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ANE Rituals

Etrog, a Royal Assyrian Aromatic Purifier

When ambassadors from Judah went to the Assyrian capital to present their yearly tribute, they encountered large stone reliefs of winged genii holding citrons, a fruit long treasured for its fragrance and medicinal properties.

Dr.

Norma Franklin

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Are Torah Rituals Just Literary Compositions? A Comparison with Namburbis

Both namburbi anti-omen rituals (1st millennium B.C.E.) and priestly Torah rituals were preserved in collections in multiple versions that show evidence of intertextuality and innovation. Were these rituals meant to be performed?

Prof.

William Morrow

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Tzaraʿat Purification: A Vestige of Demonic Exorcism

In Priestly law, impurity is stripped of its mythic origins in the demonic realm but still retains its dangerous, physical presence, and must be mitigated by specific acts of ritual cleansing and banishing, depending on the type of impurity. Purification from the skin disease tzaraʿat (Leviticus 13–14) offers the starkest example of such a ritual.

David Bar-Cohn

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Scapegoat: The Origins of the Crimson Thread

During the Second Temple period, the scapegoat was tied with a crimson thread. While the Torah requires a crimson thread as part of the purification ritual for tzaraʿat (skin disease), it does not mention it by the scapegoat. Nevertheless, parallel practices found in 2nd millennium B.C.E. Hittite texts of Luwian origin imply that the use of a crimson thread is not a late innovation but an ancient part of the rite.

Dr.

Noga Ayali-Darshan

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The Practice of Divination in the Ancient Near East

Ancient Near Eastern cultic rituals located the presence of gods and divine messages in nature.

Dr.

Uri Gabbay

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The Historical Uniqueness and Centrality of Yom Kippur

Prof.

Isaac Kalimi

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Joseph and the Dreams of Many Colors

Understanding the practice of dream interpretation in the Joseph story by using the ANE interpretive traditions as background.

Prof.

Jack M. Sasson

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Joshua Circumcises Israel in Response to Egypt’s Scorn

Before circumcision was a mitzvah, it was a cultural marker: Thus Joshua introduces circumcision to Israel at Gilgal (Joshua 5:2-9), Jacob’s sons insist that the Shechemites circumcise before Shechem marries their sister (Genesis 34), and the Israelites scorn the Philistines for being uncircumcised (Judges 14:3).

Prof. Rabbi

David Frankel

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A Copper Laver Made from Women’s Mirrors

Who were these women and what were these mirrors used for? Reconstructing the narrative: the historical-critical method vs. midrash. 

Prof. Rabbi

Rachel Adelman

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Turning to God When a Fertility Ritual Fails

Channah and Elkanah’s yearly feast resembles a Mesopotamian fertility ritual; when year after year God doesn’t respond, Channah turns to God directly and enters the Tabernacle.

Dr.

Kristine Henriksen Garroway

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Breaking the Heifer’s Neck: A Bloodless Ritual for an Unsolved Murder

If a corpse is found in a field, and the killer is unknown, the enders of the closest city to break a heifer’s neck by a stream and declare that they did not spill “this blood” (Deuteronomy 21). How does this ritual of eglah arufah, “broken-necked heifer,” atone for Israel’s bloodguilt?

Dr.

Yitzhaq Feder

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The Origins of the Biblical Pesach

Dr.

Kristine Henriksen Garroway

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Babylonian Rosh Hashanah

Battle, creation, enthronement, and justice

Dr.

Uri Gabbay

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A Sin Offering for Birth Anxiety

Following the purification period after birth, a mother must bring a חטאת –“sin offering,” despite her having committed no obvious sin. This offers us a unique glimpse into the prehistory of the Israelite cult, when apotropaic rituals (used to protect against dangerous forces) like those in other ANE cultures, were the norm.

Dr.

Yitzhaq Feder

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Ancient Israelite Divination: Urim ve-Tummim, Ephod, and Prophecy

In the Prophets, Israelite leaders such as Joshua, Saul, David, and Ahab use divination to help them make decisions, just as their ancient Near Eastern counterparts did. The Torah sidesteps the divinatory character of these objects and practices, and instead, emphasizes their ritual and religious character.

Dr.

Jonathan Stökl

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God’s Coronation on Rosh Hashanah

What kind of king?

Prof.

Marc Zvi Brettler

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Moses’ Apotropaic Intercession

Moses’ use of rhetoric to convince YHWH to undo his decree against Israel recasts a namburbu-like ritual intercession in a prophetic hue.

Dr.

Marian Broida

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