Divine Names on the Spot II: Exploring the Potentials of Names Through Images and Narratives

Names, images, and narratives are intimately related and frequently polysemous. As pieces of information on the gods, they convey fragments of knowledge and attempts to interpret the multifaceted complexity of the divine world. In what Robert Parker describes as an "archipelago", images and narratives are like compasses used to approach the mapping of the gods. The different contributions collected in this volume, dealing with the Greek and the Semitic worlds (the two main areas of the "Mapping Ancient Polytheisms" project), explore connections but also discrepancies between these different semantics, in order to highlight specificities and commonalities in the onomastic and iconographic languages. French description: Les noms, les images et les recits sont intimement lies et volontiers polysemiques. En tant qu'elements d'information sur les dieux, ils vehiculent des fragments de connaissance et constituent autant de tentatives d'interpretation de la complexite multiforme du monde divin. Dans ce que Robert Parker decrit comme un archipel , les images et les recits sont comme des boussoles qui facilitent la cartographie des dieux. Les differentes contributions rassemblees dans ce volume, traitant des mondes grec et semitique (les deux principaux domaines abordes dans le projet Mapping Ancient Polytheisms ), explorent les connexions mais aussi les divergences existant entre ces differentes semantiques, afin de mettre en evidence les specificites et les points communs entre langage onomastique et langage iconographique. 'Ancient Greek and Semitic languages resorted to a large range of words to name the divine. Gods and goddesses were called by a variety of names and combinations of onomastic attributes. This broad lexicon of names is characterised by plurality and a tendency to build on different sequences of names; therefore, the Mapping Ancient Polytheisms project focuses on the process of naming the divine in order to better understand the ancient divine in terms of a plurality in the making. A fundamental rule for reading ancient divine names is to grasp them in their context - time and place, a ritual, the form of the discourse, a cultural milieu...: a deity is usually named according to a specific situation. From Artemis Eulochia to al-Lat, al-'Uzza and Manat, from Melqart to "my rock" in the biblical book of Psalms, this volume journeys between the sanctuary on Mount Gerizim and late antique magical practices, revisiting rituals, hymnic poetry, oaths of orators and philosophical prayers. While targeting different names in different contexts, the contributors draft theoretical propositions towards a dynamic approach of naming the divine in antiquity.' --Provided by publisher 'Names, images, and narratives are intimately related and frequently polysemous. As pieces of information on the gods, they convey fragments of knowledge and attempts to interpret the multifaceted complexity of the divine world. In what Robert Parker describes as an "archipelago", images and narratives are like compasses used to approach the mapping of the gods. The different contributions collected in this volume, dealing with the Greek and the Semitic worlds (the two main areas of the "Mapping Ancient Polytheisms" project), explore connections but also discrepancies between these different semantics, in order to highlight specificities and commonalities in the onomastic and iconographic languages.' --Provided by publisher Cover Title CONTENTS PREFACE DIVINE NAMES ON THE SPOT II: EXPLORING THE POTENTIALS OFNAMES THROUGH IMAGES AND NARRATIVES ORBIS BIBLICUS ET ORIENTALIS