Upon the Roof of the Temple: Reconstructing Cognitive Aspects of Ancient Levantine Small-Scale Altar Usage

Among the ritual practices denigrated through explicit or implicit criticism levied by the biblical writers is the worship of a deity or deities on the rooftops – sometimes of royal architecture, and at other times on private houses. In the present study I interpret this practice using concepts deri...

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Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Hutton, Jeremy M. 1976- (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
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Publié: Brill 2022
Dans: Journal of ancient Near Eastern religions
Année: 2022, Volume: 22, Numéro: 2, Pages: 161-223
Sujets non-standardisés:B Conceptual Blending
B Incense
B Altars
B cognitive science of religion
B Sacrifice
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Description
Résumé:Among the ritual practices denigrated through explicit or implicit criticism levied by the biblical writers is the worship of a deity or deities on the rooftops – sometimes of royal architecture, and at other times on private houses. In the present study I interpret this practice using concepts derived from the cognitive science of religion (CSR) and cognitive linguistics. I summarize previous typologies of objects employed in the sacrificial cult of the ancient Southern Levant, confirming prior arguments for understanding shaft-type limestone altars as stylized models of architectural precursors. From a cognitive perspective, these stylized architectural models prompted offrants to run a conceptual blend that replaced the modest small-scale vegetable or incense offering of the offrant’s small-scale input space with the more sumptuous small-scale offering – or even large-scale animal sacrifice – of the monumental-scale input. This cognitive explanation provides explanation for Deuteronomistic and Priestly attempts to limit the practice, and occasions insight into the temporal aspects of “sacred space.”
ISSN:1569-2124
Contient:Enthalten in: Journal of ancient Near Eastern religions
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15692124-12341331