Iconographic windows to Ezekiel's world

grantor: University of TorontoThe biblical book Ezekiel, often castigated by its critics, has in recent years found those who draw comparisons between the literary descriptions in the book and the art of the ancient Near East. But while drawing such parallels is helpful, it does not illuminate the intense programmatic nature of a writing which claims to be both historical and prophetic. Clearly something more is needed. The use of iconography to interpret biblical writings is in its infancy, in part because ancient Near Eastern iconographic systems are only beginning to be understood. And while efforts have advanced studies of poetic texts and isolated views of "historical moments," no adequate model for the interpretation of a writing like Ezekiel had been undertaken. An adequate tool to apply the iconographic record from the ancient Near East was needed, a significant methodological advance necessary. Understanding unifying principles behind the art, in order to correctly apply them to the type of text under consideration, led to the development of an "iconography of empire." Examining art from the ancient Near East (including Egypt), with particular attention to the first half of the first millennium BC, allowed ideological motifs connected with the great empires to be understood in a systematic manner. While the analysis could hardly be exhaustive, sufficient evidence was found to demonstrate that the value systems presented in the art were understood and shared across social and political boundaries, as well as cultural and chronological borders. The book of Ezekiel provided a test case. Could an iconographic reading using the ideology of empire enable the interpretation of a literary work? A thoroughgoing reading of Ezekiel is undertaken, with clear results. Ezekiel worked with readily recognizable images and patterns and used this material to facilitate communication with the reader. This fresh reading of Ezekiel indicates the value of the model to texts of a similar genre. Such an opportunity for new insights to an ancient text is not to be minimized. By enabling us to read the text as sensible and programmatic, an iconographic analysis of the text represents a major advance in the study of Ezekiel.Ph.D