Summary
Tradition, transmission and biblical reception of the Mesopotamian literary motif “Head in the Sky”
Text
The Babel biblical narrative (Genesis 11:1-9) has time and again been explained in the context of the great Mesopotamian empires. The city with its tower (be it religious or military) refers to Babylonia or Assyria. And the ultimate significance of the myth has generally led to a condemnation of these imperial states with their show of power and hubris. That is why God brings about dispersion and confusion as a punishment. However, such meaning can be tested through a comparative approach by analyzing the different literary motifs, especially “its head in the sky” (Genesis 11:4). It can be shown that, in Mesopotamian sources, this motif is significant in its own literary and ideological or theological context, referring to the temple as junction between heaven and earth and to the ideology of royal mediation. In the Bible, this motif is necessarily transformed as the construction of the city and its tower is halted. This transformation may be viewed as an historical etiology of the Exile, temporary destruction of the temple and final term of Judean kingship.
Source (list of abbreviations)
Genesis 11:1-9
Bibliography
| Frame 1995 | Frame, Grant. Rulers of Babylonia. From the Second Dynasty of Isin to the End of Assyrian Domination (1157-612 BC). The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia 2. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1995. |
| Frayne 1990 | Frayne, Douglas. Old Babylonian Period (2003-1595 BC). The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia 4. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1990. |
| George 1993 | George, Andrew R. House Most High: The Temples of Ancient Mesopotamia. Mesopotamian Civilizations 5. Winona Lake IN: Eisenbrauns 1993. |
Stéphanie Anthonioz
URL for this entry: http://www.aakkl.helsinki.fi/melammu/database/gen_html/a0001586.php
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