Miriam, prophetess-musician
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15633/acr.2407Keywords:
Miriam, The Book of Exodus, prophecy, music in ancient Israel, drumAbstract
In this article the figure of Miriam (iterpreted as an archetype of a woman-musician) and the musical aspects depicted in the Book of Exosus 15:20–21 are discussed in detail. Both subjects are put into a broad cultural perspective including selected Old Testament passages, literary and archaeological/iconographic sources from ancient Israel/Palestine, Egypt and Mesopotamia from the timeframe XIV/XIII BC – VI/V BC. Comparative materials were selected on the basis of the following criteria: relationship between prophecy and music, as well as connections between women and singing (šîr), playing the drums (tōp) and dancing (māḥôl).
References
Ackerman S., Otherworldly music and the other sex, [w:] The „Other” in Second Temple Judaism: Essays in Honor of John J. Collins, eds. D. C. Harlow et al., Grand Rapids MI 2011, s. 86–100.
Anderson B. W., The Song of Miriam poetically and theologically considered, [w:] Directions in Biblical Hebrew Poetry, ed. E. R. Follis, Sheffield UK 1987, s. 285–296.
Blades J., Percussion Instruments and Their History, London 1992 (repr. 2005).
Braun J., Jewish music (II. Ancient Israel/Palestine), [w:] The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, t. 13, ed. S. Sadie, London 2001, s. 32–34.
Braun J., Music in Ancient Israel/Palestine. Archeological, Written, and Comparative Sources, trans. D. W. Stott, Grand Rapids MI 2002.
Brenner M. L., The Song of the Sea, Ex. 15, 1–21, Berlin 1991.
Burgh Th. W., Listening to the Artifacts: Music Culture in Ancient Palestine, New York 2006.
Butting K., Prophetinnen gefragt. Die Bedeutung der Prophetinnen im Kanon aus Tora und Prophetie, Knesebeck 2001.
Childs B. S., The Book of Exodus. A Critical, Theological Commentary (The Old Testament. Library), Louisville KY 1974 (repr. 2004).
Cross F. M., Freedman D. N., The Song of Miriam, „Journal of Near Eastern Studies” 14 (1955), s. 237–250.
Dozeman Th. B., Exodus (Eerdmans Critical Commentary), Grand Rapids MI 2009.
Durham J. I., Exodus (Word Biblical Commentary), Waco TX 1987.
Eaton J. H., Dancing in the Old Testament, „Expository Times” 86 (1975), s. 136–140.
Fisher G., Das Schilfmeerlied Exodus 15 in seinem Kontext, „Biblica” 77 (1996), s. 33–47.
Fischer I., Gotteskünderinnen. Zu einer geschlechterfairen Deutung des Phänomens der Prophetie und der Prophetinnen in der Hebräischen Bibel, Stuttgart 2002.
Freedman D. N., Moses and Miriam. The Song of the Sea (Exodus 15:1–18, 21), [w:] Realia Dei: Essays in Archaeology and Biblical Interpretation in Honor of Edward F. Campbell, Jr. at His Retirement, eds. P. H. Williams, T. Hiebert, Atlanta GA 1999, s. 67–83.
Friedmann J. L., Music in Biblical Life: The Roles of Song in Ancient Israel, Jefferson NC 2013.
Friedmann J. L., Music in the Hebrew Bible. Understanding References in the Torah, Nevi’im and Ketuvim, Jefferson NC 2014.
Gafney W. C., Daughters of Miriam. Women Prophets in Ancient Israel, Minneapolis MN 2008.
Garfinkel Y., Dancing and the Beginning of Art Scenes in the Early Village Communities of the Near East and Southeast Europe, „Cambridge Archaeological Journal” 8/2 (1998), s. 207–237.
Garfinkel Y., The Earliest Dancing Scenes in the Near East, „Near Eastern Archaeology” 66/3 (2003), s. 84–95.
Gosse B., Le texte d’Exode 15,1–21 dans le rédaction biblique, „Biblische Zeitschrift” 37 (1993), s. 264–271.
Hamilton V. P., Exodus: An Exegetical Commentary, Grand Rapids MI 2011.
Houtman C., Exodus (Historical Commentary on the Old Testament), t. 2, trans. S. Woudstra, Kampen 1996.
Janzen J. G., The Song of Moses, Song of Miriam: Who is seconding whom?, „Catholic Biblical Quarterly” 54/2 (1992), s. 211–220.
Marsman H. J., Women in Ugarit and Israel: Their Social and Religious Position in the Context of the Ancient Near East, Leiden 2003.
Mazar A., Ritual dancing in the Iron Age, „Near Eastern Archaeology” 66/3 (2003), s. 126–132.
Meyers C., Exodus (The New Cambridge Bible Commentary), Cambridge 2005.
Meyers C., Miriam, music, and miracles, [w:] Mariam, the Magdalen, and the Mother, ed. D. Good, Bloomington IN 2005, s. 27–31.
Meyers C., Mother to muse: An archaeomusicological study of women’s performance in Ancient Israel, [w:] Recycling Biblical Figures: Papers Read at a NOSTER Colloquium in Amsterdam, 12–13 May 1997, eds. A. Brenner, J. W. van Henten, Leiderdorp 1999, s. 50–78.
Meyers C., Of drums and damsels: Women’s performance in Ancient Israel, „Biblical Archaeologist” 54 (1991), s. 16–27.
Meyers C., The drum-dance-song ensemble: Women’s performance in Biblical Israel, [w:] Rediscovering the Muses: Women’s Musical Traditions, ed. K. Marshall, Boston 1993, s. 49–67, 234–238.
Montagu J., Instrumenty muzyczne Biblii, tłum. G. Kubies, Kraków 2006.
Music in Antiquity: The Near East and the Mediterranean, eds. J. Goodnick Westenholz, Y. Maurey, E. Seroussi, Berlin–Boston–Jerusalem 2014.
Paz S., Drums, Women and Goddesses: Drumming and Gender in Iron Age II Israel, Fribourg–Göttingen 2007.
Prophecy in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context: Mesopotamian, Biblical, and Arabian Perspectives, ed. M. Nissinen, Atlanta GA 2000.
Propp W. H. C., Exodus 1–18 (The Anchor Yale Bible Commentary), New York 1999.
Russell B. D., The Song of the Sea: The Date of Composition and Influence of Exodus 15:1–21, New York 2007.
Sachs C, Historia instrumentów muzycznych, tłum. S. Olędzki, Kraków 1989.
Sarna N. M., Exodus (The JPS Torah Commentary), Philadelphia PA 1991.
Schachter B., Dance in Iron Age Israel/Palestine 1200–600 B.C.: Archaeological sources and Glyptic Art, [w:] ICONEA 2009–2010: Proceedings of the International Conference of Near Eastern Archaeomusicology held at the Universitéde la Sorbonne, November 2009 and at Senate House, School of Musical Research University of London, December 2010, ed. R. Dumbrill, Piscataway NJ 2010, s. 143–159.
Sendrey A., Music in Ancient Israel, New York 1969.
Shiloah A., Jewish Musical Traditions, Detroit MI 1992.
Smith J. A., Music in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity, Farnham 2011.
Stökl J., Prophecy in the Ancient Near East: A Philological and Sociological Comparison, Leiden 2012.
Prophets Male and Female: Gender and Prophecy in the Hebrew Bible, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Ancient Near East, eds. J. Stökl, C. Carvalho, Atlanta GA 2013.
Trible P., Bringing Miriam out of the shadows, „Bible Review” 5/1 (1989), s. 14–25.
Williamson H. G. M., Prophetesses in the Hebrew Bible, [w:] Prophecy and the Prophets in Ancient Israel: Proceedings of the Oxford Old Testament Seminar, ed. J. Day, New York–London 2010, s. 65–80.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
The author declares that he owns the copyright to the work (article) and that it is not limited in the scope covered by the above declaration and that the work (article) is an original work and does not infringe the copyright of other persons.
The author allows the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow to use the paper free of charge, non-exclusive and unlimited in time by, i.e.:
– keeping in records and reproduction of the copies of the work using printing, reprography, magnetic recording and digital technology;
– trade in the original or copies on which the work has been recorded (introduction to the market, lending or rental of the original or copies, public exhibition, display, as well as making the work available to the public in such a way that everyone can have access to it in a place and at a time chosen by them);
– inclusion of the work in a collective work;
– granting by the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow a Creative Commons Sub-licence Authorship Recognition-Non-commercial Use-No Subsidiaries 3.0 Poland
The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow makes the work available on the Magazine Platform of the university under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-commercial Use-No Subsidiary Works 3.0 Poland license.
Thus, it entitles all interested parties to use the work under the following conditions:
- the author and the title of the work will be given,
- the place of publication (journal title and internet address of the originally published work) will be indicated,
- the work will be distributed in a non-commercial manner,
- no dependent works will be created.
