Objects, Qualities, and Attributes as Deities in the Ancient Near East - (Culture and History of the Ancient Near East) by Jennifer Singletary

About the Book

This book analyzes examples of objects, qualities, and attributes treated as deities in texts from Mesopotamia, Ebla, Alalakh, Emar, and Ugarit, as well as first millennium inscriptions, Aramaic texts from Egypt, and the Hebrew Bible.

Book Synopsis

This book analyzes examples of objects, qualities, and attributes treated as deities in ancient Near Eastern texts spanning the second and first millennia BCE. Specifically, this cross-cultural study examines attestations of this phenomenon in texts from Mesopotamia, Ebla, Alalakh, Emar, and Ugarit, as well as first millennium inscriptions, Aramaic texts from Egypt, and the Hebrew Bible. Through the application of recent research in cognitive science of religion and prototype theory, the book concludes that these types of deities are natural products of the human mind.

About the Author

Jennifer Singletary, Ph.D., is Assistant Research Professor of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies and Jewish Studies at the Pennsylvania State University. She is the co-editor of Uses and Misuses of Ancient Mediterranean Sources: Erudition, Authority, Manipulation (Mohr Siebeck, 2022).