Women and the Religion of Ancient Israel (The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library | AYBRL)

by Susan Ackerman

Publisher:

Yale University Press

, 2022

Overview

A synthetic reconstruction of women’s religious engagement and experiences in preexilic Israel

Throughout the biblical narrative, ancient Israelite religious life is dominated by male actors. When women appear, they are often seen only on the periphery: as tangential, accidental, or passive participants. However, despite their absence from the written record, they were often deeply involved in religious practice and ritual observance.

In this new volume, Susan Ackerman presents a comprehensive account of ancient Israelite women’s religious lives and experiences. She examines the various sites of their practice, including household shrines, regional sanctuaries, and national temples; the calendar of religious rituals that women observed on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis; and their special roles in religious settings. Drawing on texts, archaeology, and material culture, and documenting the distinctions between Israelite women’s experiences and those of their male counterparts, Ackerman reconstructs an essential picture of women’s lived religion in ancient Israelite culture.

Key Features

• Presents a comprehensive account of ancient Israelite women’s religious lives and experiences
• Examines the various sites of their practice, including household shrines, regional sanctuaries, and national temples
• Reconstructs an essential picture of women’s lived religion in ancient Israelite cultur

Contents

• List of Illustrations
• Acknowledgments
• List of Abbreviations
• Introduction

Part 1 Where? the Sites of Women's Religious Practice

• 1 "Micah's Mother Had Made a Cast-Metal Figurine": Women and Ancient Israelite Household Religion, I
• 2 "The Women Knead Dough": Women and Ancient Israelite Household Religion, II
• 3 "She Went Up with Her Husband to Offer the Annual Sacrifice": Women and Ancient Israel's Regional Sanctuaries, I
• 4 "She Prayed to Yahweh, She Wept … and She Made a Vow' Women and Ancient Israel's Regional Sanctuaries, II
• 5 "This Is the King's Sanctuary and a Temple of the Kingdom' Women and Ancient Israel's State Temples, I
• 6 "At the Time of Her Menstruation, She Shall Be Unclean": Women and Ancient Israel's State Temples, II

Part 2 When? the Calendar of Women's Religious Lives

• 7 "There Is a Yearly Sacrifice … for All the Family": The Israelite Woman's Ritual Year, I
• 8 "You Will Make Three Pilgrimage Journeys to Me": The Israelite Woman's Ritual Year, II

Part 3 Who? Women Religious Functionaries

• 9 "When the Young Women of Shiloh Come Out to Dance in the Dances": Women Ritual Musicians in Ancient Israel
• 10 "The Daughters of Your People Who Prophesy": Ancient Israel's Women Prophets
• 11 "Find Me a Woman Who Is a Medium": Ancient Israel's Women Magicians
• 12 "The Sobe'ôt Who Served at the Entrance to the Tent of Meeting": Determining Their Religious Role
• 13 "The Qedešâ Among the Daughters of Israel": Defining Her Identity Within the Israelite Cult
• Epilogue
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index of Subjects
• Index of Modern Authors
• Index of Ancient Sources

Praise for Women and the Religion of Ancient Israel

This monumental book examines a wealth of data from the Bible, archaeology, and ancient Near Eastern texts and iconography to provide a clear, comprehensive, and compelling analysis of women’s religious lives in preexilic times.

—Carol Meyers, Duke University

The culmination of decades of scholarly study, this landmark work illuminates the important and varied roles of women in ancient Israelite religion. Ackerman thoughtfully probes the where, when, and who of women’s religious life in pre-exilic Israel, insightfully situating the biblical evidence within the cultural and religious life of Iron Age Israel, as revealed by extra-biblical texts, iconography, and the archaeological record. Clearly written and richly documented, this book is most highly recommended.

—Mark S. Smith, Princeton Theological Seminary

This book will change the way you have long thought about women in the world of the Bible. It reads like a conversation with a brilliant scholar. Susan Ackerman has written wonderful things before, but this is her magnum opus. Full of intelligence and insight, it tells the story of women and Israelite religion in a new and completely compelling way.

—Karel van der Toorn, University of Amsterdam

Product Details

• Title: Women and the Religion of Ancient Israel
• Author: Susan Ackerman
• Series: The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Print Publication Date: 2022
• Pages: 576
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Resource ID: LLS:WMNRLGNRFRLBRRY
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-07-25T18:42:34Z

About Susan Ackerman

Susan Ackerman is Associate Professor of Religion at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. The author of Under Every Green Tree: Popular Religion in Sixth-Century Judah, she lives in Lebanon, New Hampshire.