If I Forget You, Jerusalem! - Studies on the Old Testament - Niels Peter Lemche
16. Geography as Memory
If I Forget You, Jerusalem! - Studies on the Old Testament - Niels Peter Lemche
Niels Peter Lemche [+]
University of Copenhagen
Niels Peter Lemche, has been publishing in the field of Old Testament studies for fifty years. He has been both Assistant Professor at Aarhus University, Denmark, from 1978 to 1986 and Professor of Theology at the University of Copenhagen from 1987 to 2013. He is the founder of the Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament, and a member of the board of the Copenhagen International Seminar (Routledge). He has recently edited (in co-operation with Dr. Jim West) Jeremiah in History and Tradition (Routledge, 2019).
Description
Does the ancient understanding of geography concur with modern ideas? Ancient humans did not share our ideas. They had not experienced any modern “romantic” remoulding of the nature around us – nature would rather be understood as the nature of the human mind. Nature in the ancient sense was a dangerous place to be avoided. Greek and Roman tradition shows a remarkable interest in the landscape as evidenced in Pliny the Older, Pausanias and Strabon but also in Caesar’s Commentaries. The Bible shows, however, little interest in such matters. There are very few examples of what Pierre Nora classifies as lieux de mémoire, places to remember.