The Origin Myths and Holy Places in the Old Testament: A Study of Aetiological Narratives (Copenhagen International Seminar)

'Origin Myths and Holy Places in the Old Testament' examines the biblical narratives which describe the origins of holy places. It argues for the Hellenistic origin or redaction of most of these narratives. Three central questions are addressed: are there common features in biblical accounts about the foundation of places of worship; are there elements in the aetiological stories that reveal the 'real' mythology/rituals of the sanctuary; what were the circumstances of the creation of such narratives? The book examines biblical narratives describing the origins of holy places other than Jerusalem. The accounts are examined with three main questions in mind: Are there any common features in biblical accounts about the foundations of places of worship; Are there any particular elements in the aetiological stories that can show anything about the 'real' mythology and/or rituals of the sanctuary; and What were the circumstances of the creation of such narratives? The answer for the first question is positive, ie, the stories of the origins of holy places contain the elements relevant to local cult and rituals, eg: the grave, altar, sacrifice practice, tree, etc. Answering the second question revealed possible reconstructions of a few cult practices (eg: in Beer-Sheba, Hebron and Shechem). The third question, about the possible dates of the narratives, provided some new insights. The assumption was made that the stories of the origins of holy places could have been created only when the sanctuary existed. If so, the archaeological data point to the 10th - 9th century BCE and the 3rd -2nd century BCE as possible points of origin. Such possibilities incline the author to advance the hypothesis of Hellenistic origins or redaction of most of the examined aetiological narratives Archaeological Data and Information from Extra-Biblical Sources -- Biblical Information -- Aetiologies -- 6. Ophrah -- Aetiology -- 7. Shechem and Gilgal -- Shechem -- Archaeological Data and Extra-Biblical Sources -- Biblical Information -- Aetiologies -- Gilgal -- Archaeological Data and Extra-Biblical Sources -- Aetiology -- 8. Holy Places in Transjordan: Galeed-Mahanaim-Penuel -- Gilead/Galeed/Mizpah -- Aetiology -- Biblical Information -- Mahanaim -- Aetiology -- Biblical Information -- Penuel -- Aetiology -- Biblical Information -- 9. Conclusions and Summary -- Appendix -- Bibliography Cover -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- 1. Introduction -- Myth -- Myth in the Bible -- Aetiological Myth -- Holy Places -- The Bible as a Historical Source -- Research Paradigms: Religion and Biblical Historiography -- Limits -- Aims of this Work -- Sources -- 2. Beer-sheba -- Archaeological Data -- Biblical Information -- Aetiology -- 3. Bethel -- Archaeological Data -- Biblical Information -- Aetiologies -- 4. Dan -- Archaeological Data and Extra-Biblical Sources -- Biblical Information -- Aetiology -- 5. Hebron, Mamre Introduction -- Beer-sheba -- Bethel -- Dan -- Hebron, Mamre -- Ophrah -- Shechem -- Holy Places In Transjordan -- Conclusions And Summary. Łukasz Niesiołowski-spanò ; Translated By Jacek Laskowski. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes.