The Unremembered Dead

The Non-Burial Motif in the Hebrew Bible

The Unremembered Dead examines the motif of non-burial in the Hebrew Bible in its ancient Near Eastern contexts. Mansen proposes a new typology for analyzing these references, and demonstrates the range of functions that the non-burial motif served as a literary weapon in both biblical and extra-biblical texts.

Publisher: Gorgias Press LLC

Availability: In stock

SKU (ISBN): 978-1-4632-0696-3

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Publication Status: In Print

Series: Perspectives on Hebrew Scriptures and its Contexts 26

Publication Date: May 10,2018

Interior Color: Black

Trim Size: 6 x 9

Page Count: 352

Language: English

ISBN: 978-1-4632-0696-3

$145.20

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The Unremembered Dead examines the motif of non-burial in the Hebrew Bible in its ancient Near Eastern contexts. Mansen proposes a new typology for analyzing references to post-mortem abuse and demonstrates the motif's variability of form and range of functions in both biblical and extra-biblical texts. Investigating the social and literary contexts in which the non-burial motif appears, Mansen establishes how gruesome threats functioned as deadly literary weapons within the biblical authors' ideologically-shaped rhetorical arsenal.

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"The Unremembered Dead: The Non-burial Motif in the Hebrew Bible is a work of careful scholarly precision and broad humanistic insight, written in clear, elegant prose. It evokes and addresses important issues, not merely in the academic study of the Hebrew Bible, but also in the academic study of religion and the humanities in general. It exemplifies a degree of discipline and a pursuit of excellence that makes this reviewer look forward to the next effort from its author."

- Byron R. McCane, RBL, 2019

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	Contributor	Biography
	F. Mansen	F. Dorie Mansen is Director of Mission at the Immaculate Conception Parish and School in Marlborough, MA. She holds a Ph.D. in Religious and Theological Studies from Boston University, and has taught at Bangor Theological Seminary and Boston University School of Theology.

Table of Contents (v)
Acknowledgments (ix)
List of Abbreviations (xi)
Chapter 1: Introduction (1)
   “Non-Burial” Defined (2)
   A Revised Typology of Non-Burial (4)
   Death and Burial in Research (6)
   Death and Burial: Trends in Scholarship (7)
   Death, Burial, and the History of Israelite Religion (9)
   Death, Burial, and the History of Israelite Religion: Moderation (18)
   Death and Burial and Redactional History (19)
   Death and Burial Formulary (23)
   Non-Burial Research: Delbert Hillers (28)
   Non-Burial Research: Treaty-Curses (31)
   Non-Burial Research: Source-, Form-, and Ideological-Criticism (34)
   Conclusion (39)
Chapter 2: Death, Burial, and Non-Burial in the Ancient Near East (43)
   Introduction (43)
   Anthropological Archaeology of Death in the Ancient Near East (46)
   Mesopotamia: Sumerian Death Ideology and Non-Burial (53)
   Sumerian “Death” and the “Dead” (53)
   Sumerian Burial and Funerary Offerings (56)
   Sumerian Deprivation of Burial (61)
   Summary (65)
   Mesopotamia: Akkadian Death Ideology and Non-Burial (65)
   Akkadian “Death” and “the Dead” (66)
   Akkadian Burial and Funerary Rites (68)
   Deprivation of Burial (72)
   Ugaritic Death and Burial (84)
   Ugaritic “Death” and the “Dead” (84)
   Ugaritic Burial and Funerary Rites (88)
   Ugaritic Deprivation of Burial (91)
   Egyptian Death and Burial Ideology (95)
   Egyptian “Death” and “the Dead” (95)
   Egyptian Burial and Funerary Rites (97)
   Egyptian Deprivation of Burial (103)
   Phoenician Death and Burial (106)
   Phoenician “Death” and “the Dead” (106)
   Phoenician Burial and Funerary Rites (106)
   Phoenician Deprivation of Burial (108)
   Conclusion (110)
Chapter 3: Death and Burial in Ancient Israel (113)
   Introduction (113)
   Archaeological Evidence for Ancient Israelites’ Death and Burial Ideologies (114)
   Lexical and Literary Evidence for Israelite Death and Burial Ideology (122)
   Characteristics of Death (122)
   Burial (129)
   Inhabitants of the Underworld (138)
   The Underworld (144)
   Funerary Activities and Rites (145)
   Care for the Dead: Food Offerings (148)
   Corpse Impurity (150)
   Conclusion (151)
Chapter 4: The Non-Burial Motif in the Hebrew Bible (153)
   Introduction (153)
   Stereotypical Terminology Associated with Non-Burial (154)
   Predatory Birds and Scavenging Animals (154)
   Corpse Decomposition (156)
   Action and Non-Action: Verbs Employed in Corpse Abuse (156)
   Corpse (158)
   References to Non-Burial in TANAKH (159)
   Non-Burial in Torah (160)
   Non-Burial in the Former Prophets (Deuteronomistic History) (161)
   Non-Burial in the Latter Prophets (167)
   Non-Burial in Writings (174)
   Conclusions (176)
   Excursus: Non-Burial Beyond the Canon: Tobit’s Burial of Cast Aside Corpses (178)
Chapter 5: Applications of the Non-Burial Motif in the Hebrew Bible (183)
   Introduction (183)
   Six Illustrative Examples of Non-Burial in TANAKH (184)
   Israelite Covenant Violators: Deut 28:26 (185)
   David and Goliath…and God: 1 Sam 17:44–47 (190)
   Jeroboam’s Dynasty: 1 Kings 14:10–11 (198)
   The Wilderness Grumblers: Num 14:28–35 (215)
   Babylon and Babylon’s King: Isaiah 14:18–20 (224)
   The Principalities, Politicians, and People of Judah: Jer 7:32–8:3 (235)
   Conclusion (246)
Chapter 6: Implications of the Non-Burial Motif (249)
   Introduction (249)
   Non-Burial as a Military Weapon (251)
   Identity in the Afterlife (256)
   Life and Death and Flesh (256)
   Remembrance and Identity (257)
   Non-Burial as a Literary Weapon in Identity Destruction (261)
   Non-Burial as a Literary Weapon in Covenant Enforcement (264)
   Covenantal Relationship (264)
   Non-Burial Motif in the Covenantal Context (266)
   Diminishment and Destruction of Victim’s Identity (268)
   Establishment or Bolstering of Agent’s Identity (276)
Conclusion (281)
Bibliography (287)
Index (317)

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