Cover image for Among the Host of Heaven: The Syro-Palestinian Pantheon as Bureaucracy By Lowell K. Handy

Among the Host of Heaven

The Syro-Palestinian Pantheon as Bureaucracy

Lowell K. Handy

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$48.95 | Hardcover Edition
ISBN: 978-0-931464-84-3

240 pages
6" × 9"
1994

Among the Host of Heaven

The Syro-Palestinian Pantheon as Bureaucracy

Lowell K. Handy

This volume provides new directions for thinking about the structure, organization, and “function” of the gods of the Levantine and ancient Near Eastern worlds, arguing that the structure of the pantheon worshiped in Syria-Palestine mirrored the social structure of the city-states of that region.

 

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  • Table of Contents
This volume provides new directions for thinking about the structure, organization, and “function” of the gods of the Levantine and ancient Near Eastern worlds, arguing that the structure of the pantheon worshiped in Syria-Palestine mirrored the social structure of the city-states of that region.

Preface

Abbreviations

1. Introduction

Rethinking the Structure of the Pantheon

The Tenuousness of Theories

Bureaucracy in the Ancient Near East

Ancient Gods and Modern Studies

2. Tablets and Texts

The Ugaritic Texts

Narrative Texts

Ritual Texts

Syro-Palestinian Inscriptions

The ‘Elkunirsha Myth’

The Bible

The History of the Phoenicians by Philo of Byblos

De Dea Syria

Minor Sources

Art

Syro-Palestinian Gods Abroad

The Greek Adonis Myth

Excavations at Ebla

Polemic

3. Authoritative Deities

The Office

The Gods

El

Asherah

El and Asherah: The Titles of Highest Authority

The ‘Owners’

Parents

El and Asherah: Acting as Highest Authority

Wisdom

Order

Malfunctioning

4. Active Deities

The Office

The Gods

Baal

Anat

Mot

Shemesh/Shapshu

Little-Known Deities

The Gods in Office

The Problem of mlk

Spheres of Authority

The Enigmatic Assembly

Malfunctioning

5. Artisan Deities

The Office

The Gods

Kothar-wa-Hasis

The ‘Technogony’ of Philo of Byblos

Marginal Deities

The Gods in Office

Malfunctioning

6. Messenger Deities

The Office

The Gods

Labor-Gods?

Seraphim

The Gods in Service

The Divinity of the Gods

The Work of the Messenger Deities

Malfunctioning

7. Summary

Cosmic Hierarchy

A Reflection of the Authors

Summary

Bibliography

Indexes

Index of Deity Names

Index of Authors

Index of Scripture References

Index of Ancient Sources

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