In Search of History: Historiography in the Ancient World and the Origins of Biblical History

416 Pages·1983·10.437 MB·English

by  John Van Seters

I N S E A R C H O F
HISTORY
HISTORIOGRAPHY IN THE
ANCIENT WORLD AND THE
ORIGINS OF BIBLICAL HISTORY
JOHN VAN SETERS
IN SEARCH OF HISTORY

I N
S E A R C H
O F
H I S T O R Y
HISTORIOGRAPHY IN THE
ANCIENT WORLD AND THE
ORIGINS OF BIBLICAL HISTORY
JOHN VAN SETERS
YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
NEW HAVEN AND LONDON
Copyright © 1983 by Yale University.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole
or in part, in any form (beyond that
copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108
of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by
reviewers for the public press), without
written permission from the publishers.
Designed by Sally Harris
and set in Sabon type.
Printed in the United States of America by
Vail-Ballou Press, Binghamton, N.Y.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Van Seters, John.
In search of history.
Bibliography: p.
Includes indexes.
1. Near East—History—To 622—Historiography.
2. Bible. O.T. Historical books—Criticism,
interpretation, etc. I. Title
DS62.2V35 1983 939'.4 82-48912
ISBN 0-300-02877-6
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Peter and Deborah

C O N T E N T S
Preface ix
Abbreviations xi
1. INTRODUCTION 1
a. A Definition of History Writing 1
b. The Method of Investigation 6
2. EARLY GREEK HISTORIOGRAPHY 8
a. The Rise of Historiography in Greece 8
b. The Relationship of Epic to Historiography 18
c. Unity in Herodotus and the Old Testament 31
d. The Problem of Sources in Herodotus and the Old Testament 40
3. MESOPOTAMIAN HISTORIOGRAPHY 55
a. Royal Inscriptions 60
b. King Lists 68
c. Omens 77
d. Chronicles 79
e. Historical Epics 92
f. Prophecies 96
4. HITTITE HISTORIOGRAPHY 100
a. Annals 105
b. Political Use of the Past 114
5. EGYPTIAN HISTORIOGRAPHY 127
a. The Palermo Stone and Its Antecedents 131
b. The Turin Canon and Other King Lists 135
c. Royal Inscriptions 138
d. Dedication Inscriptions 141
e. Commemorative Inscriptions 145
f. The Historical Novel 160
g. The Use of the Past as Propaganda 172
h. Biographies 181
vii
viii CONTENTS
6. TEXTS AND INSCRIPTIONS OF THE LEVANT 188
a. The Statue of Idrimi 188
b. Memorial Inscriptions in the Levant 191
c. The Annals of Tyre 195
d. The Literature of Ugarit 199
e. The Phoenician History of Philo Byblius 205
7. ISRAELITE HISTORIOGRAPHY 209
a. The Critical Issues 209
b. Narrative Forms 220
c. The Histories of the Old Testament 227
d. The Idea of History in Israel 237
8. HISTORIOGRAPHY IN THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL 249
a. The Story of Saul 250
b. The Story of David’s Rise 264
c. The Dynastic Promise: 2 Samuel 7 271
d. The Court History of David 277
9. STRUCTURE, GENRE, AND THEME IN THE BOOKS OF
KINGS 292
a. Chronicles, King Lists, and Annals 292
b. The Prophetic Legends 303
c. Thematic Continuity in Samuel and Kings 307
d. The Judgments upon the Kings of Judah and Israel 315
10. THE DEUTERONOMIST FROM JOSHUA TO SAMUEL 322
a. Joshua 1-12 324
b. The Land Division: Joshua 13-24 331
c. Judges 1:1-2:5 337
d. Judges 2:6-16:31 342
e. 1 Samuel 1—7 346
11. CONCLUSIONS 354
Bibliography 363
Index of Authors 379
Index of Biblical References 383
General Index 394
P R E F A C E
The impetus for writing this book came from a faculty seminar on the
theme “Histories and Historians of the Ancient Near East,” which was
held during the 1974-75 academic year by the Department of Near East­
ern Studies at the University of Toronto. The seminar was chaired by John
W. Wevers (see his “Preface” in Orientalin 49 [1980]: 137-39). I want
to make special mention of the papers presented by A. Kirk Grayson on
Mesopotamia, Harry Hoffner on the Hittites, and Donald Redford on
Egypt, because it will be clear in the following chapters which deal with
the historiography of these regions how much I am indebted to their stud­
ies. The contributions of Grayson and Hoffner have appeared subse­
quently in Orientalia 49 (1980): 140-95 and 283-332. Redford’s study
will be published as part of a larger work on Egyptian historiography, en­
titled King-lists, Annals, and Day-books. My own paper in the Toronto
seminar, which dealt with Israelite historiography, has also appeared in
print in Orientalia 50 (1981): 137-85, and is reflected, with some modifi­
cations, in chapters eight and nine.
Most of the research and writing for the present volume was done dur­
ing a study leave in 1979-80, made possible by a fellowship from the John
Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. I am grateful to the foundation
for its support. The University of North Carolina also deserves my sincere
thanks for supplying me with research assistants, for a publication subven­
tion through the James A. Gray trust fund, and for the use of the facilities
of the Institute for Research in the Social Sciences.
A number of scholars have seen various parts of the manuscript and
have offered suggestions and encouragement. Special thanks are due to
William A. Hallo of Yale University, to Hans H. Schmid of Zurich, to
Phillip A. Städter and William C. West, my colleagues in the Classics De­
partment, and to Jack M. Sasson, my colleague in the Department of Reli­
gion. None of these scholars, however, should be held responsible for the
views expressed in this book or any errors that may still remain in it.
I wish also to thank my research assistants, Teresa Smith and Flora
ix