It's a living

[dreamer_easy]

I assume Yahweh is referred to as "the living god" to contrast Him with lifeless idols. Now, my understanding is that the Hebrews were henotheists: their neighbours' gods existed, but were not to be worshipped, and in any case were subordinate to Yahweh. However, quick search turns up the first use of "the living god" in Deuteronomy. So now I'm wondering - did "living god" have a different meaning, for example, a deity without idols or images?

Comments

[adrian-middle.livejournal.com]

It almost certainly has its origins in the En?lish - the term daiwa comes from Sanskrit, and the practice seen throughout Mesopotamian myth, though rarely explicitly. Daiwa- has the same root as daeva- or div-, which originally meant "God" but was later used to mean "God tainted by evil".

I think the primary example is Marduk's slaying of Tiamat, which paralleled Hammurabi's rise to power. Outside of Marduk's many, many conquests, the practice is implicit rather than explicit.

Any good examination of Persian conquest and religion should discuss it. I think I first came across it in a biography of Alexander the Great, who adopted a similar practice.

Its not been used in fiction much, and its rare for me to cite Anne Rice as a source for anything, but ISTR that her stand-alone novel Servant of the Bones touched on it as well.

[adrian-middle.livejournal.com]

En?lish = Enuma Elish, The Babylonian Book of Creation.

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

This may have been a feature of Persian religion, but I've never come across it in Sumerian or Babylonian religion, explicitly or implicitly. Enuma Elish postdates Hammurabi by a millennium. If Tiamat had a cult anywhere, AFAIK no record of it has been found. I'm not aware of any other god said to have been killed by Marduk - rather, the rest of the pantheon elect him as their leader.

[adrian-middle.livejournal.com]

Well the Seven Tablets are subject to a lot of interpretation. During the course of the story Marduk doesn't just get *elected* as leader, he *becomes* the other gods. The fifty names of Marduk emphasise his ascendance to become Lord of the Gods through "acquisition".

The evidence of Marduk's conquests lies in the evidence of Hammurabi's. Cities were synonymous with gods, and Marduk was Hammurabi's patron, and was attributed with the foundation of Edridu. Thus every conquered city represented a god whose attributes were assumed by Marduk. By 1000BC Marduk was a supreme god, having subsumed every cult in the Eurphrates - only Asshur in Assyria could rival him. Indeed, many of the representations of Marduk show him with the weapons and symbols of other gods, including Tishpak's snake-dragon and a spade.

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

That's an intriguing interpretation of the fifty names. (Can you give me any references so I can pursue it?)

[adrian-middle.livejournal.com]

Sorry, as a casual reader I rarely check references unless its really important to me at the time, and its been a while (at least five years) since I read up on this.

I do recall it was an annotation of the Enuma Elish that pointed out that although the fifty names were conferred by the Igigi, some were also the names of cities (eg. Nibiru, I think), and the listing was similar to the practice of Kings listing their military conquests. While the Igigi could have given up their attributes and divine portfolios voluntarily, it would be unique (Except in the case of Ea passing on his own name in addition to the fifty, thus bestowing absolute rulership to Marduk).

I've gone through what books I still have, but can't find anything on Daiwadana, so that part is entirely reliant on my memory.

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

Five years! You have a remarkable memory!

[adrian-middle.livejournal.com]

At the time I was playing a PBM simulation game where started out as Governor of Judah and ended up Shahr of Persia. I was desperatly trying to give my characters and cities authenic Aryan names.

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

... Black and Green, right? :-) "... Marduk became more and more important until it was possible for the author of the Babylonian Epic of Creation to maintain that not only was Marduk king of all the gods but that many of the latter were no more than aspects of his persona - hence the Hymn of the Fifty Names of Marduk..." They also mention the spade (although it wasn't taken from another god) and the snake-dragon (adopted from Tishpak).

To return to your original point, there's no evidence here of the ritual slaying of one Mesopotamian god by another. Marduk may have assimilated some other deities, but major gods like Ishtar were still going strong during his ascendancy, with separate cults.

[adrian-middle.livejournal.com]

Well the practice of Daiwadana was associated with Marduk when I came across it. I'm pulling my hair out over where the offending book might be. I'd never heard of the term previously. Maybe someone on one of the ancient history groups might know more about it.

Ea also had fifty names. Not sure if they were the same fifty.