Journal for Semitics

The subject of knowledge is stressed in the introduction of Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, and repeatedly mentioned throughout this cycle of thirteen songs, frequently in connection with holiness. In the end the liturgy joyously proclaims that “the chiefs of praise-offering” have divine knowledge. Second Temple Judaism had differing ideologies of knowledge. This article attempts to understand the stress on knowledge and the connection with holiness in this text. The research method was to extract and list the word dʿt wherever it appears in a coherent context in the entire liturgy. Then, the sequential development of this concept of knowledge was examined to try to understand what it would have meant to the author and participants in the liturgy. The conclusion of this article strengthens the hypothesis of earlier research on the individual songs that the pervasive ambiguity was deliberately crafted for rhetorical purposes in order to convey a mystical sense of a temporary transformation in order to gain divine knowledge during participation in the holy liturgy.

This article will focus on the importance of the New Kingdom Papyrus Ashmolean Museum 1945.96 (Adoption Papyrus). The research question is whether this papyrus assists us in a better understanding of the ancient Egyptian testamentary disposition. The aim is to identify and discuss concepts and elements pertaining to succession law in general, but in particular testamentary dispositions. A problem when studying any ancient text is to keep in mind that one can never enforce modern concepts onto these ancient texts. However, these ancient texts might contain building blocks of later concepts; in particular, the Adoption Papyrus may give us valuable information regarding these early concepts and elements of succession law and in the process indicate that the building blocks of succession law are much older than Roman law. The methodology used is a textual approach analysing the Adoption Papyrus in order to attempt identifying legal concepts and elements of succession law. With my background as lawyer and Egyptologist, it appears to me that there are several identifiable elements and concepts of testamentary dispositions and succession law evident in the Adoption Papyrus. With my multi-disciplinary approach to this study, I endeavour to indicate that the first building blocks of the testamentary disposition and succession law can be found in these ancient New Kingdom texts, long before Roman law was developed.