The texts of the Hebrew Bible want to trace a path in the memory of a people and of the world that lives: recent research indicates the creation of this "history" as a point of arrival and not of departure of the ancient Jewish literary tradition; different literary genres and different currents of thought contributed to this creative process. In the course we will start from the relationship between biblical narrative and history of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah (as can be reconstructed from sources and archaeology) to touch on other essential issues in the study of the scriptures: the canonical text in the light of the parallel traditions, the myth in the Bible and what functions it performs, the comparison with the historiographical traditions of the Mediterranean civilizations, both oriental and classical.
Curriculum
teacher profile teaching materials
The course will be centered on "writing as remembering", a theme Scriptures developed in different literary genres (historiography, novel, myth, poetry...), touching several central questions in the study of Hebrew Bible, such as Biblical narrative compared with the history we can reconstruct from archeological findings and external sources, place and function of myth in the Bible, historiography in the Bible and in ancient Mediterranean civilizations.
Giovanni Garbini, History and Ideology of Ancient Israel, SCM, 1988
Notes and texts suggested/distributed during course sessions.
Programme
Memory, Writing and History in the BibleThe course will be centered on "writing as remembering", a theme Scriptures developed in different literary genres (historiography, novel, myth, poetry...), touching several central questions in the study of Hebrew Bible, such as Biblical narrative compared with the history we can reconstruct from archeological findings and external sources, place and function of myth in the Bible, historiography in the Bible and in ancient Mediterranean civilizations.
Core Documentation
Jan Assmann, Cultural Memory and Early Civilization, Cambridge University Press 2012Giovanni Garbini, History and Ideology of Ancient Israel, SCM, 1988
Notes and texts suggested/distributed during course sessions.
Reference Bibliography
John J. Collins, A Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible, Fortress Press, 2007 Israel Finkelstein - Neil A. Silberman, The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's new vision of Ancient Israel and the origin of Its Sacred Texts, The Free Press, 2001 Giovanni Garbini, Myth and History in the Bible, Sheffield Academic Press 2009Type of delivery of the course
The course includes (unless otherwise required) two hours of lectures per week and two hours of discussion on the texts studied (in translation).Attendance
Students not attending classes must contact prof. MoroType of evaluation
The student will discuss on request of the examiner not less than three topics included in the program. teacher profile teaching materials
The course will be centered on "writing as remembering", a theme Scriptures developed in different literary genres (historiography, novel, myth, poetry...), touching several central questions in the study of Hebrew Bible, such as Biblical narrative compared with the history we can reconstruct from archeological findings and external sources, place and function of myth in the Bible, historiography in the Bible and in ancient Mediterranean civilizations.
Giovanni Garbini, History and Ideology of Ancient Israel, SCM, 1988
Notes and texts suggested/distributed during course sessions.
Programme
Memory, Writing and History in the BibleThe course will be centered on "writing as remembering", a theme Scriptures developed in different literary genres (historiography, novel, myth, poetry...), touching several central questions in the study of Hebrew Bible, such as Biblical narrative compared with the history we can reconstruct from archeological findings and external sources, place and function of myth in the Bible, historiography in the Bible and in ancient Mediterranean civilizations.
Core Documentation
Jan Assmann, Cultural Memory and Early Civilization, Cambridge University Press 2012Giovanni Garbini, History and Ideology of Ancient Israel, SCM, 1988
Notes and texts suggested/distributed during course sessions.
Reference Bibliography
John J. Collins, A Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible, Fortress Press, 2007 Israel Finkelstein - Neil A. Silberman, The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's new vision of Ancient Israel and the origin of Its Sacred Texts, The Free Press, 2001 Giovanni Garbini, Myth and History in the Bible, Sheffield Academic Press 2009Type of delivery of the course
The course includes (unless otherwise required) two hours of lectures per week and two hours of discussion on the texts studied (in translation).Attendance
Students not attending classes must contact prof. MoroType of evaluation
The student will discuss on request of the examiner not less than three topics included in the program.