The Netherlands Institute for the Near East

Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten  -  Institut nĂ©erlandais du Proche-Orient

Book Specifications
col. 1-226 pp.
softcover

Bibliotheca Orientalis LXXIV, 1/2 (2017)

2017  |  BiOr Volume 74 1/2 ISSN: 0006-1913

Articles

DEPUYDT, L. — On fuzzy boundaries and razor sharp boundaries, and something on Bari

This is a review article of Fs. Loprieno. Antonio Loprieno’s career spans many nations and languages; considering 1) all this internationality, 2) my own native tongue, and 3) BiOr’s base in Holland, it seemed almost tempting to entitle this article in Dutch as “Over ruige grenzen en
haarscherpe grenzen, en iets over Bari.” Fewer than half of the 61(!) articles in this volume pertain to topics that I have engaged in my own research. The focus of the article is therefore almost exclusively on them; I hope that someone else will pay proper tribute to the many others. Instead of confronting the articles head-on, I present alternative lines of argument to put the articles’ in perspective. I have developed independent lines — elsewhere in print — regarding the topics that they address. And I feel comfortable with my own lines of arguments in every case after much reflection. Let others make the comparison and judge what to make of it all.

EIDEM, J. — Trick or Treaty?

This short note comments on a recent proposal to identify an additional treaty text (“L.T.-8”) among the Old Babylonian tablets excavated at Tell Leilan (NE Syria) in 1987, and published in J. Eidem, PIHANS 117, Leiden 2011.

DIRBAS, H. — Name-giving Dreams in Arabic Culture

This article investigates the important role dreams have played in name-giving practices in Arabic culture through classical, modern, and contemporary sources. Given that our topic is related to public beliefs and that printed sources do not provide us with sufficient information on it, especially in our present time, the investigation is basically based on online sources (blogs and fatwa websites). The study distinguishes two types of name-giving dreams: (1) figurative name-giving dreams, where the child could be named after a dreamt-of object, and (2) direct name-giving dreams, where the child could be given a name directly received in a dream. Both types, mostly involving a mediator (i.e. a dream interpreter), reflect the essential concept of names as omens in Arabic; the latter type shows a stronger impact of Islamic instructions through the involvement of a religious personage (imam, mufti, or dervish). (Keywords: dream, name, omen, fatwa, augury, Islam).

Book reviews and announcements

Algemeen, Faraonisch Egypte, Christelijk Egypte, Assyriologie, Hettitologie, Semitica, Aramees, Ethiopisch, Oude Testament, Judaica, Archeologie, Arabica, Islam, Varia.


 


 

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