The article discusses the role of social memory over against historiography in the formation of historical tradition in ancient Israel with special reference to the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BCE and its aftermath. The collective memory of the past cannot be adequately accounted for by oral tradition detached from rituals of re-enactment, commemorative ceremonies, bodily gestures, and the like, for which the Passover ceremony provides the best example. Survival of the disaster of 586 was possible only by remembering in this way.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Ackroyd, Peter R.1987. STUDIES IN THE RELIGIOUS TRADITION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. London: SCM Press.
2.
Avigad, Nachman.1980. DISCOVERING JERUSALEM. Nashville, TN/Camden, NJ/New York, NY: Thomas Nelson.
3.
Barstad, Hans M.1989. A WAY IN THE WILDERNESS. Manchester, UK: University of Manchester Press.
4.
Bickerman, Elias.1962. FROM EZRA TO THE LAST OF THE MACCABEES. New York, NY: Schocken Books.
5.
Blenkinsopp, Joseph.1994. The Nehemiah Autobiographical Memoir. Pp. 199–212 in LANGUAGE, THEOLOGY AND THE BIBLE ESSAYS IN HONOUR OF JAMES BARR, edited by Samuel E. Balentine and John Barton. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.
6.
Carruthers, Mary.1990. THE BOOK OF MEMORY. A STUDY IN MEDIEVAL CULTURE. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
7.
Cazelles, Henri. 1983. 587 or 586? Pp. 427–35 in THE WORD OF THE LORD SHALL GO FORTH, edited by Carol L. Meyers & Michael O’Connor. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.
8.
Childs, Brevard S.1962. MEMORY AND TRADITION IN ISRAEL. London, UK: SCM Press.
9.
Connerton, Paul.1989. HOW SOCIETIES REMEMBER. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
10.
Culley, Robert C.1972. Oral Tradition and Historicity. Pp. 102–16 in STUDIES ON THE ANCIENT PALESTINIAN WORLD, edited by John W. Wevers & Donald B. Redford. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.
11.
Douglas, Mary.1986. HOW INSTITUTIONS THINK. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.
12.
Eising, H.1980. zakhar, in THEOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, vol. 4, edited by Johannes Botterweck & Helmer Ringgren. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans.
13.
Fussell, Paul.1975. THE GREAT WAR IN MODERN MEMORY. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
14.
Gibson, John C. L.1971. TEXTBOOK OF SYRIAN SEMITIC INSCRIPTIONS, vol. 1: HEBREW AND MOABITEINSCRIPTIONS. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.
15.
Hayes, John H., and Paul K. Hooker.1988. A NEW CHRONOLOGY FOR THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH. Atlanta, GA: John Knox Press.
16.
Idelsohn, Abraham Zwi.1960. JEWISH LITURGY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT. New York, NY: Schocken Books.
17.
Jamieson-Drake, David W.1991. SCRIBES AND SCHOOLS IN MONARCHIC JUDAH. Sheffield, UK: Almond Press.
18.
Lemaire, André.1981. LES ÉCOLES ET LA FORMATION DE LA BIBLE DANS L’ANCIEN ISRAËL. Fribourg, Switzerland: Editions Universitaires.
19.
Millard, Alan.1987. The Question of Israelite Literacy, BIBLE REVIEW3/3: 22–31.
20.
1972. The Practice of Writing in Ancient Israel, BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST35: 195–98.
21.
Pritchard, James B.1955. ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN TEXTS RELATING TO THE OLD TESTAMENT. 2nd edition. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
22.
Schottroff, Willi.1967. “GEDENKEN” IM ALTEN ORIENT UND IM ALTEN TESTAMENT. Neukirchen-Vluyn, Germany: Neukirchener Verlag.
23.
Van Seters, John.1975. ABRAHAM IN HISTORY AND TRADITION. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
24.
Vansina, Jan.1985. ORAL TRADITION AS HISTORY. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.
25.
Wieseltier, Leon. 1993. After Memory. Reflections on the Holocaust Memorial Museum on the Mall, and the Reasons for It, THE NEW REPUBLIC 4, 085: May 3.
26.
Yerushalmi, Yosef Hayim.1982. ZAKHOR. Seattle, WA/ London, UK: University of Washington Press.
