Michael B. Hundley, "Gods in Dwellings: Temples and Divine Presence in the Ancient Near East"
English | ISBN: 158983920X | 2013 | 452 pages | PDF | 4 MB
Gods In Dwellings examines temples and the gods who inhabit them in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Hittite Anatolia, and Syria-Palestine. It is thus concerned with official religion, with exploring the interface between human and divine in the major temples of the ancient Near East (ANE). Rather than offering an exhaustive survey of the data, the study explores the common themes in each region and offers a wide interpretive lens through which to view them. More particularly, this project examines such issues as: 1) ANE perceptions of the divine; 2) what temple structure communicates, how it was understood to function, and its ideology; 3) how to install the divine presence in a temple, often in the form of a cult image; 4) the relationship between deity and image(s); 5) how a god's presence in the temple, particularly in the cult statue, is related to his or her divine essence and presence elsewhere; and 6) how humanity serves the deity in order to ensure continued presence.
