volume 2, issue 2, 2010, pages 112-122

DOI: https://doi.org/10.64438/sbsIHMF2589
Published online: 2010-12-01
Published in print: 2010-12-30

Abstract: This paper analyses the theme of divine wrath in the Babylonian and Assyrian royal inscriptions as well as in the Book of Exodus. I argued that despite of the common mythological and cultic background, the Babylonians used this theme to explain their own defeats, whereas the Assyrians used it to justify their military campaigns. In the Book of Exodus this theme was used mainly to explain the Divine wrath against the Israelites who cast the golden calf. In conclusion, this analysis excludes the impact of Assyrian historiography upon the Book of Exodus. Moreover, it demonstrated that the interpretation of own history in terms of divine wrath was not invented by the hagiographers but was well-known in the historical writings of the ancient Near East since the second millennium BC.