Genesis 12-25 in die lig van grafgebruike en grafvertellinge gedurende die Ystertydperk in Palestina

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:Apart from the literature of Ancient Israel itself, and contemporary literature from theancient Near East, archaeological data continue to be an important source for thehistorian seeking to elucidate a history of ancient Israel or certain aspects of thathistory. Notwithstanding certain developments in the field of Biblical scholarship aswell as archaeology, the discipline of Biblical archaeology continues to survive as theframework in which these two disciplines join forces, and, quite possibly, may enterinto the historical discourse in meaningful dialogue with each other. The historicaldiscourse of course, is multidimensional, that is to say, the insights deriving from adiversity of methodological approaches are being integrated and related to each otherin order to gain an improved understanding of the Old Testament (or certain aspectsthereof), and the cultural-historical context from which the Old Testament came to be.Of decisive importance for Biblical archaeology is the foundation on which thisdialogue takes place, after all, the basis on which the dialogue takes place has adetermining influence on the collection and interpretation of archaeological data; andthe use of them, similarly, on the understanding and interpretation of the Bible.The title of this dissertation suffices to indicate that the focus is on burial stories andburial customs in Palestine during the Iron Age. The dissertation then proceeds toshow how a certain aspect of Old Testament views of death and dying, that is thecoherence between posterity (the living) and the ancestors (those who have died) -which, among other things surface in the genealogical presentation of burial stories -can be understood from the burial customs in Syro-Palestine. In that respect thearchaeological data contributes to an understanding of the death notices (presentingthemselves as genealogical material in family burial stories) within the culturalhistoricalmilieu in which they appear. The coherence between religious documentsand their cultural embeddedness contributes to a bettter understanding of thetheological significance of the relevant texts. In addition to the fact that archaeology expands the database of historical discourse,important aspects of the Old Testament world of experience and historical contextcome to the fore that have so far been ignored in this discipline. An importantaspect of burial customs, in terms of both the archaeological record (family graves)and the literary legacy of Ancient Israel (death notices and genealogies in the OldTestament) is the continuing relationship between the preceeding generations (theancestors that have passed on) and the posterity (the community of those stillliving).The connection established in family burial stories between genealogical material(death notices) and the family burial customs highlights an important perspective,that is, the relation between the preceeding generations and the community stillliving as an element of the expectation of the future, or the future-directedness ofAncient Israel. The expectation of the future, with specific reference to the grave, isdefined in terms of continuity in the generational community of familial relations.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University