Dimensions of Yahwism in the Persian Period: Studies in the Religion and Society of the Judaean Community at Elephantine (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fur die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft): 488

Contents
Abbreviations
1. Introduction
	1.1 Problem and Hypotheses
		1.1.1 Excursus: The Distance between Elephantine and Jerusalem
	1.2 “Religion,” “Dimensions of Religion,” and “Religion Here, There, and Anywhere”
	1.3 The Present Study in the Context of Positions in the History of Research
		1.3.1 A Relic from the Preexilic Period?
		1.3.2 Typical or Contemporary Judaean Religion?
		1.3.3 Elephantine As an Archive Challenging the Canon
	1.4 Outline of the Book
2. The Social Dimension
	2.1 “The Judaean Garrison”
	2.2 Judaean Identity in Elephantine
	2.3 The Leaders of the Judaean Community
		2.3.1 Jedaniah and the Priests of YHW
		2.3.2 Hananiah
		2.3.3 The Group of Five Syenians Who Were “Hereditary Property Holders” (mh?snn) in Elephantine
		2.3.4 The Political and Religious Leaders of Judah and Samaria
	2.4 Law
		2.4.1 Oath Procedures, Courts, and Judges
		2.4.2 Marriage and Inheritance
	2.5 Judaean and Non-Judaean Religious Specialists
		2.5.1 “Priest” (khn) and “Priest” (kmr)
			2.5.1.1 Who Became Priests of YHW in Elephantine, and How?
		2.5.2 “Servitor” (l?n), “Servant” (?bd), and “Gardener” (gnn)
	2.6 The Economy of the Temple of YHW
		2.6.1 Direct and Indirect Economic Support of Cults: A Survey
			2.6.1.1 Concession Lands
			2.6.1.2 Direct Payments from the Royal/Satrapal Treasuries
				2.6.1.2.1 The Persepolis Tablets and the Persepolis Pantheon
				2.6.1.2.2 Ezra–Nehemiah and the Jerusalem Temple
			2.6.1.3 Indirect Economic Support
				2.6.1.3.1 Tax Exemption
				2.6.1.3.2 Privilege to Levy Taxes and the Exemption from Corvée Labour
		2.6.2 Aspects of the Economic Structures in Achaemenid Egypt
		2.6.3 The Temple of YHW
			2.6.3.1 Arguments from (Loud) Silence
			2.6.3.2 Positive Arguments
		2.6.4 The Economy: Conclusion
		2.6.5 Where Did the Elephantine Judaeans Get Their Means?
	2.7 The Organisation of Time
	2.8 Chapter Summary
3. The Material Dimension
	3.1 The Temple of YHW in the Textual Sources
		3.1.1 Legal Documents
		3.1.2 Private Correspondence
		3.1.3 Official Correspondence
			3.1.3.1 A4.5
			3.1.3.2 A4.7 and A4.8
			3.1.3.3 A4.9 and A4.10
		3.1.4 Milestones in the History of the Temple
			3.1.4.1 The Origin: Before 525 BCE
			3.1.4.2 The Destruction: Ca. 410 BCE
			3.1.4.3 Still in Ruins: 407 BCE
			3.1.4.4 Rebuilt around 402 BCE?
		3.1.5 The Textual Evidence for the Inventory and the Architecture
	3.2 The Temple of YHW and the Archaeology of Elephantine
		3.2.1 The Continuity of the Urban Fabric
		3.2.2 The Second Temple of YHW
		3.2.3 The First Temple of YHW
		3.2.4 Stephen G. Rosenberg’s Reconstruction
	3.3 Aspects of a “Elephantine Temple Theology” in Light of the Material Dimension
		3.3.1 A Real Temple?
		3.3.2 “The Pillars of Stone” (?mwdy? zy ?bn?): ma???bôt or Entry Pillars?
		3.3.3 Concentric Circles of Sanctity
		3.3.4 “The Five Great Gateways,” the Proximity to the Residential Areas and the Possible Participation of the Laity in the Cult
		3.3.5 (Sacred) Orientation toward Jerusalem?
			3.3.5.1 The Concept of Sacred Direction in Yahwistic Textual Sources
			3.3.5.2 The Longitudinal Orientation of the Temple in the Light of the General Orientation of the Ancient Town
			3.3.5.3 Conclusion
		3.3.6 Rival, Succeeding, or Complementary?
	3.4 Chapter Summary
4. The Ritual Dimension
	4.1 Rituals: Repeatable, Interpersonal and Purpose-Driven
	4.2 Sacrifices
		4.2.1 The Agents and Beneficiaries of the Sacrifices
			4.2.1.1 Excursus: Sacrifice as Atonement?
		4.2.2 Sacrifices as Measurable and Assessable Commodities
		4.2.3 Resumption of Cereal Offerings, Cessation of Burnt Offerings
			4.2.3.1 A Veto Out of Consideration for Persian Theological Concepts?
			4.2.3.2 A Veto out of Consideration for the Priests of Khnum?
			4.2.3.3 A Veto out of Consideration for the Privileges of the Jerusalem Temple?
			4.2.3.4 Suggestion: A Veto out of Consideration for the Satrap Arshama
		4.2.4 Why and How Could the Elephantine Community Theologically Legitimate the Veto on Burnt Offerings?
	4.3 Communal Rites of Mourning
	4.4 Communal and Individual Prayers
		4.4.1 A Communal Prayer of Intercession
		4.4.2 A Communal Prayer of Curse
		4.4.3 Individual Prayers
			4.4.3.1 Epistolary Salutations
			4.4.3.2 Proper Names
			4.4.3.3 Profane Swearing
		4.4.4 Summary
	4.5 The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread
		4.5.1 A Potential Terminological Pitfall
		4.5.2 D7.24 “On the Passover” and D7.6 “Inform Me When You Will Make the Passover!”
		4.5.3 The Festival(s) According to A4.1 (the So-Called Passover Letter)
			4.5.3.1 Rather a Letter on the Festival of Unleavened Bread?
			4.5.3.2 Should a Restoration Be Made on the Basis of the Bible?
			4.5.3.3 Any References to the Passover and the Passover Sacrifice?
			4.5.3.4 Did the Letter Signal a Change of the Social Sphere of the Festival(s)?
			4.5.3.5 The Purpose of Hananiah’s Letter: Not to Introduce but to Fix the Date
			4.5.3.6 The Purpose of Hananiah’s Letter: To Regulate out of Consideration for the Economy and the Stability?
	4.6 The Sabbath in Elephantine
		4.6.1 The Sabbath as an Identity Marker in the Last Half of the First Millennium BCE in Biblical and Intertestamental Literature
		4.6.2 What Kind of Sabbath: A Lunar Sabbath or the Seventh Day of a Seven-Day Week?
		4.6.3 The Terminology: Hebrew šabbat and Egyptian Aramaic šbh
		4.6.4 šbh: The Sources
			4.6.4.1 The Fragmentary Reference to šbh in D7.10; D7.12; D7.28; D7.35; and D7.48
			4.6.4.2 D7.16
			4.6.4.3 D7.8 and Clermont-Ganneau 204
		4.6.5 The Personal Names šbty and šbtyt
			4.6.5.1 A2.1 (Late Sixth/Early Fifth Century BCE): “Greetings (to) Shabbethai Son of Shug”
			4.6.5.2 B4.4 (483 BCE): The Witness Shabbethai son of Kibda/ Kibra
			4.6.5.3 B3.9 (416 BCE): The Witness Sinkishir Son of Shabbethai
			4.6.5.4 D18.18 (Elephantine Museum 2605): A Sarcophagus from Aswan with Aramaic Inscription
			4.6.5.5 The Remaining Occurrences
			4.6.5.6 Is the Name Shabbethai a Relevant Source?
		4.6.6 The Sabbath: Summary and Conclusion
	4.7 Chapter Summary
5. The Mythic and Narrative Dimension
	5.1 Introduction
	5.2 Judaean Myths of Creation in Elephantine?
	5.3 The Elephantine Judaean Temple Foundation Narrative
		5.3.1 Outline of the History of the Temple
		5.3.2 Traditum in the Petition to the Governor of the Persian Province of Judah
		5.3.3 Traditio and Tradentes According to the Petition to Bahavahya and the Subsequent Correspondence
		5.3.4 Alteration of the Traditum (A4.9 and A4.10)
		5.3.5 Summary and Perspectives
	5.4 Myths about Sacral Kingship
		5.4.1 The Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Context
			5.4.1.1 Egyptian Royal Myths
			5.4.1.2 Israelite–Judaean Royal Myths
			5.4.1.3 Mesopotamian Legendary Tales about Ancient Kings
		5.4.2 Sacral Kingship and the Official Royal Achaemenid Ideology
		5.4.3 Achaemenid Propaganda and Judaean Myths about Sacral Kingship
	5.5 Traces of Judaean and Other Pantheons
		5.5.1 The Egyptian Pantheon
		5.5.2 The Pantheons of the Garrisons in Syene and Elephantine
		5.5.3 The Relationship between YHW and the Other Gods
			5.5.3.1 YHW and Ahuramazda
			5.5.3.2 YHW and the Other Gods
			5.5.3.3 An Operational Theology of Religion
	5.6 Chapter Summary
6. The Ethical Dimension
	6.1 Introduction
		6.1.1 The Relevant Sources
			6.1.1.1 The Native Judaean Sources from Elephantine
			6.1.1.2 The Non-Native Sources
		6.1.2 The Taxonomy
	6.2 The Human and the Deities in the Native Sources
		6.2.1 The Ethical Aspects of the Oath Practice
		6.2.2 Ethical Aspects of the So-Called Vidranga Section
	6.3 The Human and the Humans in the Native Sources
		6.3.1 The View on Animals as Backdrop of the Anthropology
		6.3.2 The View on Work
		6.3.3 The View on Slaves
			6.3.3.1 The Status of Children Borne by a Slave
			6.3.3.2 Manumission and Adoption
			6.3.3.3 The Background of the Emancipation Formularies
			6.3.3.4 The Function of the Emancipation Formularies
		6.3.4 The View on Gender and Family Matters
			6.3.4.1 The Marriage
				6.3.4.1.1 Some Observations Concerning the Marriage
			6.3.4.2 More on Women’s Legal Status
			6.3.4.3 The Household as the Basic Unit of Society
	6.4 The Human and the Authorities of Society in the Native Sources
	6.5 The Ethical Instruction of the Non-Native Sources (DB Aram and A?iqar)
		6.5.1 The Words of A?iqar (C1.1)
			6.5.1.1 Outline
			6.5.1.2 Provenance
			6.5.1.3 The Human and the Deities
				6.5.1.3.1 The Gods and Wisdom
				6.5.1.3.2 The Gods and Determinism
				6.5.1.3.3 The Gods and Retribution
			6.5.1.4 The Human and the Other Humans
			6.5.1.5 The Human and the Authorities of Society
		6.5.2 The Aramaic Version of the Bisitun Inscription (C2.1)
		6.5.3 The Relevance of the Non-Native Sources
	6.6 Chapter Summary
7. Conclusion and Outlook
	7.1 The Dimensions of Yahwism in General and in Elephantine in Particular
	7.2 Contributions and Findings
		7.2.1 Yahwistic Diversity
		7.2.2 The Ordinariness of the Yahwism in Elephantine
		7.2.3 The Suitability (and Limitations) of Smart’s Multi-Dimensional Model of Religion
		7.2.4 Selected Original Particular Findings
		7.2.5 YHWH, a God Also Dwelling in Africa: Yahwism in Elephantine as a Challenge for Biblical Scholarship
	7.3 Recommendations for Future Research: Elephantine in a Comparative Perspective
		7.3.1 The Judaean Diaspora in Babylonia in Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid Periods
		7.3.2 The Israelite (“Samaritan”) Diaspora in the Aegean in the Second Century BCE
		7.3.3 Preliminary Outcomes and Prospects of a Comparison
	7.4 End: Elephantine As an Archive Challenging the Canon
Bibliography
Index of Ancient Sources
Index of Aramaic, Hebrew, Old Persian and Greek Words
Index of Ancient Names, Deities and Epithets
Index of Modern Authors