Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Lee R. Martin" <lmartin AT vol.com>]

Dear Walter,
I am not questioning the truth of your post, but in order to be consistent 
with Niels
and Ian's insistence on datable manuscripts, please give me manuscript 
references that

demonstrate the facts that you have stated.  What documents relate the 
installation
ceremony, the readings, and the dates when these were in use.
Thank you.
Lee R. Martin

Walter Mattfeld wrote:

> Mr. Martin has raised an interesting question, did the Enuma Elish exist in
> Post-exilic times in Palestine ? The answer is that most probably there were
> Jews in the Persian province of Yehud (Judah) who were familiar with the
> Enuma Elish.
>
> The Enuma Elish was recited every year as part of a ceremony re-installing
> the king of Babylon. As part of the public ceremonies, he took the hand of
> Babylon's supreme god Marduk. It is not unreasonable to suppose that some
> Jews lived in Babylon, and that not all left for Yehud in 538 BCE under the
> Persians and Cyrus. Ezra brought Jews from Babylon circa 458 BCE, the
> Persian King being called the king of Babylon (cf. Ezra 5:13, Nehemiah
> 13:6).
>
> The early Persian kings were installed as Kings of Babylon and held court in
> that city. Cyrus through Artaxerxes were called "kings of Babylon," and
> probably took part in the Enuma Elish ceremonies. So the answer is yes to
> Mr. Martin's question, there were indeed most probably Jews in Post-exilic
> Palestine aware of the Enuma Elish.
>
> All the best,
>
> Walter Reinhold Warttig Mattfeld
> Walldorf by Heidelberg
> Baden-Wurttemburg
> Germany
>
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--

Lee R. Martin
Pastor, Prospect Church of God, Cleveland, Tennessee
Instructor in Hebrew and Old Testament
Church of God Theological Seminary
http://earth.vol.com/~lmartin/