MAAO-8 Albert Dietz
Storm-Gods were almost omnipresent in the Ancient Near East, especially due to their importance as bringers of life-giving rain and rulers over destructive storms. In Mesopotamia, Syria, Anatolia, the Levant, and Egypt, we encounter them in images and texts. Through the latter, a multitude of Storm-Gods are known to us: from the most important deities of a pantheon to aspect deities and local deities. A connection between the deities mentioned and the depictions in the visual record seems obvious, however, the vast number of deities known from texts does not seem to correspond to the types of Storm-God figures depicted. To explore this discrepancy, the present contribution first discusses theories of exchange, as well as basic features and peculiarities of ancient Near Eastern belief systems. Among these, the multiplicity, fluidity, and translatability of deities play a particularly important role. This is followed by a comprehensive collection of all Storm-God representations in the Ancient Near East from the 3rd millennium to the end of the 2nd millennium.
By contextualising and typologising the evidence in each region, this is the first comprehensive analysis of the pictorial representations of Storm-God figures in the Ancient Near East. Due to the extensive collection and statistical evaluation, a diachronic and cross-regional analysis makes it possible to discuss the relationship of names of gods to representations of gods in addition to an investigation of international exchange processes. Whether an image of a god needs a fixed name is discussed in the end. This volume makes significant contributions to the understanding of ancient Near Eastern Storm-Gods and their representation in imagery by situating them in historical, social, political, and culture context.
MAAO-8 (Münchener Abhandlungen zum Alten Orient, Volume 8)
Albert Dietz
Der Wettergott im Bild
Diachrone Analyse eines altorientalischen Göttertypus im 3. und 2. Jahrtausend v. Chr.
PeWe-Verlag 2023
30 x 21 cm — Hardcover
Part 1: Text
336 pages, with 62 figures, numerous charts, and text
Part 2: Catalogue, Maps, and Tables
386 pages, with 8 maps and 50 tables
ISBN: 978-3-935012-60-7
Price: 98,00 €
© PeWe-Verlag 2023
Date of publication: end August 2023