Texts in Conversation
Jeremiah 16 forbids entering a marzeah, a communal feast for mourning the dead. The Ugaritic text KTU describes this kind of gathering, where the heroic dead and divinities eat and drink together.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.20
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
The heroic dead will feast, seven times the divinities, eight times the dead. As the assembly draws near on a summer’s day, the divinities will eat, they will drink. The gods of the nut-groves, which is over the slaughter of sacrificial lambs. Seven in my house, eight within my palace. The heroic dead hurried to his sanctuary, to his sanctuary hurried the divinities. They harnessed the chariots, they hitched the horses. They mounted their chariots, they came on their mounts. They journeyed a day and a second.
Date: 2300 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Jeremiah 16:5
Hebrew Bible
4 They will die of deadly diseases. No one will mourn for them. They will not be buried. Their dead bodies will lie like manure spread on the ground. They will be killed in war or die of starvation. Their corpses will be food for the birds and wild animals. 5 “Moreover I, the Lord, tell you: ‘Do not go into a house where they are having a funeral meal. Do not go there to mourn and express your sorrow for them. For I have stopped showing them my good favor, my love, and my compassion. I, the Lord, so affirm it! 6 Rich and poor alike will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned. People will not cut their bodies or shave off their hair to show their grief for them. 7 No one will take any food to those who mourn for the dead to comfort them. No one will give them any wine to drink to console them for the loss of their father or mother.
Search:
Notes and References
“... In 1960, André Caquot was among the first to make the broad connections among the Ugaritic mrzḥ, the Mesopotamian/Syrian kispu, and the sacrifice for the spirit of Panammuwa in KAI 214. Greenfield followed, and Pope enthusiastically agreed, consolidating some earlier comments in a 1980 article which adjudged: ‘Despite unfounded skepticism in some quarters, there is scant reason to doubt that the West Semitic Marzeah was a feast for and with the departed ancestors.’ According to Pope, the Ugaritic Rephaim were ‘the spirits, ghosts, or shades of the departed deified ancestors who were wined and dined in communal meals with the family, the revered ancestors and the great gods. This funeral feast, corresponding to the Mesopotamian kispu, was ... the Marzeah of the Bible.’ ...”
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.