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Learning to Pray in a Dead Language: Education and Invocation in Ancient Sumerian
The connection between prayer and schools has been a hot-button issue in the United States since their official separation in 1962. Many are in favor of restoring prayer in schools, others, however, find the idea inappropriate.
In the ancient world there was no such distinction between the secular and the sacred, between the schoolhouse and the sanctuary. In ancient Iraq, in the early second millennium BCE – a time known as the Old Babylonian period – we see that schools were not only places of learning about things like writing, grammar, and mathematics, but also about a wide variety of religious concepts. This book, compiled from Dr. Bowen’s 2017 Ph.D. thesis, explores the profound effect education had upon the practice of prayer in second millennium Mesopotamia, shaping traditions and perceptions that resonate through history to our understanding of Judeo-Christian religion today.
This book
•Provide a detailed overview of schooling in second millennium BCE Mesopotamia, and how the school curriculum differed from city-to-city.
•Discuss the importance of the prayers of priests, who were responsible for averting disaster through calming the hearts of angry gods.
•Show how a standardized scribal curriculum impacted religious tradition which, in turn, influenced the writers of the Old Testament, and ultimately western civilization.
In the ancient world there was no such distinction between the secular and the sacred, between the schoolhouse and the sanctuary. In ancient Iraq, in the early second millennium BCE – a time known as the Old Babylonian period – we see that schools were not only places of learning about things like writing, grammar, and mathematics, but also about a wide variety of religious concepts. This book, compiled from Dr. Bowen’s 2017 Ph.D. thesis, explores the profound effect education had upon the practice of prayer in second millennium Mesopotamia, shaping traditions and perceptions that resonate through history to our understanding of Judeo-Christian religion today.
This book
•Provide a detailed overview of schooling in second millennium BCE Mesopotamia, and how the school curriculum differed from city-to-city.
•Discuss the importance of the prayers of priests, who were responsible for averting disaster through calming the hearts of angry gods.
•Show how a standardized scribal curriculum impacted religious tradition which, in turn, influenced the writers of the Old Testament, and ultimately western civilization.
186 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 23, 2020
About the author
Joshua Bowen
11 books59 followersDr. Joshua Aaron Bowen graduated from the Johns Hopkins University in 2017, with a Ph.D. in Assyriology. He wrote his dissertation on the lamentational liturgies of the city of Kiš, and specializes in the Sumerian language. Joshua was awarded the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (D.A.A.D.) and Fulbright scholarship during the 2014-2015 academic year, allowing him to spend the year in Tubingen, Germany, working with Dr. Konrad Volk on his dissertation project.
As well as his Ph.D., Josh holds a B.S. in Religion from Liberty University, a Th.M. in the Old Testament from Capital Bible Seminary, and a M.A. in Near Eastern Studies from the Johns Hopkins University. Prior to entering academia, Joshua was a chaplain in the U.S. Airforce where he also gained an A.A. in Avionics.
As well as his Ph.D., Josh holds a B.S. in Religion from Liberty University, a Th.M. in the Old Testament from Capital Bible Seminary, and a M.A. in Near Eastern Studies from the Johns Hopkins University. Prior to entering academia, Joshua was a chaplain in the U.S. Airforce where he also gained an A.A. in Avionics.
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