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STAIRWAYS TO HEAVEN AND RELATED MATTERS: NEW LIGHT ON NERGAL AND EREŠKIGAL

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 January 2025

Abraham Winitzer
Abraham Winitzer*
Affiliation:
130 Malloy Hall – Theology The University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA
*
winitzer.1@nd.edu
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Abstract

The paper posits a link between the Standard Babylonian Version of Nergal and Ereškigal and the Jacob Cycle in Genesis (Gen 25-35), one anchored by the former story’s cosmic stairway and the stairway with its top in heaven appearing to Jacob in his famous dream. It is argued that the proper understanding of the motive for that specific parallel opens the door to a considerably broader one, which offers important insight on the two traditions. This broader parallel informs on different aspects of Nergal and Ereškigal, including theological and historical issues that appear to stand behind that story. Such contact, it is suggested, challenges established Assyriological thinking about the place of comparative perspectives in the study of Mesopotamian literature.

سلالم إلى السماء وأمور اخرى ذات صلة: ضوء جديد على نرجال وإريشكيجال

بقلم: إبراهام وينيتزر Abraham Winitzer

تفترض الورقة وجود رابط بين نرجال وإريشكيجال في العهد البابلي القياسي ودورة يعقوب في سفر التكوين (سفر التكوين 25-35)، وهو رابط ترسخت جذوره في قصة السلالم الكونية السابقة والسلالم التي كان رأسها في السماء والتي ظهرت ليعقوب في حلمه الشهير. ويزعم أن الفهم الصحيح لدوافع هذا التوازيالمحدد في المعنى يفتح الباب أمام توازي أوسع بكثير يقدم نظرة ثاقبة مهمة للتقليدين. ويوضح هذا التوازي الأوسع جوانب مختلفة لنرجالوإريشكيجال، بما في ذلك القضايا اللاهوتية والتاريخية التي يبدو أنها تقف وراء هذه القصة. ويقترح أن مثل هذا الاتصال يتحدى التفكير الآشوري الراسخ حول مكان وجهات النظر المقارنة في دراسة أدب وادي الرافدين.

Type
Research Article
Information
IRAQ , First View , pp. 1 - 15
Copyright
© The British Institute for the Study of Iraq 2025

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Footnotes

Abbreviations follow the standard dictionaries, to which are added: eBL = Electronic Babylonian Library (https://www.ebl.lmu.de); eSAD = Electronic Supplement to the Akkadian Dictionaries (Leipzig); S = STT 1 28 (Huzirina SB Nergal and Ereškigal); U = SpTU 1, 1 (Uruk SB Nergal and Ereškigal). This paper has benefitted from its discussion in the meeting (Approaches to Cuneiform Literature, London, March 31-April 1, 2023) in which it was first read, as well as from its discussion with F. Rochberg, D. Vanderhooft, and colleagues at the Collegium Mythologicum of Göttingen’s Seminar für Altorientalistik. It is a pleasure to thank all, and especially the organizers of said meeting and its esteemed honoree.

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