Ancient Near Eastern Iconography and the Bible

Erwin Panofsky and Othmar Keel in Dialogue
Describes the methods developed by Othmar Keel for bringing images and their interpretations into a dialogue with texts from the ancient Orient and their interpretation.

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bringing imagery into a dialogue with texts from the ancient Orient and their own interpretation, including previously unpublished material from Keel.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.

Contributor: Hans Ulrich Steymans (Edited by)

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