17. Late Historical Edom and Reading Edom, Seir, and Esau in the Prophetic Literature through Persian Lenses: Preliminary Observations
About Edom and Idumea in the Persian Period - Recent Research and Approaches from Archaeology, Hebrew Bible Studies and Ancient Near Eastern Studies - Benedikt Hensel
Diana V. Edelman [+ ]
University of Oslo
Diana V. Edelman is Professor Emerita of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Oslo. Her own research focuses on the history, archaeology, and literature of the southern Levant, the development of early forms of Judaisms, and ancient Near Eastern literature viewed from the perspective of social memory. She has thirteen seasons of excavation experience in Israel. While her research tends to focus on the Iron Age and Persian period, she is interested in earlier and later periods and a wide range of topics. Current interests include local responses to imperialism, royal ideology, the development of technology and agriculture, everyday life, issues involving religion and ritual, burial and afterlife beliefs, diaspora studies, migration studies, frontier studies, social memory, ancient economies, and ancient political organization. Her numerous publications include 17 authored or edited books, 44 chapters in edited volumes, 14 articles in refereed journals, 58 dictionary and encyclopedia articles, and 128 book reviews (as of 2/2015).
Description
Are memories concerning Edom, Esau, and Seir in the prophetic texts invented or claimed, and do they better reflect a “culture of resentment” or a “proximate other? This is the question Diana V. Edelman puts into the focus of her essay “Late Historical Edom and Reading Edom, Seir, and Esau in the Prophetic Literature through Persian Lenses: Preliminary Observations.” After reviewing the late-monarchic southern trade routes and supply systems, the essay investigates what would have replaced them in the Neo-Babylonian and Persian periods. It then moves to a reconsideration of the prophetic texts against this new background, exploring the possible development of Edom in Judean social memory in the prophetic corpus.