- 236 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
Wisdom Discourse in the Ancient World
About this book
This book moves beyond the debate on 'wisdom literature', ongoing in biblical studies, to demonstrate the productivity of 'wisdom' as a literary category. Featuring work by scholars of Egyptology, classics, biblical and Near Eastern studies, it offers fresh perspectives on what makes a text 'wisdom'.
This interdisciplinary volume widens the scope of the investigation into 'wisdom literature', chronologically, geographically, and methodologically. Readers are given insights into how the label 'wisdom' contributes to our understanding of diverse literary forms across time periods and cultural contexts. In the volume's introduction, the editors consider 'wisdom' as a 'discourse', shifting the focus from the debate on whether 'wisdom literature' is a genre to the properties of the texts, namely exploring what makes a text 'wisdom'. This offers a methodological backdrop against which the diverse approaches of the single authors productively coexist. The chapters examine texts that are the products of different ancient cultures, with several of them bridging diverse cultural, social, and chronological contexts. By sampling how different methodologies interact both within individual interpretative efforts and in wider attempts to understand cross-cultural literary phenomena, this volume also contributes new perspectives to the scholarship on ancient literary genres.
Wisdom Discourse in the Ancient World will interest both students and scholars of the ancient Near East, Egyptology, classical studies, biblical studies, and theology and religious studies, particularly those working on wisdom literature in antiquity. It will also appeal to readers with an interest in comparative approaches and genre studies more broadly.
Frequently asked questions
- Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
- Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Half Title
- Title
- Copyright
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- 1 Introduction: âwisdom literaturesâ and the discourse of wisdom
- 2 Reframing wisdom through liminality in Akkadian literature
- 3 Discourses on ethics and ethics of discourse in ancient Egyptian wisdom literature
- 4 Battlefields as teaching spaces: seeing the divine, conversing and fighting in the Iliad and MahÄbhÄrata
- 5 Configuring moral authority in archaic Greek poetry
- 6 What of wisdom in the scrolls? Assessing the expansion of the wisdom literature category from the Hebrew Bible to the Dead Sea Scrolls
- 7 Wisdom and a âwisdom discourseâ: the classicalâbiblical dialectic in Aristobulus and Philo
- 8 A wisdom tale: fable, the Life of Aesop, and the narrative use of wisdom genres
- 9 (Un)exemplary teaching in Boethiusâ De consolatione Philosophiae
- 10 Arabic wisdom literature as a template for reframing wisdom literature
- Index