• Ruin Hills at the Threshold of the Netherworld: The Tell in the Conceptual Landscape of the Ba'al Cycle and Ancient Near Eastern Mythology

    Author(s):
    Matthew Suriano (see profile)
    Date:
    2012
    Group(s):
    Ancient Near East, Assyriologists, Biblical Studies, Religious Studies
    Subject(s):
    Religions, Mediterranean Region, History, Ancient, Archaeology, Assyriology, Middle East, Area studies
    Item Type:
    Article
    Tag(s):
    archaeology, Mythology, Ancient Mediterranean religions, Near Eastern studies, Religious studies
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6JT1R
    Abstract:
    In the Ba‘al Cycle’s description of the threshold separating the realms of the dead from that of the living, the key reference point is described as “the two tells (at) the boundary of the netherworld” (CAT 1.4 viii, 4). The specific word used to describe both topographical features is tl, the tell, an object well known in the archaeology of the Near East. The objects here are significant because they are literally ruin hills; specifically, they represent artificial topographical features. This nuance of the word tl distinguishes it from concepts of cosmic mountains shared with other cultures, but relates it to occurrences of the Sumerian cognate in terms such as DU6 KU3 (“Sacred Tell”) and SAḪAR.DU6.TAG4 (roughly translated as “burial tell”). This paper will begin with an archaeological and philological analysis of the Semitic term tl, informed by Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of the chronotope, in order to foreground the mythological valence of the two tells in the Ugaritic epic myth. The meaning instantiated by the word tell, as “ruin” and “hill,” allowed it to serve as an embodiment of time and space in the Ba‘al Cycle and other ancient Near Eastern literatures, demarcating cosmological thresholds and delineating boundaries of competing space.
    Metadata:
    xml
    Published as:
    Journal article     Show details
    Publisher:
    Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
    Pub. Date:
    2012
    Journal:
    Die Welt des Orients
    Volume:
    42
    Issue:
    2
    Page Range:
    210 - 230
    ISSN:
    0043-2547
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    6 years ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved
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