Examines the dilemma of whether ancient Near Eastern images - while providing unique aspects of the world-views of the cultures from which the Bible arose - can be interpreted in a way that traceably relates them to the biblical text. To avoid the danger of using images merely as illustrations for concepts found in the Bible, one first needs to behold the image with its own right to been seen. The essays within this volume describe the methods developed by Othmar Keel for bringing imagery into a dialogue with texts from the ancient Orient and their own interpretation, including previously unpublished material from Keel. The contributions begin with an overview of the scholarly work of Keel and the development of his aims and methods, including a revision of an article dealing with semiology in the interpretation of art. The book proceeds to address the research history of iconology in art history, presenting the methodology of Erwin Panofsky and one of his influential predecessors, Charles Clermont-Ganneau, in contrast with Keel''s three methodological steps leading from iconographic analysis to iconology. Contributors then present two case studies of how Keel''s method can be applied to interpret Egyptian and Mesopotamian images, allowing insights into the worldview of an ancient culture and the aim of iconology. The book concludes with a report about how iconographic analysis and iconology is taught on University level.

Autorentext

Hans Ulrich Steymans is Full Professor of Old Testament and the Environment of the Bible at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland.

Inhalt

List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Abbreviations
List of Contributors
Preface
Foreword
Part I Othmar Keel: A Pioneer of Iconography in Biblical Studies

1 Erwin Panofsky and Othmar Keel in Dialogue Hans Ulrich Steymans
2 The Work of Othmar Keel Izaak de Hulster
3 An Overview of Othmar Keel's Use of Ancient Near Eastern Images Jürg Eggler

Part II Iconography and Iconology

4 Erwin Panofsky's Iconology from Persistence to Change:
A Contemporary Issue Raffaele Argenziano
5 A Pictorial Narrative Interpreted according to Othmar Keel's
Iconographical Method: Motifs, Constellations, "Sitz im Leben"
Hans Ulrich Steymans

Part III Othmar Keel's Method in Dialogue with Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology

6 Problems of Iconographic Interpretation When Starting with a Text-A
Case Study Othmar Keel and Florian Lippke
7 An Archer Aiming at a Monster or Ninurta's Fight against Anzu:
Constellations Perceived as a Link between Image and Text Hans Ulrich Steymans
8 Annotated Bibliography on Books about Egyptian and Ancient Near
Eastern Art Hans Ulrich Steymans
Comprehensive Bibliography
Index