Esther's Revenge at Susa: From Sennacherib to Ahasuerus

by Stephanie Dalley

Overview

Why are the names of the chief characters in the biblical Book of Esther those of Mesopotamian deities? Stephanie Dalley argues that the narrative reflects real happenings in seventh-century Assyria, where the widespread belief that revenge belongs to the gods explains why Assyrian kings described punitive campaigns as divine acts, leading to the mythologizing of certain historical events. Ashurbanipal's sack of Susa, led by the deities Ishtar and Marduk, underlies the Hebrew story of Esther, and that story contains traces of the cultic calendar of Ishtar-of-Nineveh. Dalley traces the way in which the long-term settlement of 'lost tribes' in Assyria, revealed by the fruits of excavation in Iraq and Syria, inspired a blend of pagan and Jewish traditions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191527128
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	11/29/2007
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Stephanie Dalley is Senior Research Fellow in Assyriology at the Oriental Institute, University of Oxford.

Table of Contents

• I. The Background in Assyrian History and Literature
• 1: Kings Sargon and Sennacherib, father and son
• 2: Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal, son and grandson of Sennacherib
• 3: Troubles in Babylon and retribution in Susa
• 4: Dissemination in Palestine and Egypt
• 5: Some literature and its genres
• 6: Ishtar-of-Nineveh and her feasts
• II. Transition to a Jewish Story
• 7: Assyrian words, phrases, and customs in the Hebrew Book of Esther
• 8: Links between seventh-century Assyria, the Hebrew story of Esther, and the kingdom of Adiabene
• 9: From history into myth: evolution of a story