Traditional History and Cultural Memory in the Pesharim

This article explores the type and function of historiography in the pesharim, a group of biblical commentaries in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Although the unabashedly subjective viewpoint of history in the pesharim strongly contrasts modern notions of historiography, they nevertheless present a kind of h...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal for the study of Judaism
Main Author: Miller, Shem 1974- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill [2019]
In: Journal for the study of Judaism
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Collective memory / Historiography / Orality / Pescher / Tradition-historical research
IxTheo Classification:BH Judaism
HB Old Testament
HD Early Judaism
Further subjects:B cultural memory
B Historiography
B Pesharim
B traditional history
B Orality
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Description
Summary:This article explores the type and function of historiography in the pesharim, a group of biblical commentaries in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Although the unabashedly subjective viewpoint of history in the pesharim strongly contrasts modern notions of historiography, they nevertheless present a kind of history writing. In particular, historiography in the pesharim is analogous to traditional history, a type of history writing found in oral epics from around the world. Like traditional history, the pesharim owe their primary allegiance to a special register of language that is both traditional and adaptable. Rather than a factual record, the pesharim are formative cultural texts that use history to create and transmit cultural memory. More specifically, traditional history in the pesharim constructs a common descent of membership and "instrumentalizes" the past for identity formation in the present.
ISSN:1570-0631
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal for the study of Judaism
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15700631-15031219