Year: 2010
Type: article
Abstract: This article aimed to give an overview of the early attestations to prophecy in the Ancient Near East (ANE) in order to stimulate reflection on what could be understood by ‘prophetism’. The most extant sources for prophetic oracles in the ANE were uncovered at the royal archives of Mari and Nineveh, therefore some evidence of these sites has been indicated. Consequently the distinction between ‘inductive’ and ‘non-inductive’ forms of divination was also discussed. Furthermore it was questioned whether the critique against ANE-prophecy as ‘Heilsprophetie’ (‘salvation’) as opposed to the ‘Unheilsprophetie’ (‘doom’) of Old Testament can still be upheld. Finally some notes of caution were raised with regard to the careless appropriation of the term ‘prophetism’ in the 21st century.
Author: Gerda De Villiers
Institution: University of Pretoria
Language: English
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $650
OpenAlex ID: W2149576944