Abstract
Tales of Giants from Qumran and Turfan: Ancient Contexts, Traditions and Influences - International Conference, Organised by Matthew Goff and Loren Stuckenbruck. 06.06.2014 – 08.06.2014
The Enochic Book of the Watchers reformulates an enigmatic story in Genesis 6 to produce its own account of what happened before the flood: angels descended to the earth and had sex with women. They give birth to strange giants, who commit disturbing crimes against the human race such as murder and cannibalism. While this tale has been the subject of much scholarly analysis over the last generation, surprisingly little attention has been given to a huge part of the story: the giants. While there has been a lot of attention devoted to the Book of the Watchers, much less has been paid to the Book of Giants from Qumran. In this conference, the first assemblage ever of scholars that is devoted to the giants of Enochic tradition, the participants will address basic issues with regard to this topic, such as the delineation of the range of giants traditions attested in ancient Judaism and the cultural contexts in which they circulated. Comparative material from
ancient Greece and the ancient Near East will also be examined. Particular emphasis will be devoted to the Manichaean Book of Giants, fragments of which were found in Turfan (western China). This work does not
simply utilize Enochic traditions but also attests numerous traditions found in the Qumran Book of Giants. Qumran and Turfan constitute two key
sources of ancient texts that shed light on the fascinating topic of giants in ancient Judaism.
The Enochic Book of the Watchers reformulates an enigmatic story in Genesis 6 to produce its own account of what happened before the flood: angels descended to the earth and had sex with women. They give birth to strange giants, who commit disturbing crimes against the human race such as murder and cannibalism. While this tale has been the subject of much scholarly analysis over the last generation, surprisingly little attention has been given to a huge part of the story: the giants. While there has been a lot of attention devoted to the Book of the Watchers, much less has been paid to the Book of Giants from Qumran. In this conference, the first assemblage ever of scholars that is devoted to the giants of Enochic tradition, the participants will address basic issues with regard to this topic, such as the delineation of the range of giants traditions attested in ancient Judaism and the cultural contexts in which they circulated. Comparative material from
ancient Greece and the ancient Near East will also be examined. Particular emphasis will be devoted to the Manichaean Book of Giants, fragments of which were found in Turfan (western China). This work does not
simply utilize Enochic traditions but also attests numerous traditions found in the Qumran Book of Giants. Qumran and Turfan constitute two key
sources of ancient texts that shed light on the fascinating topic of giants in ancient Judaism.
Original language | English |
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Publication status | Published - 6 Jun 2014 |
Event | Tales of Giants from Qumran and Turfan: Ancient Contexts, Traditions and Innfluences: International conference organized by Matthew Goff and Loren Stuckenbruck - Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany Duration: 6 Jun 2014 → 8 Jun 2014 https://www.nt2.evtheol.uni-muenchen.de/meldungen/giants/index.html |
Conference
Conference | Tales of Giants from Qumran and Turfan: Ancient Contexts, Traditions and Innfluences |
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Country/Territory | Germany |
City | Munich |
Period | 6/06/14 → 8/06/14 |
Internet address |