In Remembrance of Me
Feasting with the Dead in the Ancient Middle East
Published on 30. April 2014
Book
Paperback/Softback
176 pages
978-1-61491-017-6 (ISBN)
Description
This Oriental Institute Museum exhibit catalog looks at how the living commemorated and cared for deceased ancestors in the ancient Middle East. The focus of the exhibit is the memorial monument (stele) of an official named Katumuwa (ca. 735 BC), discovered in 2008 by University of Chicago archaeologists at the site of Zincirli, Turkey. Part I of the catalog presents the most comprehensive collection of scholarship yet published on the interpretation of the Katumuwa Stele, an illuminating new document of ancestor cult and beliefs about the soul. In Part II, leading scholars describe the relationship between the living and the dead in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Anatolia, and the Levant (Syria-Palestine), providing a valuable introduction to the family and mortuary religion of the ancient Middle East. The fifty-seven objects cataloged highlight the role of food and drink offerings and stone effigies in maintaining a place for the dead in family life.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 153 mm
Thickness: 10 mm
Weight
740 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-61491-017-6 (9781614910176)
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Schweitzer Classification
Content
Foreword Preface List of Contributors Map of Select Sites 1. Introduction: The Katumuwa Stele and the Commemoration of the Dead in the Ancient Middle East. Virginia R. Herrmann I. THE KATUMUWA STELE FROM ZINCIRLI 2. The City of Katumuwa: The Iron Age Kingdom of Sam'al and the Excavations of Zincirli. J. David Schloen 3. Katumuwa's Banquet Scene. Dominik Bonatz 4. The Katumuwa Inscription. Dennis Pardee 5. The Katumuwa Stele in Archaeological Context. Virginia R. Herrmann 6. The Katumuwa Stele in the Context of Royal Mortuary Cult at Sam'al. Herbert Niehr II. FEASTS FOR THE DEAD IN THE ANCIENT MIDDLE EAST 7. Religious, Communal, and Political Feasting in the Ancient Middle East. Marian H. Feldman 8. Feasts for the Dead and Ancestor Veneration in Levantine Traditions. Theodore J. Lewis 9. Death Binds: On Some Rites Surrounding Death in Ancient Anatolia. Theo van den Hout 10. Dead that Are Slow to Depart: Evidence for Ancestor Rituals in Mesopotamia. Karel van der Toorn 11. Feasts for the Dead and Ancestor Veneration in Egyptian Tradition. Miriam Muller III. CATALOG The Katumuwa Stele (Nos. 1-12) The Soul in the Stone: Effigies of the Dead (Nos. 13-21) The Banquet in Life and Death (Nos. 22-27) Dishes for the Dead (Nos. 28-49) Fast Food: Magical Methods of Provisioning the Dead (Nos. 50-52) Epilogue: Contemporary Commemorations (Nos. 53-59) Concordance of Museum Registration Numbers Checklist of the Exhibit