The Cultic Versus the Forensic: Judahite and Mesopotamian Judicial Procedures in the First Millennium B.C.E
نویسنده
چکیده
Throughout most periods of ancient Near Eastem history, religious rituals frequently played an important role in the resolution of legal disputes that were brought to trial. It appears that judges would sometimes make use of them arbitrarily but often when they felt the available evidence was insufficient or at least too ambiguous to render a decisive verdict. The rituals—or cultic procedures, as I will call them—fall essentially into three categories, memorable for their alliteration: the oath, the oracle, and the ordeal. Each term is sometimes preceded by the word "judicial" to distinguish it from similar rituals that occurred outside the context of a trial. By means of these procedures, courts appealed to the divine realm to help decide the matter at hand. Some recent scholarship has observed changes in how and how often these procedures were used in later periods, predominantly in Mesopotamia. These Studies suggest that the degree to which Mesopotamian courts relied on such methods decreased in the Neo-Assyrian, Neo-Babylonian, and Persian periods. ' Trials began to take on a less religious orientation. In light of the changes that occur, some have gone so far as to propose a process of "secularization" during this time in Mesopotamia.^ The relevant evidence from Mesopotamia—cuneiform texts related to trial proceedings and other judicial matters—deserves a more thorough examination than it has previously received. In addition, evidence from biblical texts, specifically Deuteronomic and priestly legal
منابع مشابه
The Cultic vs. the Forensic: Judahite and Mesopotamian Judicial Procedures in the First Millennium B.c.e
متن کامل
Symbols of Fertility and Abundance in the Royal Cemetery at Ur, Iraq
Fertility and abundance are important themes of ancient Mesopotamian texts and images. The goddess Inanna and her consort Dumuzi personify these ideas in texts of the second millennium B.C.E. Excavated by Leonard Woolley in the 1920s, the Royal Cemetery at Ur dates to the mid third millennium B.C.E. Among the tombs, that of Queen Puabi yielded many ornaments of gold, carnelian, and lapis. Some ...
متن کاملIntroduction of the State Committee for Judicial Investigations of Belarus
The establishment of political relations between Belarus and Iran is more than 20 years ago. Although Belarus is an Eastern European country, many parts of its forensic system (the State Committee for Judicial Investigations of Belarus) are not unlike the current process of the Forensic Medicine Organization in Iran. Therefore, in this article, in order to acquaint our forensic physicions with ...
متن کاملCharacteristics of Traffic Accidents in Referrals to Bandar Abbas Forensic Medical Center with Detecting of Fictitious Injuries in the One Year Period from 2016 to 2017
Aim(s): In recent years, fictitious accidents have become a serious problem for the insurance and judiciary. The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of traffic accidents in referrals to Bandar Abbas forensic medical center with detecting of fictitious injuries in the one year period from 2016 to 2017. Instruments & Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 58 inju...
متن کاملناباروری از دیدگاه پزشکی قانونی
As a Speciality in medicine, forensic medicine deals with medical aspects of judicial Issues. Since all cases in medical practice could potentially be refered to judicial authorities, specialists of forensic medicine deal with a wide range of medical issues.During the past decade, infertility has been one of the important issues in this context. In this article the author has studied the most c...
متن کامل