Peer-reviewed articles by Cristiana Conti-Easton
Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 2024
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Book Reviews by Cristiana Conti-Easton
Religious Studies Review (Forthcoming)
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Translated volumes by Cristiana Conti-Easton
Gli studi contenuti in questo volume si propongono quale contributo a un discernimento sul mondo ... more Gli studi contenuti in questo volume si propongono quale contributo a un discernimento sul mondo interreligioso attuale, secondo i criteri della teologia cattolica ma facendo attenzione a non privilegiare soltanto una prospettiva euro-centrica, o occidentale. Viene proposto quindi un approfondimento specifico sulle religioni tradizionali africane e sulle religioni o culture asiatiche, con specifico riferimento all’induismo e al buddhismo, all’interno di un percorso storico necessario alla loro comprensione.
“In this context, a ‘biblical’ preamble is necessary to tackle the question of the ‘Western’ perception of Catholic theology over religions and cultures, inasmuch as the latter can in some way speak for themselves, with particular reference to Judaism and Islam. We also wish to explore traditional African religions and Asian cultures and religions, namely Hinduism and Buddhism, on their own terms and within the historical framework that is necessary to fully comprehend them.”
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Invited talks by Cristiana Conti-Easton
Book Review Panel – Bernard M. Levinson and Robert P. Ericksen (eds.), The Betrayal of the Humani... more Book Review Panel – Bernard M. Levinson and Robert P. Ericksen (eds.), The Betrayal of the Humanities: The University during the Third Reich (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2022); 2023 CSBS Annual Meeting, May 27–29, 2023, York University (Toronto, Canada).
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Conference presentations by Cristiana Conti-Easton
The Bible and Its World: The 2024 Israeli International Academic Conference | Jerusalem, 1-3 July... more The Bible and Its World: The 2024 Israeli International Academic Conference | Jerusalem, 1-3 July 2024
Abstract: In a 2002 study, Abusch proposes that the witches of the Mesopotamian magical-incantatory tradition, such as those referenced in the Maqlû ceremony, may have represented the internal and external enemies of the Neo-Assyrian empire. He contends that Assyrian witches became archetypal foes after a lengthy process of detachment from their original magic setting. Once withdrawn from the specific sphere of magic, ancient Mesopotamians transformed witches into quasi-demonic agents powerful enough to threaten the Assyrian state. Using this intriguing argument as a springboard, I argue that Abusch’s “universal enemy of the state” thesis can also be applied in radically different contexts such as that of the Book of Jeremiah. The universalistic perspective of God’s wrath against the nations in Jeremiah may include content similar to the one driving Assyrian anti-witchcraft rhetoric, pointing to interesting thematic overlaps between the Mesopotamian and biblical magical traditions. As I demonstrate in this paper, the persona of the Mesopotamian witch, that is, her caricature as an anti-social, disruptive figure bent on defaming everyone and dividing the community through falsehoods, appears to overlap with that of the false prophet in Jeremiah. This figure takes on the traits of a demonic individual who polarizes to harm others by spreading lies in God’s name. My research offers fresh insights into the hermeneutical analysis of Jeremiah’s rhetoric against false prophecy and calls for a reevaluation of certain aspects of Jeremiah’s central theological concerns focused on the theme of the deliverance of the chosen people of Israel.
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29th Annual Conference of the Association for Core Texts and Courses (ACTC) – April 11-14, 2024, ... more 29th Annual Conference of the Association for Core Texts and Courses (ACTC) – April 11-14, 2024, Memphis Tennessee.
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The paper will be presented at the EABS Annual Conference 2023, Siracusa, Sicily 10th - 13th July... more The paper will be presented at the EABS Annual Conference 2023, Siracusa, Sicily 10th - 13th July 2023.
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The paper will be presented at International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament (IOS... more The paper will be presented at International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament (IOSOT, 24th Congress) on Thursday, 11 August 2022.
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The bronze serpent of the Exodus story appears twice in the Bible: in Numbers 21 it possesses hea... more The bronze serpent of the Exodus story appears twice in the Bible: in Numbers 21 it possesses healing qualities, while in 2 Kings 18 it is purged from the temple by Hezekiah along with the a/Asherah (either a goddess or cultic object). Both stories may signal a feature of Israelite cultic practice embedded in Israel’s Canaanite background. The crucial Israelite cultic association between the bronze serpent and the a/Asherah potentially underlies a point often overlooked by scholars, namely, that their coexistence in the temple was not merely accidental but could have been a product of a deeply rooted tradition that connected the image of the serpent to that of Asherah. In this context, the apotropaic function of the serpent can be interpreted as a relic of Near Eastern mythological conceptions that placed it in stories of the wilderness in which we also see the lion as an analogical symbol for the serpent. Contrary to Wiggins, a further association of the lion with the serpent is supported by literary and etymological evidence. The Mesopotamian goddess Ašratum, ‘the Lady of the steppe,’ encompassed the functions of these creatures. I will analyze these shared Near Eastern religious roots in their epigraphic and iconographic contexts and propose that the symbols of the serpent and the lion, also surviving in Asherah/Qudshu’s transcultural imagery, were retained in the figurative expression of her therapeutic power. This study underscores how the Near Eastern conception of the healing and protective abilities of the serpent survived in Israelite culture.
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Teaching Documents by Cristiana Conti-Easton
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Peer-reviewed articles by Cristiana Conti-Easton
Book Reviews by Cristiana Conti-Easton
Translated volumes by Cristiana Conti-Easton
“In this context, a ‘biblical’ preamble is necessary to tackle the question of the ‘Western’ perception of Catholic theology over religions and cultures, inasmuch as the latter can in some way speak for themselves, with particular reference to Judaism and Islam. We also wish to explore traditional African religions and Asian cultures and religions, namely Hinduism and Buddhism, on their own terms and within the historical framework that is necessary to fully comprehend them.”
Invited talks by Cristiana Conti-Easton
Conference presentations by Cristiana Conti-Easton
Abstract: In a 2002 study, Abusch proposes that the witches of the Mesopotamian magical-incantatory tradition, such as those referenced in the Maqlû ceremony, may have represented the internal and external enemies of the Neo-Assyrian empire. He contends that Assyrian witches became archetypal foes after a lengthy process of detachment from their original magic setting. Once withdrawn from the specific sphere of magic, ancient Mesopotamians transformed witches into quasi-demonic agents powerful enough to threaten the Assyrian state. Using this intriguing argument as a springboard, I argue that Abusch’s “universal enemy of the state” thesis can also be applied in radically different contexts such as that of the Book of Jeremiah. The universalistic perspective of God’s wrath against the nations in Jeremiah may include content similar to the one driving Assyrian anti-witchcraft rhetoric, pointing to interesting thematic overlaps between the Mesopotamian and biblical magical traditions. As I demonstrate in this paper, the persona of the Mesopotamian witch, that is, her caricature as an anti-social, disruptive figure bent on defaming everyone and dividing the community through falsehoods, appears to overlap with that of the false prophet in Jeremiah. This figure takes on the traits of a demonic individual who polarizes to harm others by spreading lies in God’s name. My research offers fresh insights into the hermeneutical analysis of Jeremiah’s rhetoric against false prophecy and calls for a reevaluation of certain aspects of Jeremiah’s central theological concerns focused on the theme of the deliverance of the chosen people of Israel.
Teaching Documents by Cristiana Conti-Easton
“In this context, a ‘biblical’ preamble is necessary to tackle the question of the ‘Western’ perception of Catholic theology over religions and cultures, inasmuch as the latter can in some way speak for themselves, with particular reference to Judaism and Islam. We also wish to explore traditional African religions and Asian cultures and religions, namely Hinduism and Buddhism, on their own terms and within the historical framework that is necessary to fully comprehend them.”
Abstract: In a 2002 study, Abusch proposes that the witches of the Mesopotamian magical-incantatory tradition, such as those referenced in the Maqlû ceremony, may have represented the internal and external enemies of the Neo-Assyrian empire. He contends that Assyrian witches became archetypal foes after a lengthy process of detachment from their original magic setting. Once withdrawn from the specific sphere of magic, ancient Mesopotamians transformed witches into quasi-demonic agents powerful enough to threaten the Assyrian state. Using this intriguing argument as a springboard, I argue that Abusch’s “universal enemy of the state” thesis can also be applied in radically different contexts such as that of the Book of Jeremiah. The universalistic perspective of God’s wrath against the nations in Jeremiah may include content similar to the one driving Assyrian anti-witchcraft rhetoric, pointing to interesting thematic overlaps between the Mesopotamian and biblical magical traditions. As I demonstrate in this paper, the persona of the Mesopotamian witch, that is, her caricature as an anti-social, disruptive figure bent on defaming everyone and dividing the community through falsehoods, appears to overlap with that of the false prophet in Jeremiah. This figure takes on the traits of a demonic individual who polarizes to harm others by spreading lies in God’s name. My research offers fresh insights into the hermeneutical analysis of Jeremiah’s rhetoric against false prophecy and calls for a reevaluation of certain aspects of Jeremiah’s central theological concerns focused on the theme of the deliverance of the chosen people of Israel.