conflicts, often amlCd, arc the traditional area in which the gods are supposed to demonstrate their support of the king. In the Old Babylonian prophecies, the standing expression for the gods' participation in combat is to say that the gods "go" (aliilw) or "stand" (izuzzu) "at the side of' (ina idi) the k.ing and his anny. :.0 Thev are the "auxiliary troops" (tilliLtu) of the king."] The standard formula comes in several variations and elaborations. The gods stand by the king "with [their I strong weapons";r,~ they send their "strong weapons" and "neL.," to the king. that he may defeat and capture his enemies.":> The divine intervention leads the king to v;ctOl-Y; the gods are with him "in the def("at (of the enemy)" (ina drzmdhn) ',4 and "ill the triumph (over the enemy)" (ina Mim) .,,,-. Familiar as we are with a tradition in which God is dcemed invisible, we tend to assume that the presence of the gods on the battlefield w-as

:,(1 ARM 26 19·1:27: (;\;(>rgal) ana idiha 11 ir/i ummrlnatika gods) Ia illa idi haiya iilahl/. 31 ARJv126 207:31. '-"2 ARIVI 26 J 92: 17-R: nUL kakl-."lra dantill/im (lz(l::({kkllm. ,,;l l \RM 26 192:6-7; 209:9-1O;-2:~3::~7fr. ",4 ARM 26194:26. '.) ARM 26 211:15.

iZ2i~;

207:31-34: (the

Prophecv between Immanence and Transcendence

85

an invisible one, perceptible only by its dkns. Tht~ Old Babylonian reality was probably different, though. Gods accompanied the royal army in the form of images and other \;sible symbols. Di\;ne images (is-ta-ra-tim) carried by the military are mentioned in a letter by SamsiAddu. 56 The Mari kings knew the same practice. And when Addu of Aleppo claims that he gave Zinui-Lim "the weapons with which I he J defeated Temtum" ((;JS.TUKL:L-[\fES) .sa itti Terntim amtahll1 Ilddinakkum) ,57 it must be assumed that the king did in fact receive physical representations of these weapons. We know from other Old Babylonian texts that temples harbored such weapons as objects of veneration."~ if images of the gods could be paraded in front of the troops, there is no reason why the arms of lht' gods could not be brought along as well. The upshot is that the Old Babylonian prophecies picture the intervention of the gods taking place "on the ground," so to speak. Their action does not disrupt the natural framework of the battle. The interventions of the gods promised in the Nco-Assyrian prophecies are of a different character. Here the gods send their support from heaven, thus disturbing a human conflict with interventions from a different world. A few quotations \~ill suffice to illustrate the point. A fine example is found in an oracle of the god Assur, recited in an enthronement ritual. J heard WHIr cry. I issued fiJrth ;\s <\ fiery glow limn heaven. to hurl do\\'n fire allli haw it devour them. You were standing ill thei! midst, ,;() T removed them froll! your presence. T drove them up the l11llUlllaill and rained (hail)storws and lire of heaven upon them. I slaughtered your enemies and filled the river "'i?~ their blood. Let them sec (it) and praise me, ttl)' I am A~sur, lord of the gods.''''

Owing to the intervention of Assur, the battle acquires a cosmic dimension. The god participates from heaveIl, alld the forces he IIses to saw the king arc from the heavenly realm; lightning and hailstones. The outcome of the battle is determined by transcendent powers. The Assur prophecy is not the only one to employ such cosmic imagery. Take the follo~;ng quotations from an oracle of IStar of Arbela.

,>() AR;\I 1 5~ f M. 7~40:1H; see MARl" (1980): 316-17. wit.h n. 107. ,,7 A. 1968 L 2'-4' (see Jl.L11U7 [199:3]: 43-4!1). 511 See, e,g .. A. Cat.lgnoti, "Le royaumc de Tub,! (~t ses ('ultes," in /'7oriiJ}gium fHw e iunum: Renu'il M. Flmry (M~l11oires de /ldBU 1; Pari~: SErOA. 1(92).23-28, esp. 25-26 (oUc-rillgs lor the lance [dmpjJUmJ oflStar of Tubii). c,[l SAA 933 ii 14-25 (mms. Parpola. with OIle slight change).

86

Prophecy in Its Awi.ent Near /~'(Jstem Context I watch Ii'om a golden chamber in the miclM of the heavens; I let the lamp of amber shine before Esarhaddoll. king llf Assyria. and I watch him like the crown of my head .... From the great heavens I keep vou by vour curl. I make smoke . up on your ng . 111 Slue, . A I k'III dl e t-Ire on your 'I e f'1. (it) . nse

The imagery differs fundamentally from that of the Old Bahylonian prophedcs. The goddess has her abode in heaven ("a golden chamher in the midst of heaven"), and from there she makes the king stand in the middle of the combat by keeping him by his curl (meaning a lock of hair). Smokc and fire are sent down from heaven to scare his adversaries. Evcn the more traditional image of the gods going 'with the royal troops takes on a different hue in the Neo-Assyrian texts. IStar of Arbela is said to go "before and behind" the king, which means that htT presence surrounds him invisibly.6J The same message is phrased in other terms when the deity promises that she will "G\'itter over Ithe king] and go in circles around [him] like a winged bird ov[er its young]. ,,62 Such involvement cannot 1)(' visualized ,·vith the help ofimages or symbols. Thc :--Jeo-Assyrian prophets are speaking of a spiritual presence of tht' gods. They do so, I submit, because their very view of the gods diftt:rs from that of their Old Babylonian counterparts. The gods have become transcf'lIdent. n},

Conclusion The four points of contrast elaborated in tbis contl;hution may be summed up, I suggest, ill the opposition of immancncc versus transcendence. In the Old Babylonian conception, the gods inhabit this world. They speak from their statues, and the support they hold out has an inner-mundane character: they participate in the royal comhats on tlIe ground. Their oracles do not transcend the historical situations they address. The prophets that speak on their he half n:maill within the socially accepted roles-aside from one or G\'O exceptions. By Neo-Ass),Tian times, the gods have their proper habitat in heaven. Temples and temple statues arc the symbolic representations 60 SAA 9 1.ti iii 2:>'-29': iv 20-32. 6J SAA 9 1.1 i 22'-U. 62 SA\ !I 2.3 ii 6'-7'. 63 For other refcn:llcC's to divine aid ofIt'red 2.2 i 20'-22'; 9:J6-17.

to

the king. see SA;\, 9 J.4 ii 20'-20';

Prophecy between Immanence and Tr,l11scendcnce

H7

of their presence. The gods arc free to speak at any place: a prophet need not be in the presence of the divine statue in order to obtain an oracle. Divine involvement in human affairs has likewise a transcendental character. The gods send their help from heaven. Oracles have durative value, transcending the limits of the historical situation in view of which they were originally spoken. The prophets, tinally. are members of a cult whose main characteristic is that it transcends the traditional division of roles. O\ving to the distance from which we look at the phenomenon of ancient Near Eastern prophecy, we tend to be especially sensitive to its common characteristics. A closer look reveals important diff(>rences hetween separate hodies of prophetic text'). Such differences should he no calise for wonder, considering the lapse of time between Old Babylonian and Neo-Assyrian prophecy. To the extent this is possible. our ,iew from a distance needs to be counterbalanced by a view from nearby. if we wish to dojustice to the historical and local development of the phenomenon of ancient Kcar Eastern prophecy.

6 The Socioreligious Role of the Neo-Assyrian Prophets lYfartti Nissinen The N eo-AsS}rian Evidence for Prophets and Prophecy The uprlaterllist of the ancient Near Eastern documents related to prophecy comprises more than 130 texts, of which about half cOllie from Mari and a little less than half from Assvria. 1 The Nco-Assyrian c\idence for prophecy consists of documents of two kinds: the twentynine oracles included in the eleven tablets published recently by Simo Parpola,2 and the haphazard collection of miscellaneous sources consisting of ahout rwentv texts-inscriptions, letters, admillistrative documents, cultic texts, and a treaty-that allude in one way or another to prophets or their savings. most of which are included ill my recellt monograph devoted to these sources.:' In addition, there are some relevant Nco-Assyrian texts that I failed to analyze in that book: a group ofletters, now published by Steven vV'. Cole and Peter Machinist;4 a deI For au overview of the sources oUhe allcielll Neal Ea~tenl prophecy, see Herbert B. Huilmon, "Ancient Ncar Eastern Prophecy," ABD :'1:477--.'>2; Manirt'u \Veippert, "Prophetie im Allcn Orient," SBL 3: 196-200; and compare the list ill Martti

Nissinen. "Spoken, \\-'litten. Quoted, and Invented: Or and Spcech in Ismelit.e and A//(imt !\'car EastI'm Prot,hcrr (ed. Fhud Ben Zvi iartli i'
89

90

Pro/lher), ill Its An(il'llt Near Eastern Context

cree of expenditures in the A~sur Temple ti'om the vcar H09;" as well as a few ritualtexts. 6 The prophetlc natllre of some of these texts is still at issue. The prominent percentage of Assyrian texts among the sources of prophecy means that no longer call seriolls study of ancient Ncar Eastern prophecy be accomplished without taking this material into consideration. Nco-/\. ssyrian documentation of propht.·cv provides essential insight into the role and image of the pn)phelS as religious specialists and members of the community, and is relc\-:lnt to our understanding of ancient I\ear Eastern prophecv as well as of Nco-Assyrian society and rcligioll.

The Assyrian Prophets: mahhii. and raggimu Basic aspects of the socioreligious role of the Assyrian prophets can be learned from the Neo-A~s)Tian words for "prophet," mahln/lmahlllltu and ra{!,gimu/raJ(r.;intu. 7 The word mahhfl/mahhlitu is equal to mullItll.m/rnuhlllilulfl (l~li.JLl'.l;l'IU\A), which is one of the 1110st common prophetic desigudLio1ls at Mari H and attested elsewhere ill various and 148; see the relevant chapter in the introduction to that volume, written bv Roben :\1. \\11itillg (xvii}. ~ Law'a Kataja and Robert \1. \c\'hiting. (;mnls, Drapps, fwd Gilts oj Ihp Neo-As.IOT' io/) P"riod (SAA 12; Helsinki: Hel,inki {11lln-rsirv Press, I~)c);)l. no. 69. Ii I.e .. the '"\1;;rduk Ordcal" in AI;!sdair Livingstollt', COUl'l Poffr, olld Litemry ;Hi.,rl'lll1nm (Si\;\ :~; Iklsillki: Iklsinki {'ni\'('l"sity Press, 1989). no. :H (duplicatc, :)5). and the TamIlllll. ,lIIel Etar ritual ill "'alter Farher, Bf',\rli1l.',inlllg:nillUlif' flll Filar IIl1d J)umllzi: Alii Blar~a !Wrlflf7.'fl f)/llIIlIzi IAkademie del' Wissenschaften und der Lite· rawr. Veroffentlichungt'n (lilies ·l:H--j;!l. quoted Iw Karel \'an del' TOOlll, "L'Orade de \ictuilt' rOlllllle exprcssiLlI1 prophctique ,Ill Prochc-Orient allCiell:' HB 'H (198/): ti:,-9/, esp. ~n. i Sec I'arpola, ,lIHrian Pmphnirs, :..Iv-xlvii, with iootnor('s '2 J 2-:16 (pI" cii-('jv); Beate Pongr,Hz-l.eisten, 1lI"rrsrlia(ls.fI/.\,ol ill .'\1",wpolllmim: FOrllli'1i dn- KOlllnilinikation :wisc/zm r;ot/ ul1d Ki;nig: im 2. und l.'/alnlau.,·('nd 1I.Cil1: (SAAS 10; Helsinki: Neo·Assyrian Text Corpus Project, 1999). ')~)-6(1. ~ The word 1111Ihh{l1n is attested in AR:\1 21 :):,3:34, 43; AR\! 22 167:8: ARM 2:, 4-16:9, J9: ARM 2~1 J.l~:l:l; ARM ~li 202:];1; 20G5; 215;E1; 220:16; 221:19: 221uis:12, 20, '27: 22/:9; 'l'LI:/, J:1: AR:\t 27 :l'2:/: A. 124%+: 2: :\. 3 Hi'> ii 22; s. ii 3: A. 'Hi76::;; 1I111i1hullll11 in ARM 22 326:~J: AR:vt 26 200:,), 21: 20] :9. 15: 2:n:22: A. I 24'lb I :6; seeJe'Ill-l\h1rie Durand. Anhi,,(",\ /;jJisl()/airf'S']1' MlIIi II I (ARM 26; Pari.,: f~ditiollS Recherche sur k~ Cj\ilisations. 1981-l), :'I8ti-l-lH. 398.

The Socioreligious Role of the Neo-Assyrian Prophets

Yl

sources, such as omen collections, lexical texts, and administrative documents, from Vr III through the Old Babylonian and Middle Assyrian periods to the Neo-BabylonianY 'I\lhile the use of mahhu/mahhl~tll in Neo-AssyTian sources is ,·irtually restricted to cultic texts and formal inscriptions,1O the second designation, mggimu/mrgintu, appears ill administrative ll"XL~, persollalletters, and colophons or the extant prophecies. l J This implies that mggimu/rr.l[.i.L,'intll was in fact the cnlloquial equiyalent of mahhu/mahhidu, which was probably no longer in use in the seventh century. Both designations are derived from \'erbs denOliJ,~g behavior: mahhu, from muM), "to become crazy, to go into a frenZ\',,,l. and m&,aimll from mgalllu, "to cry out, to proclaim." One might ask whether etymologie'i, notoriously lreachcrolls ill defilling words, tell anything about the comportment of the prophet". Fortunately, we do not depend on etymology alone when tracing the imagf' of the ~Iesopotamian prophf'ts \~ith this vocabulalJ'. The verbs in question use thf'ir literal meanings when prophetic activities are desnibed. 13 Tn ~lari documents. ma}/I1 \1 mrdlhum: Tes I 369:5 (CI III): MDI' 10 7:6.9; MDP IS 171:14 (Old Babyloll' ian); VS 19 I i 38 (Middle Assyrian): OEeT 1 plate 21:38: YOS 6 18:1. 7. 8. 10; YOS 7 135:6 (:'.Jeo-Babvlonian); CT 38 -1:81; Sm 332 r. 5 (Summa alu); TDP 4:30 (Sagig); DA 211 !" 12: MSL 12 101-2:213: 1:{2:117-18; 150:23; /f/llM/dum: Tel, 1039:11 (Old Babvlonian): VS 19 1 i 3X (MiddJe i\.;;wrian); cr 384:81 (Summa alu): MS!. 12 158:23, S<,t' I'aq)()la, Anyri([ll l'm/,hn'ir". xlv-vi, ciii. tilL 221. 222. ~~3, ~2R.

III

Absolute [mills are otlly attested ill the ritual texts (SAA 3 :H:2S; Farber. Bf'-

,\(hwiiru IIgsrilua/;'. ].10-,12:31. 59). in lite Succession 'Ii'eatv of Esarhaddoll (SAA 2 6

§ 10: 117) and in the decree of expenditures from the year 809 (SAl\. 12 69:29 \. whereas the roval inscriptions repeatedh use the compound ,~itlir mahhp, "prophetic messages" (EsarhaddoI1 ]\;in A ii 6; Ass A ii l~: ;\ssurbanipal B \ 95 l~ C vi 127]; T ii 16l~ C i 61]). 11 lllf!:.e:imu: SAA :! 6 !:i I 0; 116: S:\A 7 9 r. i 23; SAA 9 3.5 iv ~) I: [6 L II J: SAA 10 109:9; ~9'11: 31; mgginfu: SAA 97:1; 10 s, 2; SAA 10 109:9: :)52:23, r. I; SAA n 37:/, J:! Rather than alloplwlIes of a noull of parnl> paUelll (G.1(; !:iS50, s, (2). muhhll and maill/lf are the B~bylonian and ;\.ss'rTian variants uf a D-stem verbal adjective (Parpola. 11Ss\',';al1 Proph,'r.ircs, ciii, n, 219). Thi, makes unnecessary the asslImption of a semantic contaminatioll of two different words (Howard Wohl, "'1'h", Problem of the maM1ii,"IA.!'v7,~)C[!3 11970-1971]; 112-18). 1'1 There are plentv of nonpropherical attestations of both words; cf. 4 R 28:59: "fllru i11lahhilflflli imahhi, "the small and the great alike go into a frenzy" (d, Joel 3:1): ER7, 3R:21: ana ,fa illl";; bdiu im,i'rl, "Like one who has gone mad and forgottt'll his lord"; Esarltaddoll Nin Ai 41-12: mkal'lu all/uia ill/mahlhllll millllna.ia Pli ilimi 11 omrllll; Iii l
92

ProphrfJ ill Its Ancimt Nmr Eastpm Context

(N stem) indicates the condition ill which the prophets receive and transmit divine words: ina bit A.rmunlliml·D.3.KA:;1 .'iNRbutli imttlahhu wmna :hmuntlIJrnma ..

In th<.> t<.>mpie of Annllllitum, on the :'Ir-d day, Selebul11 went into a frenzy and said: "Thus says Anl1unilUm: ( ... )'.101 Alul!um lIma! J)agrlll-A-falih immahhwUI hi' am iqhi ...

AhaLUtll. a slave:- girl of Dagan-Malik. w<'nt into a fre:-llzy and spoke: ( ... ) E,

[UmI.5um]a

lrm~e;mnif

[imlna]hhll [umma

q

ilma . ..

[On th:H day] lrra-gamil [went into a frj<.>nzy. [This is what] he said: ( ... ) Hi

Intel-estingly enough, in a rit\lal text from Mari, the prophet is said to he deprived of his capacity to prophesy if 11<" maintains an unaltered state of mind: summa ina Ji.f ll'ar{ him] muhhlJrn i51<1'l<1[ lmaJ aula] mahhi' i[ m] Iii ilmld,j] Ifbv. the end of the molnth] 1the muM/al! maintains his equili[brillm] and is not a[bkjl[o] pmphes[vl ( ... ) I

In :--;eo-A~syrian sources, again, the verb mgamu is regularly used of prophetic performance: Tniimj{u-i'rf,\ tmgpmu anllitlJ ina lib/bl ArI!Ilil irl[1I[.,'1/1111

Tasmctu-eres. the [prophet], proplhesied this iJn Arhela.11<

[n]sserne mii ['imat 1I>116e (Jnnuli mggmli larllJgumlJ ana Damql1llill ialamnu lt1qli[ In

/lil(l .

[I] have heard that, hefore Ih(><;(' ritll;tis, a prophetess had prophesied, . ' (' Ilie . fa(lm1Olstrator: ' . "( ....)"19 s.'tvlng to I) amep. t h e SOIl 0 ftile 0

Cllrn'Il('(' of mgamll. see S:\,\ I:' I r,7:~·!:

I!Ul Naln;-abll-da ill Iluhalimmu irtugurn. "Then Nahll-ahu-da' 'in. the cook, crie:-d Oil!." 14 ARM ~(i 213:5·-7. I~ ARM 26 214:6-7. 16 AR..\'1 2(; 222:12-14. Ii A 3165 ii 21-2,~ (Ritual of Etar, text 2): for the restoration and translation. see Durand. Arrhilws. :~86--87; Jean-!\-!a!i<.> Durand and Michael Guichard. "Les ritueIs de Mari," in FlorilegiulII marlar/11m Ill: R£meil rJ'l'tudcs (l la mfmoire de AIarie-TMn;'e Rar?rlrt (cd. Dominique Charpin and Jean-Marie Durand: l\1cmoires de NA.BU -1: Paris: SEPOA, 1997). 19-78. esp. 5'1. :>8. Ii< SAA 9 (j I. 11-12. The title of 'l:lsmctu-f'res follows the professional dC\('rIninative 1.1'.', whirh i~ partially brokell but clearly visihk (sf'e lhe photograph in 1'arpola. Anyrirl11 PmjJhi'ilPJ. plate viii): however. the title itself is totally brok<.>n away. 19 SAA 10 :'152:22-25

The Socioreligious Role of the Neo-!\ssp-ian Prophets

Y~i

MlIlhuu-a!m-u.1ri mggilltll.~!l kuziptn sa .irmi (IT/a mal A.kkadi (ubiluni I ina] bet iii ta,-

tlig[U] 111 ... Mullissu-abu-usri, the prophetess who conveyed the kiu"'s clothes . 90'" Akkad, prophesied [in] the temple: ( ... )-

(0

the land of

As demonstrated hy the ahove examples, hoth ma/lll and mgiimu tend to introduce direct divine spcech, which indicates that, semantically, they encompass hoth aspc(!s of the oral performance of the prophet, that is, the distinct behavior and the act of speech. In the Hebrew Bible, prophetic performance is expressed with derivatives of the lOot nb), which means proclamation of divine words, often implying all appearance in all altered state of mind and, hence, providiJlg a semantic equivalellt of mahu and mginnu_ 21 In addition to the prophetic designations, the behavior and social location of the Assyrian prophets can be conlextualized by comparison with related groups of people and their behaviors, It is revealing that in lexical lists as well as cultic and administrative texts, raf(,i!}mu and mahll1l are consistently assoriatcd with people like zahhll 'frenzied one', kaN1 'chanter', mUl/amhlt 'lamentation singer', {allant 'wailer', (l,\$imlll and kwganii 'man-woman '-all devotees of ISlar with appearance and conduct different from the aye rage citizen. For example: la-bar gala,mah i-I Il-d i i-lll-a-1 i 111.guh-ha I fi .1l1-ZlI-ll b k u r-ga r-ra I.n-sal I U. gis. baJa-su-d II 7

ka/u kfllmnilhu (sl'-llU) 1IIwwmba [aI/am >I1ahhll Zflhlm

kurgmni

(.~l;-ll)

aSSI/lTIll

wi.i jJilaqqi

"chanter" "chief chanter" "lamentation singer" "wailer" "proph,·t" "fren7icd one" "'Ina n~wolnan))

"man-woman "carrier of spindel"""2

20 SAA 13 :H:7-10. E.g" NUII1 11:2'1-30; 1 Sam 1O:1O-1:~; 19:20; I Kg> 18:29: 22:1O;.1od :1:L III the semantic> or l\iblical Hebrew, however, use of the word familY rib' is restricted to prophetic activities, 22 1HS1. 12 102-3:209-17 (M, Civil et aL. thf Snies hi ~ Sa and Rl'latnl Texts [MSL 12; Rome: POlltificium Tnstitutum Biblicum, 19691, 102-3): the designation nas pihUNI is equal to assirillu and k1J.rRanl1. Cf the decree of expcnditun:s from ~lari (AI~M :n 3:B:42-H ~ ARM ~3 446:1H-20): 1 subatum i.~llnun /fulufa hila/11m l ~llbiilum i,~(j11lm l:.l.z-ma;i muhll-li llu1~;H';' I subiill/.m i;iil1l111 .~{/f7urll·d~.ri nlirum, "one ordinary garmenr for Yadida 'the crazy woman,' one ordinary garment f(n Ea-masi, prophet of Itur-Met-, one ordinary garment for Sarrum-dari, the chanter." .'\lote :II

94

Prophecy in Its Ancirnt :Vmr Fastrrn Cnntext a-
I have 1)l;ICed br("ads for the frenzied men and women, for IJrophels and prophetesses, "3 ..

10 emar

,~

IlwhJlI/atr

Slit

5 ga

:t,;ri,r-afJ[a-iddilll1 ilia

1I11'S\L\tl:,$

sa b<'i IliaI'

lD,2,KA~1

ana kllmmrnat mahhll ',.

10 hOlllers 4 seah ') liters {of barkv) 2,1 tor ;~slJr-apla-iddina on the 2nd clay, tor lIue food rations of rhe prophets"grophetesses, and tht' Ilninll(/s (?) of the EraI' telllple (of Kar e TlIkulri-Ninllrla),-'

The uncertain gender of some Assvrian prophet.,-especially Baya, whose gender even the scribe of the tabkt SAA 9 I could not de'd .' WIlOSt' gem Ier Cl'd e-"6-creates a I'III k to tI Ie a.lsm /Ill an t I1e k wgarru, role the goddess had changed pcrmallentJy;~7 this is llot surprising given that two of the Mari prophets. Selebum alld Ili-haznaya, art' explicitly designated as assinnu.~1< On the other hand, an est.ablished connection exists between propheb and the seers and \isionaries called sabn'i and .50.' ilu. whose expertise is closely related to that of the prophets. The only Nco-Assyrian occurrence~9 of s(l" ilu (lllll); 212::-" 1\1, 11299:11 (I1ihaznaya). Sec Dllrancl, An/ihws, :199. :!!! I.e .. besides the entrY in Ihe I<'xlcallisl in At.')]. 12 2:~:~:~3, where lu',sa-ij-Iu appears as a (atego]'\' of it, own,

The Socioreligious Role of the Neo-Asf'lJTian Prophets

95

role or profession, be a general appellation f(x practitioners of different kinds of non inductive di\ination.~() The sabnl, equated \\lith mggimu in a lexical Iist"l and appearing in close connection with both mahhti and wbbu in otber texts,:>2 is a \isionary whose realm apparently consists of dreams and their interpretation.:\:! A dream of a sabra with many alTinities with pmphecy is r{'ported in Assurbanipal's Prism S, follO\~ing the quotation of an oracle that is best explained as . 'II prop h etlC The outcome of the etymolog-ical and lexical examination is that the Assyrian prophets were proclaimcrs of divine words who fonned part of the comlIlunity of devotees of IStar. They found their nearest colleagucs aIllong practitioners or noni nductive di\'ination and among people whose more or less frenzied behmior. eventually perceived as odd by the m~jority of the population, cOlTesponded to their role in the worship of the goddess,

The Prophets and the Goddess The rlctcnninative factor in the socioreligious role of the Assyrian prophets is without doubt their affiliation with the goddess ISlaI' and worship of her. 35 Prophets act as mouthpieces of that goddess in her various manifestations; in Neo-Assyrian texts, Mullisliu cannot be separated from IStar a~ a di,ine being,~6 The prophets also live under the SAA 2 6 ~ I 0: 117: cf. NissiJl('Il, H(/rH'/i(fJ, 160-61. :\J A1SL 12 226: "q: 1(1. sa h r a (PA,AL) ~ Sll-Il = rag-gi-[ /!Iu], :\~ CI':)8 ,1 81-82: §U7II1//{J ina CRt' u:'.r;('B.BA."U:S \11" (= rna-' ·dlll [ ... ] §umma ina 10

l'RtJ \1i.GUB.BA.MFS \u:-.; [ ... J. "If there arc llIai1V propheL<.; in the city, [ ... J; ifthefe are many prophetesses ill the city, [ ... J: 87-1';8: .5U1I111l0 il1(1 l:RI' sab-ru.MFS MI:'>1 [, .. J .~lIml//{J inll I'Rl.' 'ifdl-m-tl/>! MI:-J [. .], "Tf then~ are many frenzied men in the cllV. [. , .J, if thne are many fn'l1zi('d women in the .in', t.. ": tK4 29d ii 2: :ubbu liq/J(ikkinw .iilllmi li.\l/1l1/okki, "LeI the :(JNJII t('11 YOII, the fol"'ll repeat it to you." :n For .Iaiml, see CAl) S/ I 15; II uffmo II , "Ancient :-.lear Eastern Prophecv:' 5:-180; Parpola . .. lssl'n'an i'HJjJhnil'Y, xlvi-xlvii; Ni,~silJeIl, l'IRjimc/l.as, 56. :q Assurbanipal B \' 49-76: see Manfred \\'eippert. "Assyrische Prophetien der leit Asarhaddons und Assurb.mipals:· in Assyria/l Royallnsrripliol1s; Nf'/(! Horizons ill f.itf'rmy. lifpolugiml, (lnd Historirai A.nalysis (ed. E yl. Fales; OAC 17: Rome; lsritllto per l'Orienre, 1981),71-1 Fi. esp. 97-98; :-.lissinen, RI'[nrll(,'s, 5:3-54; Pongratz-Lei-

stell, Hel'twlwjiswisSf'/l, 120-:12.

3,. As

10

the following. sec the detailed documentation

or l'arpola . .1!;s)'riul/

Pruphni".I, xlvii-xlviii. with footJlotes on pp. civ-('vi. :,6 SC(; Brigitte j'VlellLel. As.l1'righl' !i'mjNi: UII/f'r.wdwngen w Ku/t, Administration

und Prrso/l(l/ (Sllldia Pohl, Series ylajor lO/l; Rome: Bihlicallnstitulc Press, 1981),

96

Proplu!cy in Its Ancient }\'ear Eastern Context

aegis of the goddess. Their association with other devotees of IStar in the above-men6oned lexical lists and cultic texts, as well as their mention as recipiellt~ of food rations in the IStar temple of the Middle Assyrian period, shows this fact condusively. The prophets' permanent attachment to the temples is further documented by one oradt' of the corpus, spoken by a votaress (Sl'lillu) donated to the goddess by the king.:\7 Many prophets have nallIes related to the ideology of IStar worship. These probably are not birth names but given when the · ro I e was assume d:l prop h eUe .. H' As proclaimers of the word of ]Star, the prophets acted as IStar. The primary role of the prophets as intermediaries between the divine and lhe hUIIIan spheres reflecls the role of lStar/MullisslI as the mediator between the gods and the king, as demoIlstrated bv a prophetic oracle and a letter containing a report of a prophetic utterance: ina PlihUT iliini kalami aq/ibl balii/aka dmmii ritlaja fa urmmnrika ina pa71 ilii7ll 7Iaggakl/)(JJfl iwmuida iU{1tl(J,{faka at/a kll.~fl ilia II atlfJ''ja l'l(m(Jrri~ baiti/alm t ... J

III the assembly of all the gods I have ~poken f()r your life. My allllS ale stIong and will IlOI (<1,t rOll oil bel<:nc the gods. l\.ly shoulders are alwavs reldy to carry you. y~iVI ill particular. I keep desil-ill[{ your lift' with mv Hip]s 1' '

r...

64-6!), lit;; Mallfred Weippert, "Die Bildspl'ache /iilu [.ioJ lurIl' [.ill] IIrbail ,ii[pirtji [aun]111l ana\[am !;jil ija . .. J lssin [. , .J. "[ ... -Jya. vOlaress [ofllStar [oil Arbela [reportedlllhlis mcs[sagJe for the ki[ng, my lord]: '[ ... J IStar [, . .]' .. It. is not clear, however, whether this "Olano'SS had actually littered the divine word in question, orjllst reports it to the king; d. Parpola. ilslyrirl1l Prophecies, Ixxvii; Whiting. introduction to Cole and ~lachinist, i.eU,,!). xvii. :lk E.g., 1I1IS'(Ulmm; '" have S('(,11 her cli\'inir(; I.lSar-bdl-da' "lm, "lStar, strenglhell my lord'''; Iswlr-la-ta.ll,ifl.!. "00 not Ilcglt,cl 1St'll !"; Sinqi.ia-amlll; "I have s('en hel dis1(,('S.'·'; see Parpola, A,srrian l'rophl'fil's, ii-iii. :19 S/\A 9 9:16-20; d. the similar language IIsed in SAA 313.

The Socioreligious Role of the Neo-Assyrian Prophets

97

[ anoku] Rei i'forDo i.lli /Ylu[ lfl is.>1i ilsillim :tnll SlI adi miillslt al·tianki

II) am Bel. I have entered and reconciled with Mulli~sll. king of Assyda whom she raised: Fear notl I am Bel, I have had lllnCy, (lit you (f). AssurbanilJal is in a cOllntry . W which remains loyal. I have !J;i(l lllt'I'C, 011 vou, together \,ith his country

,~surb
While the first quotatioIl presents the goddess(esrll as inttTcessor(~) before the divine council, the second is the word of Bel, who declares his reconciliation with Assurbanipal upon the intercession of Mullissu who, for her part, stands on behalf of the king. Hence, the prophetic message appears as the earthly rcpresent.ltion and counterpart of the diviIle intennediation of the goddess in the heavenly council. The prophet, impersonating the goddess, is the channel through which the benefit of her intercession, the divine reconciliation, is bestowed upon the king. The closest textual parallels with Neo-Assyrian prophecies are found alllong poetry, hymns, and mvstical works pertaining to the cult of different deities, but especially to that of IStar. These show the prophets' huniJiarity with this literature and the associated cultie performances. In addition to the mythological compositions like Adapa and Gilgames,!2 the royal and cu\ti(: poetry collected in SAA 3 provides an abundance of affinities with prophecy, especially 1. in hvrnns and prayns of Assurbanipal,43 especially in the Dialoguc bcrwCCTl Assurbanipal and Nabll (S:\/\ :) I:)j. which is both substantially and historically closelv related to SAA Y Y and "as probably written by the ~alTle hancl;H 40 SAA. 13 139:1-9. The source in question is the letter of ASsUlchamatu'a, who begins with the word of Bel and attaches additional information. Hence, the letter giyes an account of a pmphetic appe.H-allce without being a leport of prophecy in t.he strin sense. 41 The divinc -I" in this oI
Prophl'CY in Its Ancient Nellr E'astern Context 2. in thl' letters from gods (or responses (0 (;otlf~{niljel. which are not prophecy as snch, but employ confusingh' similar Janguage;4:1 ~), in mystical works like SAA :'I :'17 and 39;'16 and 4. in

th~~ love lyrics of Nabtl and Tasmetll

(SAA:J 14).47

An open question is (0 what exlent the literary parallels between prophecies and cultic literature go back to the scribcs by whom the prophecy reports were formulated; in any case, similar lise oflanguagc in both types of sources is not just a stylistic matter but the vehicle for expl-ession of an essentially similar ideology. Among the cult centers of IStar, Arhela is by far the most important sour\(: of prophecy. If the letter of the temple official :"J'abll-rdi-issi reporting an appearance of a prophetess was serll from Arbela, as suggested by the letter's grcetillg forJIlula,'IH it only provcs the assumption, probable anyway, that prophecies were uttered in the temple of IStar of Arbela. Seven out of fifteen prophet" known by personal names are Arbela-based: Ahat-abisa (SAA. 9 1.8). Baya (SAA 9 1.4; [2.2]), Dunnasa-amur (SAA 9 9 aud 10), Issar-Ia-tasiya~ (SAA 9 1.1), L:l-dagiI-ili (SAA 9 1.10; 2.3 and;))' Sinqisa-amur (S.'\1\ ~l 1.2: [2 ..'> Jl. and Tasmetu-ercs (SAA 96). The words of IStar of A.rbcla were proclaimed even by prophets clsewhere;4~1 a special devotion to that city is expressed by the prophetess Remutti-Allati, who comes from Daraahuya, an unidentifiable locality "in the mountains" (birti sadda.ni) , ·· .. I ,,'i0 proc I allmng t1l(~ wor d s'"'\ hI' be Ia reJOICes, . The dominance of IStar of Arbda does not, however, prevent the 1993),217-58. Pongratl.-Leisten (lfnTS(hafl.Hvi~s(1l, 75) pUt.'i forward the idea that SA/\, 3 13 is ,l Iitenlry creation inspired bv the prophet'ies ("cine literarische Kreation in Anlehnung an die Gattung del' Prophetenspri'tche"). SM 3 44-47; cf. Dijkstra, Gods poorstelling, 145-69; Weippert. ·'A.ssyIische Propheticn," 72, 112; Livingstone. COWl PUe(1)" xxx. For the "correspondence" of Assurbanipal with Ass\lr, see the comprehensive analysis in Pongratz-Leistcn, Herrsrhrljtswissl"l!, 240-65. ,Hi Cf. Pal-pota. A.I.lynan Pmphecies, c, n. 17~): c\'. n. 248. 47 Sec Marui ~issinen, "Love Lyrics of :'-Iabtt and Tasmelu: An Assyrian Song of Songs?" in "Vnd AJose .IciltidJ dies!'.. fin[ auF: Studieu ZUlli :llten 7fslmnenl !lnd OUIlI Altm o-,.il'1lt, hstsrhriftfiir Oswald Loreh (ed. :\lanft-ied Dietrich and Ingo Kottsieper; AOAT 250, :\1imster: Ugarit-Vnlag. 1998).585-634, esp. 602. n. 75; 608, n. 103:

4"

61:~,n.131;6[4.n.1'I8.

4H SAA

1:1 144: 1-9; cf. the nole of Karen RadntT ill Cole and Machinist, I.men,

llti. Hl SAA 9 2.4: l'rkittu-sarr;n ['rom Calah, 50 SA/\. 9 1.3 ii 12.

The Socior(,\igiolls Role of the Neo-r\ssyrian Prophets

Y9

prophct~ from proclaiming the words of other deities. To all appearances, the prophet La-dagil-ili speaks on behalf of both f\SSur and IStar in tlw collection SAA 9 3,"1 and a short oracle of the prophet( ess) Baya (SAA 9 1.4) includes self-predications of three deities. Bel, !Star, and Nabll. ''''11ile most or the prophets. as devotees of IStar, represent the motherly aspect of the divine, manifested as nursillg the king and as fighting for him,52 it is convenient for a prophet to act a$ the mouthpiece of A~sur when it comes to the covenant between the king and the main god of Assyria?' Furthermore, when a Babylonian scholar quotes prophecy, he presents it as the words of Bel, that is. Marduk of Babylon,5'l and when allairs of the city of Harran are concerlled, the Harr
.t

Sec Nissinen, "Spoken, Written, Quoted. and Invented." 52 E.g., SAA 91.6 iii If>-22, iv 5-10; SAA 92.5 iii 29-34~ 5AA.9 7:14-1.11: cf. SAA ~~ 13 (" 6-10. See Wr-ippert, "Bildsprache," 62-64: Nissinen, "Relevanz," 242-47. ,}3 The oracle in SAA 9 3.3 ii 10-25 is followed by a double ritual instruction (lines 26-32). It is not compulsory to interpret the or;'Kk as the dOCtllnent of [he covcnant, as T Jnd many others have done (Kissinen, Rf/errnrrs, 2R). It is {"kar that annil jilllm.1l .{a ina pan ,~alme, "This is the oracle ofp(';tce (placed} befOl"l' the statut>" (line 26), refers 10 the £
100

Prophecy

In

hs Anciml Near Eastern Con/fxt

graph loncerning the "divine council" (jmhllr iliini) .0,7 \\'hen it come;;, to the Babylonian akltn-ritual, a prophet (mahhil) appears in a genuinely prophetic function as a "bringer of news" (mnpassilu) to Zaq)anitu, the spouse of Marduk, in the so-called I\larduk Ordeal text. ~,8 Everything poinL~ LO the conclllsion that while the !Star worship in Arbela was undoubtedly the nerve cenler of prophecy, the network of prophcts extended to othcl- cities. where they representerl their patroness even in tt'mples of other deities. The special devotion of Assyrian prophets to IStar is compatible with the significance of the goddesses. often manifestations of IStar, in the prophetic docullIcnts from Esnllnna (Kititum)"~! and Mari (Anl1unitUIll, IStar of Bisra. DiritllITI, lklet-t'kallim, Belet-hiri. Hisamitlll1l, Ninhursag)."o There is, however. no overall rlerlicatiol1 of the prophets to the goddess in Mat'i documents, in which the role of male deities (Dagan, Samas, Adarl, Itur-Mer, Nergal. Ea, Abba)61 in prophecies is clearly more manifest than in Assyria. ,\'10reover, while the prophets in the Nco-Assyrian sources are never callerl .. mggintu. of IStar" or the like, the Marl prophets tend to he associated with a specific deity, for example, LlIpahum, apilurn of Dagan.(i~ This probably demonstrates the '" SAil,. 12 69:27-:H; cf. Kataja and Whiting. (;nmiJ. xxxii. The divine council plays an important role in SAA 9 9: 16: lila /Jukur i/ani kaliimi aqtibi ba/il1aka, "In the assembly of all the gods I haw' spoken for your life"; cf SA,\ ;, 13:26: p1ja mnmiu .~a /a/;u Iklallfl17abka ina Imliur ?Iani ralniti. "My plt,asant IllOlllh shall "vcr hless ~()U in the assemhly of the great gods." The lelter of A.~sLlr-haIIlalll 'a (SAA n 139) ('(>11taillS all oracle in which Bel rec()llcilt"i wilh :'>lullissll, who has interceded Oil behalf of Assurballipal, preslIIlMbly "dilre the ,livillt' (()llIlcil: sec ~Ibove. 58 SA/I. :; 34:28 (= SAA? 3!'dl): mahhu .Ia ina /Jan Bi-lP!-Bribili illakllni mupassiru .iIi ana irt/,fa ibakki i/lak, "The prophet who goes bdore the LadY of Babylon is a blinger of II(,W~; weepillg he goes toward ber." For this text (and for reservations about calling it the "Marduk Ordeal"). see Tikva Frvmer-Kensky, "The Tribulations of:'>lardllk: The S<,Called '~1arduk Ordeal Text."'}!lOS 103 (19H3): 131-11. ~9 FLJ> 167'1 and 2064: set:' Maria deJolIg Ellis, "The L:Oddt:'ss Kititllll1 Speaks to Killg Ibalpiel: Oracle 'Iexts from Ishcluli." AHfU:) (19H7): 23)-66, fi() Annunitum: ARM 22 '\2b: 26 HII'; 212; 21:\; 21,1: 2:n: \Stilr of Bis!'a: AR.\'1 26237; Diritum: AR.\f 26 199; 20R; Iklet-{'kallim: ARM 26 209; 211 (?); 237: 240: Belet-biri: ARM 26 238; Hisamitum: AIUl-I 26 195; !\inhursag: ARM 22 167 (cf. A. 4(76); 26 219, ;'\Jole espedallv the role of the prophets in the rituals of IStar (A 3165; A. I 249b+ ); d. Durand and Guichard, "Riwels de ~1ari," HI Dagan: ARM 2:) 1:,; 26196; )()7: 19~); 202; 205; 209: 2\0: 21.'1; 220; 221; 22'1; 2'12; 2:\3; A. 3796; '1, 114:16; T. fl2; Sarna;': ARM 26 194: 414; Adad: ARM 25 142; A. I J 21+; 196R; Itur-Mer: ARM 21 :n3: 2:\ -116; 26 2%: 0lergal: AR,\I 21 33:\; 2:1 Hti (26 :!22?); Ea: Alt.\! 2b 20~; Abba: ARM 2(; 227. 62 ARM 26 199::;; .'\, ~{796:4--·,): \1, 11436:4, There are plenty of similar cases:

The SociOl-e1igious Role of rhe Neo-A<;s)Tian Prophets

101

prophet's attachment to the temple of a particular god, which as sHch does not exclude pmcIaiming the words of other deities, even though . 6', . appears to I)e exceptIOna . I at "I tIliS ,'I' an .. The reason for the different significance of the goddess in these two corpora may he sought primarily in the special role of IStar in the amalgamation of A<;syrian imperial ideology with Assyrian religion, which reached a climax in tbe Sargonid era. Ii" However, the sparse documentation shows the elementary connection of prophecy and the cult of Etar in her various manifestations in different parts. of \ksopotamia throughout the ages, which speaks against the much-debated theory of l\lesopotamian prophecy as a product of \Vcstenl in· flucnce. 61J Without speculating Oil t he "origin" of prophl:"cy in cultural aud geographic tenllS, if there is an origin, one might note the prominent role of male deities in the few West Semitic documents of prophecy and other oracular activity.66 and ask whether the relative\v Qisatulll. iiPilufi/ of Dagall (ARM 25 15:9); IShi·Dagall. allllum of Dagan of $llbarum ('1". tl2:3-·1); IzpilulIl of Dagall of TUllllJ (ARM 26209:6); apilufi/ of Tklet·ekallim (ARM 26209:15): Qisti-Uiritim, ilpiluTlI of DiritUlH (ARM 26 20H:5-fi); ((/Iilum of Salllai; (ARM 26 194:2); Atamrum, apilum ufSamas (ARM 2G ·114:29-,10): apilum of T\inhursag (A&\01 26 21():5): iiPilw/1 of Marduk fAR,,'..1 26 371:9); Abiya, aj)ilum of ;\rlad (;\.1968:3):AnI1lHabni, lIIuhhituTlIofAnnllnitnm (ARI'..122326:9-1O); muhhl/m of Dagan (AR~I 26220:16-17; 221:9; 243:13 [pl.]); lrra-gamil, 1ll1lhhl1m ofT\er· gal (ARM 21 3:13:34 ~ ARM 23 H6:9): Ea-masi, muhliijm of It\ll~!\·1er (ARM 21 :n'I:4:1 - AR:\l 23446: 1!1); 'Ea-mud:immiq. Il!uhhiim of l\'inlllllsag (A.R:\1 22 Hi/:Il; A. 'Hi7fi::,-tl); muhhilm of Ae!ae! (AR:\f 25 142: 13); IIIUhil1i of Ami of HubsaJuTll (ARM 27 32: 7); IIi-haw;.ja, assinl1l1 of Annunitllll1 (AR':\1 26 21~:5-6). 6'1 III addilion to Ih(' word of his patron goe! Dagan, Lupahum ,eeIllS to deliver an oracle of the goddess Diritllm in AR;\·! 26 199:29-40. Morcovcr, Iddin-ili. the priest (5anglim) of Itm·Mer, l'eports ,1 dream of his in which he recein:s a word of Belet-hiri (AR':\! 2(238). 6·j See Parpob. A.ss~rirm I'rophecips, xxxvi-xliv. G" This theory. put forward hy Havim 'Ltdmor, "The Aramai:r.atioll of Assvria: .1\..,. peelS of\\'estenl Impart: in lvlt'I'"1'olllmim II lid stinl' NachhrUII: PoliliSl'h,' lIud kll!lurdli" m'dBdbl7.idll11Jgl'1l im Allf'll limif'T(JsiR11 {mill!. bis 1. ./ahlfl1usnlli v. Chi: (ed. Hansjilrg :'Iiissen .md Johannes Rellgel; Berliner B(:itrag" zum Vorderel1 Orient I: Berlin: Di('trich Reimer. 1(82), 449-70. esp. 4f)i:l. and supponed by, ('.g., Manfred H\ltter. &ligionl'1l in dn' UmllN'l/ dl's AlIt'1I Testament, J: Bab,lonin; Syrer; Pf7'Sft' (Studienbilcher Theologie 4/1: Stuttgart: KohJhammer. 1996). 107, and Abraham Malamat, "The Cultural Impalt of the West (S)'Tia-PaJeslinc) Oil .\fesnpotamia in the Old Bab," Ionian Period." .·101-':.14 (lY97): 310-19, esp. ~~E,-·J7, has heen objectee! to by. e.g., Alan Millard, "La prophhie <'I l'ccriture-lsrael, Amm, ASSyl ie." IUIR 202 (l~IB:»): 125.. 44. esp. I:I?>-:H. and most ('mphatically and concl\lsively by ParpoJa, ;\s.l),nan j-'mtJitl'cifS, x.i\". Cr. abu l'ollgralL-I.eislell. 1li'l'n('hajtswissm, 49-51. 66 E.g" the Zakkur Inscription, tht' Deir 'Alla Insniption. the Ammonite Cita-

102

Pmphecy in Its Anrimt ;\'ear Eastern Conh'xt

Jesser prolllinence of the goddf:"sS in the prophetic documents of Mari is due to socioreligious circumstances and traditions different from those of imperial Assyria.

The Prophets and the King Apart frolll the biblical narratives about propheb having all inuncdiate communication with the kings of Israel or Judah-which may have happened less often than one would have expected b7-at least one ancien t )\;ear Eastern source hints at stIch encounters, namely the letter of the well-knowlI Babylollian astrologer Bel-use.lib to the king Esarhaddoll. Bd-lLsczib wonders why Esarhaddon, t()i1owillg his coronatiolI, has slunmoned "propheb and prophetesses'· (m~e;irniznll mg{,rirniItu) instead of him and ill spite of the services he has provided j()r Esarhaddon during the civil war preceding his rise to power. I1H This reference is unique ill ancient ;'\J"ear Eastern sources, and BellIsezib's tone expresses his astonishment andje~llollsy. as if it were exceptional fi:>r prophets to be honored by the kilIg-'s summons. It is not certain that this reference indicates a f~Ke-to-fiKe rcndezvous between the propheL'i and the king. The "suIIlIlloning" (rdu na§!i) primarily means employing: the life of a scholar depended on the king's lise of his services, and Bel-llsezib is furious hecause Esarhaddoll, at the beginning of his rule. has made lise of the prophets' senices before COI1sulting the skilled and loyal Babylonian a~trol()ger. The Mali archive~ provide, to the best of' IIIV kllowlcdg'c, no record dcllnscription, etc.: c[ ..\ndr{~ Lemaire. '·Oracles, propagande ct litterature dans les royaumes arameens et transjordaniens (IX" _VIlle s. a\'. n.e.)," in Oracil's ef /,rophflif'S dans l'anliqllil';: ;\rtF5 rlu Colloq UP riP Stmsbmng, 15-17 Juin 1995 (ed. Jean(;eorges Heint7; CniVt'rsite des sciences humaltles de Slrasbollrg. Tlavaux du Centre de rccherdw sur Ie Proche-Orient ('1 la Gn'ce anliques 10; Paris; lk Bon:;;lrd,

1997)' 171-93. (;7 These encounttTS happen belwt'ell lJle anonymous prophet and Jeroboam (1 Kgs 13;1-10); Elijah and Allab (J Kg~ 18:16-20,41); \-licaiah and Ahab/Jchoshaphat (l KW- 22: 1-28): Elijah and Ahaziah (2 Kgs 1); Elisha and Ben-Hadad, king of Damas('us (2 Kt,rs 8:7-J 5); Isaiah and Ahaz (lsa 7): Isaiah and Hezekiah (ha 37-39 = 2 Kgs 19-20) and Jeremiah and Zedekiah Un :H:J-7: 37:17-21; :~8: 14-2H). Jeremiah 21; 36; 37; 1-10 are not direct enCOlllllers, ' 11 (P', 8~)-q5. j'm lkl-\Isezih and his cmn~spnlld('tJ("e, see Manfried Oit'lllch, DIP ..1rwlIii,'r Siulbaoylonims m cia Sarp;onidnlofit (lO0-648) (AOAT 7: Kevelaer, Germany: Butzon & Bea'ker: "leukifchen-Vltlvn: ~e\lkirchener, J970). 62-·f;8.

The Socioreligious Role of the Nco-Assyrian Prophets

103

of a situation in which a prophet met the king in person; at best, the prophet proc:laimed at the gate of the palace, as the anonymous prophet of :\'1arduk in Babylon. delivering a message to the Assyrian king Erne-Dagan. who had received asylum from Hammurapi, kin).i of Babylon.ti9 Tht" meager evidence docs not allow cOllc:lusions about wht"ther direct encounters betweell the prophcl...'i and the king really took place at ~tari, and if so, how often, but the existing sources give the impression that while King Zimri-Lim maintained close contact with practitioners of extispicy,7P he was not active in consulting prophet". Even dreamers and visionaries seem to ha,'c communicated their messages Illore directly 1O the king than the prophets, whose words were usually conveyed to him by oiIicials from different parts of the kingdom or by women of the court, especially by Queen Sibtu and other royal women (Addu-duri, Inib-sina). 71 Even in Assyria, thc kings did not carryon a correspondence \,\,1th the prophets; howevel-, the transmission of prophetic messages diflC-red from that in Mari. In A.ssyria, prophecies apparently were seldom reported in letters of court oflicials, but they wen: tr,tI\slIIilted to the king ill rt'pOlts, the COIl tents of which were limited to the oracle proper. In some rases, these n:port~ were deposited in the royal archives. 72 This implies a higher esteem for prophecies, which, in this procedure, were considered on a par \\1th asu-ological and extispicy reports. Both the oracles proper and the references to them in the royal inscriptions make it plain that the Assyrian kings, at least Esarhaddoll and Assllrhanipal, like Zimri-Lim, received prophecies during their military campaigns. There may even have been prophets at the front,?:> but prophecies littered elsewhere and transmitted to the king by a 69 ARM 26 :nl; see Dominique Charpin, "Le contexte hisloriql1c et geo.. graphiqlle nt's prophfties dans ks textes n'lfO\lV(;S a Mad," HC'liYfS 23 (1992): 21-:11, esp. p. 2R-29. 70 S('t' Pongratz..l.eisten, Illn~rhathllJi<.\fn, I ~~7-!)4. iI For the transmission of prophecies at Mari, see Jack ~1. Sasson, "The Posting of Letters with Divine Messages," in Norilegium lHariarlUtI! fl, Mhnoriall'V1. Birol (;\I&.. 11Ioires de NAB[: :): Paris: SEPOA, 1994),299-316; K,'lrel "<1n del" Toom, "Old Baby.. Ionian Prophecy between the Oral and the 'Written," p,'SL 24 (1998): ;';'-70. 72 For this procedure, see Nissillell. '·Spoken. Written, Quoted, and Invented." 7:1 Thi8 is suggested by accounts of kings in the royal inscriptions having re' ceiwd prophecies during battles, as well .is hy the lodging list of mostly high offi .. cials that abo illcludes the prophet Quqf (SAA, 791". i 23). Oue might ask whether the propheq' of ReIlluui-Allati. spoken "in the middk of the mountains" (SAA 9 1.3)' was littered on the battldiekl.

101

Pro/lila} in l(s A.nctenl ,Vear Eastern Context

third party are better documented. The hest examples are the pertinent letters of Queen Sibtl! of ~Iari 74 and the Assyrian prophecies formally addressed to T\aqia, the king's mother (SAA 9 1.7; 1.8; :'». Female intermediaries, \,vhether at l\lari or in Assyria, commonly transmitted words of female prophets. The female-through-female communication was not exclusive, though, sinn' the royal women of l\.fari-Sibtu, Inib-5i1la, Addu-dmi, and others-report appearances of male persons as well,'" and male otIicials, both at Man and in AssYlia. give accounts of female prophets. 76 It. is noteworthy. however. that three out of {(Hlr known personal Il,lmes of Mari prophetesses are transmitted by female writers." and that both macles to Naqi9 (reprinted in Abraham :Vlalamat. Man' and Ihe BiN,' [SHANE 12; Leiden: Brill. 1998). 175-91); Sasson. "Posring," :~(n-l:l. 7~ Sihtu; AR1.,.I 26 208 (Qisti-Diritim); Addu-duri: ARM 26 J9,) (lsi-ahu); 2,n (Dada): 238 (lddin-Ili). 76 Mari: ARM 26201: Rahdi-Lim (tnulthii.lwn); A.R;\1 26 210: Kibri·Dagan (uwiltutrl !lifa! a1i!ilim): ARM 26 199: Samme!ar (qammf/{um); ARM 26 200: Ahum (Hubatum muhll11lum). A~syria; SAA 10 :{:)2: !\hr-Iss;\r (mRgintu): SAA l:~ 37: Ad;\d-ahu-iddina (Mllllissu-abu-usT; raggintu): SAA J:, J 44; :-.'ahil-resi-issi (name unknown. femalf'). 77 I.e .. Ahatum the slaw girl (ARt'.,.I 26 214: Sibtu). Kakka-lidi (AR...\1 26 236: SihIU), and Innibana the iijJi/IUII/. (AR\-t 26 2(H; Inib-sina); only tht: name of Hubatum the m1Jhh'I~lum is reported by a male "niter (ARM 26 200; Ahum), Notc also that t11e names of the assinnlls Selebum (ARM 26 197; Inib-sina; 213: Sibtu) and Ilihamaja (AR\-f 26212: Sihtu) are mention(,d by women onl" (the writn of ARM 26 198 is unknown). is I.e .. SAA 917 (l;,sar-bdi·Lla'ini) and 1.8 (Ah,ll-abisa); in SAA 9 5, the name. if indicated, is destroyed. In addition. tlw kmg's mother i, mentioned in SAA 92. [ i 13 and 2.6 iv 28 U). i', F..g .. SAA 9 7 r. 6: .\" AJul/issll lU1W/(l~llni iii If/pal/al! .\a BNd Arbaillarimmi ld

The Socioreligious Role of the

Neo-A~syriall

Prophets

1Of)

This only adds to the ('vidence that the worship ofIstar was (he primary setting for the A<;syTian prophets' socioreligious role, 'within which even the connection between the prophets and the king was established. The position of the prophets as servants of the goddess entitled them to communication with the killg; on the other hand, it also enabled them to C'xpn"ss demands to the king and even to cTiticize his comportment Even though, ideologically. there should have been no discrepancy between the king's decisions and the divine will, the king was a human being, liable to commit offenses against the di,·ine world. Hence. the potential for a conflict between the god and the king, /orcchIlly actualized ill the biblical prophecy, existed even in Assyria. Esarhaddon, for instance, was explicitly reminded at his coronation of his ohligations to IStar (Sf-\A 9 ~),::, iii 18-37). Even though this prophecy deals with cultic matters reminiscent of similar demands in :\Iari lettersKO and, for example, of Mal 1: 11-14, 110 distinction should be made between "cultic" and "social" criticism, siJlce perfection is required of the king ill both respects. The lack of social dcmands in the extant Neo-A~syri;m propheciesR1 does not mean (hat (he social ot~ tenses of the king, according to the prnailing- standards. were not of concern to the goddess and her servants. That :'>.leo-A..'>S)Tian prophecies have been preserved only from the time of Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal raises the question whether II1/)I1I1(1h, ''You whose mother is Mullissll. have no fear' You whose nUl'se is l.ady of Arhela, have no fear:"; SAA :I IS L 6-8: .I,'hm aI/a A§siir·h(ini·apli ,{a ulIlaHimJw ina muhhi ,Sarra I Xinua {akii alta As§iir-biini-apli sa aIbaka ma burki ,~m'/'(lt ,Vmua, "You were a child. Assurbanipal. when I left you \vith the Quet,n of ~ineveh; you were a bahy. Assurballipal. when you sat in tht' lap of the Queen of Nineveh!" For enlrusting tht' A,syrian princes to temples of IStar, and for further references. see Parpola, AHy/iall Pmphl'ries, xxxix-xl; ic-c llll. I7·!-77. flO E.g., ARM 26215:15--21: fltUhll1lTfl PUll DagYln [nlblma ki"am iqbi /i[mJmami {lima (ulmllii nli; ~(Jkiilim III (riulli lilla b;Stlka jiipurfl/(/ II Ill;; Ulkiitim li.iqnwi, "A prophet ;trust; before Dagan ami spoke: 'How long shall I not h(' ahk to drink pure waler: \\'rile to your lord thaI he would pro\~de me with pnrt' water:'" 81 The archives of ~1ari contain traces of such prophetic demands, especially in the kilns of l'U!~Sin from Aleppo (A. 1121+ and A. 1968). for whi,h see Sasson. "Posting," 3H-16: Jean-Georges Heintz. "Des textes st;mitiques anciens a la Bible h':brai'lue: Un comparatbme io?gitime?" in L.,' rmnl}mati,~m,' en h~loir, dtes rdil-,rio/iS (ed. Fran<;:ois Hn'spflllg and Frall~oise DUII. N{'w Information," in Pm/}hp(} and Pm/}ht'ts: The Dive-riily oj COlltflnpomr)' hsu"", in Srho{aTShip (erL Yehoshua Gila\"; SSt Sel11eia Studies; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1997). 7-22, esp. Hi-I 7; Malamat. :Hari and the Bible. 151-56,

106

ProPJuxy ill Its A.ncinlt Nfar i:'astrrn Context

these kings were tbe only oIles to promote prophecy. to the cxtent that their words were not only filed in the archives but also quoted by the scribes who authored th('ir inscriptions,t(:'? The existing sources indeed give the impression that the acti,ity of prophets, while not restricted to this period. eI~joyed a bigher social esteem during the reigns of Esarhaddon awl Assurbanipal than evcr bdc)re in Assyria, The t~xtalll documents from the time of the previo11s Sargonid kings include no mention of prophets, nor do documents from earlier periods provide information about prophets' existence. except for a couple of Middle and Nco-Assyrian decrees of cxpenditures in which propllets are listed among recipients of food rations,K:1 If this argument /'X si/f"ntio is consistent with reality, it may he assullIed that, while the prophets were there all tbe time, the killgs vailled them ditkrnllly at different times. However, there is 1110re than one side to the mattec The overwhelming m;:yority of the material in the Ass}Tian archives derives from the reigns of Esarhaddon and AssurbanipaJ. while the percentage of sources from the time of earlier Sargonid kings is modest indeed. In fact, the archives of Nille"eh and Mari are by br the most abulldant Mesopotamiall archives. alld it may not he a pure coincidellee that it is in these two sets of sources that the extant Mesopotamian prophecies are to be found, That these huge archives include just a few prophetic documcllts from the decades prior to their destrnction indicates that, if propht·tic reports wel'C writlen Weippf'l"t. "A~s\Tisch(> Prophetien:' 9,)-9.'>: Parpola. :hsyrinn Propheril'.5. lxviii-Ixi: ;-';issinen, Rfinnlc,'" 30-31). and at least some of the prophetic quotations in the inscriptions of AS$IUbanipaJ may bf' cited from wrillen sources (sec Nissinel1. Rp{r'I"rnrrs, !)R--61). 1':1 SAA 12 {,9; VS 19 1: see above. )'<.\ Tablets with a single prophetiC oracle ,tn~ "tlested f(mn ESIIUJlIJ
The Socioreligiolls Role of the Neo-Ass)Tian Prophets

107

by the kings Esarhaddoll and Assurbanipal remain. First, only Esarhad-

don apparently had prophecies recopied and compiled in collections, consciollsly preserving them for posterity. Second, the inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser III. Sargon II, ami Sennacherib in all their comprehensiveness make no mention of prophets. While the Sargonid kings in general-and not onlv Esarhaddon. traditionally regarded as especially "superslitious"-showed a relllarkahle interest in omens of e!it~ ferent kinds,w) it is clear that Esarhaddon ane! Assurbanipal in their insniptions refer to divination, including prophecy, more than their pree!ecessors. But even under their reigns, the scholars-harllspices, astrologers, e.xorcbts-an: better reprcscllted in the sources than the prophets.

The Prophets and Other Diviners It is typical of the Neo-Ar;syrian royal inscriptions that prophecies (Sipir mahh/) are mentioned together with other forms of di"ination. The Nin A inscription of Esarhaddon. calling prophedes "messages of the gods ane! the goddess" (na.~par{i ih'ini u Btur; :'-:ill A ii (), equates them with "favorable omens ill the sky and Oil earth." In the Ass A inscription, prophecies appear together with astrological omens and dreams, as well as with egerrti-oracles (A.ss A ii 12-22), which, at least at \lari, are mnrl." or less' equi\'aient to prophecies.~6 Likewise, all inscriptioll of Assurbanipal bundles "good omens, dreams, I'gernl-orades, aile! prophetic messages" (B y 95). These list~ of divinatory methods are reminiscent not oIlly of I Sam 28:6, ill which King Saul, before tun1ing to a necromancer, is said to have tried dreams, Urim, and prophets, but also of the Hittite prayers in which the king seeks relief

W, See E \cf. Fales and Gio\'anni It I.'mfranchi, 'The Impact. of Oracular l\bterial on Ihe Political Utterances and Political Action in the Royal Illscriplions of the Sargonid Dynasty." in Heintz, Omru's et /rrojlhhiRs dans l'anliquite, 99-114. 1\ote also the "anti-divinatorv" attitude of one of the editions (E) of Esarhaddoll's Babylon inscription; see \clordechai Cogan, "Omens and Ideol0t,'Y in the Babylon Inscription of Esarhaddnn,- in J1;':I:\-W; 207>1-11: 2H:Il-14; d. Durand. ;\nhivl'.I, :clt:;5; Sallv A L BlIller, Mf'SotlOtamiol1 COllrep'iolls v{Dmlf!l1 find f)rmm Ritual, (AOAT 258: \cliinster: Ugarit-Vt'r1ag. 199R). 151-57.

lOH

Pmphn) in It.1 Ancient ,VmT L'rls(('rn Context

from plagues by differ('-nt divinatory means, eventually including prophecy of some kind. ili Listing techniques of di\ination implies that difterence among them was acknowledged; evell prophecy stands in its own right. However, the means prophets used for recei"ing di\inc messages wcn~ not cxclusively "prophetic," that is. typical 01' the prophets only. There wcre ecstatics besides prophets; visions and dreams could be experienced by other people as well; and, in many cases, the difkrence between prophetic and other noninductive divination. or "possession di"ination," is extremely difI1cult to define. On the other hand, the indm·tive methods of divination required specialized studies and could be practiced only by cxpert~ whos(> methods did not considerably overlap. Astrologers ohsen,ed celestial phenomena while haruspices interpreted \iscera of sacrificial animals, never vice versa. However, their respective expertises were compkmental-Y, and scholarly cooperation c\idently existed.ll~ What united the scholars of different kinds (astrologers, haruspices. and exorcists) was their scholarship, the profound knowledge or traditional literature, and a high level of Iiteracy-qualities that are not prerequisites to noninductivc divi1l3tory skills. which may not include litel
(Kldnasiatisch(' Fo[sch\lngen I; Weimar. 1927-1930). 21tl--I9 (Pestgebet 2910); ,md cf. Annelies Kammenhuher, Orakd/mlxL,. Triiufllf' UTIli \(.I1zl'icill'Tlsl"ilau Iwi dl'n Helhitem (Hethilische Texte 7; Heidelberg: Winter. 1976), 119-33: Manfred Weipperl. "Aspekte israelilisd1('f Prophetie im Lichte verwandter Erscheinungen des Alten Orients,"' in Ad Iif>TlI' £'! fidelitrr snninandwn: Fp.ltgabe fiir Karlheinz Drlla «('d. Gerlinde Mauer and l'rsula Magen; AOAT 220; Kevela('l', Germany: Butzon & Berck('f; NeukirdlCJ1-VhlVn: NeukirchenCl, 1988),287-319. esp. 2Y7-9Y. HH See Simo I'arpola. "Mesopotamiall :\slrolob'Y and Astronomv as Domains of thl' Mesopolamian '\\'isdom.·.. in Die Rol'" dn :\sln>l1"mir l1t den Kulturt'll "'tfsajJu/amien; (rd. Hannes 1>. Gaiter; Crazer Morgt'ntindische Studien :~; l;r.1L. Aw;rria: Universitatsbihliothek. 19~H), 47-59. ('sp. 51-52.

The Socioreligiolls Role of the Nco-A-;s)'Tian Prophets

109

First. the majority of the Assyrian prophets knovm to us are women, while there is no kmale representative among the scholars. Second, as noted earlier, prophets, unlike scholars, do not write letters to the king: if their words are written, they are transmitted to the king in reporL~ written by pmfcssional scribes.Sf! Third, while scholars transmitted received tradition as Sllccessors of the mvthical, antediluvian sages?' prophets acted as direct mouthpieces of gods: both roles were the result of education and training in a specific environment. Fourth, prophets do not take part in political counseling in the way of the scholars; they do not form pan of the kiug's closest advisury body and were not members of the political elite, or the "magnates" (LlJ.l;,\L.~H:S).91 This does not prevent them, bv the medium of oracles. from being actively involved in political decision making, but unlike the scholars they do not seem to be in the position of making practical sllggestions. Scholars sometimes make suggestions on the grounds of prophetic oracles.'):? but more often Oil the basis of t11Cir learned observations and political instiun. In Assvria, the roles of scholar and prophet are not interchangeable. The inductive and noninductive methods of divination are never mixed, although, in a literary context, the outcome of divination may sometimes be described in a way that resembles prophecy.Y:{ However, when dreams and visiolls are reported, [oJ' exalllpk. in inscriptiolls, the source seems immaterial to the author, and it is oftell impossibk to decide whether the dream or vision in question should be dcfillCd

WI Sec Nissillen, "Spoken, \\'rinen. Quoted. and Invellted.See Simo Parpola, lA'tlf'T5 frOTfl Ass'irian and Babylonian Srholars (SAA 10: Hel-

90

sinki: Helsinki Uni\'el~ity 1'1 eS5. 1993), xvii-xxiv. 91 For the offirials he'longing to this class. see Raija :viattila, Ihe King'., MagnaIJ-,,\; A Study n/llip Hight"1 Offirial, (iflhr ,\eo-As,wrian bnpirt' (SAAS 11: Helsinki: 1\eo-A$' syriall 'li:xt C0'1111S Project, 20(0); Simo Parpola, "The Assyrian Cabinet," in hllft Allen Orient WI/! /llim ,[ps(nllu'lll: FpIIghritljiir Wol/7mn ,'on Sodm (ed. Manfried Die' trich and Oswald Loretz; AOAT 240; Kevelaer, GermallY: Butzon & Bercker; :-.ieu kirrh e 11-\1 Il\'n: :-.ieukirchener. 1995), ~)79-40 I. ' 9~ As Be]'\lseezib dol" ill SA/\ 10 111 and~ab(I'lladin-sumi in SAA 10 284; see :-.iissillen. Ri1"n',u·r.l. 91)-100. 'tl E.g., Fs,uiladdoll NiH A i til-G2: alik IIi !wlli/a id(ika nittallakma nilliim gareRa, "l;o ahead, do not hold back! We walk bv your side, we annihilate your enemies!" These words are called e'/I'taliilli, "orack of encouragc'JUenl," which refers to ex, tjspicy; see :-.iissinen, Re{t'rt'nres. 33-34: Potlgratz-Lt-isteJ1. Hnnrill1{fswissnl, il4-8~).

PmphpCf ill Its A.nrient

110

;\;'1'0" t:astnll ContF:.:t

as prophetic.'1~ Visionaries like the ,~ahni, and the .~ii' iEu arc \irtually equated with prophets in Neo-AssYlian texts, and the dreams of ,~abrUs recorded in the prisms of A,surbanipal are n~portcd in language that could also be used by the Assyrian prophets. What lIlakes the prophets distinctive from others in Neo-Assyriiln society is their alt.achmcnt to the worship of EtaI' and to the respective socioreligious role, cOlllparable to that of other devotees like the a~sinnu and kurgarrll, whose gender role was permanently changed by the goddess. The prophets may Ilot have been generally characterized by a specific gender role, although indications to that effect exist (sec above); in allY case, the association of mahlili and mggimu 'with other ecstatics and the cOllllotation of frantic behavior suggest that (0 be a proplll:t required a role ami way of lift' distillcti\'(: from that of an average Assyrian citiLen. Like the repn'scntatives of the "third gender," the prophets impersonated the goddess-at least fUllctionally, if not in their outer appearance. This ('xplains the prominent role of worn en in prophecy without making it solelv an at/hilt' rirfOflltil's: the goddess who is able to take the role of both sexes can be impersonated hy female and rnalc persons alike, All this is not to say that the purpose of prophecy would have been different h-om that of divination in g('neraL The difference is qualitative rather than functional; all branches of diyination share a common ideological and theologicaJ basis. In Assyrian imperial ideology, there should llot havc been an\' discrepancy among prophets, scholars, and other diviners who worked for a common goal. for ('xampIc, dllling the war of ,barhaddon against his brothers.'I:, The legitimation of all divination was based 011 the idea that gods indeed communicate with humans and that the decisions of the heavenly world allect earthly cir-

,I

')'\ F()r :;imilar situation at l\'lari, sce Sasson, "Postilli!:," .10ft. Man\' I\hri It'llers COllvt'lltionally induded in the "prophetic" corpus arc, in facL dream repons (e.g .. AR\I ~G ~'n; 2:14: 2:~5: 2'\6; 231": ~i:'l9: 24(1; ;tud other 1t~It('r, classified under the title -Le5 reYes" in Durand, A.rrhilwl. 465-82). and it is ohen difficult to decide whether they shollid be qllalified as prophetic dreams, if the dreamer her/himself is not designated explkit]y as a prophet; for an attempt to differentiate between prophe· cies alld (noll prophetic ) dreams jn l\larj lellers. se(' !chiro l'\akata, "Two Remarks 011 the So·Called Prophetic Texts from Mal·i." A(fa S/lIlIl'miog1l(1 1 (]982): H:~-48, As to l\lari dreams ill gcueral. s('('Jack:'lf. S;ISSOll. "l'vl
The Socioreligiolls Role of the Nf'o-A.<;syrian Prophets

111

C'umstances. There were difterent channels, however. through which the diyine will was brought to humans' attention, as well as diflerent human beings who were qualified to take care of the logistics.

Conclu.o;oions (~iVCll

the state of publication lip to J998, it is understalldable that prophetic documents have not hitherto had a decisive role in the study of pmphecy, even though their value to compara6ve studies has often been acknowledgcdy'l Now. having the extant dOCllmentation published in
9\) Apart frolll the few wmks hv Herhert It Hllffmon, \i
112

ProP/wry in Its Allcirmt NpaT /.'·astrrn Context

and Esnllnna, as ""ell as from the Hebrew Bible. However, the image of the Assyrian prophet sketched above turns out to be different from the widespread idea of prophecy, based largely on biblical material and interpreted within the symbolic world of modern scholarship; the following prCSelll
claim to hav~ b.-en individually Glllt>d hy a deity, that is, their vocation is customarily lIot inheritt>d or taught. a~ is tht: case for pri~sts. Prophets tcnd not to be associat~d with inslitllliolls. And prophets ,Ire less concerned than priest~ \\lith maintainill!{ th(' statlls quo; that is. they an~ lIslmllv lI!on, illvoht·tJ . pnJlllo\lIlg . ( IYHaIlllc . sOCIa . I CI 1II lal1!{e ' as ltHHJVatols all( I re I'onners:)8

This har'dly matches the picture of the propheb of 1\.fari or Assyria, who were associated with institutions. in the framework of which their expertise was taught and learned, and who-at least on the basis of the extant sources-wen' apparently not the first to promote social change. If there were prophets like those described above, no docuIIIclltatioll of their activity has been presern:d. Moreover, the idea of pmphecy as quoted is problematic even in \1C\\I of the Hebrew Bible. The idea of antagonism between the prophet and the priest lIlay be wrong--Jeremiah, for example, is introduced as min hak-kiihiinim, that is, a priest (Jer 1:1 )y9 Furthermore, the Hebrew Bible is explicit about associating the prophets with the temple of Jerusalf"l11 or other cult places, even in cases ill which the prophet takes a critical attitude toward the oftlcial cult. For example, the biblical figures ofJeremiah or Ezekiel are unthinkable without the temple ofJerusalem in the background, not to mention Haggai and Zechariah and their ultimatums 98 Paula MC~lltl. f?PfOlIItnuting tlw Soriety o/An(iml/.Htll'i (Library of Ancient Israd; London: SPCK; Louisville: Weslminslel John Knox Press, 1999), 179. l\O[C

that th" author hel self also acknowledges diifcrelll types of propl1f'ts: "Prcsllrnahh', prophet' who upheld the status quo (and [hllS were' not associated with t~pes of mOV('l11ents described here) would have been supported by those in power. and peripheral prophets. who were critical of Ihe stat liS quo, by thosc who wanted some kind of a change" (180-81). 99 See, e.g.. Robert P. Carroll, Th,. Book olJl'mniah: A. Commentar:> (OTI.; London: SC:\1, 1\186),90-91. Even if min hukkofulnllll ,hould he unoerstood ;is a rcft'reTlu' to Jerellliah\ father Hilkiah and nOI to himself (thus 'Villiam rvfcKalle. :1 Critiml owi l':x~f!:pliral CmnmpntlIrv Oil .1l'1rmiah [vol. 1: ICC; Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark. 1986], 1). it doe, Ilot dl'lllge the socioreligious background oflf'H'miah as Iwing from priestly circles.

The Socioreligious Role of the Neo-AssFian Prophets

] 1:~

on reconstllICtion of the Second Temple. There arc innovators, rcformers, and promoters of dynamic social change among the biblical prophets, but one might ask about the breadth of evidence for this kind of prophecy and to what extent it goes back to historical circumstallces. In other words, to what extent docs "biblical prophecy"prophecy as depicted ill the tinal form of the llcbrew Biblc-colTespond to "ancient Israelite prophecy," thc concrete historical phenomenon? The prophetic literature of the Hebrew Bible is the result of centuries of selecting, editing, and interpreting, and can give lIlll only a partial and somewhat distorted \iew of the phenomenon. It is \~idcly accepted today that the hiblical plOphctic figures represent . t· su 1)se
114

Proj)heC)' in Its AI/rir.n! :Vmr Fastn-n Context

from the hei?;ht of Assyrian political and cultural influence, acknowledged as a key perioo in the literary and ideological formation of the Hebrew Bible,lln they also demonstrate textual, metaphorical. and ideological affinities with prophetic and other biblical tt'xt5. 101 These texts, together \'\'ith similar texts in other anciellt Ncar Easterll prophetic sources. make interpretation of ancient lsraelite/]udean d 10.",\11'1 . .IS . J' prop I)Ccv as an IlHllgl'llollS p Iwtlometlon Ul1warranfe.. . 'Ill e It unsound methodolo!,'Y to maintain that conclusions from the A<;syrian evidence apply to ancient Israelite society, so that the image of the Israelite/Judean prophets could be drawn from the Assyrian model.](I6 it is also truc that Nco-Assyrian prophetic sources prmick, chronologicallv. the most immediate point of comparison for the biblical pn.lphetic literature. They also provide the closest historical and phenomenological anal0i-,'Y to ancient Israelite/Judean prophecy.

Seminal' 42; Shdlield: Shdlidd Academic Press. 199tiJ. 106-2ti); Heintz. "1)es l('xtes s!;rnitiqllc, anciem if]a Bible hd)Jaiqlle." On the comparative appro;!ch, see also Ihe contributions of HaIlS M. Barstad and Lester 1.. l;I~\bl)(' in this yolume. Hl:l Sel:, e.g .. Eckart Otto, "Die besiegten Sieger: Von dn ~...t<\Cht und Ohnmacht del' ldeen ill del' Geschichlt' aIll Beispiel ctn neuas5vrischen GroBreichspolitik," B7 (1999): 180-20~~. W4 Sce Weippcrl, ":\ssyrisclH' PropheticlI," 104-11; :-';issinen, "Re levall7.. ,. ns-s?; Parpola, AH)'Iiml Pmpherifl, p,lssim. I (IS Pa(1' Robert R Wilson, "Prophct," fum HH4-Hfl, esp. HHo: "lTjhne is 110 biblical evidence tt' indicate that Israel n'c()~F11ized ]>ropht:('~ of prophetic phenolilelia slww til at pi'opheev (an arise spontant'oush' in ,IllY society when lIlt' nece~sar!, soria! and religious conditions are preseut. There is therefore no rea;;oll to assul1le thaI prophet.s could not have appeared in Israe! without outside' cultural inf111t:llce." While the chronologie.l! and geographiral distribution of anciellt Near E.;\stern prophecy raises the question whether prophecy anywhere ill Iht' ancieut. Neal' East ran be considered a foreign imp0l1, il "Iso sp!'aks for prophecy's cultural communicahility rather than for 1II1i<jUl' awl isolated phelloll1cna. 101; Sec tlie jllsl wilrnings of Joseph Blt:nkinsopp. SilK". Pri!!>r. 1'101,111'1: Hdigiuus and Inlellprtllal Lmdl'rslllj' ill AI/riml /1"1111'1 (Library of Ancient Israel; Louisville: WestminslerJohn Knox Press. 1995). fi-7.

n

7 Arabian Prophecy Jaakko Hiimeen-Anttila Studies on Arabian prophecy have not progressed much in the last few decades. Standard textbook!'> give detailed information on Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, as described in traditional sources, and mention briefly the soothsayers-the kiihins-and theil' modern, mainly SOHth Arabian, parallels. In addition, the so-called ridda propheLs J are sometimes mentioned in connection with :V1ul:Jammad's life or the early development of the Islamic state. Yet the recent development in early Islamic studies lIeressitates a reevaluation of the question of prophecy. The traditional view of early Arabiau prophecy has been drawn mainlv fI'om Muslim sources, which have been wkeTl to reflect more or less f'xactly the pre-Islamic and early Islamic hist()ry.~ Recent studies on early Islamic histor-y have shown that this is not the case. The "'Titten material, \\~th the notable exception of the Qur'an, rarely dates from before 800 C.E., and even then cannot be followed more than a few decades backward. 3 The sourCes alleging to describe the latc-sixth- to early-seveIlth-
llS

116

Prrr/lli('rJ' in Il.l i1nril'nt Sfur Eastrrn Context

~Ies()pota11lial1 authors than about prt'-Islamic tinlt:'s. At the sallle time it has been realized that the image given in the hiography of Muhammad (.'limit) is a hagiography, molded in the late eighth century to fit the paradigm of Jewish and Christian prophets and holy men. 'The early developmellt of Islam, llIllilthe cOllsolidation of SUIlIlisrn in t.he ninth centUIT and ShiisHI ill the tcnth, is also ill need of ree\'alnation. To take but one example: the finality of Mul.lammad 's prophethood, his place as the Seal of the Prophets (kludam al-anbiyi/; QUL 33:40), has lately been seen in a new light. I The doctrine did not emerge in his own time, but wa.~ f()nmllated only IateL For his contemporary followers. Muball1mad was the Seal that contirmed the messagt' of the earlit'r prophets, not the final Seal that ended the procession of bihlical 0 prophets universally. The term "prophet" (nab/) may later have been avoided, but the idea of continuous prophecy existed in sectarian Islam. Would-be prophets appeared especially until the ninth century. and new divinely inspired hooks were written throughOllt the centuries (e.g., Umrn a{-KitiibaJld Kitab aI-flap wa'[-IlZillll in the ninth centlU)',b and the books of U;\b ill the niIleteellth), There is ample reason to take a fresh look at Arabian prophecv, from the sixth centUI"): until the consolidation of Islam around ROO CE., both for its own sake and li)r compar;l!in> reasons. After all, the sturly of West Semitic prophec\', attested ill Mari, Assyria, and Israel, may profit from South Semitic comparative matl'l"ial. despite the later date for the latter. .j S('(' (~daliahu C. StrollIllsa, .. 'Se"l of the Prophets': The 1\atllre of a ~1ani­ chaean Metapho!"'" jl.'Tu.wwm Studip.I in Ambi,. lind hl(Jm 7 i 19R6): 61-74, and )"0hanan FI'iedlllalln, "Finalitv of Prophethnnn in Sunnl Islam," JPrl1Stl!em Sludit's in ,'Irabil" alld Islam i (19R6): li7-21!'l. " In Islamic stlldie~. "bib1ic<\l" retel' to the Jewish and ChriHian tradition in gelll'Cll. thus also including the extracallonicaJ material. The word "bihlical" is Ilsed in this wide sense ("belonging to theJewi5h :lIld/ol" Chl"i.~tian traditioJl") in this essay. From an Islamic poin t of view, the legends concerning Moses or Jesus are biblical, even if they are not anested in the Bible itself. ti For these two, see Heinz Hahn, Dif' i.1[a/flisril" (;uo.li.l: Dit' fxtrnnt' S.ilia und !lit 'A.lawitm (Zurich ;mn Munich: Artemis 1982): for the books of B;ib, see Peter SlIIith, nit, Bab! and Baha'j Heii,l.rillt/.\: hWII ,\Jlci51auir SII; '/.1111 /0 a World Rf'ligirl/l (CamhI irlge: Cambridg(' l:niwrsitv Press, 1987). I have studied the oldest part of the lilt/III 1I!·Kifilb. the so-{"allen Jabir Apocahpst' (Jaakko IIitltleen·:\ntlila. "Des("cnt :md AS('('III ill Islamic :'.'lvth." in MYI!t., and ;Hvtholobrin I cd. Simo P<1I'pola ;mn Robert M. \\,hiting; yklammu 2; lC)l"1hcoming! l. ft'om the point of\icl\' of the descent and ascent myths.

Arabian Prophecy

117

Historiography in Islamic Studies It is necessary to update the historiographical situation in early Islamic studies. 7 Since 1977, it has become more evident to scholars in the field that the Islamic source material can only be used , ....irh great caution-according to the most radical sdlOlar~, it may not be' Ilsed at all, but this extreme [{stidiousucss, because ()fit~ agnostic attit11de, has not proven fruitiul. B The Islamic historical texts all date from the late eighth century or later and have undergone '"harmonization" \\11en, in the ninth century, SlInni Islam reached its classical form, the origins of the community were rewritten and all earlier, mainly oral, material had to be harmonized with the cla~sical view ofIslam. Only the Qur';ln dates to the early seventh celltury,~' The desniptioTis of pre-Islamic society in classical sources are also questionable, fe)r two reasons. First, the main motive for writing pre-Islamic history was to create a contrast 7 For recent Lheol't'tind attempts 10 cope with carly history. the followillg works may be consulted: Patricia Ct olle and l\Iichacl Cook. Hagmism: 'lil.e :'.laking ojlhe Islamic WCfrld (Camol'idgt': Cambridge l'llivt'rsity Pr!'s5, 1077'1. the ultrarevi,jollist hook which started a tempestllolls disctJssion that continucs; Albrccht Noth ort," .IRAS (3d S('f,) 7/'2 (1997): 199-'2'27: and Fred McGraw Donner, Na1Tativl's of [slallllt' Ori{!im: '{7u' Hegitming:l vI Islamic lIi.llm·iml H',.itillg (Studies in Latt' Alltiqllirv and Earlv Islam 14: Princeton, ~J.: Dan,in Press, 1998). The latter three art' mildly cOHSnvative but \'t'l}' sober. Sec also TarifKhalidi. Ambic lfisIOT'/({Il Thoughl ill the Classiwl Pmod (Cambridge Swdil"s ill Islalllic Ci,ilization; Cambridge: Cambridgt' l.:ni\·ersitv Pre,s, 1994), a consl"rvative stud\' that is soml"timcs Inaccurate; Wilfred Madelung. The SUlfrsSioli 10 iHltlwmmad: :\ Stud)' of tllf Carl" Cali/i/wll' (Camhridge: Cambridge llnivt'rsity Pres,s, 1997), ail 1Iitracomerntivc book from a well-known speci;1list (5(:e, c.g., my revit'w iII ,1,/Jr5R [19971: 21'i·-20). H CnJllt' and Cook, /Tagarism, andJohn Wansbrough, Qurml1( .'Ill/dips: Smnas and All'lhods (l{Sen/dam! 1ntnl!1rlatiou (London Oriental Series:n: Oxford: Oxford l'niversity Press, J 977), are 1':000 examples of the fruitless attempt to ignore dassicll SOllrce material. \1 WaIlshrough, Qumnj,· Stl/die>, see~ the Qman as the result of a lengthv oral tradition and the work of se\t'ral local prophets, Even though Wanshrough's the,is would tit my \iew of early Ar;lbian prophecy, there i, 1I0t lflll('h evidcllce to suppO'-l ,\ late date It)r lhe QUI' '
118

Pmphwy in Its ATlrirnt :Vmr Faste-m Context

to Islam. Second, in many cases, the less tendelltious writers desnihed the bedouin society of their own time alld retn~iected it to the past. Islam had heen born Oil the Arabian Peninsula in the early seventh century, but the religion was still in its infancy when. during- the conquests, it came to the old cultural ared of the l\'ear East. Theological strllctures, except [or a strict lllonotheism, were still lacking, and the sacred geography!') and IJI'il5gl'scliichtl' werc vcry milch in preliminary form. In this situation, the nascent religion, which was too ~'oung to be called "Islam"-a term the helie\'ers did not lise I I_was heavily influenced by the cognate religions. Extensive contacts were made in Iraq, Syria, and Palestine, altholl~h the role of Egypt remained marginal fc)r reasons not yet fully understood. Dllring the seventh and eiglllh centuries, the new religion emerged little by little as Islam, hy absorbing Jewish, Christian, gnostic,12 and perhaps other influences; different sects were born during the process. The biography of the propllf't Muhammad was fixed at about the' same time, at the end of the eighth lTnlllry. It was written to lit him into the paradigm of Near EaSlCl'lJ prophets alld holy men bur also to support the leading role the caliph had taken in the late :;;e\'el1th century. I 3 To put it briefly. \tuhammad had to become a kind of victorious Jesus. His character had to absorb the features of a Jewish/Christian prophet who had been denied by his people, but also W .\1ekk<\ became oWlwllt'lminglv important onl\' arollnd 700 L.F., whell it \\a5 finally fixed ,IS the I Inly Cit~· of blall!. Before (h:u,./erllsakm h'ld !'\lc(essfull\' COInpeted ji)! the po:-itioll of the first cilv of Isbill. 11 This point has been emphasized by Donner, Narmlivr.'. 12 I use the terlll "gnostic" in a hroad sense. to mean ideologies alld religiolls concepts influenced lw and cognate to g-nosticism. For the reccnt disCllssioll of the term "gnosti(,ism," s('c. ('.g., Michael Allen Williams. Rf'lhiliking "(;l/i)stirisln "; All Ar, gUlf/nil .fbI" Di\"lfl(mllitlg (J Dllbioll.' C(II1'gml' (P,·incc\on: Plinc('ton 1 !niv(>rsity Pres~. 1996). which perhaps !{oes tuo Car in its purism. Ivfalldat'ans, ~fanicha{'alls. and Harranians arc among the "gll"s!ic" sens which we know ,till {'xistt'd ill the :o\l'ar East awl could have int1Ul'llCed some tarms of Islam. I ~ The now-dassic stlldy of the e'lri\' Islamic caliphate is P;;tricia Crone and ~.far­ tin Hinds, (;od'\ Caliph: Religion.' Authority in the First emturi,,! IIf IsI(Jm CCniversiry of Camb,'idge Oriental Publications :-17: C.'lllbridgc: Cnivcr,ily of CaJllbridge Press, 19Rfi). Whi1(' thc two authors are on the right track. I disagT(,c with them when it cOlnes to th(' profile of the institllfion directly after the death of l\1uhallllllad. Tht' high spiritual authority of the ciliph \\':1.', I Iwlievc, fir~t claimed bv ':\bdalmalik (d. i(5). who alsu iUlIodHl('d t.he 1('1"111 "caliph" (klwllfa) iu the sense of the mlcr of the community and it~ spil it\lal he~ld-the older. less religiollsh t.inged term for tIlt' rulel' being amir arm/l'/Ilinill. "the Prince of the Belic,·crs."

Arabian Prophecy

llY

the features of a ruler and a conqueror, the role model of the caliphs, Yet the harmonization of the sources did not wipe out all memOlies of the early history of the Arabs; it only buried them under other materials, and the digging for the possibly genuine material is a task which has only just begun. I 1

Tradit.ions of Arabian Prophecy Prophecy had a long tradition on the peninsula, leading far hack beyond the birth of Muhammad-whether up to the Common Semitic period or lIot is a questioll which can probably never he answered adequately. In any case, the Qur) all itself testilies to the existence of Arab prophets (Hlld, Salih) E, before Muhalllmad, and although the characters themselves ar·e now legendary, it should not make us blind to the fact that both MUQammad and his audience accepted the idea of earlier, lion biblical prophets on the peninsula. These prophets were worthy of being ~luQammad's precursors. which, incidentally. shows that they were not cOllsidered Illere soothsayers. The Q,ur'an cOHlo speak of lIlld and S,ilib, two Arab prophets, because the audience accepted thelll, and the h·aglllentar-y narrative implks that the audience knew the rest. The Qur'an spoke about religious figures familiar to the audience and respected by them. The interest in a succession of prophets, however, was generated only by the selFitlelltification of l\lui.rammad with the biblical prophets. Hild and Salih. like their biblical coullterpart.~, are missing from the earliest parts of the Qur'an, Iii but whell they later did appear, tl1(>)' 14 The most remarkable stan has been the series Studies in L·ne Antiquitv and Early Islam. in which s<'v('raJ important stndies have taken earnestly the challenge of the \\t,w historiography. I!) The!'e is a Suulh Arabian cult of lIud, whidl IMs becl1 described bv R. R. Scrjt:ant ("Hiid and Other Pre·Islamic Pmphcts." [,f' MIlSf(it/ 67 rI9:'I41: 121--79. reprinted as Ill>. I in R. B. SeljealH. Slwlin in Arabian [{Btm) and Civilisation [London: Variorum Reprints. 19f1l D. Despite it~ title, the article does not, in fact, deal with pre-Islamic times. Other possibly prt.~lshllnic prophet~ are mentioned in Friedmann, ··Finality," 193-94. Hi Dating the qu'r'anic material is still difficult: the hest ovcrall system remains that of Theodor 1\i)ldeke. (;rsrhirilte dps QQnil/,~ (cd. hied rich Schwallv. GOllhelf I:krgstr;isser. ,llld Ono Pr"tt:lvols; vols. J-::\; 2d cd.: Leipzig: Dic{('rich 'sehe Verlagshuchhandlung, 190<J,·19:~1'l). The defect of this system is that it deals "ith the slIrahs as wholes and does not take into {'ull accoullt the complexity of the slIrabs themselves.

120

Pmphe(}' in Its Ancienl Nmr EastpTn Context

were eITortlessly accepted into tIlt' Islamic holy historv. Whether H(Hj and Salih might have been biblically illspired prophets or transmitters of a Common Semitic tradition remains open. We cannot rule out the possibility that they had originally been common soothsayers, kahins, who [or sOllie reason had been accepted as prophets; the boundary between it kiihin and a prophet is v('ry fluid.)7 . Iu the Qur'an, Hlld and S,llih ar(' mere dummies. who trammit the same message as l\.fuhammad and all qur'anic prophets from Abraham to Jesus. The folklore around them, which has be(,Il partly written to explain the gur'anic material, dates considerably later than the Qur'an and ha1' been generated bv the need to get more material into the stories; we have 110 reasoll 10 believe that the stories about Hill! and Salih date to the carlv seventh century. Ii< TIlU">, all we can savi about them is thai they-or their models-most probably existed. The existence of an Arab tradition of propheL~ is also indirectly supported by the career of Muharnmad himself. A5 the oldest parts of the Qur\in ShOW,19 the mig-inal message of Muhammad was not biblically iIlspired, yet he was readily accepted br his audience as an inspired IllaIl-('\'cn those who seem to have opposed him did not find it diHiCIlIt to accept him as a hiIhin, slirl'iT; or majniin, all terms that imply supernatural inspiration. 2o To obey him was more difficult. Thus there was a paradigm into which his earliest audiellce set Muhammad. "nle cornerstone of this paradigm was most probably the kiillin (and his female cOllllterpart, the kii.hir/fl), who received his knowledge from a familiar spirit. Labi' 21 Krihins arc fonnd throughollt the peninsula and ,

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i

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17 A similar increase in respect is s('en in the legcnds surrounding Sa(ih; ,ce below. 18 The study of Serjeant C·HI-Id"). lik .. , in {~ct, most of his othel' studies on early Islam. sulfers from his re;\n The QIlI"an !e.g., .')2:29; 69:4J-42) denies thesc identifications, Neither .,hi]'iT nor majmin is to he understood in their modern sense ("poe[·'; "madman··) but in a more archaic one. The sflii'if receives his knowiedg-e from his liibi' , "familiar spirit," like the kiihitl, and the l71f1jtlllll is ··covered" (which is the Iit",ral m('aning of the word) bv a supel'nalllfal b .. ing. Igll:ll Goldziher, Abharulhl1l{!;l'n zur amhis,lun Philn/o{!;il' (Lclnen: Brill. I i:l96). I: llO!1, is a somewhat daled but still-valuable s(lJ(ly Oil the pre-Islamic poet ane! his inspiration. :!I The institution of ltilullw \1",\8 been studied hy Fahd. Divinatw1!, 92-102; his artick "kil.hin" in the Ennr/o/I<1I'dia of "'am (20 ('d.; \'0J. 'I; l.eid('u: Br'iIl. 1978), SHIll-

Arabian Prophecy

121

may well con6nuc an old Semitic tladition with little. if any, hihlical influence. The term kiihin is hardly a Hebrew loan (kohin), and the kiihin had few similari6es with the Jewish k6him. These soothsayers seem usually to have restricted their message to the ephemeral, answering questions concerning disagl·eeIl1enL~. lost camels. or whatever. \Vhat they lacked was a universal or, at least, a more general dimension. After the disagreemenl was sNtled or the camels found, the kahin's dina did not retain much interest and were soon forgotten. Later Arabic literature tells a lot about these kiihins, but the sources are not very reliable. In the biography of the prophet Muhammad, the kiihins are mainly llsed in the annunciation passages; to collect the greatest possible authority for ;vluhammad, each religiolls authority was used. h(lhins, rabbis, and Christian holy men arc found testifyillg to the coming of the new prophet.:!2 A well-knmvn case of annunciation through kiihins is the story about Shiqq and Sa~lh in the court of the South .Arabian king Rabl(a ibn Na~r, related on the first pages of Muhammad's biography as it now stands.:!:) According to this stolT. the king sent for these two klihins so that they could explain his dream. Without telling them about it, he asked them to explain the dream ill ordel- to prove their clairvoyance. As will be seen, this is a modification of the "hiihin test.~ Both were able to interpret the dream as referring to the countl)"s destiny. \Vhen the king questioned them further, they marizes his own 1Jl00lOgTaph. The lIlono~raph is lIseful
122

Prophny in Its ;\nr.iertL Nmr Fastrrn Conlf....-I

told briefly about tIlt' coming of the IH"\V prophet whose nation's dominion would last to the last da'\-'. Alreadv here. we find the theme of Sarin (as well as Shigq) prophesying the future. Satil1, in sources, was traditionally fi'om Syria, and he was also desnibed as prophes~illg the futun: conqllests of Islam to the king of' Persia.:?l The same theme was later developed further, and in Ibn al-Munadi's (d. 947) l\!1alabim 4R-5H, ~') Safill prophesies the future of the Islamic Empire up to the early tenth century in what we might call the Sa~lb Apocalypse. The text is obviously a literary fiction of the tenth centuq' and falls outside the scope of this essay. The Sat)b Apocalypse docs, howen:T, testify to the growing interest in the legendary kohin, and this intncst seems to have started dcn:loping early, although Satil) is not mentioned ill the Qur','ill. III a sense, Satli) became the role model for krihins. In disclissing the ridria prophetess S,~iahi, all\1as'lidl (d. 9~}6) claims that she had modeled her career after Sa~ib before she started prophesying (Munli § 1:')22) .~ti At the same time, this text shows that the classical authors saw a differenet" between a kahill and a ridda prophet. These stories of "high prophecy," situated in the courts of the mighty. are connected with the ,ulIJullciatioll of the new prophet; their e\idential valm' for tbe historical kihiwa, the profession of hiihin, is minimal. The more down-tn-earth stories of kiihins are hmnd in other conteXL<;. \-lost of the stol'ies cOllcerning the "Iow prophecy" of kallins show ont" and the same structure. A group of clients, or sOIlle(in1t"s a single dient, comes to the kiihin. Before