Saturday, September 19, 2020

Wagner-Durand & Linke (eds.), Tales of Royalty

NEW BOOK FROM DE GRUYTER:
Tales of Royalty
Notions of Kingship in Visual and Textual Narration in the Ancient Near East


Edited by: Elisabeth Wagner-Durand and Julia Linke
De Gruyter | 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501506895

Language: English, German
Format: 23.0 x 15.5 cm
Pages Arabic: 325
Illustrations BW: 31
Illustrations Color: 19
Publisher: De Gruyter
Year: 2020

FORMATS
Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-5015-1555-2
Published: 20 Jul 2020
PDF
ISBN: 978-1-5015-0689-5
Published: 20 Jul 2020
EPUB
ISBN: 978-1-5015-0685-7
Published: 20 Jul 2020

OVERVIEW
The volume sheds light on Ancient Near Eastern kingship by focusing on its constant urge for legitimation. Thus, it highlights specific aspects like royal building activities, warfare and wisdom and frames these into material and textual expressions that take the powerful form of narratives.

The contributions made in this volume look for specific topoi of kingship and examine which shapes they took and why. The publication determines which narrative topoi have once been selected to legitimize kingship, which media have been chosen to transmit these narratives, and what kind of narrative strategies have been applied. To consider both, texts and images, in the same margin, the book is based on a dual approach: referring to certain narrative themes both philological and archaeological material will be presented.

By joining diverse perspectives of scholars of material culture and texts and their various approaches the publication promises new and special insight into the connection of narration and legitimation in Mesopotamia. It reflects Ancient Near Eastern kingship and its narrative strategies from a interdisciplinary and transmedial point of view and gives new insights into the matter of royal legitimation.
The ToC lists no articles specific to ancient Israel, although ancient Aramean kingship is represented. But many of the issues covered (legitimation, shepherd imagery, righteousness, building activities, martial valor, etc.) are of obvious background interest for Israelite kingship.

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