Panel 11: Genealogies in the Ancient World

Date & Time: Saturday, 9.04.2016; 10.00–14.00

Location: Jakobi 2-102

Panel Conveners:

Peeter Espak (University of Tartu, Estonia), peeterespak@hotmail.com

Sebastian Fink (University of Innsbruck, Austria), Sebastian.Fink@uibk.ac.at

Abstract:

The session analyses different forms and methods of forming genealogies in the Ancient cultures. It intends to see how different panthea were formed and how did the different divine forces order being in complex genealogical relations. We also use the term “complex genealogies” for family patterns that do not fit the common pattern of a human being as the offspring of a mother and a father (no matter if these are human or divine). From the third millennium Mesopotamia onwards, we have evidence of special persons with more than two parents. Especially kings tried to legitimate their rule with a combination of divine and earthly, often resulting in a divine and a human father, a tradition that can still be grasped in the New Testament. We aim to look beyond the Ancient Near Eastern world in order to understand if this phenomenon is something specific or if it can be found in other cultures as well.

Panelists (click on the title for an abstract):

Part 1 (10.00–11.40):

  1. Peeter Espak “The Problems of the Genealogical Structures of the Early Sumerian Pantheon”
  2. Sebastian Fink “Complex Genealogies in the Sumerian King List”
  3. Mait Kõiv (University of Tartu, Estonia) “The Genealogies of Ancient Argos: Between the Interests of the Present and the Traditions Concerning Epic Past”

Part 2 (12.00–14.00):

  1. Jakub Kuciak (University of Jagiellonia, Kraków, Poland) “Myth and Genealogy in Service of Politics on Example of Euripides’ Tragedy Ion”
  2. Ain Riistan (University of Tartu, Estonia) “Genealogies of Jesus in the New Testament”