Avar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Life and Society in the Ancient Near East

Layers of Abjection

Alexiana Fry — 2024-07-23

The unnamed pilegesh of Judges 19 has been understood and labeled as “abject.” However, to only see her as abject as it pertains to the text is to miss the layered aspects of her abjection. She is not only abject literally and literarily but also abject as she is a symbol of abjection for the social body of Ancient Judah, a figure by which they understand and make sense of their traumas. The dismembered pilegesh thus demonstrates how corporeal violence to her body is used to think within the ancient world, how her body continues to demonstrate the subjugation of precarious bodies, and the way her body demonstrates theological claims and ideas—on multiple layers. Finally, in a manner of self-reflexivity, this article considers my posture as continuing her abjection. While this will not and cannot redress her abjection, exposing these layers is an attempt at re-membering.

Where have all the Ur III seals gone?

Jacob L. Dahl — 2024-07-23

In this paper I analyse the late 3rd millennium and early 2nd millennium seals in two mid-size collections and reach the conclusion that exceedingly few of them date to the Ur III period (c. 2100 – 2000 BC). I include some observations on other collections. I then ask the basic question: where have all the Ur III seals gone? After briefly exploring other options, I suggest with online visual evidence, that the vast majority of the Ur III seals were re-cut in the Old Babylonian period. At the end of the paper, I suggest that the absence or presence of seals from specific periods can be used to model larger historical trends.

Eastern Light on Jerusalem

Robert D. Miller II, OFS — 2024-07-23

If the Post-Exilic period is now held to be the main phase of scribal production for the Hebrew Bible, understanding education in the Persian Empire is essential. Biblical scholarship has largely depended on evidence from earlier (Babylonian) or later (Hellenistic) periods, which is not applicable. This essay draws on direct evidence of Persian education in the eastern provinces to suggest a model of broader Persian scribalism.

Front Matter

Eric M. Trinka — 2024-07-23