Ritual Dynamic Structure / / Roy E. Gane.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Gorgias Press Backlist eBook-Package 2001-2015
• VerfasserIn: Gane, Roy E.,
• Place / Publishing House: Piscataway, NJ : : Gorgias Press, , [2014]; ©2014
• Year of Publication: 2014
• Language: English
• Series: Gorgias Studies in Religion
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (420 p.)

The present work takes up the neglected quest for a theory of ritual and methodology of analysis that recognizes and traces the contours of ritual dynamic structure. The resulting fresh approach provides a controlled framework for interpreting rituals belonging to various cultures and for identifying bases of comparison between them. The first part builds a theory and definition of ritual and a corresponding methodology for analyzing specific rituals in terms of their activities and the meanings attached to those activities. The second part illustrates this methodology and its usefulness for comparative studies by applying it to ceremonies of cult purification in the ancient Near East.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Table of Contents -- Abbreviations -- Preface -- Abstract -- Introduction -- 1. "Intrinsic Activity" Perspective -- 2. "Cognitive Task" Perspective -- 3. "Ritual Syntax" Perspective -- 4. Israelite "Day of Atonement" -- 5. Babylonian New Year Festival, Fifth Day -- 6. Hittite Telipinu Festival, Fourth Day -- 7. Ritual Complexes -- Conclusion -- Appendix I: Critique of Hubert and Mauss -- Appendix II: The Ninth Year Telipinu Festival -- Bibliography -- Index of Biblical Sources -- Index of Rabbinic Sources -- General Index