Martti Nissinen

Annotation A study of the phenomenon of prophecy as documented in ancient Near Eastern texts and the Hebrew Bible as well as Greek sources, from the twenty-first century BCE to the second century CE.

Near Eastern, Biblical, and Greek Perspectives

Ancient Prophecy

Nissinen's award-winning book surveys attitudes in the ancient world toward homoeroticism, that is, erotic same-sex relations. Focusing on the Bible and its cultural environment-Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, Israel-Nissinen concisely and readably introduces the relevant sources and their historical contexts in a readable way.Homoeroticism is examined as a part of gender identity, i.e., the interplay of sexual orientation, gender identification, gender roles, and sexual practice. In the patriarchal cultures of the biblical world, Nissinen shows, homoerotic practices were regarded as a role construction between the active and passive partners rather than as expressions of an orientation moderns call "homosexuality." Nissinen shows how this applies to the limited acceptance of homoerotic relationships in Greek and Roman culture, as well as to Israel's and the early church's condemnation of any same-sex erotic activity.For readers interested in the ancient world or contemporary debates, Nissinen's fascinating study shows why the ancient texts - both biblical and nonbiblical - are not appropriate for use as sources of direct analogy or argument in today's discussion.

A Historical Perspective

Homoeroticism in the Biblical World

A new, expanded edition of a classic reference tool This volume of more than 170 documents of prophecy from the ancient Near East brings together a representative sample of written documents from Mesopotamia, the Levant, and Egypt dating to the second and first millennia BCE. Nissinen's collection provides nonspecialist readers clear translations, transliterations, and discussions of oracles reports and collections, quotations of prophetic messages in letters and literature, and texts that reference persons with prophetic titles. This second edition includes thirty-four new texts. Features: Modern, idiomatic, and readable English translations Thirty-four new translations Contributions of West Semitic, Egyptian, and Luwian sources from C. L. Seow, Robert K. Ritner, and H. Craig Melchert

Prophets and Prophecy in the Ancient Near East

Prophecy was a wide-spread phenomenon in the ancient world - not only in ancient Israel but in the whole Eastern Mediterranean cultural sphere. This is demonstrated by documents from the ancient Near East, that have been the object of Martti Nissinen’s research for more than twenty years. Nissinen's studies have had a formative influence on the study of the prophetic phenomenon. The present volume presents a selection of thirty-one essays, bringing together essential aspects of prophetic divination in the ancient Near East. The first section of the volume discusses prophecy from theoretical perspectives. The second sections contains studies on prophecy in texts from Mari and Assyria and other cuneiform sources. The third section discusses biblical prophecy in its ancient Near Eastern context, while the fourth section focuses on prophets and prophecy in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Even prophecy in the Dead Sea Scrolls is discussed in the fifth section. The articles are essential reading for anyone studying ancient prophetic phenomenon.

Essays in Ancient Near Eastern Prophecy

Prophetic Divination

Charles Edward Carter

"This collection of essays examines the interrelationships between text and image particularly the ways in which iconography and/or references to images are used to depict prophetic actions or support prophetic messages. Textual and iconographic remains are examined from Israel and Judah, Egypt, Greece and Persia. Prophetic figures represented include Isaiah, Trito-Isaiah, Deborah, and Ezekiel, with royal imagery being examined as it relates to 'Daughter Zion', the role of the queen in Minoan prophetic traditions, and the modeling of kingship in Judean history by the Chronicler. This richly-illustrated volume originated in the Prophetic Texts and Their Ancient Contexts session in the 2005 Society of Biblical Literature annual meeting"--back cover.

Images and Prophecy in the Ancient Eastern Mediterranean

Matthias Köckert

English summary: These essays interpret Old Testament prophetic writings and their social criticism in the cultural context of ancient near Eastern prophecy. German description: Die radikale Gesellschaftskritik der alttestamentlichen Propheten in Israel und Juda wird haufig in scharfem Gegensatz zu prophetischen Texten auaerhalb der Bibel gesetzt, besonders zu den herrschaftskonformen Aussagen aus Mari und Assur. Die Beitrager dieses Bandes stellen diese Alternative in Frage: Martti Nissinen, Eva Cancik-Kirschbaum, Reinhard G. Kratz, Jorg Jeremias, Herbert B. Huffmon und Elisabeth Pongratz-Leisten.

Propheten in Mari, Assyrien und Israel

This volume brings together the main contributions to the 20th congress of the International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament (IOSOT) held in Helsinki, Finland in August, 2010, focusing on archaeology, textual history, Deuteronomistic texts, and Wisdom and apocalypticism.

Martti Nissinen

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