Water-Mills in Northwest Semitic, Rabbinica and Archaeology: Levantine and Babylonian Evidence
This article aims at assembling the available facts concerning the exploitation of water-power in ancient and Early Mediaeval Palestine (and partly Jewish Babylonia)—those to be found in written (that is, Rabbinic) sources as well as those deriving from archaeological finds. Both groups of materials...
| Authors: | ; |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis
2023
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| In: |
Scandinavian journal of the Old Testament
Year: 2023, Volume: 37, Issue: 2, Pages: 299-337 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Milling
/ Water mills
/ Palestine
|
| IxTheo Classification: | HB Old Testament HD Early Judaism HH Archaeology |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article aims at assembling the available facts concerning the exploitation of water-power in ancient and Early Mediaeval Palestine (and partly Jewish Babylonia)—those to be found in written (that is, Rabbinic) sources as well as those deriving from archaeological finds. Both groups of materials are scant, and the conclusions remain tentative. But it can be stated almost with certainty that water-milling in the area goes back at least to the 2nd century CE and that both vertical and horizontal water-wheels were utilized. The most astonishing fact is the use of a more or less unique mill-type, with two pairs of “pseudo-Pompeian” millstones powered by a single, vertical wheel. In addition to this general survey and analysis of the material from a technical standpoint, we will discuss certain literary and exegetical roles of the milling motif—and water-milling specifically—in the relevant ancient literature, and explore how the motifs of water and milling tie together in the written sources, i.e., how they are used as a persistent literary motif in Northwest Semitic literature. In this context, the recurring literary motif of “the milling woman” is highlighted. |
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| ISSN: | 1502-7244 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Scandinavian journal of the Old Testament
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/09018328.2023.2267888 |