Land of Our Fathers

The Roles of Ancestor Veneration in Biblical Land Claims

By: Francesca Stavrakopoulou

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Hardcover | 16 December 2010 | Edition Number 1

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Hardcover
208 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
24.13 x 16.51 x 1.91

Hardcover

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The biblical motif of a land divinely-promised and given to Abraham and his descendants is argued to be an ideological reflex of post-monarchic, territorial disputes between competing socio-religious groups. The important biblical motif of a Promised Land is founded upon the ancient Near Eastern concept of ancestral land: hereditary space upon which families lived, worked, died and were buried. An essential element of concept of ancestral land was the belief in the post-mortem existence of the ancestors, who were venerated with grave offerings, mortuary feasts, bone rituals and standing stones.

The Hebrew Bible is littered with stories concerning these practices and beliefs, yet the specific correlation of ancestor veneration and certain biblical land claims has gone unrecognized. The book remedies this in presenting evidence for the vital and persistent impact of ancestor veneration upon land claims. It proposes that ancestor veneration, which formed a common ground in the experiences of various socio-religious groups in ancient Israel, became in the Hebrew Bible an ideological battlefield upon which claims to the land were won and lost.

Industry Reviews

"Land of Our Fathers" thoughtfully and creatively explores the ways in which fundamental connections between the ancestors and the land mapped culture in ancient Israel. Francesca Stavrakopoulou's work is interdisciplinary and methodologically sophisticated, drawing upon cultural anthropology and other fields to study "the territorialism of the dead." The author's analysis not only points to pan-Israelite patterns of culture but also to variations and developments in attitudes to the dead that reflect and respond to social, political, and historical dynamics. I look forward to sharing this important case study in the history of religion with my students in courses that deal with ancient Israelite and comparative religions. Susan Niditch, Samuel Green Professor of Religion, Amherst College

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