NEWS and Upcoming events
Next Event:
Tuesday, November 22
4:00 pm, 254 Barrows
"The Archaeology of Extispicy: Modeling Divination in Bronze Age Mesopotamia"
Prof. Matthew Rutz, Brown University
Extispicy, the examination of a sacrificial animal’s entrails for divine signs, enjoyed both prestige and longevity as a cultural practice in the Near East during the Bronze Age. Evidence from cuneiform tablets as well as models of the organs themselves has been found in present-day Iraq, Iran, Syria, Palestine, and Anatolia, raising questions about the origins, diffusion, and adaptation of what is commonly construed as a ‘Mesopotamian’ or ‘Babylonian’ system of knowledge. In this paper Matthew Rutz will examine both the regional distribution and specific archaeological contexts of the source material with an emphasis on the early second millennium BCE. His goal is to illustrate how certain archaeological, historical, and philological methods and assumptions have permeated the discussion of this formative period in the history of Mesopotamian divination.
Upcoming Events:
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Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting session
Bible in Ancient and Modern Media:
"Memory, Identity, and the Circulation of Biblical Culture" (click for session description and paper abstracts)
Monday, November 21, 2011
4:00 - 6:30 PM
Room: Marriott Marquis, Yerba Buena 11
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What is the Memory and identity working group?
The Memory and Identity Working Group of the Department of Near Eastern Studies of the University of California, Berkeley exists to foster scholarship and encourage dialogue across the department's diverse traditions.
The working group revolves around the concept of Memory and Identity, a theoretical approach to understanding the formation of history and culture evidenced in texts, film, and other media.
The Memory and Identity Working Group is sponsored by the Doreen B. Townsend Center for the Humanities and the Department of Near Eastern Studies of the University of California, Berkeley.
Follow us on Twitter @MemoryIdentity and at berkeleymemoryid.wordpress.com
