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[German version] Κώμη ( kṓmē) in Media (Ptol. 6,2,18), not far from a place called Ῥάψα ( Rhápsa), on the road from Ecbatana to Persepolis [1]. A. appears to have been on the same stretch of the road, probably the same place as Gulpaigan or Kaidu, and only had significance as a resting place. Renger, Johannes (Berlin) Bibliography 1 Miller, 783 with sketch no. 253.

[German version] (Thammuz; Sumerian Dumu-zi, 'legitimate son', Aramaic  Tham(m)uza, Hebrew Thammûz, Greek  Θαμμουζ/ Thammouz). Prehistoric king of Uruk and husband of the city goddess Inanna (Ishtar; Hieros Gamos). She hands T. over to the forces of the Underworld when she - having failed in her attempt to seize the rule over the Underworld for herself - is released from the Underworld on condition of the promise of a (human) substitute. Dumu-zi is captured by the demons of the Underworld; however, his siste…

[German version] (Hebrew Ōfīr, Ōfir; LXX: Οὐφειρ/ Oupheir, Σωφαρα/ Sōphara, Σωφειρ(α)/ Sōpheir(a), Σωφηρα/ Sōphēra, Σωφιρα/ Sōphira, Σουφειρ/ Soupheir, Σουφιρ/ Souphir, Σοφειρ/ Sopheir). According to the OT, O. was the land of origin of gold (1 Kg 9:28, 22:49) and semi-precious stones (1 Kg 10:11, Job 28:16), which Solomon had shipped over the Red Sea to Israel. Gold from O. is also mentioned in a Hebrew ostracon (epigraphically dated between the 8th and 6th cents. BC) [2]. The location of O. is disputed: both southern Arabia (or the eastern African coast) and India (because of a Supara…

[English version] (Ḫammurabi). Bedeutendster Herrscher der 1. Dyn. von Babylon, regierte von 1792-1750 v.Chr. Nach langen Kämpfen mit rivalisierenden mesopot. Mächten, aber auch mit den Herrschern Elams, die Souveränität über die Staaten Mesopotamiens beanspruchten, hat Ḫ. seit 1755 v.Chr. ganz Mesopotamien von Mari am mittleren Euphrat und der Gegend um das h. Mossul bis an den pers. Golf beherrscht. Mehr als 200 von ihm stammende Briefe und zahlreiche Berichte der Abgesandten eines seiner Verbün…

[German version] (Ḫammurabi). Most important ruler of the 1st Dynasty of  Babylon, in office from 1792 to 1750 BC. Following extended battles with rival powers in Mesopotamia as well as with the rulers of  Elam who all claimed sovereignty over the states of Mesopotamia, Ḫ. ruled over all of Mesopotamia from Mari on the middle reaches of the Euphrates and the region surrounding modern Mossul to the Persian Gulf from 1755 BC on. In over 200 of his letters and in numerous reports by delegates of Zimr…

[German version] (ποταμοφύλαξ/ potamophýlax, 'river guard'). The potamophýlakes (Ptolemaic officials) used guard boats (attested from the 2nd cent. BC on) to guard the Nile, its branches (in the Delta) and the canals of Alexandria up to Syene (Aswan). They occasionally also carried urgent letters and were put to service collecting tolls and taxes. The potamophýlakes were conscripted into service; the office of potamophýlax was a liturgy. Renger, Johannes (Berlin) Bibliography E. Kießling, s. v. P., RE 22, 1029 f.

[German version] (Σαρδανάπαλ(λ)ος; Sardanápal(l)os). Legendary Assyrian ruler, who combines traits of several Assyrian rulers (e.g. Sennacherib and Saosduchinus/Šamaš-šuma-ukīn) according to the accounts of  Greek authors (Hdt. 2,150; Pol. 8,12,3; Dion. Chrys. 4,135; Clem. Al. Strom. 2,20). During the 19th century, S. was a subject in music [1. 168], literature (Byron) and fine arts (Delacroix) (Orient, reception in the West). Renger, Johannes (Berlin) Bibliography 1 J. Renger, Altorientalistik und Vorderasiatische Archäologie in Berlin, in: W. Ahrenhövel, Chr. Sc…

[German version] Oikos economy (OE) was first described as an idealised concept of a form of economy in antiquity by Rodbertus, later by M. Weber. Oikos describes an independent household (of a ruler), which produces everything used and consumed in it, apart from a few exceptions (metals, luxury products, in Mesopotamia also wood). In the Mesopotamian OE of the 4th and 3rd millennia, which had developed under the conditions of a comprehensive and mostly centrally-organized regime of artificial irrigation of the cultivab…

[German version] The Semitic goddess I. is etymologically related to  Astarte ( Aṯtarat). Grammatically speaking, the name is masculine (cf. Western Semitic Aṯtar). In southern Mesopotamia she was identified with Innana, the Sumerian city-goddess of  Uruk, and there is evidence of her being worshipped in that city into Achaemenid times. In northern Babylonia and Assyria figures of I. were venerated in numerous cities (I. of the cities  Akkad,  Arbela [1],  Nineveh) and to an extent identified with other goddesses. Th…

[German version] (Ἰωβαρῖται; Iōbarîtai, Ἰοβαρῖται; Iobarîtai). Ethnic group in southern Arabia; only mentioned in Ptol. 6,7,24 as neighbours of the Sachalitae ( Sachalites). Renger, Johannes (Berlin) Bibliography J. Tkač, s.v. I., RE 9, 1832-1837.

[German version] City goddess of  Uruk, etymologized as the ‘Queen of Heaven’. She is represented by symbols from the 2nd half of the 4th millennium (looped reed bundles, in the 1st millennium also a star), and by inscriptions from c. 3200 BC. She is the goddess of the planet Venus, unmarried, and representing the power of sexuality; she also has martial features. Mesopotamian mythology equates her with  Ištar; as such she appears in the Ninevite recension of the  Gilgamesh Epic as well as in the myth of ‘Ishtar's descent into the Underworld.  Hieros Gamos;  Tammuz;  Venus; Ishtar Renger, J…

Renger, Johannes (Berlin) [German version] A. Name and definition (CT) Ancient Near Eastern Philology and History (ANEPH) is part of Ancient Near Eastern Studies, which includes the archaeology of the ancient Near East as well as philology and history. The term ‘ancient Near Eastern’, in the context of Western European and American scholarship, refers to the geographical area of the Near East and its pre-Christian or pre-Islamic civilizations in the territory of present-day Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel,…

[German version] Akkadian term (of unclear etymology) [2. 33 f.] for the predominant ethnicity of southern Mesopotamia (Babylonia) towards the end of the 4th and in the 3rd millennium BC, defined by their Sumerian writing culture (Sumerian). By the early 3rd millennium, Semitic-speaking ethnicities (called Akkadians in scholarly literature; Akkadian) also played a role in Mesopotamia. In addition, there were population groups in southern Mesopotamia that can be defined through the substrate langua…

[German version] (Gilgameš, Gilgameš Epic). G., legendary ruler of  Uruk in southern Mesopotamia; linked in the sources passed down to us with the construction of the 9-km long city wall of Uruk around 2900 BC. Non-literary sources already mention G. about 2700 BC. The rulers of the 3rd dynasty of Ur (21st cent. BC) originating in Uruk maintained that they were genealogically connected with G. and therefore fostered the stories passed down about G. and his equally legendary predecessors ( Epic) in…

[German version] Indian mountain tribe in the Hindu Kush; the ancestors of the Kāfir (i.e. ‘the disbelieving’) in the valleys of the Kūnar, the river of Tschitral. In the records of the Persian taxation districts in Hdt. 3,93, they are summarized with the Saces. Renger, Johannes (Berlin)

[German version] (Ξίσουθρος/ Xísouthros: [1. 19 f.] or Σίσουθρος/ Sísouthros: Abydenus FGrH 685 F 2). Graecised form, in the context of renditions of the story of the Flood, of the Sumerian name  Zi.u4.sud.ra ('Life of distant days'), Akkadian Utanapištī ('I have found my life'), the mythical Sumerian/Akkadian survivor of the 'Great Flood' (Deluge, legend of the). Atraḫasīs; Gilgamesh Epic Renger, Johannes (Berlin) Bibliography 1 S. M. Burstein, The Babyloniaca of Berossus, 1978.

[German version] [1] Eponym of the island of Tenedos (Τέννης/ Ténnēs, also Τένης/ Ténēs). According to Plutarch (Quaest. Graec. 28) the eponym of the island of Tenedos, son of king Cycnus [2]; Apollo is often given as his father. Stepson of Philomene, who after an alleged rape has T. and his sister Hemithea put out at sea in a chest. Under the protection of Poseidon they land on the island of Leucophrys near Troy, where T. becomes king. The island is named after him. Later Cycnus recognises the truth and sai…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient So far, evidence of inns comes mainly from Mesopotamia. There the inn was usually also the place where - outside institutional households -  beer was brewed. Inns normally served beer, with only one mention of the operator of a  wine tavern (ancient Babylonian period, 17th cent. BC; [3]). The running of an inn by a landlord or landlady or a hot-food stall by a cook was registered and licensed by royal edict in the ancient Babylonian period [5. 85]. Both had to pay a…

(ἱερὸς γάμος, Heilige Hochzeit). [English version] I. Begriff Ein Terminus, der zur Bezeichnung einer rituellen sexuellen Vereinigung in der neuzeitlichen Forsch. seit dem Aufkommen des Fruchtbarkeitsparadigmas im 19. Jh. (Mannhardt, Frazer) eine große Bed. erlangt hat. Ausgehend von dem im homer. Epos erzählten Geschlechtsverkehr zwischen Demeter und ihrem sterblichen Liebhaber Iasion ‘auf einem dreimal gepflügten Feld’ (Hom. Od. 5, 125-128; Hes. theog. 969-971), der in Analogie mit nordeurop. Bräuchen…

(Ἀδάμας). [English version] [1] Thraker (4.Jh. v. Chr.) Thraker, der in den 370er Jahren v. Chr. von Kotys abfiel (Aristot. pol. 5,10,1311b). Die Identifizierung mit A. in IG XII 5,245 ist zweifelhaft (SEG 34, 1984, 856). Peter, Ulrike (Berlin) [English version] [2] Fluß Vorderindiens Nur bei Ptol. 7,1,17; 41 erwähnter Fluß Vorderindiens am Golf von Bengalen, mit der jetzigen Subarna rekha identisch. Der Name bedeutet “Diamantenfluß”. Landeinwärts sind bis heute die Diamantgruben von Chota Nagpur bekannt. Renger, Johannes (Berlin)

[English version] [1] Teil der Rüstung (μίτρα, μίτρη). (1) Nach Homer (Hom. Il. 4,137; 187; 216; 5,857) zum Schutz des Unterleibes getragener Teil der Rüstung, der von der arch. Forsch. mit bes. auf Kreta gefundenen, halbkreisförmigen Bronzeblechen der früharcha. Zeit identifiziert wird. Ebenfalls m. heißt das in seiner Funktion entsprechende Rüstungsteil der Salier (Salii; Dion. Hal. ant. 2,70; Plut. Numa 13,4). (2) Gürtel der jungen Frauen (Theokr. 27,55, vgl. μιτροχίτων/ mitrochítōn, Athen. 12,523d) und Göttinnen (Kall. h. 1,120; 4,222, epigr. 39), nach einer s…

[English version] A. Alter Orient Im Alten Orient finden sich seit prähistor. Zeit zahlreiche als Anhänger geformte und zum Anlegen, Umbinden oder Aufhängen geeignete Objekte (figürlich oder symbolhaft-abstrakt), Ketten oder sonstige Gebinde, die allg. als A. gedeutet werden [1]. Vor allem akkad. und hethit. Texte aus dem Bereich der Experten für magische Rituale beschreiben Material, Gestalt und den Prozeß des Anfertigens von Amuletten und den Zweck, für den sie gebraucht werden. Steinen und Pflanze…

[English version] I. Alter Orient Pfand(=Pf.)-Bestellung zur Vertragssicherung ist in den altorientalischen Rechten unterschiedlich gut bezeugt. Die Pf.-Bestellung spielt eine große Rolle im Verschuldungsprozeß in agrarischen Ges. Wenn z.B. Pächter mit ihren Abgabeverpflichtungen in Rückstand geraten waren, führte der Verfall eines Personen-Pf. oft zu Schuldknechtschaft [1; 2; 15. 179f.] mit den sich daraus ergebenden negativen Folgen für das soziale Gleichgewicht einer Ges. (Pacht I.). Pf.-Bestellung ist im Keilschriftrecht seit der 2. H. des 3. Jt. für di…

[English version] I. Alter Orient K. war als Gewürzpflanze in Mesopot., Äg., Äthiopien und Kleinasien verbreitet und wird in myk. Linear B-Texten als ku-mi-no erwähnt [6. 131, 136, 227]. Das Wort ist ein bis ins 3. Jt. zurückzuverfolgendes Kulturwort (sumer. * kamun; akkad. kamūnum, hethit. kappani- [mit m > p-Wechsel], ugarit. kmn, hebr. kammōn, türk. çemen, engl./franz. cumin). Äg. K. (Cuminum cyminum; äg. tpnn, kopt. tapen) scheint möglicherweise eine andere Spezies des K. gewesen zu sein [5]. K. wurde in Äg. auch medizinisch (u.a. bei Magen-Darm-Beschwe…

[English version] (Ἰσσηδόνες, Ἰσσηδοί, Ἐσσηδόνες). Skythisches Volk asiatischer Herkunft. Nach Hdt. (1,201; 4,13-26) südöstl. des Aralsees zu lokalisieren; der Schwerpunkt ihrer Wohngebiete lag aber in Mittelasien. Ptolemaios (6,16,5; 16,7; 8,24,3; 24,5 N) rechnet ihnen die im chinesischen Ost-Turkestan (Tarimbecken) an der Seidenstraße gelegenen Städte Ἰσσηδὼν Σκυθική (h. Kutscha) u. Ἰσσηδὼν Σηρική (h. Tscharchlik) südwestlich des Lobnor zu. Skythai Renger, Johannes (Berlin) Treidler, Hans (Berlin)

[English version] (altpers. bagastāna “Götterplatz”, Βαγίστανα, Βαγίστανον ὄρος, Behistun). Felswand 30 km östl. von Kermanschah an der Straße von Babylon nach Ekbatana am Choaspes (Seidenstraße [3. 11]), an der Dareios I. seine Taten seit ca. 520 v.Chr. bildlich und inschr. - ca. 70 m über dem Straßenniveau - in mehreren Phasen festhalten ließ. Wegen ihrer dreisprachigen Form (elam., babylon., altpers.) bildete die Inschr. [1] die Grundlage für die Entzifferung der Keilschrift (Trilingue). Das Rel…

[English version] A. Definition Die L. ist eine graphisch-sprachliche Technik zur Darstellung von Sachverhalten und Konzepten unterschiedlicher Komplexität. Sie stellt Sachverhalte herausgelöst aus ihrem schriftlich oder mündlich vorliegenden (narrativen/beschreibenden) Kontext asyntaktisch und enumerativ dar. L. können ausschließlich - mit einem Anspruch auf Vollständigkeit - bzw. offen sein. Neben einfachen L. (Aneinanderreihung von Begriffen und/ oder Zahlen in einer Kolumne oder Zeile bzw. Reihe…

[English version] I. Alter Orient und Ägypten Obwohl es zahlreiche inschr. und bildliche Zeugnisse für eine hochentwickelte Eßkultur an den Höfen altoriental. Herrscher gibt, sind Kochrezepte bisher nur aus Mesopot. bekannt: 34 aus dem 18. Jh.v.Chr. (gesammelt auf 3 Tontafeln), eins aus dem 6./5. Jh. Es handelt sich dabei um praktische Handlungsanleitungen im Stil von medizinischen Rezepturen. Der Zweck, für den die Rezepte schriftl. festgehalten wurden, ist unklar. Sie betreffen überwiegend in Brühe gekochtes Geflügel und anderes Fleisch, daneben z…

[English version] A. Alter Orient Von verdeckten Informanten, den ‘Augen und Ohren des Königs’, die dem Perserkönig Nachrichten zutrugen, berichtet Xenophon (Kyr. 8,2,10ff.). Vorläufer dieser achäm. “Institution” finden sich im mesopot. Bereich, wonach sich etwa Opferschauer (Mari 18. Jh. v.Chr.) oder Funktionsträger des Staates (Assyrien 8./7. Jh.) im Amtseid verpflichten, dem König gegen ihn gerichtete Bestrebungen und Handlungen zu melden. Wie sehr die Furcht vor den ‘Augen und Ohren des Königs’ d…

[English version] A. Definition B. (oder Bilinguis) heißen Inschr., die den gleichen Text in zwei Sprachen bieten, um für unterschiedliche Adressaten verständlich zu sein. Dabei unterscheidet man B., die Texte mit genauer Entsprechung bieten, von solchen, bei denen der eine Text nur knapper informiert. - “Quasi-B.” unterscheiden sich zwar in ihrer Textgestalt, handeln aber vom selben Thema oder denselben Personen. B. sind nur solche Texte, die zeitgleich aus gleichem Anlaß und zum gleichen Zweck ve…

[English version] (Λάβακα). Nach Ptol. 7,1,46 Stadt in NW-Indien, im Land der Pandooi (wohl altindisch Pāṇḍava). Renger, Johannes (Berlin) Fischer, Klaus (Bonn) Bibliography O. Wecker, s.v. L., RE 12, 239.

[English version] I. Mesopotamien, Ägypten, Kleinasien Die zahlreichen, botan. nicht in jedem Fall eindeutig identifizierbaren sumer. und akkad. Ausdrücke für Alliaceae beziehen sich z.T. lediglich auf Subspecies von L., Schalotte, Zwiebel (Z.) oder Knoblauch (K.) [1. 301]. L. ist in seinen versch. Formen - sumer. *karaš, akkad. kar( a) šu, hebr. kārēš, aram. karrāttā, arab. kurrāṯu - ein oriental. Kulturwort. K. heißt sumer. sum, akkad. šūmū, sonst in semit. Sprachen ṯūm, die Zwiebel akkad. šamaškillū, aram. šmšgl (so auch als Logogramm in Pahlevi); die äg. Bezeichnungen ḫdw (Z…

[English version] A. Forschungsgegenstand und Methode Gegenstand der B.s-Geschichte ist die Beschreibung und Erklärung von Strukturen und Entwicklungen von (ant.) B. in ihrem Verhältnis zum Lebensraum. Ausgehend von qualitativ und/oder quantitativ auswertbaren, aber nicht unproblematischen ant. Zeugnissen sowie unter Berücksichtigung moderner Modellsterbetafeln und ethnologischen Vergleichmaterials hat die B.s-Geschichte der Ant. bislang vor allem die ant. Sicht der B.s-Entwicklung, die zahlenmäßige …

I. Allgemein und Klassische Antike [English version] 1. Begriffsgeschichte Das Adj. πολύθεος/ polýtheos bezeichnet in der griech. Dichtersprache das, was einer Mehrzahl von Göttern zukommt: der Altar als Sitz ( hédra) vieler Gottheiten (Aischyl. Suppl. 424) oder die von einer großen Zahl besuchte Götterversammlung (Lukian. Iuppiter Tragoedus 14). Erst die jüd. und christl. Lit. (Apologien) verwendet das Begriffsfeld zur Rechtfertigung der Herrschaft ( monarchía) eines einzigen Gottes: Philon [12] von Alexandreia prägt δόξα πολύθεος/ dóxa polýtheos (Phil. de decalogo 65…

[English version] [1] Land in Afrika Äg. pwn.t, ab dem NR durch sprachliche Neuanalyse als p-wn.t aufgefaßt, woraus unter Weglassung des scheinbaren Artikels ein neuer Name wn.t kreiert wird, der in einigen Quellen aus griech.-röm. Zeit erscheint. Nach äg. Quellen ein Land im fernen SO; h. meist im Bereich von Būr Sūdān (Port Sudan) [6] oder um Eritrea und das Horn von Afrika [1; 2] gesucht. Im AR könnten Handelsgüter aus P. über Zwischenstationen entlang des Nils nach Äg. gelangt sein, auch direkte Handelsfahrten sind …

[English version] I. Alter Orient und Ägypten In den Nutzgärten im vorderen Orient und Äg. wurden im sog. Stockwerksbau unter dem schattenspendenden Dach der Dattelpalmen Obstbäume (v.a. Apfel, Feige, Granatapfel; dazu in Äg. Johannisbrotbaum, Jujube; Obstbau) und darunter Gemüse (v.a. Zwiebel- und Gurkengewächse, Hülsenfrüchte, Blattgemüse wie Kresse, sowie Gewürzkräuter, z.B. Koriander, Thymian, Kümmel, Minze) angebaut. Die Dattelpalme lieferte nicht nur Datteln als wichtigstes Süßmittel, sondern auc…

[German version] [1] Piece of armour (μίτρα/ mítra; μίτρη/ mítrē). (1) According to Homer (Hom. Il. 4,137; 187; 216; 5,857) a piece of armour worn to protect the lower body, identified by archaeological research with semicircular plates of bronze, dating from the early Archaic period and found particularly on Crete. Similarly, mitra is the name of a piece of armour worn by the Salii (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 2,70; Plut. Numa 13,4). (2) Belt for young women (Theocr. 27,55, cf. μιτροχίτων/ mitrochítōn, Athen. 12,523d) and goddesses (Callim. H. 1,120; 4,222, Epigr. 39) and also for…

[German version] A. Definition Bilingual inscriptions (or ‘bilingues’) are inscriptions that present the same text in two languages so as to be comprehensible to different readerships. Thus, bilingual inscriptions (BI), with closely corresponding texts, are distinguished from others in which one of the texts only summarizes the other. -- ‘Quasi-BI’ do indeed differ in their text format but treat the same subject matter or the same personalities. BI are only such texts as are composed contemporaneou…

[German version] I. Near East and Egypt Although there is copious epigraphical and graphic evidence for a highly developed  table culture at the courts of oriental rulers in antiquity, cooking recipes are known to us so far only from Mesopotamia: 34 from the 18th cent. BC (gathered from three clay tablets), one from the 6th/5th cents. BC. They offer practical instructions in the manner of medical prescriptions. The reason why the recipes were preserved in writing is not clear. They deal predominantly with stewed poultry and other meat, together with two recipes…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient The idea of a  rulership that encompassed the entire known world was expressed in Mesopotamia in various royal epithets ─ i.a. ‘Ruler of the Four Regions (of the world)’ ( šar kibrāt arbaim/erbettim), ‘Ruler over the Totality’ ( šar kiššatim), ‘Ruler of Rulers’ ( šar šarrāni). The title ‘Ruler of the Four Regions (of the world)’ is first documented for the Akkadian ruler  Naramsin (23rd cent. BC). However, the claim inherent in this title did not hold true according to contemporary documents, since Naramsin's…

[German version] A. Ancient Orient Since prehistoric times in the Ancient Orient there have been numerous objects made as pendants (either figurative or abstract symbols) which could be worn, tied on or hung and also chains or other arrangements, which were all referred to as amulets [1]. Particularly Akkadian and Hittite texts for experts in the area of magic rituals describe materials, shapes and the process for making amulets and the purpose for which they are used. Stones and plants are ascribed …

[German version] (Ἰσσηδόνες; Issēdónes, Ἰσσηδοί; Issēdoí, Ἐσσηδόνες; Essēdónes). A Scythian people of Asian origin. According to Herodotus (1,201; 4,13-26), they lived southeast of the Aral Sea; however, the heaviest population centres within the regions of their habitation lay in Central Asia. Ptolemy (6,16,5; 16,7; 8,24,3; 24,5 N) ascribes to them the cities of Ἰσσηδὼν Σκυθική (modern Kucha) and Ἰσσηδὼν Σηρική (modern Charqliq), which were located on the Silk Road in Chinese East Turkistan (Tarim Basin, Xinjiang), to the southwest of Lobnor.  Scythians Renger, Johannes (Ber…

[German version] I. Ancient Near East and Egypt Votive offerings (VO) to a variety of deities played an important role in the religious practices of the Ancient Middle East and Egypt, as documented by inscriptions found on consecrated objects. In Mesopotamia, the oldest clearly identifiable VO date from the 24th cent. BC [14], and in Egypt from the prehistoric and Early Dynastic eras (end of the 4th/early 3rd millennia; e.g. the Narmer Palette). Most of the attested Mesopotamian offerings came from rule…

[German version] I. Ancient Near East In the Ancient Near Eastern oikos or palace economy, the majority or (large) parts of the population were integrated into the institutional households of temples and/or palaces as direct dependents (the extent varied according to region and period). They were provided with the rations of natural produce (grain, oil, wool) guaranteeing them the level of subsistence necessary for their reproduction. In Mesopotamia, these rations of produce were in part supplemented, and in certain periods replaced, by the allocation of areas of land ( c. 6 ha.) as…

and other Alliaceae [German version] I. Mesopotamia, Egypt, Asia Minor The numerous Sumerian and Akkadian expressions for Alliaceae, not all of which can be definitely botanically identified, partly refer only to the subspecies leek, shallot, onion or garlic [1. 301]. Leek in its various forms - Sumerian *karaš, Akkadian kar( a) šu, Hebrew kārēš, Aramaic karrāttā, Arabic kurrāṯu - is a word of Oriental culture. Garlic is in Sumerian, sum, Akkadian šūmū, otherwise in Semitic languages ṯūm; the onion is in Akkadian šamaškillū, in Aramaic šmšgl (also as an ideogram in Pahlavi); the…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient In Mesopotamia, the legend of the deluge is preserved in a Sumerian as well as an Akkadian version; the Akkadian one is transmitted in 17th-cent. BC copies of the  Atraḫasīs myth[3. 612-645]. Extensive passages reappear verbatim on the 11th tablet of the recension of the Epic of  Gilgamesh from Niniveh [3. 728-738], and the myth is later also transmitted by  Berosus [1. 20 f.]. The gods perceive the noisy behaviour of the humans as hubris, causing them to eliminate …

[German version] I. Ancient Orient and Egypt The early Mesopotamian documents (24th-21st cents. BC) that refer to  loans and advances from institutional bodies to private individuals allow us to surmise that interest was calculated, though without our being able to make any observations about the rates of interest. Instead of being made to pay interest, the debtor was often obliged to undertake agricultural work for the creditor [10. 117]. In the Early Babylonian period (19th-17th cents. BC) a sharp distinction was drawn between loans of grain (331/3 %) and loans of silver (20%…

[German version] A. Ancient Near East Xenophon (Cyr. 8,2,10ff.) tells of undercover informants, the “eyes and ears of the king”, who reported to the Persian king. Antecedents of this Achaemenid institution can be found in Mesopotamia: soothsayers (Mari 18th cent. BC) and state officials (Assyria 8th/7th cents.) undertook in their oath of office to report to the king any moves or actions against him. The extent to which fear of the “eyes and ears of the king” was an encumbrance to contemporaries can be…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient Debt incurred by the population which lived on agriculture is a general phenomenon in agrarian societies. It ultimately led to debt bondage, thus threatening the social equilibrium. Debt redemption by sovereign decree was a common means of reducing or eliminating the consequences of debt, i.e. of restoring ‘justice in the land’. Instances of debt redemption are well attested in Mesopotamia from the 3rd millennium BC, but more especially between the 20th and 17th cen…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient and Egypt In the Ancient Orient and Egypt, oil was not only part of human nutrition (e.g. the daily rations for the population dependent on central institutions), but was also used as body oil, for making scent, for embalming (in Egypt), for medicinal purposes, in craft production, as lamp oil and in the cultic and ritual sphere (e.g. unction for rulers in Israel: 1 Sam 10,1; 16,3; not in Mesopotamia). Depending on the regionally varying agronomic and climatic conditions, oil was obtained from a number of plants: whereas numerous olei…

[German version] A. Definition Lists are a graphic-linguistic technique for representing facts and concepts of varying complexity. They asyntactically and enumeratively present facts removed from their written or oral (narrative/descriptive) context. Lists may be exhaustive - with a claim to completeness - or open. In addition to simple lists (compilations of terms and/or numbers in a column or line or row), there are binary lists, in which terms (words) are opposed in two columns. In a matrix, term…

[German version] A. Object of research, and method The object of demographic history is the description and explanation of structures and developments in (ancient) populations in their relationship to living space. So far, ancient demographic history has made studies of esp. ancient views of population development, the numerical values of ancient populations (at a particular point in time or over a particular period of time), the age and gender structures of ancient demographics and particular determina…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient The religion of Mesopotamia is characterized by a system of tutelary deities for the numerous city settlements that has its origin in the Sumerian religion of the 4th millennium BC. There is evidence of the existence and worship of city deities from the 3rd to the 1st millennium. Individual city deities achieved supraregional importance in the course of history (e.g.  Assur [2];  Enlil;  Ištar,  Marduk;  Nabû).  Asia Minor IV.;  Pantheon;  Religion II. and III. Renger, Johannes (Berlin) [German version] II. Classical antiquity For Graeco-Roman …

[German version] I. Ancient Orient Dreams and their interpretation were a popular topic in the written tradition of the Ancient Orient and Egypt since the 22nd cent. BC. Both spontaneously experienced dreams as well as dream incubation are attested. Preserved dreams relate divine messages (in the form of theophanies). Though usually contained in literary texts [3; 5. 746; 6], they also occur in letters [1]. Dreams also contained ethical maxims and wisdom for life reflecting personal experience and st…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient and Egypt As a rule, literature in the Ancient Orient and in Egypt was anonymous. It was produced in schools by the  scribes. However, a number of important literary or scholarly works in special list-like compilations are attributed to certain authors, as e.g. the Egyptian wisdom literature [1] or the  Epic of Gilgamesh. The author of the latter, Sîn-leqe-unnīnī [2; 3] rewrote, probably in the 12th cent. BC, traditional material dating from the 18th cent. BC into the…

[German version] I. Mesopotamia In historical times, bull cults were of no significance in the religions of Mesopotamia which were mainly anthropomorphic in character. Enlil was metaphorically referred to as a bull, and the roaring of the weather god Hadad compared to the bellowing of a bull. The fact that bulls (and other animals) served as pedestals for the statues of gods (in Syria-Palestine and Hittite Anatolia) is no argument for an actual bull cult. The 'golden calves' in Ex 32 and 1 Kg 12,28-32 are also interpreted as pedestals for the invisible Yahweh. Renger, Johannes (Berlin) …

[German version] I. Ancient Orient and Egypt Since sacrifices were primarily intended to ensure that the daily needs of the gods were met, not only victuals but also beverages (generally water, beer, wine) were an essential component of regular sacrifices to the gods, as well as of sacrifices offered to the dead. Both in Egypt and in Mesopotamia, libation and terms used for libation stand as pars pro toto for sacrifice. This may have stemmed originally from the fact that for people living at a subsistence level the libation of water constituted their only opport…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient Caraway was widespread as an aromatic plant in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Ethiopia and Asia Minor and is mentioned in Mycenaean Linear B texts as ku-mi-no [6. 131, 136, 227]. The word is a cultural term that can be traced back to the 3rd millennium (Sumerian * kamun; Akkad. kamūnum, Hittite kappani- [with m > p change], Ugarite kmn, Hebrew kammōn, Turkish çemen, English/French cumin). Egyptian caraway (Cuminum cyminum; Egyptian tpnn, Coptic tapen) seems to have possibly been another species of caraway [5]. Caraway was also used medically in…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient and Egypt In the kitchen gardens of the Middle East and Egypt fruit trees (principally apples, figs, pomegranates, but in Egypt also carob trees and jujube;  Pomiculture) were grown in so-called tiered cultivation in the shade provided by date palms, and below them  vegetables (especially onions and cucumber plants, pulses, leaf vegetables, such as cress, and also aromatic herbs, coriander, thyme, caraway and mint, for example). The date palms provided not only dates …

(ἱερὸς γάμος; hieròs gámos: sacred marriage). [German version] I. Term A term which has attained great significance in modern research as the name for a ritual sexual union, since the emergence of the fertility paradigm in the 19th cent. (Mannhardt, Frazer). Based on the sexual intercourse between  Demeter and her mortal lover  Iasion ‘in a thrice-ploughed field’ recounted in the Homeric epic (Hom. Od. 5, 125-128; Hes. Theog. 969-971), which has been understood by analogy with north-European customs as th…

[German version] (Old Persian bagastāna ‘place of gods’, Βαγίστανα; Bagístana), Βαγίστανον ὄρος; Bagístanon óros, Behistun). Rock face 30 km east of Kermanshah, on the road from Babylon to Ecbatana on the  Choaspes ( Silk Road [3. 11]), on which  Darius I had his achievements from c. 520 BC recorded pictorially and in inscription -- c. 70 m above the road level -- in several phases. Because of their trilingual form (Elamite, Babylonian, Old Persian) the inscription [1] was the key to decipherment of the  cuneiform script ( Trilinguals). The reli…

[German version] I. Ancient Near East Many song genres are attested in Mesopotamia (beginning in approx. 2600 BC), in Egypt (from the 24th/23th cents. BC onwards), among the Hittites (14th/13th cent.), in Ugarit (14th/13th cents.) and in the OT (see below). There is no uniform genre classification, since hybrid forms are common. The ancient terminology is only of limited help. The umbrella term ‘cultic poetry’ refers to the literary, lyric form of song. The term ‘song’ is related to the type of performance, i.e. singing with or without instrumental accompaniment. Texts from M…

[German version] I. General Inscriptions in three languages on a single object that refer to the same facts exist in Antiquity, albeit rather rarely on the whole, ordered by official as well as private sponsors. The different versions were usually tailored to the cultural requirements and interests of the respective audiences so that their messages (and length) are not always completely congruous (cf. [4]). Most of the trilingual inscriptions (TI) originated in the east. They reflect the multi-lingu…

[German version] I. The Ancient Orient and Egypt With palaces, temples constituted the central institutions of society in the Ancient Orient (in Mesopotamia from the 3rd millennium BC) and Egypt. Besides their function as locations for divine worship, they also normally exercised significant economic power. This was founded on the fact that they had at their disposal extensive tracts of agricultural land (the essential means of production of an agrarian society) and stocks of precious metals, i.a. in the form of craft-produced votive gifts (Votive offerings). The temple estates o…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient In the field of  legal texts in cuneiform, the political structure of the Mesopotamian confederation, that at times comprised small territorial states and at times large states stretching over the whole of southern Mesopotamia, created regional peculiarities that are demonstrated above all in the form of documents as well as in substantive law. The essential parameters of the legal system were defined by the structure of the society (Social structure), economy and f…

[English version] I. Alter Orient Zahlreiche L.-Gattungen sind in Mesopot. (seit ca. 2600 v.Chr.), in Äg. (seit dem 24./23. Jh.v.Chr.), bei den Hethitern (14./13. Jh.), aus Ugarit (14./13. Jh.) und dem AT (s.u.) bezeugt. Die gattungsmäßige Zuordnung wird uneinheitlich gehandhabt, da sich häufig Mischformen finden. Die ant. Nomenklatur ist nur bedingt hilfreich. Die als Oberbegriff verwendete Bezeichnung “Kultlyrik” bezieht sich auf die lit., d.h. lyrische Form der L. Die Bezeichnung “Lied” orientiert…

[English version] I. Alter Orient In der altorientalischen Oikos- oder Palastwirtschaft waren - je nach Region und Epoche - die Mehrheit oder (große) Teile der Bevölkerung in die institutionellen Haushalte von Tempel und/oder Palast als direkt Abhängige integriert. Sie wurden durch Natural-R. (Getreide, Öl, Wolle), die das für ihre Reproduktion nötige Existenzminimum garantierten, versorgt. In Mesopotamien wurden diese Natural-R. durch Zuweisung von Unterhaltsfeldern (ca. 6 ha), die das Existenzminimum einer Familie sicherstellten, partiell supplem…

[German version] I. Ancient Near East There was at various periods and in various regions of the ancient Near East a spectrum of manifestations of collective bodies with diverse powers of decision-making  and capacities for implementation. Crucial to the role of such collective bodies was on the one hand the nature of their historical genesis, and on the other hand the nature of their integration into the prevailing system of rulership. There were no popular assemblies as in the Classical Mediterranea…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient and Egypt Both Sumerian and Akkadian kinship terms - other than basic words like father (Sumerian a.a, Akkadian abu), mother (Sumerian ama, Akkadian ummu), son (Sumerian dumu, Akkadian māru), daughter (Sumerian dumu.munus, ‘female son’, Akkadian mārtu), brother (Sumerian šeš, Akkadian aḫu), sister (Sumerian nin, Akkadian aḫātu, ‘female brother’) - are of an analytical character (e.g. Akkadian abi abi or abi ummi, paternal or maternal grandfather; father's brother = uncle). In Sumerian, šeš.bànda (literally ‘little brother’) …

[German version] I. Ancient Orient In the societies of the Ancient Orient and Egypt with their rules regarding patrilineal inheritance and succession, women did not assume the role of rulers. The only exceptions to this occurred in cases when a female member of the ruling family - generally the queen mother - acted as regent for an underage heir to the throne. For example, Hatshepsut, half-sister and wife of Thutmosis [2] II, acted for 22 years as regent for her underage nephew Thutmosis [3] III.. In…

I. In general and in classical antiquity [German version] 1. History of the term The adjective πολύθεος/ polýtheos refers in poetic Greek to that which pertains to many deities: the altar as the seat ( hédra) of many gods (Aesch. Suppl. 424) or the divine assembly attended by many gods (Lucian. Iuppiter Tragoedus 14). It is only in Jewish and Christian literature (Apologists) that this concept is used to justify the rule ( monarchía) of a single deity. Philo [12] of Alexandria coined the terms δόξα πολύθεος/ dóxa polýtheos (Phil. De decalogo 65) and πολυθεΐα/ polytheḯa (Phil. De mutatione…

(Ἀδάμας; Adámas). [German version] [1] Thracian (4th cent. BC) Thracian, who in the 370s BC seceded from Cotys (Aristot. Pol. 5,10,1311b). The identification with A. in IG XII 5,245 is doubtful (SEG 34, 1984, 856). Peter, Ulrike (Berlin) [German version] [2] River of India on the Gulf of Bengal A river of India on the Gulf of Bengal mentioned only in Ptol. 7,1,17; 41, identical with the current Subarna rekha. The name means ‘River of Diamonds’. Inland, to this day the diamond mines of Chota Nagpur are known. Renger, Johannes (Berlin)

[German version] I. Ancient Orient The requesting of a surety to secure a contract is documented in the laws of the Ancient Orient to varying degrees. Requiring a pledge plays a large role in debt trials in agrarian societies. For example, if tenants were in arrears with their obligations, the forfeiting of a personal surety often led to debt-bondage [1; 2; 15. 179f.] with the resultant negative consequences for the social balance of a society ( Leasehold I.). The requesting of a pledge has been documented in cuneiform legal texts by documents of varying complexity from t…

[German version] I. General points The term UL today conveys two meanings: (1) an artificially created language, intended to serve as a lingua franca for the entire world; efforts of this kind were made especially in the 19th cent. (e.g. Esperanto and Volapük); yet, as might be expected, they fell behind their self-imposed goal. (2) A language actually in world-wide use today is, above all, English. In the wake of the colonial period, it has established itself on all continents at least as a subsidiary means of commun…

[German version] (Λάβακα; Lábaka). According to Ptol. 7,1,46, city in north-west India, in the land of the Pandoi (probably Old Indian Pāṇḍava). Renger, Johannes (Berlin) Fischer, Klaus (Bonn) Bibliography O. Wecker, s.v. L., RE 12, 239.

In den einzelnen lokalen bzw. überregionalen Kalendern wurde der Jahresanfang unterschiedlich festgelegt. Er richtete sich, soweit erkennbar, an den jahreszeitlich gebundenen landwirtschaftlichen Gegebenheiten (bes. Aussaat im Frühjahr und Ernte im Herbst) aus. Der Jahresanfang war mit verwaltungstechnisch relevanten Maßnahmen (z.B. Abgabenerhebung) verbunden. Ihrer Bed. innerhalb des agrarischen Zyklus entsprechend fanden Frühjahr und Herbst im Festkalender bes. Berücksichtigung. Da Frühjahrs- …

[English version] I. Alter Orient M.-Lauf und M.-Phasen dienten bereits frühzeitig als wesentliche Strukturelemente des Kalenders in allen altorientalischen Kulturen. Außer mit den M.-Phasen hat man sich seit frühester Zeit ebenfalls mit den Eklipsen des M. als ominösen Zeichen auseinandergesetzt (Astrologie; Divination). Wie die Sonne war auch der als Gottheit vorgestellte M. Protagonist zahlreicher Mythen in Ägypten, Kleinasien [1. 373-375] und Mesopotamien (Mondgottheiten). In Babylonien war bereits gegen Ende des 3. Jt. die systematische Beobachtung de…

[English version] I. Mesopotamien Das Prinzip (kultischer) R. wird im Sumerischen durch das Adj. kug, im Akkadischen durch das korrespondierende Adj. ellu ausgedrückt. In beiden Wörtern ist auch die Nuance “hell”, “leuchtend” enthalten. Mit sumer. kug bzw. akkad. ellu (wenn in textueller Abhängigkeit von kug) werden die Eigenschaften von Gottheiten, Örtlichkeiten (u. a. Tempel), (Kult-)Objekten, Riten bzw. Zeiträumen als zur Sphäre des Göttlichen gehörig bezeichnet, d. h. heißt aber nicht unbedingt, daß sie sich in einem Zustand fre…

(Ἀμ(μ)αθοῦς). [English version] [1] Festung östl. des Jordan Festung östl. des Jordan, tell 'ammatā, der das Nord-Ufer des wādi raǧib überragt und drei Straßen, darunter die dicht westl. vorbei nach Pella ( ṭabaqāt faḥil) führende, beherrscht (Eus. Onom. 22,24) [1; 2]. Der keramische Befund verrät bisher weder vorhell. Besiedlung noch zyprischen Import [3. 44; 4. 301]. Nach 98 v. Chr. von Alexandros Iannaios dem Tyrannen Theodoros von Philadelphia abgenommen und geschleift (Ios. bell. Iud. 1,4,2 f.; ant. Iud. 13,13,3; 5), 57 v.…

I. Alter Orient [English version] A. Mesopotamien Seit Mitte des 3. Jt.v.Chr. lassen sich zahlreiche nach Region und Epoche unterschiedliche M.-Systeme feststellen. In der altbabylon. Zeit (20.-17. Jh.v.Chr.) setzte sich ein in ganz Babylonien verwendetes M.-System durch. Eigenständige lokale Systeme gab es im 19./18. Jh. zunächst noch u.a. im Diyālā-Gebiet und in Mari, bis zum Ende des 2. Jt.v.Chr. auch in Assyrien sowie zu verschiedenen Zeiten in den Randgebieten Mesopotamiens, wie in Ebla, Elam [2. …

[English version] I. Alter Orient K. sind sowohl in Äg. ( sqr-nḫ, “Gebundene zu Erschlagende” [3]) als auch in Mesopot. in der Frühzeit (4./3. Jt.) oft schon auf dem Schlachtfeld erschlagen worden. Das Töten - als ritualisierte Handlung - bzw. das Vorführen der K. und der Beute vor dem Herrscher hatte ideologischen Charakter und war daher Thema bildlicher Darstellung (Südmesopot. 3100 v.Chr.: Erschlagen gefesselter nackter K. in Gegenwart des Herrschers [5. 9]; 24. Jh.: nackte männl. K. - wohl unmittelbar…

[English version] I. Allgemein Kult(us) umfaßt die Gesamtheit der rituellen Trad. im Kontext der rel. Praxis. Der Terminus leitet sich über die christl. Verwendung vom bereits ciceronischen cultus deorum (“Verehrung der Götter”) her und entspricht griech. thrēskeía; wie dieser (und lat. caerimonia, “Riten”) kann er in der paganen Sprache für “Rel.” überhaupt stehen und damit auf die absolute Prädominanz der rituellen Akte gegenüber den Glaubensinhalten in der paganen griech. und röm. Rel. verweisen. Dabei steht hier wie in den rel. Kul…

[English version] I. Alter Orient und Ägypten Das Konzept des M.s wird in der Altorientalistik und der Ägyptologie kontrovers diskutiert, da es weder im mesopot. Raum noch in Äg. ein Wort dafür gab, das eindeutig den M. als Ort und als Operationsmodus bezeichnet. Hintergrund der Diskussion sind auf der einen Seite die von K. Polanyi inspirierten Forsch. zu vormod. Gesellschaften (u.a. für die klass. Welt von M. Finley), wonach ein M. als ein System von Angebot und Nachfrage mit dem Resultat von Preisbi…

[English version] I. Alter Orient Preise oder Äquivalente für zahlreiche vertretbare Sachen hatten sowohl in Äg. als auch in Mesopotamien einen allgemein anerkannten Wert, über dessen Zustandekommen aber nichts bekannt ist. P. wurden in Äg. zunächst meist in einer Werteinheit šn( tj) (vielleicht “Silberring”?), im NR auch in Kupfer und Sack Getreide (die beide aber nicht als Austauschmedium dienten) [7. 13], in Mesopot. meist in gewogenem Silber (zuweilen in Assyrien auch in Zinn) ausgedrückt. Angaben über Äquivalente sind in unterschiedlicher Dichte und Aussagekraf…

[English version] I. Allgemeines L. (λίνον/ línon, lat. linum) oder Flachs gehört der Gattung der Storchschnabelgewächse an. Als Stammpflanze des kultivierten L. gilt das linum angustifolium. Der Gebrauch dieser wildwachsenden, perennierenden Pflanze ist schon für die neolithische Zeit in Europa arch. nachgewiesen. Der echte L. ( linum usitatissimum), eine einjährige Pflanze, hat einen feinen Stengel mit länglichen ungestielten Blättern und erreicht eine Höhe von 60-90 cm. Die Stengel bilden den Rohstoff, aus dem das nach der Wolle wichtigst…

(hebr. Menašše; griech. Μανασσῆ(ς)). [English version] [1] Israelitischer Stamm Israelitischer Stamm in Mittelpalästina und östl. des Jordan (Juda und Israel). Liwak, Rüdiger (Berlin) [English version] [2] König von Juda König von Juda. In seiner ungewöhnlich langen Regierungszeit (ca. 696-642 v.Chr.) war Juda nach den assyr. Eroberungen von 701 v.Chr. (Juda und Israel) auf Jerusalem mit Umland beschränkt, regenerierte sich aber zunehmend politisch und ökonomisch [2. 169-181]. M. (keilschriftlich Me-na-se-e/si-i bzw. Mi-in-se-e) war als loyaler Vasall der Assyrer…

[English version] I. Alter Orient Im Alten Orient galt das Aufbringen von K. der Versorgung mit wichtigen Rohstoffen (z.B. Metallen Äg.: Gold aus Nubien, Silber aus Kilikien, Kupfer aus Zypern (MR); Assyrien: Eisen aus Iran, Silber aus Kilikien; Kilikes, Kilikia) und für die weitere Kriegsführung benötigten Objekten (z.B. Pferde, Streitwagen im Assyrien des 1. Jt.v.Chr.) oder diente zur Versorgung der königl. Hofhaltung mit Luxusgütern zu Prestigezwecken. K. ist von Tributleistungen zu unterscheiden,…

Die G. als Ableitung der Herkunft in Form von Ahnenreihen ist in frühen, stark von Familienverbänden geprägten Gesellschaften ein häufig verwendetes Mittel der Legitimation und (pseudohistor.) Erinnerung und zielt immer auch auf eine Öffentlichkeit (G. von griech. γενεαλογεῖν “die [eigene] Herkunft erzählen”). [English version] I. Vorderer Orient und Ägypten Die in Form von G. überlieferte Abstammung (in der Regel patrilinear; Ausnahmen bei äg. Herrschern) sollte Ansprüche auf Herrschaft, Besitzstand im Amt (Priester, hohe Beamte), Status im B…

In early societies, largely based on family organizations, genealogy as a derivation of a person's descent in the form of a pedigree is often used as a means of legitimation and (pseudo-historical) memory, which was always also directed at publicity (genealogy from Greek γενεαλογεῖν; genealogeîn, ‘to talk about [one's] origin’). [German version] I. Near East and Egypt The purpose of lineage, transmitted in the form of a genealogy (generally patrilineal; exceptions in the case of Egyptian rulers), was to legitimate a claim to rulership, to tenure of a …

[German version] I. Ancient Orient In the palace economies (  oîkos economy) of the Ancient Orient, certain mass products were made for the requirements of (large) patrimonial households themselves, but also for exchange in long distance trade with large ergasteria (factories) in which often several hundred, sometimes far more than a thousand male or female workers were employed. Their wages were normally paid in kind as daily rations; their social status was equivalent to patrimonial subjects, required to perform compulsory service. The best evidence for ergasteria comes from s…

[German version] I. General Cult encompasses the entirety of ritual tradition in the context of religious practise. Via Christian usage, the term derives from the cultus deorum (‘divine worship’) named already in Cicero, and corresponds to the Greek thrēskeía; like the latter (and the Latin caerimonia, ‘rites’), it can in pagan language stand simply for ‘religion’ in general and thus refer to the absolute predominance in pagan Greek and Roman religion of ritual actions over faith. There, as in the religious cultures of the ancient Mediterr…

(οἶνος/ oînos; Lat. vinum). [German version] I.Egypt and Ancient Near East Archeological finds (excavations, pictorial representations in tombs) as well as Egyptian and Roman texts contain a plethora of information about the growing, production and use of wine in Egypt from the Early Period to the Ptolemaic-Roman Period. Wine (Egyptian jrp; Coptic ērp; Old-Nubian orpj/ē; cf. in Sappho 51 ἔρπις/ érpis [9. 46], probably an old foreign cult word [7. 1169]) was grown primarily in Lower Egypt or the Nile Delta and in the oases, clearly because of the favourab…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient and Egypt The concept of the market is the subject of controversial discussions in classical Middle Eastern studies and Egyptology, since there was no term, neither in the Mesopotamian area nor in Egypt, that clearly designated the market as a place and a modus operandi. Background of the discussion are, on the one hand, the studies regarding pre-modern societies inspired by K. Polanyi (among others by M. Finley for the classical world), according to which a market did not exist as a system of supply and dema…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient In the Ancient Orient the deification of  rulers always occurred in the context of the legitimization and exercise of  rulership. Deified rulers and proper gods were always differentiated on principle. Renger, Johannes (Berlin) [German version] A. Mesopotamia References to the deification of living rulers are geographically restricted to Babylonia and temporally to the late 3rd and early 2nd millennium BC: a) individual rulers claimed divine descent for themselves as a means of legitimizing their rule…

(NYC). The beginning of the year was variously fixed in different local or supra-regional calendars. It was oriented, as far as we know, towards agricultural patterns connected to the time of the year (especially sowing in the spring and harvest in the autumn). The beginning of the year was connected with administrative measures (e.g. raising taxes). Spring and autumn received particular consideration in the festival calendar because of their significance within the agrarian cycle. Because in re…

[German version] I. Ancient Near East The creation of stores, esp. of less perishable foodstuffs (esp. grain), is essential to the existence of societies whose agriculture is strongly exposed to environmental and political risks. The paradigm for such experiences is found in the OT story, referring to ancient Egypt, of the seven 'fat' and seven 'lean' years (Gn 41:25-36). The economy (I.) of Mesopotamia, centralized from the 4th millennium BC, also had a central SE, but it is known only from texts. In…

[German version] I. Mesopotamia In Mesopotamia, the Sumerian sun god Utu (written with the Sumerian sign for day, ud, which may be an etymological connection) was regarded as the city god of South Babylonian Larsa [2. 287-291] and the Akkadian god Šamaš (also common Semitic for 'sun') as the city god of North Babylonian Sippar. The sun god was never at the top of the Mesopotamian pantheon [1] which was dominated by Enlil (3rd/early 2nd millennium), Marduk (1st millennium) and Assur [2]. As the god of daylight, Ša…

[German version] I. Ancient Near East Knowledge of one's own progenitors in the ancient Near East legitimized one's status and material and immaterial rights in the individual and societal spheres. Such knowledge was based on patriarchal relationships of kinship. Evidence for this comes, for example, from lineage lists (Genealogies; OT: Gn 5; 11:10-32; 22:20-24; 25:1-9; Judges 4:18-22: progenitors of David [1]; 1 Sam 9:1-2: progenitors of Saul; Mt 1:1-17: progenitors of Jesus), the Assyrian Kings' Lis…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient The rotation of the moon and the phases of the moon served as significant structural elements of the calendar from early times in all ancient Oriental cultures. People discussed not only the phases of the moon but also, from earliest times, the eclipses of the moon, regarding them as ominous signs (Astrology; Divination). Like the sun, the moon, which was represented as a deity, was the protagonist of numerous myths in Egypt, Asia Minor [1. 373-375] and Mesopotamia (Moon deities). In Babylonia, as early as toward the end of the 3rd millennium,…

[German version] I. Mesopotamia In Sumerian the adjective kug and in Akkadian the corresponding adjective ellu express the principle of (cultic) purity. Both words also contain the nuance of 'bright', 'shining'. Sumerian kug and Akkadian ellu (when in textual dependence upon kug) mark characteristics of deities, localities (e.g., temples), (cult) objects, rites and periods of time as belonging to the sphere of the divine. This, however, does not necessarily mean that they must be in an uncontaminated state. In this respect kug is most often rendered as 'holy/sacred'. Akkadian ellu, …