The Topography Of Remembrance: The Dead, Tradition And Collective Memory In Mesopotamia (studies In The History Of Religions) (studies In The History Of Religions, Supplements To Numen)

This publication gives an analysis of Mesopotamian communal remembrance. It deals with public and private aspects of ancient memory practice and explores the interface between the oral and the written. New insights are offered to the interdisciplinary discussions on collective memory and national remembrance. THE TOPOGRAPHY OF REMEMBRANCE: THE DEAD, TRADITION AND COLLECTIVE MEMORY IN MESOPOTAMIA CONTENTS Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction 1. Two Expressions for "to remember" in Mesopotamia 2. Names and Images from the Past 3. A Provisional Definition of Memory 4. "In the Halls of Memory": the Static Model of Memory 5. The Dynamic Model of Maurice Halbwachs 6. Memory versus History 7. Summary and Material 8. The Presentation of the Question and its Consequences for the Mesopotamian Material PART ONE: CULTURAL MEMORY Chapter One The Boundaries of Cultural Memory: The Geographical and Temporal Boundaries Imposed as Conditions for Society's Past 1. Toe Relationship between Topography and Geography 1.1. The Boundaries of the World 1.2. A Topographical Route Description 1.3. The Depiction of a Map of the World 2. The Boundaries of Time 2.1. How Cultural Memory was Preserved at Mari and Nippur 2.2. The Role of "Historic Omina" in Restaging the Bygone Age 2.3. The Paradigm "King of the Battle" 3. The Beginning of the Selection Process: "The Curse of Akkad" 3 .1. Those who are "Forgotten" Chapter Two The Building Blocks of Memory: Communication with the Gods in the Third Millennium 1. A Time of Writing 2. Gifts 3. Cult of the Dead, or Caring for Statues? 4. Stelae 5. Building Inscriptions 6. Singers and Scribes 7. Conclusions Chapter Three Transmission from Image to Imagery: Communication with Previous Generations 1. The Inheritance of the narû 2. "A name for the Far-Off Days" 3. "Read the narû" 4. How Naram-Sin "Stayed out of Trouble" 5. Conclusion Chapter Four Choices I: The Construction of the Past in the Old Babylonian Period 1. A Time for Reading: Copying 1.1. Criteria 1.2. The Geographical World Order 1.3. Interpolations 1.4. Conclusion 2. Renarrations 2.1. The "Revolt" Texts 2.2. The Contents 2.3. Matters of Geography 2.4. Conclusion Chapter Five Choices II: The Interpretation of the Past in the Old Babylonian Period 1. Royal Letters 1. 1. "Complete" (Sets of) Correspondence 1.2. The Choice 2. The Sumerian "King List" 2.1. North versus South 2.2. Options 2.3. Conclusions Chapter Six Continuity and Change in the Ebabbar of Sippar: The Construction of the Past in the First Millennium 1. Stories from Before the "Flood" 2. Scholarly Prehistory 3. Nabu-apla-iddina 4. Nebuchadnezzar 5. Nabonidus 6. Provisions for the Temple 7. Conclusions Conclusion to Part One: The Place of the Past in Mesopotamia PART TWO: COMMUNICATIVE MEMORY Chapter Seven The Topography of the Dead: the Dead as Communicators of Memory within the Family Circle 1. The Living and the Dead 1.1. Death and Burial 2. The Topography of the Dead: "Roots Below and Fruit Above" 2.1. In Search of the locus in Urban Society 2.2. In Search of the locus in Domestic Society 3. "Foreign" Spirits of the Dead 4. Summary and Conclusions Chapter Eight Genealogies 1. The Relationship between Oral Transmission and Fixed Literary Tradition 1.1. The Mesopotamian Genealogies 2. "Kings who Lived in Tents" 3. Genealogy and Ritual: The Invocation of the Dead (kispu) 4. Summary and Conclusions Epilogue Chronological Tables Plates and Illustrations Bibliography Index STUDIES IN THE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS NUMEN BOOK SERIES

The Topography of Remembrance deals with different forms of remembrance and collective memory in Mesopotamia, discussing both its public (national) and private (family) aspects. The Introduction offers a history of modern, European memory in comparison with the Mesopotamian mode. The research adds to the recent discussion on collective memory.
The Mesopotamians found tools for the construction and passing on of common remembrance in liturgical repetition, in the preservation of buildings and monuments, and in communication channels. To describe these processes the author deals with different texts written between 2300-300 BC, which transport memory from a historical, administrational or religious perspective.
According to this study, the need to remember was prompted by the search for identity, a dynamic process in which forgetting played an essential part. The description of this process is also relevant to modern society. It offers an important contribution to the discussion of acculturation and identity.

The Topography of Remembrance deals with different forms of remembrance and collective memory in Mesopotamia, discussing both its public (national) and private (family) aspects. The Introduction offers a history of modern, European memory in comparison with the Mesopotamian mode. The research adds to the recent discussion on collective memory. The Mesopotamians found tools for the construction and passing on of common remembrance in liturgical repetition, in the preservation of buildings and monuments, and in communication channels. To describe these processes the author deals with different texts written between 2300 and 300 BC, which transport memory from a historical, administrational or religious perspective. According to this study, the need to remember was prompted by the search for identity, a dynamic process in which forgetting played an essential part. The description of this process is also relevant to modern society. It offers an important contribution to the discussion of acculturation and identity.