Extract: The Cambridge History of Religions in the Ancient World, 2 Volume Hardback Set

MICHELE RENEE SALZMAN is University of Cal-

Cover: Nestor’s cup, Mycenae, c.1550-1500 BC, Mycenaean / National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece / The Bridgeman Art Library

he Cambridge History of Religions in the Ancient World provides a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the religions of the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world. The fourteen essays in Volume I begin in the third millennium BCE with the Sumerians and extend to the fourth century BCE through the fall of the Achaemenid Persian empire and the demise of Alexander the Great. Its contributors, all acknowledged experts in their fields, analyze a wide spectrum of textual and material evidence. An introductory essay by the General Editor, Michele Renee Salzman, sets out the central questions, themes, and historical trends considered in Volumes I and II. Marvin A. Sweeney provides an introduction to the chapters of Volume I, as does William Adler for Volume II. The regional and historical orientations of the essays will enable readers to see how a religious tradition or movement assumed a distinctive local identity, even as they view its development within a comparative framework. Supplemented with maps, illustrations, and detailed indexes, the volumes are an excellent reference tool for scholars of the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world.

This splendid volume provides two services at once. Those who want a concise and authoritative overview of a particular religious tradition can find that here, while those who peruse it cover to cover can gain a vivid sense of the commonalities and differences in religious life throughout the ancient Mediterranean world over many centuries. This is an invaluable resource to which scholars and students will turn for many years to come.

James B. Rives, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Volume 1 of The Cambridge History of Religions in the Ancient World provides an up-todate, wide-ranging, theoretically sensitive, and historically deep account of the range of ancient religions in the Mediterranean world, Europe, and the Near East before the heyday of the Roman Empire. The volume combines documentary, art-historical, and archaeological evidence, and will be the fundamental introductory resource for students and scholars in the next generation, as well as an essential accompaniment to the study of ancient history and religions.

Jas´ Elsner, Corpus Christi College, Oxford and The University of Chicago A goldmine of information on the religious practices and beliefs of ancient peoples, with sophisticated attention to sources, problems of research, material culture, and social and political setting. Readers glimpse the diverse ways in which some of our distant ancestors met the challenges of life and death. A handy reference guide with up-to-date discussions by experts in each area.

Elizabeth A. Clark, Duke University

THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF

Claremont School of Theology. He is the author of nine volumes and numerous studies, including 1 and 2 Kings: A Commentary (2007) and Form and Intertextuality in Prophetic and Apocalyptic Literature (2005). He is the Editor of Hebrew Studies, the founding Editor of the Review of Biblical Literature, Co-editor of the Forms of the Old Testament Literature commentary series, Mitarbeiter for the De Gruyter International Encyclopedia of the Bible, and CEO of the Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center for Preservation and Research.

T

RELIGIONS IN THE ANCIENT WORLD

MARVIN A. SWEENY is Professor of Religion at the

THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS IN THE ANCIENT WORLD

SALZMAN SWEENEY

ifornia Presidential Chair (2009–2012) Professor of History at the University of California, Riverside. She is the author of three books and numerous articles, including On Roman Time: The Codex-Calendar of 354 and the Rhythms of Urban Life in Late Antiquity (1990); The Making of a Christian Aristocracy (2002); and The Letters of Symmachus: Book 1, translation (with Michael Roberts), Introduction, and Commentary (2011). She is on the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Archaeology and has served on the Executive Committee of the American Academy in Rome.

THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF

R E LI G I ONS IN THE ANCIENT WORLD VOLU ME I: F ROM T H E B RO N ZE AG E TO THE HE L L E N IS TI C AG E

Designed by pemastudio Printed in the United States of America

Edited by

MICHELE RENEE SALZMAN MARVIN A. SWEENEY

T

he Cambridge History of Religions in the Ancient World provides a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the religions of the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world.

The fourteen essays in Volume I begin in the third millennium BCE with the Sumerians and extend to the fourth century BCE through the fall of the Achaemenid Persian empire and the demise of Alexander the Great. Its contributors, all acknowledged experts in their fields, analyze a wide spectrum of textual and material evidence. An introductory essay by the General Editor, Michele Renee Salzman, sets out the central questions, themes, and historical trends considered in Volumes I and II. Marvin A. Sweeney provides an introduction to the chapters of Volume I, as does William Adler for Volume II. The regional and historical orientations of the essays will enable readers to see how a religious tradition or movement assumed a distinctive local identity, even as they view its development within a comparative framework. Supplemented with maps, illustrations, and detailed indexes, the volumes are an excellent reference tool for scholars of the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world.

THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS IN THE ANCIENT WORLD VOLUME I From the Bronze Age to the Hellenistic Age The Cambridge History of Religions in the Ancient World provides a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the religions of the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world. The fourteen essays in Volume I begin in the third millennium bce with the Sumerians and extend to the fourth century bce through the fall of the Achaemenid Persian empire and the demise of Alexander the Great. Its contributors, all acknowledged experts in their ďŹ elds, analyze a wide spectrum of textual and material evidence. An introductory essay by the General Editor, Michele Renee Salzman, sets out the central questions, themes, and historical trends considered in Volumes I and II. Marvin A. Sweeney provides an introduction to the chapters of Volume I, as does William Adler for Volume II. The regional and historical orientations of the essays will enable readers to see how a religious tradition or movement assumed a distinctive local identity, even as they view its development within a comparative framework. Supplemented with maps, illustrations, and detailed indexes, the volumes are an excellent reference tool for scholars of the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world.

Michele Renee Salzman is University of California Presidential Chair (2009– 2012) and Professor of History at the University of California, Riverside. She is the author of three books and numerous articles, including On Roman Time: The Codex-Calendar of 354 and the Rhythms of Urban Life in Late Antiquity (1990); The Making of a Christian Aristocracy (2002); and The Letters of Symmachus: Book 1, translation (with Michael Roberts), Introduction, and Commentary (2011). She is on the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Archaeology and has served on the Executive Committee of the American Academy in Rome.

Marvin A. Sweeney is Professor of Religion at the Claremont School of Theology. He is the author of nine volumes and numerous studies, including 1 and 2 Kings: A Commentary (2007) and Form and Intertextuality in Prophetic and Apocalyptic Literature (2005). He is the Editor of Hebrew Studies, the founding Editor of the Review of Biblical Literature, Co-editor of the Forms of the Old Testament Literature commentary series, Mitarbeiter for the De Gruyter International Encyclopedia of the Bible, and CEO of the Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center for Preservation and Research.

THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS IN THE ANCIENT WORLD VOLUME I

FROM THE BRONZE AGE TO THE HELLENISTIC AGE

Edited by Michele Renee Salzman Marvin A. Sweeney General Editor University of California, Riverside

Claremont School of Theology

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Mexico City Cambridge University Press 32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, ny 10013-2473, usa www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521858304 © Cambridge University Press 2013 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2013 Printed in the United States of America A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data The Cambridge history of religions in the ancient world: from the Bronze Age to the Hellenistic Age / [edited by] Michele Renee Salzman, Marvin A. Sweeney. p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes. isbn 978-1-107-01999-7 (hardback set) – isbn 978-0-521-85830-4 (volume 1) – isbn 978-0-521-85831-1 (volume 2) 1. Religions. 2. Civilization, Ancient. I. Salzman, Michele Renee, 1953– II. Sweeney, Marvin A. (Marvin Alan). bl96.c363 2012 200.93–dc23 2011049012 isbn 978-0-521-85830-4 Volume I Hardback isbn 978-0-521-85831-1 Volume II Hardback isbn 978-1-107-01999-7 Two-volume Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of url s for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

CONTENTS

List of Figures and Maps

page vii

List of Contributors

ix

List of Abbreviations

xi

Acknowledgments

xiii

Introduction to Volumes I and II michele renee salzman, general editor Introduction to Volume I marvin a. sweeney, editor

1 23

Part I. Mesopotamia and the Near East 1.

Sumerian Religion graham cunningham

31

2.

Assyrian and Babylonian Religions tammi j. schneider

54

3.

Hittite Religion gary beckman

84

4.

Zoroastrianism prods oktor skjÌrvø

102

5.

Syro-Canaanite Religions david p. wright

129

6.

Israelite and Judean Religions marvin a. sweeney

151

v

Contents

vi

Part II. Egypt and North Africa 7.

Egyptian Religion denise m. doxey

177

8.

Phoenician-Punic Religion philip c. schmitz

205

Part III. Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean 9.

Minoan Religion nanno marinatos

237

10.

Mycenaean Religion ian rutherford

256

11.

Archaic and Classical Greek Religion emily kearns

280

Part IV. The Western Mediterranean and Europe 12.

Etruscan Religion nancy t. de grummond

309

13.

Roman Religion through the Early Republic jĂśrg rĂźpke

336

14.

Celtic Religion in Western and Central Europe dorothy watts

364

Suggestions for Further Reading

387

General Index

393

Index of Citations

441

Textual and Material Sources

441

Scriptural Sources

448

FIGURES AND MAPS

figures 1. Uruk (Warka) vase 2. Representation of Ra from the temple of Ramesses III, Medinet Habu, dynasty 20 3. Osiris and king Amenhotep II from the tomb of Amenhotep II, Thebes, dynasty 18 4. The sun-god in the form of the beetle, Khepri, from the White Chapel of Senwosret I, Thebes, dynasty 12 5. Procession of the solar barque, from the temple of Ramesses III, Medinet Habu, dynasty 20 6. Pylon of the temple of Ramesses III, Medinet Habu, dynasty 20, showing the king smiting foreign enemies 7. Senwosret I and his ka, from the White Chapel of Senwosret I, Thebes, dynasty 12 8. Step pyramid complex of Djoser at Saqqara, dynasty 3 9. Mastaba complex of Senedjemib family, Giza, dynasty 5 10. Punic priest oďŹƒciating at altar 11. Plaque inscribed with eleven lines in Punic 12. King accompanied by griďŹƒn 13. Divine palace. Ring from Poros, Crete 14. Man shaking tree and woman dancing; scene of ecstatic divination. Ring from Vapheio, Peloponnese 15. Wounded girl. Mural from Thera (Santorini) 16. Woman leaning over a stone; scene of estatic divination.

Ring from Hagia Triada, Crete 17. Goddess and young god or king greeting each other under a solar sign. Ring from Thebes vii

page 42 180 182 185 189 190 196 199 200 214 215 243 245 245 248 249 251

viii

Figures and Maps

18. Seated goddess receiving offerings from lion-creatures under sun and moon. Gold ring from Tiryns 19. God (?) in a boat attacking Leviathan-type sea monster. Ring impression from Knossos (slightly restored) 20. Sacrificial procession from Pitsa, near ancient Sikyon, ca.540–530 bce 21. Plan and reconstruction of the Argive Heraion, a major extra-urban sanctuary built on a terraced slope 22. Libation at an altar. Attic red-figure oinochoe (wine jug) ca.480 bce 23. Bronze model of a sheep’s liver 24. Bronze Etruscan mirror with scene of Pava Tarchies reading a liver in the presence of Avl Tarchunus 25. Model of the city of Rome 26. Terracotta figures of Herakles (Hercules) and Athena from the Temple of Mater Matuta in the Forum Boarium

251 253 292 295 300 312 313 338 340

maps 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Mesopotamia and Persia Anatolia and Syria Egypt and Canaan Israel and Judah The western Mediterranean The Aegean Etruscan Italy Central Italy Rome Celtic Europe

55 85 130 152 206 238 311 312 337 365

CONTRIBUTORS

Gary Beckman is Professor of Hittite and Mesopotamian Studies at the University of Michigan and studies the reception and adaptation of Syro-Mesopotamian culture by the Hittites of ancient Anatolia. He is currently completing an edition of the tablets of the Epic of Gilgamesh recovered at the site of the Hittite capital, Hattusa.

Graham Cunningham is a Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge. He specializes in the cultural and linguistic history of the ancient Middle East and is the author of Deliver Me from Evil: Mesopotamian Incantations 2500–1500 BC (Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1997). He has also published on religious studies from a more interdisciplinary perspective as in Religion and Magic: Approaches and Theories (Edinburgh University Press, 1999).

Nancy T. de Grummond is the M. Lynette Thompson Distinguished Research Professor at Florida State University. She was named Charles Eliot Norton Lecturer for the Archaeological Institute of America for 2011–2012.

Denise M. Doxey is Curator, Ancient Egyptian, Nubian and Near Eastern Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She is the co-curator of the recent exhibition The Secrets of Tomb 10A: Egypt 2000 BC and co-author of the accompanying catalog.

Emily Kearns is a Senior Research Fellow at St Hilda’s College, University of Oxford. Her most recent book is Ancient Greek Religion: A Sourcebook (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010).

Nanno Marinatos is Professor of Classics at the University of Illinois at Chicago and author of Minoan Religion (1993) and Minoan Kingship and the Solar Goddess (2010).

ix

x

Contributors

Jörg Rüpke is Fellow for History of Religion at the Max Weber Centre of the University of Erfurt and co-director of the research team “Religious Individualisation in Historical Perspective.” He has recently been appointed Honorary Professor of the University of Aarhus (Denmark).

Ian Rutherford is Professor of Classics at the University of Reading. He is the author of Pindar’s Paeans: A Reading of the Fragments with a Survey of the Genre (Oxford, 2001) and a co-editor of Seeing the Gods: Pilgrimage in Greco-Roman and Early Christian Antiquity (Oxford, 2006) (with Jas Elsner) and Anatolian Interfaces: Hittites, Greeks and Their Neighbours, Proceedings of an International Conference on Cross-cultural Interaction, September 17–19, 2004, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia (Oxbow Books, 2008) (with M. Bachvarova and B.-J. Collins).

Philip C. Schmitz is Professor of History at Eastern Michigan University. He specializes in Northwest Semitic epigraphy and is a member of the editorial advisory boards of Carthage Studies (Ghent) and Studi Epigrafici e Linguistici sul Vicino Oriente Antico (Verona). He was assistant editor of the Anchor Bible Dictionary and editor of the Index to Book Reviews in Religion.

Tammi J. Schneider is Professor of Religion in the School of Religion at Claremont Graduate University. Her most recent book is An Introduction to Ancient Mesopotamian Religion (Eerdmans, 2011).

Prods Oktor Skjærvø is Aga Khan Professor of Iranian at Harvard University.

His most recent books are The Spirit of Zoroastrianism, containing translations of Zoroastrian texts (Yale University Press, 2012), and Manikeiske skrifter, translations with E. Thomassen (Bokklubben, 2011).

Dorothy Watts is an Honorary Research Consultant and a former Head of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Queensland. She is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and a Fellow of the Australian College of Educators. Her most recent book is Boudicca’s Heirs: Women in Early Britain (Routledge, 2005).

David P. Wright is Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near East at Brandeis University. His most recent book is Inventing God’s Law: How the Covenant Code of the Bible Used and Revised the Laws of Hammurabi (Oxford, 2009).

ABBREVIATIONS

Agora

ANEP ANET CAT

CIS CMS COS CTH DCSL DMG DMic ETCSL FGrH IG

The Athenian Agora: Results of the Excavations Conducted by the American School of Classical Studies in Athens (Princeton, 1951–).

J. B. Pritchard, The Ancient Near East in Pictures (Princeton, 1969).

J. B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament (Princeton, 1969).

M. Dietrich, O. Loretz, and J. Sanmartín, The Cuneiform Alphabetic Texts from Ugarit, Ras Ibn Hani and Other Places (Münster, 1995) (second edition of 1976 German edition).

Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum (Paris, 1881–1962).

F. Matz, H. Biesantz, and I. Pini, eds., Corpus der minoischen und mykenischen Siegel (Berlin, 1964–).

W. W. Hallow and K. L. Younger, eds., The Context of Scripture (Leiden, 2003).

Emmanuel Laroche, Catalogue des texts Hittites (Études et commentaries 75; Paris: Klincksieck, 1971).

The Diachronic Corpus of Sumerian Literature (http://etcsl. orinst.ox.ac.uk/).

M. Ventris and J. Chadwick, Documents in Mycenaean Greek, 2nd ed. (1973).

Francisco Aura Jorro, Diccionario micénico, 2 vols. (Madrid, 1985–1993).

The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (http://dcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/).

Felix Jacoby (ed.), Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker, 3 vols. (Berlin and Leiden, 1923–1958).

Inscriptiones Graecae (Berlin, 1973–). xi

xii

KAI ILLRP KUB LSAM LSCG LSS NGSL RIB Rix ET Syll.

ThesCRA TLE

Abbreviations

H. Donner and W. Röllig, Kanaanäische und aramäische Inschriften (Wiesbaden, 1966–1969).

Inscriptiones Latinae Liberae Rei Republica, ed.

A. Degrassi, vol. 1, 2nd ed. (Florence, 1965), 2 (Rome, 1963).

Keilschrift-urkunden aus Boghazköi.

F. Sokolowski, Lois sacrées de l’Asie mineure (1955).

F. Sokolowski, Lois sacrées des cités grecques (1969).

F. Sokolowski, Lois sacrées: supplement (1962).

E. Lupu, Greek Sacred Law: A Collection of New Documents (Leiden, 2005).

R. G. Collingwood and R. P. Wright, The Roman Inscriptions of Britain (Oxford, 1965).

Helmut Rix, Etruskische Texte, Editio Minor, 2 vols.

(Tübingen, 1991).

W. Dittenberger, Sylloge inscriptionum Graecarum, 3rd ed.

(Leipzig, 1915–1924).

Thesaurus Caltus et Rituum Antiquorum, 5 vols. (Oxford, 2005–2006).

Massimo Pallottino, ed., Testimonia linguae Etruscae (Florence, 1968).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In a project as large as this one, there are numerous people and institutions whose support must be acknowledged. I appreciate the professionalism of the volume editors and contributors. At various stages in the realization of this project, external advisers have been critical. I want to thank David Frankfurter, James Rives, Francesca Rochberg, and Karen Torjesen for their advice on a wide variety of issues. I want to note here the support given to me by the Institute for Advanced Studies, Jerusalem, as a Visiting Scholar in spring 2010, where I benefited from its resources and the conversation of a group of sophisticated scholars in religion, most especially that of Oded Irshai and Brouria Ashkeloni. Ingrid De Haas has been an invaluable assistant in the preparation of Volume I and its index, and Matthew (Alex) Poulos and Ann Rives for Volume II. Throughout this project, Beatrice Rehl has been an inspiring editor; the volumes have benefited tremendously from her astute advice, and I appreciate her fine editorial instincts and intelligence in helping me to steer this project through the dangers of Scylla and Charybdis. Finally, I want to thank my husband, Steven Brint, and my children, Ben and Juliana, for their love and encouragement in all things.

Michele Renee Salzman

xiii

INTRODUCTION TO VOLUMES I AND II michele renee salzman

defining ancient religion “Religion” is not a native term; it is a term created by scholars for their intellectual purposes and therefore is theirs to define. It is a second-order, generic concept that plays the same role in establishing a disciplinary horizon that a concept such as “language” plays in linguistics or “culture” plays in anthropology. There can be no disciplined study of religion without such a horizon.1

Any effort to define religion in the ancient Mediterranean world is constrained from the very outset by the absence of a single-word equivalent in the ancient languages. The English word “religion” does not convey the same meaning as the Latin word from which it is derived. Religio is “a supernatural feeling of constraint, usually having the force of a prohibition or impediment” or “a positive obligation or rule.”2 This latter sense is reflected in the importance attached to required ritual among the Romans, who generally associated it with active worship according to the rules. Christian authors were ambivalent about the suitability of the word to their own beliefs and practices. In the third century, the Christian apologist Lactantius continued to use the word religio to describe the tie between god and man.3 But Augustine later found the word problematic because it could also refer to an obligation owed to another human or to a god or gods. Hence, Augustine wrote, using the term religio “does not secure against ambiguity when used in discussing the worship paid to God”; and so it was possible to employ this term only by abolishing

1 2 3

Smith, “Religion, Religions, Religious,” 193–4.

Oxford Latin Dictionary, s.v. religio 1. and b.

Lactantius, Inst. 4.28; Bremmer, “‘Religion,’ ‘Ritual,’ and the Opposition ‘Sacred vs. Profane,’” 10.

1

2

Michele Renee Salzman

one meaning of the word, namely, the observance of duties in human relationships.4 I mention Augustine’s reflections on the problems of finding the right terminology to express his notion of his faith and rituals directed toward the one true Christian God, because his redefinition of religio has helped to shape modern usage. One standard contemporary dictionary, reminiscent of Augustine’s understanding, defines religion as “the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods,” or “a particular system of faith and worship.”5 As J. Rüpke has observed, even more inclusive descriptions of religion as “an active response by human beings to the call of the sacred,” or as “an experience of the numinous,” “merely … substitute a less specific term, albeit quasi-Christian or para-Christian, for the Christian God.”6 Increasingly, historians have come to understand how modern notions of religion have been shaped by the European religious tradition and the efforts of theologians to find in the term “religion” a means by which they “could claim [Christianity] to be a special form of a much wider phenomenon.”7 As they have shown, the analytical category of religion was constructed by “relatively recent intra-Christian debates, Enlightenment intellectuals, and colonial encounters in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.”8 Modern culturally constructed definitions of religion have also distorted earlier studies of ancient religion. For some time, there was a tendency to dismiss pre-Christian religions because they did not comport with a Protestant understanding of piety; this led to a tendency to view public cult worship as formulaic and to a devaluation of ritual.9 Yet, as historians of religion have emphasized more recently, public cult and ritual figured prominently in the ancients’ understanding of their own religiosity. In the first century bce, for example, Roman elites used the term religio in talking about what we could call religion precisely in order to stress its “strong ritualistic aspect … connected with active worship according to the rules.”10 Cotta, the representative of Academic philosophy in Cicero’s On the Nature 4

5

6 7 8

9 10

Aug. Civ. 10.1 includes a discussion of terminology, including his preference for the Greek word, latreia, meaning ritual and service to a deity (ritu ac servitudine), akin to cultus in Latin; see too Aug. Pref. to Civ. 6.

The New Oxford Dictionary of English, s.v. Religion; and cf. The American Heritage Dictionary, s.v.

Religion.

Rüpke, Religion of the Romans, 5.

Ibid., 6, aptly citing the work of J. Z. Smith, “Religion, Religions, Religious.”

See especially Smith, “Religion, Religions, Religious,” 179–96; Asad, Genealogies of Religion, 27–54; and Nongbri, “Dislodging ‘Embedded’ Religion,” 445.

For a brilliant discussion of this, see Smith, Drudgery Divine.

Bremmer, “‘Religion,’ ‘Ritual,’ and the Opposition ‘Sacred vs. Profane,’” 10.

Introduction to Volumes I and II

3

of the Gods, claimed that “the religio of the Roman people comprises ritual, auspices, and the third additional division consisting of all such prophetic warnings as the interpreters of the Sybil [sic] or the soothsayers have derived from portents and prodigies. … I hold that none of these religiones should ever be omitted” (3.2.4). The plural, religiones – literally “religions” but here more likely what we mean by religious practices – points to this ritualistic emphasis as a key component of the first-century Roman elite notion of “religion.”11 In order to avoid preconceptions arising from definitional pitfalls, the contributors to these volumes have tried to analyze ancient religions on their own terms, in full cognizance of how these traditions diverge from modern definitions of religion. Most ancients, like our first-century-bce Romans, saw nothing wrong with entertaining multiple “religions” or religious practices for multiple deities. In keeping with this wide variety of practices and gods, “religious” practitioners might include the sorts of people whom moderns might not consider particularly “religious,” that is, diviners, augurs, soothsayers, and even the public officials who regularly also performed key public rites such as sacrifice.

Coexistence of such diverse rituals and deities was possible partly because ancient religions did not necessarily have their own systematic set of core beliefs and principles, with sacred texts, personnel, and rites. Rather, as J. Rives observed in reference to Roman religion, “it is almost impossible, apart from a few exceptions such as Judaism and Christianity, to identify any coherent or unified systems of religion at all.”12 Nor did all ancient religions possess the same “normative” religious components (i.e., sacred texts, sacred personnel, a moral code, a coherent systematic body of knowledge).

Because the transmission of religious knowledge in the ancient world took place through various channels, it is all the more critical that modern scholars resist the tendency to elevate textually based religious traditions (or at least textual evidence) over other forms of religious expression. In certain ancient cultures, such as the Minoans on Crete, knowledge of the divine was realized through myths, but the sacred personnel – of which we are largely uninformed – seem entirely dependent on the palace and the king; in others, such as the empire of the Hittites, there are no extant theological tracts to trace the notion of the divine.13 11

12 13

Ando, The Matter of the Gods, 5–8, on this passage; and cf. Ngombri, “Dislodging ‘Embedded’ Religion,” 448–50.

Rives, Religion in the Roman Empire, 5.

For Minoan religion on Crete, see Marinatos, Chapter 9 in Volume I; for the Hittites, see Beckman, Chapter 3 in Volume I.

4

Michele Renee Salzman

In contrast to the modern American ideal of the separation of church and state, ancient religions cannot be confined to a specific sphere of life; on the contrary, religion in the ancient world extended into “areas that nowadays are not identified as religious at all.”14 It has often been said that ancient religion was “embedded” in daily life in the ancient world, a reference to the ways in which religion was integrated into all areas of ancient society.15 In Rome, for instance, senators could meet in any ritually inaugurated space or templum; but before they entered to vote on issues of the day, they were sure to burn some incense and pour some wine for the goddess Victory. Although the incorporation of religious rituals into political life is distinctive of Greek and Roman religions, it is also found in several others traditions, including Babylonian, Sumerian, Egyptian, and ancient Israelite/Judean religions.

The difficulties of studying ancient religions – with their diverse gods, rites, personnel, and beliefs across the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean regions – have caused some historians to question whether the ancients had anything at all comparable to a modern category of religion, so deeply embedded in Christianity as it has been and hence so different from ancient ideas about religion or religions.16 But granted the absence of an ancient category comparable to the modern term “religion,” modern scholars need not be bound by the words used by the cultures they study.17 Rather, the contributors to these volumes have discerned in antiquity the components of what are nowadays taken to characterize religion.18 In these essays and in the volumes as a whole, the editors and contributing scholars have taken the view that if scholars are explicit in how they define “religion” and its components, they can recognize religion even in very diverse and unevenly documented ancient societies. Our aim is not only to advance understanding of religion in the ancient world and in the cultures in which these religions thrived, but also to augment our understanding of the category “religion” as a cultural construction.19 14 15

16 17

18

19

Rüpke, Religion of the Romans, 6; Beard, North, and Price, Religions of Rome, 1.43.

Although Nongbri, “Dislodging ‘Embedded’ Religion,” 440–60, argues with some reason that the trope of embedded religion can “produce the false impression that religion is a descriptive concept” rather than a constructed one, this does not negate the close integration of ancient religion as a constructed category in ancient society.

See especially ibid.

For this emic/etic distinction applied to ancient religion, see, for example, Bremmer, “‘Religion,’ ‘Ritual,’ and the Opposition ‘Sacred vs. Profane,’” 12; and Rüpke, Religion of the Romans, 6. For a more generalized discussion, see McCutcheon, The Insider/Outsider Problem, 17.

See, for example, Rüpke, Religion of the Romans, 6, on religion among the Romans in the Republic: “It [ancient religion] knew gods and their temples; it knew holy days and priests.”

This is in essence how I take J. Z. Smith to intend the categories of description and redescription to work; see Smith, Drudgery Divine.

Introduction to Volumes I and II

5

approaching ancient religion The religions of the ancient Mediterranean each had their own trajectory, which unfolded in specific places and times. How adherents conceptualized and communicated with the divine varied considerably within individual religious traditions. The local variations and the unsystematic nature of ancient cult make it all the more important to examine ancient religions as they were expressed in particular places and time periods. In the third century ce, the Christian writer Tertullian attested to the local dimension of ancient religion: “Each province and city has its own god: Syria has Astarte, Arabia Dursares, Noricum Belenus, Africa Caelestis, Mauretania its own princes; the Egyptians even worship animals.”20 The aspects of ancient religion analyzed in these essays – rituals, practices, and forms of divine knowledge – are based on a broad consensus among scholars of ancient religion about its most critical components.

Byron Earhart’s view of religion is a standard one, but it is worth including here for it lists these components succinctly: Religion comprises a “distinctive set of beliefs, symbols, rituals, doctrines, institutions and practices that enables the members of the tradition to establish, maintain, and celebrate a meaningful world. … [And it] is a tradition that is handed down, moving through time and manifesting a continuous identity along with a tendency to change and be transformed.”21 This view of religion and its key components serves as a guidepost for scholars of diverse ancient religions.

In order to approach these diverse religions in a systematic way, however, contributors were asked to address the same set of topics concerning ancient religion in the ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean regions (see below). Moreover, each author was asked to restrict his or her essay to a specific time period. The death of Alexander and the end of his empire was a turning point for many ancient societies, and hence it was used by the editors to divide the religious traditions between Volumes I and II. But because this date is not relevant to all religions, it was not strictly adhered to by all contributors. Local variation and diverging, independent scholarly opinions explain the chronological overlaps between the two volumes.

We see many advantages in this approach. Each chapter looks at ancient religion in its physical, social, political, and cultural context. In taking into account the influences of neighboring religions and peoples, authors have sought to re-create the reality of fluid interactions in antiquity. The essays are analytical, rather than merely descriptive of orthopraxy, mythology, 20 21

Tertullian, Apol. 24.7.

Earhart, ed., Religious Traditions of the World, 7.

MICHELE RENEE SALZMAN is Professor of

Cover Art: Roman silver goblet from the treasure of Boscoreale, from the first century BCE or early first century CE. Louvre, Paris, France.

Cover Phtography: Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY

rehensive and in-depth analysis of the religions of the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world. The nineteen essays in this volume begin with the Hellenistic age and extend to the late Roman period. Its contributors, all acknowledged experts in their fields, analyze a wide spectrum of textual and material evidence. An essay by the General Editor sets out the central questions, themes and historical trends considered in Volumes I and II. An essay by William Adler introduces the chapters of Volume II. The regional and historical orientations of the essays will enable readers to see how a religious tradition or movement assumed a distinctive local identity, and consider its development within a broader regional and Mediterranean context. Supplemented with maps, illustrations, and detailed indexes, the volume is an excellent reference tool for scholars of the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world.

“An essential reference for understanding the religious changes that took place across the Mediterranean, Europe, and the Near East concurrent with the rise of Christianity as well as the diverse local Judaisms, Christianities, and traditional cults that made up the religions of late antiquity. Salzman and Adler have commissioned a superb team of senior scholars, specialists in the periods and regions they cover, who are particularly attentive to historical nuance and material culture.”

David Frankfurter, Boston University “This volume represents a wide assortment of specialist essays on ancient religions, lucidly arranged by geographical regions. Its great range of subject-matter and chronological framing well reflects the rich diversity of its topic, without ever compromising the coherence of the whole. The Cambridge History of Religions in the Ancient World will long be an important resource for students and scholars alike. “ Paula Fredriksen, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem

THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF

and Judaism in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at North Carolina State University. He has authored or co-authored five books dealing with early Christian literature and historiography and has served as a visiting Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a visiting research scholar at the University of Adelaide, University of Jena, and the University of Basel.

T

he Cambridge History of Religions in the Classical World provides a comp-

RELIGIONS IN THE ANCIENT WORLD

WILLIAM ADLER is Professor of Early Christianity

THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS IN THE CLASSICAL WORLD

SALZMAN ADLER

History at the University of California at Riverside.

She is the author of three books and numerous articles, including On Roman Time: The CodexCalendar of 354 and the Rhythms of Urban Life in Late Antiquity (1990), The Making of a Christian Aristocracy (2002); and (with Michael Roberts) The First Book of Symmachus’ Letters, a translation, introduction, and commentary, (2011). She is on the editorial Board of the American Journal of Archaeology and on the Executive Committee of the American Academy in Rome.

THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF

R E L IG ION S IN THE ANCIENT WORLD VO LUM E II: FROM TH E HELLENISTIC AGE TO LATE ANTIQUITY

Designed by pemastudio Printed in the United States of America

General Editor: MICHELE RENEE SALZMAN Edited by: WILLIAM ADLER

T

he Cambridge History of Religion in the Classical World provides a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the religions of the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world.

The nineteen essays in this volume begin with the Hellenistic age and extend to the late Roman period. Its contributors, all acknowledged experts in their fields, analyze a wide spectrum of textual and material evidence. An essay by the General Editor sets out the central questions, themes and historical trends considered in Volumes I and II. An essay by William Adler introduces the chapters of Volume II. The regional and historical orientations of the essays will enable readers to see how a religious tradition or movement assumed a distinctive local identity, and consider its development within a broader regional and Mediterranean context. Supplemented with maps, illustrations, and detailed indexes, the volume is an excellent reference tool for scholars of the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world.

THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS IN THE ANCIENT WORLD VOLUME II From the Hellenistic Age to Late Antiquity The Cambridge History of Religion in the Ancient World provides a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the religions of the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world. The nineteen essays in this volume begin with the Hellenistic age and extend to the late Roman period. Its contributors, all acknowledged experts in their ďŹ elds, analyze a wide spectrum of textual and material evidence. An essay by William Adler introduces the chapters of Volume II. The regional and historical orientations of the essays will enable readers to see how a religious tradition or movement assumed a distinctive local identity, and consider its development within a broader regional and Mediterranean context. Supplemented with maps, illustrations, and detailed indexes, the volume is an excellent reference tool for scholars of the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world.

Michele Renee Salzman is University of California Presidential Chair (2009– 2012) and Professor of History at the University of California, Riverside. She is the author of three books and numerous articles, including On Roman Time: The Codex-Calender of 354 and the Rhythms of Urban Life in late Antiquity (1990); The Making of a Christian Aristocracy (2002); and The Letters of Symmachus: Book 1, translation (with Michael Roberts), Introduction, and Commentary (2011). She is on the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Archaeology and has served on the Executive Committee of the American Academy in Rome.

William Adler is Professor of Early Christianity and Judaism in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at North Carolina State University. He has authored or coauthored six books dealing with early Christian literature and historiography and has served as a visiting professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and as a visiting research scholar at the University of Adelaide, the Friedrich-Schiller-University of Jena, and the University of Basel.

THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS IN THE ANCIENT WORLD VOLUME II

FROM THE HELLENISTIC AGE TO LATE ANTIQUITY

Michele Renee Salzman General Editor University of California, Riverside

Edited by William Adler North Carolina State University

cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Mexico City Cambridge University Press 32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, ny 10013-2473, usa www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521858311 © Cambridge University Press 2013 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2013 Printed in the United States of America A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data The Cambridge history of religions in the ancient world : from the Bronze Age to the Hellenistic Age / [edited by] Marvin A. Sweeney, Michele Renee Salzman. p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes. isbn 978-1-107-01999-7 (hardback set) – isbn 978-0-521-85830-4 (volume 1) – isbn 978-0-521-85831-1 (volume 2) 1. Religions. 2. Civilization, Ancient. I. Sweeney, Marvin A. (Marvin Alan), 1953– II. Salzman, Michele Renee. bl 96.c 363 2012 200.93–dc23 2011049012 isbn 978-0-521-85830-4 Volume I Hardback isbn 978-0-521-85831-1 Volume II Hardback isbn 978-1-107-01999-7 Two-volume Hardback Set Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

CONTENTS

List of Figures and Maps

page vii

List of Contributors

ix

List of Abbreviations

xi

Introduction to Volume II william adler

1

Part I Iran and the Near East 1

Religion in Iran: The Parthian and Sasanian Periods (247 bce–654 ce) albert de jong

23

2

Creating Local Religious Identities in the Roman Near East ted kaizer

54

3

Judaism in Palestine in the Hellenistic-Roman Periods esther eshel and michael e. stone

87

4

Post-70 Judaism in Judea and the Near East hayim lapin

116

5

Christianity in Syria sidney h. griffith

138

Part II Egypt and North Africa 6

Traditional Religion in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt françoise dunand

165

7

Judaism in Egypt joseph mélèze modrzejewski

189

v

Contents

vi

8

Ancient Egyptian Christianity jacques van der vliet

211

9

Cult and Belief in Punic and Roman Africa brent shaw

235

Christianity in Roman Africa robin m. jensen

264

10

Part III Greece and Asia Minor 11

Religions of Greece and Asia Minor lynn e. roller

295

12

Judaism in Asia Minor pieter w. van der horst

321

13

Christianity in Asia Minor: Observations on the Epigraphy frank r. trombley

341

Part IV Italy, Roman Gaul, and Spain 14

Religion in Rome and Italy from the Late Republic through Late Antiquity michele renee salzman

371

15

Judaism in Italy and the West giancarlo lacerenza

398

16

Christianity in Italy dennis trout

421

17

Religions and Cities in Roman Gaul (First to Fourth Centuries ce) william van andringa

446

18

Christianity in Gaul william klingshirn

484

19

Religions of Roman Spain michael kulikowski

510

Suggestions for Further Reading

533

General Index

543

Index of Citations

571

FIGURES AND MAPS

figures 1.

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“Syncretistic, Syrian military deity” Miniature “shrine” supporting lamp of Malikat Dexiōsis relief from Arsameia (Antiochus I and Heracles) Relief of four Palmyrene deities Temple of Zeus Bōmos Mosaic of Cassiopeia from Palmyra “Battle relief ” from the temple of Bel at Palmyra Drawing of missing part of “battle relief ” Relief of Aphlad from Dura-Europos Carved relief of the goddess Isis in the temple of Kalabsha at Aswan Detail from a third-century mosaic pavement Mosaic tomb cover from Furnos Minos Baptismal font from Kélibia, Basilica of Felix Epitaph of Claudia Aster from Jerusalem Epitaph of the presbyter Secundinus Altar of the butchers of Périgueux Base of a statue discovered at Rennes-Condate Stele from Reims Stele of Nuits-Saint-Georges Plan of the sanctuary of Nuits-Saint-Georges Vase from Sains-du-Nord (city of the Nervii) Plan of the forums of Feurs and Nyon Plan of Aventicum with the site of the religious quarter of the Grange-des-Dîmes

vii

page 55 57 60 66 69 73 75 75 81 180 271 283 284 409 412 450 453 454 455 457 459 462 464

viii

Figures and Maps

24. Plan of Augusta Treverorum with the site of the sanctuaries from the urban area 25. Indigenous sanctuary of Limoges 26. Plan of Jublains 27. Sanctuary of the Altbachtal at Trier 28. Sanctuary of Lenus Mars at Trier 29. Cult places of the pagi located on the exterior of the sanctuary of Lenus Mars at Trier 30. Inscription from Wederath 31. Plan of the vicus of Vendeuvre of the Pictons 32. Sarcophagus of the Spouses 33. Christian bulla

466 467 470 471 472 474 475 476 495 499

maps 1.

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The Parthian Empire The Roman Near East Syria Palaestina Roman Egypt Roman North Africa Greece and Western Asia Minor Asia Minor Italy The Cities of the Three Gauls and Narbonensis Roman Spain

29 63 88 166 267 297 322 373 447 512

CONTRIBUTORS

Albert de Jong is Professor of Comparative Religion at Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.

Françoise Dunand is Professor Emerita, University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France.

Esther Eshel is Senior Lecturer in the Bible Department and in the Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar Ilan University.

Sidney H. Griffith is Professor in the Department of Semitic and Egyptian Languages and Literature and at the Institute of Christian Oriental Research at the Catholic University of America.

Robin M. Jensen is the Luce Chancellor’s Professor of the History of Christian Art and Worship at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.

Ted Kaizer is Senior Lecturer in Roman Culture and History at Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom.

William Klingshirn is Ordinary Professor of Greek and Latin at the Catholic University of America.

Michael Kulikowski is Professor in the Department of History at Pennsylvania State University.

Giancarlo Lacerenza is Lecturer in Biblical and Medieval Hebrew at the University of Naples L’Orientale.

Hayim Lapin is Professor in the Department of History and in the Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Program and Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Maryland. ix

x

Contributors

Joseph Mélèze Modrzejewski is Professor Emeritus of Ancient History at the University of Paris, Paris, France.

Lynn E. Roller is Professor in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of California, Davis.

Brent Shaw is Professor of Classics and Andrew Fleming West Professor of Classics in the Department of Classics at Princeton University.

Michael E. Stone is Professor of Armenian Studies and Gail Levin de Nur Professor of Religious Studies at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.

Frank R. Trombley is Reader in the School of Religious and Theological Studies at Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales.

Dennis Trout is Associate Professor and Department Chair in the Department of Classical Studies at the University of Missouri, Columbia.

William van Andringa is Professor of Roman History (History of Ancient Religions) at the University of Lille 3, Lille, France.

Pieter W. van der Horst is Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Theology of Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.

Jacques van der Vliet is Senior Lecturer of Coptic at Leiden University and Extra-ordinary Professor of Egyptian Religion at Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands.