You have no items in your shopping cart.
Close
Search
Filters

Ritual Dynamic Structure

The present work takes up the neglected quest for a theory of ritual and methodology of analysis that recognizes and traces the contours of ritual dynamic structure. The resulting fresh approach provides a controlled framework for interpreting rituals belonging to various cultures and for identifying bases of comparison between them. The first part of ritual dynamic structure builds a theory and definition of ritual and a corresponding methodology for analyzing specific rituals in terms of their activities and the meanings attached to those activities. The second part illustrates this methodology and its usefulness for comparative studies by applying it to ceremonies of cult purification in the ancient Near East.
Publisher: Gorgias Press LLC
Availability: In stock
SKU (ISBN): 1-59333-229-7
  • *
Publication Status: In Print
Series: Gorgias Studies in ReligionGD 14, Religion 1
Publication Date: Jan 1,2004
Interior Color: Black
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Page Count: 0
ISBN: 1-59333-229-7
$123.00
Ship to
*
*
Shipping Method
Name
Estimated Delivery
Price
No shipping options

Scientific study of rituals requires an understanding of their nature. As perceived by H. Hubert and M. Mauss (Essai sur la nature et la fonction du sacrifice, 1898), a basic aspect of the nature of sacrificial ritual is its dynamic structure. The present work takes up the neglected quest for a theory of ritual and methodology of analysis that recognize and trace the contours of ritual dynamic structure.

The resulting fresh approach provides a controlled framework for interpreting rituals belonging to various cultures and for identifying bases of comparison between them. Two important innovations are:

1. Application of General Systems Theory concepts to study human rituals as hierarchically structured human activity systems.

2. Application of F. Staal's "ritual syntax"(developed in the context of Vedic studies) to ancient Near Eastern rituals.

The first part of Ritual Dynamic structure builds a theory and definition of ritual and a corresponding methodology for analyzing specific rituals in terms of their activities and the meanings attached to those activities. The second part illustrates this methodology and its usefulness for comparative studies by applying it to ceremonies belonging to three ancient Near Eastern festival days of cult purification: the Israelite Day of Atonement, the fifth day of the Babylonian New Year Festival of Spring, and the fourth day of the Hittite Ninth Year Festival of Telipinu.

Scientific study of rituals requires an understanding of their nature. As perceived by H. Hubert and M. Mauss (Essai sur la nature et la fonction du sacrifice, 1898), a basic aspect of the nature of sacrificial ritual is its dynamic structure. The present work takes up the neglected quest for a theory of ritual and methodology of analysis that recognize and trace the contours of ritual dynamic structure.

The resulting fresh approach provides a controlled framework for interpreting rituals belonging to various cultures and for identifying bases of comparison between them. Two important innovations are:

1. Application of General Systems Theory concepts to study human rituals as hierarchically structured human activity systems.

2. Application of F. Staal's "ritual syntax"(developed in the context of Vedic studies) to ancient Near Eastern rituals.

The first part of Ritual Dynamic structure builds a theory and definition of ritual and a corresponding methodology for analyzing specific rituals in terms of their activities and the meanings attached to those activities. The second part illustrates this methodology and its usefulness for comparative studies by applying it to ceremonies belonging to three ancient Near Eastern festival days of cult purification: the Israelite Day of Atonement, the fifth day of the Babylonian New Year Festival of Spring, and the fourth day of the Hittite Ninth Year Festival of Telipinu.

Write your own review
  • Only registered users can write reviews
*
*
Bad
Excellent
*
*
*
*
Contributor

RoyGane

  • Preface
  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • "Intrinsic Activity" Perspective
  • "Cognitive Task" Perspective
  • "Ritual Syntax" Perspective
  • Israelite "Day of Atonement"
  • Babylonian New Year Festival, Fifth Day
  • Hittite Telipinu Festival, Fourth Day
  • Ritual Complexes
  • Conclusion
  • Appendix I: Critique of Hubert and Mauss
  • Appendix II: The Ninth Year Telipinu Festival
Customers who bought this item also bought
Picture of The Wisdom of Isaac of Nineveh

The Wisdom of Isaac of Nineveh

From one of the most thought-provoking writers in the monastic tradition, this volume contains 153 short, contemplative sayings of St. Isaac of Nineveh (fl. 661-681 CE) in their original Syriac with facing English translation. St. Isaac was ordained bishop of Nineveh but resigned his post only five months later and became a monastic hermit in the mountains of southeastern Iraq. This work speaks to believing Christians today as well as scholars wishing to learn more about the Eastern monastic tradition.
$32.00 $22.40
ImageFromGFF

A Brief Introduction to the Semitic Languages

With a written history of nearly five thousand years, the Semitic languages comprise one of the world’s earliest and longest attested families. This volume provides an overview of this important language family, including both ancient and modern languages. After a brief introduction to the history of the family and its internal classification, subsequent chapters cover topics in phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexicon. Each chapter describes features that are characteristic of the Semitic language family as a whole, as well as some of the more extraordinary developments that take place in the individual languages.
$40.00
Picture of Daughter Zion's Trauma

Daughter Zion's Trauma

Daughter Zion's Trauma offers a new critical reading of the Book of Lamentations through the lens of trauma studies. Through structural analysis and use of the concept of non-referential history as a heuristic lens, Yansen yields fresh insights into the book’s form, language, and larger "historical" significance. Utilizing insights from study of the rhetorical dimensions of the trauma process in cultural trauma, this study asserts that Lamentations strategically adapts certain religious traditions to ensure the survival of those whose voices it echoes.
$128.00 $89.60
Picture of The Zaydi Reception of Bahshamite Muʿtazilism Facsimile Edition of MS Shiraz, Library of the Faculty

The Zaydi Reception of Bahshamite Muʿtazilism Facsimile Edition of MS Shiraz, Library of the Faculty

Iranian libraries hold only few manuscripts that testify to the extended and intensive Muʿtazilite past in the various centers of Zaydi scholarship in the Caspian region, in Ḫurāsān, and in Rayy. Among the few Muʿtazilite Zaydi works preserved in the libraries of Iran is a miscellany held by the library of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Shiraz (ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī Library). The maǧmūʿa, a facsimile of which is included in the present publication, was written between 673/1274-75 and 676/1277 and contains doctrinal works by Imāmi and Zaydi theologians from both Iran and from Yemen. Most of the codex consists of a theological summa, a taʿlīq that had been composed or transcribed by one Abū Ṭāhir b. ʿAlī al-Ṣaffār which was based on the Kitāb al-Uṣūl by Abū ʿAlī Muḥammad b. Ḫallād al-Baṣrī, the distinguished disciple of the Muʿtazilite theologian and founder of the Bahšamiyya, Abū Hāšim al-Ǧubbāʾī (d. 321/933), with an unknown number of commentary layers in between.
$290.00