Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

An Aramaic Ritual for Burning Straw in Sefire IA:36–37

An Aramaic Ritual for Burning Straw in Sefire IA:36–37 AbstractThe Old Aramaic inscription Sefire I (KAI 222) includes, in a series of mimetic curses, a debated clause that has been read by most previous scholars to involve a mysterious {gnbʾ} gannābaʾ(?) ‘thief’, which (or who?) is symbolically burned (Sefire IA:36–37). The present article argues that there are lexicographic (cognates in later Aramaic dialects) and phonological (geminate prenasalization) grounds for understanding {gnbʾ} to encode instead ganbaʾ (< *gabbaʾ) ‘straw’. The burning of this straw to symbolize consequences should a treaty partner renege has clear parallels in Mesopotamian and Syro-Anatolian magical and ritual language, including treaty curses, and produces a more typical image in a list of mimetic curses involving materials (wax), objects (a bow and arrow), and animals (a calf). http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Aramaic Studies Brill

An Aramaic Ritual for Burning Straw in Sefire IA:36–37

DeGrado, Jessie; Richey, Madadh
Aramaic Studies , Volume 20 (2): 23 – Dec 15, 2022
Download PDF
23 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/brill/an-aramaic-ritual-for-burning-straw-in-sefire-ia-36-37-49cHFSv9OB
Publisher
Brill
Copyright
Copyright © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
1477-8351
eISSN
1745-5227
DOI
10.1163/17455227-bja10038
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

AbstractThe Old Aramaic inscription Sefire I (KAI 222) includes, in a series of mimetic curses, a debated clause that has been read by most previous scholars to involve a mysterious {gnbʾ} gannābaʾ(?) ‘thief’, which (or who?) is symbolically burned (Sefire IA:36–37). The present article argues that there are lexicographic (cognates in later Aramaic dialects) and phonological (geminate prenasalization) grounds for understanding {gnbʾ} to encode instead ganbaʾ (< *gabbaʾ) ‘straw’. The burning of this straw to symbolize consequences should a treaty partner renege has clear parallels in Mesopotamian and Syro-Anatolian magical and ritual language, including treaty curses, and produces a more typical image in a list of mimetic curses involving materials (wax), objects (a bow and arrow), and animals (a calf).

Journal

Aramaic Studies – Brill

Published: Dec 15, 2022

There are no references for this article.