Sacred Marriages: The Divine-Human Sexual Metaphor from Sumer to Early Christianity

Published by Penn State University Press 2008

Sacred Marriages

The Divine-Human Sexual Metaphor from Sumer to Early Christianity

Edited by: Martti Nissinen and Risto Uro

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781575065724

Overview
Contents

About this book

The title of this volume, Sacred Marriages, consciously plays with the traditional concept of sacred marriage, but the plural form, “sacred marriages,” gives the reader an idea that something more is at stake here than a monomaniacal idea of manifestations deriving from a single prototype. Following the guidelines of one of the contributors, Ruben Zimmermann, the editors tentatively define “sacred marriage” as a “real or symbolic union of two complementary entities, imagined as gendered, in a religious context.” “Sacred marriages” (plural), then, refers to various expressions of this kind of union in different cultures that seek to overcome, to cite Zimmermann again, “the great dualism of human and cosmic existence.”

The subtitle indicates that the contributors are primarily interested in different aspects of the divine-human sexual metaphor—that is, the imagining and reenactment of a gendered relationship between the human and divine worlds. This metaphor, which is essentially about relationship rather than sexual acts, can find textual, ritual, mythical, and social expressions in different times and places.

Indeed, the sacred marriage ritual itself should be considered not a manifestation of the “sacralized power of sexuality experienced in sexual intercourse” but one way of objectifying the divine-human sexual metaphor.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Abbreviations Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Sacred Marriages, or the Divine-Human Sexual Metaphor: Introducing the Project Martti Nissinen and Risto Uro Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter 1 The Sumerian Sacred Marriage and Its Aftermath in Later Sources Pirjo Lapinkivi Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	7
Chapter 2 Sacred Marriage and the Transfer of Divine Knowledge: Alliances between the Gods and the King in Ancient Mesopotamia Beate Pongratz-Leisten Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	43
Chapter 3 Sacred Marriage and the Devotees of Istar Saana Teppo Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	75
Chapter 4 Sacred Marriage in the Ugaritic Texts? The Case of KTU/CAT 1.23 (Rituals and Myths of the Goodly Gods) Mark S. Smith Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	93
Chapter 5 Sacred Marriage in the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt: Circumstantial Evidence for a Ritual Interpretation Mia Rikala Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	115
Chapter 6 Hieros Gamos in Ancient Greek Religion: The Human Aspect of a Sacralized Ritual Aphrodite A. Avagianou Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	145
Chapter 7 Song of Songs and Sacred Marriage Martti Nissinen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	173
Chapter 8 Yahweh’s Broken Marriages as Metaphoric Vehicle in the Hebrew Bible Prophets Peggy L. Day Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	219
Chapter 9 The Love Triangle of Lady Wisdom: Sacred Marriage in Jewish Wisdom Literature? Ruben Zimmermann Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	243
Chapter 10 The Sons of God and the Daughters of Men John J. Collins Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	259
Chapter 11 The Divine-Human Marriage Matrix and Constructions of Gender and “Bodies” in the Christian Bible David M. Carr and Colleen M. Conway Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	275
Chapter 12 Sacred Prostitution in the Biblical World? Kristel Nyberg Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	305
Chapter 13 Begotten by the Holy Spirit Heikki Räisänen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	321
Chapter 14 From the Bridegroom’s Time to the Wedding of the Lamb: Nuptial Imagery in the Canonical Gospels and the Book of Revelation Kari Syreeni Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	343
Chapter 15 The Bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:22–33): A Problematic Wedding Carolyn Osiek Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	371
Chapter 16 Sex and the Single Savior Dale B. Martin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	393
Chapter 17 Divine Desires: Fantasy and Renunciation in the Narrative of Mark’s Gospel Petri Merenlahti Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	411
Chapter 18 Asceticism as a Sacred Marriage: An Essay on Eastern and Western Theories Richard Valantasis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	437
Chapter 19 The Bridal Chamber and Other Mysteries: Ritual System and Ritual Transmission in the Valentinian Movement Risto Uro Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	457
Chapter 20 Sacred Marriage and Spiritual Knowledge: Relations between Carnality and Salvation in the Apocryphon of John Ingvild Sælid Gilhus Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	487
Indexes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	511

Language: English
Publisher: Penn State University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 560

eBook

Published: June 23, 2008
ISBN: 9781575065724