Ramos Spoken Word and Ritual Performance Dissertation Final

177 Pages·2015·1.05 MB·English

by  Melissa Ramos

UCLA
UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Title
Spoken Word and Ritual Performance: The Oath and the Curse in Deuteronomy 27-28
Permalink
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/48d832zd
Author
Ramos, Melissa Dianne
Publication Date
2015

Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation
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University of California
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles

Spoken Word and Ritual Performance:
The Oath and the Curse in Deuteronomy 27-28

A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of
Philosophy in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures

by

Melissa Dianne Ramos

2015
© Copyright by

Melissa Dianne Ramos

2015
ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION

Spoken Word and Ritual Performance:
The Oath and the Curse in Deuteronomy 27-28

by

Melissa Dianne Ramos
Doctor of Philosophy in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures
University of California, Los Angeles, 2015
Professor William M. Schniedewind, Chair

The composition of Deut 27-28 is shaped by its ritual and performative function and by the
narrative device of a script within a speech: the oral and ritual performance of the covenant
ceremony by the Levites is framed within the speech-command of Moses. Studies of Deut 28
have largely focused on the textual tradition of this chapter and on its parallels with ancient near
eastern treaties, and with the Succession Treaty of Esarhaddon in particular. Many studies view
Deut 28 as a collection of isolated units of curse lines disconnected from the ceremonial
performance of the covenant ratification ceremony detailed in Deut 27. This is due in part to the
commonly held view that chapter 27 is an interpolation and a later addition to the literary unit of
12-26 and 28. However, a re-examination of comparative ancient near eastern evidence and a
fresh literary analysis of 27 suggests that chapters 27-28 form a unified whole. A text-centric
approach to Deut 28 has left largely unexamined the oral and ritual performance described in
Deut 27. Ratification of oaths and treaties in the ancient near east was performative and entailed
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speaking words of power and performing ritual acts such as the slaughter of an animal or the
ceremonial breaking of weapons. Deut 27 also furnishes instructions for the erection of an altar,
ritual sacrifices, and an oral recitation of “all the words of this torah” including the blessings and
curses in chapter 28. This concept of oaths and treaties as scripts is explored using the Aramaic
Sefire treaty as a test case. An analysis of the curse segment of the Sefire treaty shows syntactical
features typical of spoken language, suggesting that the curse portion of the written treaty was
shaped by oral recitation and/or an oral tradition of formulaic curse language. The text-centric
approach to studies of Deut 28 has also hindered examination of parallels between treaties and
ritual and performative texts, and especially incantations. A study of contiguities between Deut
27-28 and the Neo-Assyrian incantation series Maqlû and Šurpu reveals compelling thematic,
linguistic, and formological parallels.

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The dissertation of Melissa Dianne Ramos is approved.
Ra’anan S. Boustan
Giorgio Buccellati
William M. Schniedewind, Committee Chair

University of California, Los Angeles

2015

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For Francisco
הבהאב

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Table of Contents

Abstract of Dissertation ii-iii
Acknowledgements x-xii
Vita xiii-xiv
Chapter One: Introduction 1
Chapter Two: The Performance of Doom in
Deut 27-28 11

Chapter Three: “You Shall Write on the Stones”:
Deut 27-28 as a Literary Unit 44

Chapter Four: “Thus We Have Spoken and Thus We Have
Written”: The Curses of Sefire and Ritual
Oath Performance 74

Chapter Five: Deut 27-28 and Maqlû and Šurpu: Making an
Oath and Countering an Oath 109

Chapter Six: Conclusion 143
Bibliography 150

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List of Tables
Table 1: Comparative Table of Noun to Verb Ratios 86
Table 2: Syntactical Formula of Futility Curses in the Ancient Near East 103
Table 3: Syntactical Formula of Futility Curses in Deut 28 104
Table 4: Oath and Curse Terminology 114
Table 5: Thematic Parallels between Deut 28 and Maqlû
and Šurpu 122-125
Table 6: Parallel Curse Order and Combinations in Deut 27 and Šurpu Tablet II 128

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Abbreviations

AfO Archiv für Orientforschung
BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
BZAW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für alttestamentliche Wissenschaft
COS The Context of Scripture. 3 Volumes.
Edited by William W. Hallo. Leiden, 2003.
FAT Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur des Alten und Neuen
Testaments
IEJ Israel Exploration Journal
JANES Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Studies
JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society
JBL Journal of Biblical Literature
JCS Journal of Cuneiform Studies
JHS Journal of Hebrew Scriptures
JNES Journal of Near Eastern Studies
JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament
JSS Journal of Semitic Studies
MUSJ Mélanges de l’Université Saint-Joseph
RAI Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale
SAA Society for American Archaeology
SBL Society of Biblical Literature
STE Succession Treaty of Esarhaddon
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