Arumuga Navalar and the Construction of a Caiva Public in Colonial Jaffna

This thesis is a study of the work of Arumuga Navalar in colonial Jaffna and Tamil Nadu. It examines Navalar's quite distinct attempt to defend orthodox Tamil Śaiva Siddhā ritual practice and construct a Caiva public inhabited by persons habituated through ritual practice. This thesis examines his polemical exchange with Protestant Missionaries, his educational projects including his schools, proposed seminary and school readers, one of his commentaries, and his public pamphlets. This thesis locates his educational projects in relation to both the long history of missionary education and the traditions of Tamil learning within the Jaffna peninsula in northern Sri Lanka. His work is interpreted in relation to studies of the public sphere, theories of habituation and the scholarship on modern South Asian religious movements.

Navalar's distinctiveness lies is his effort to construct a ritually habituated Caiva public by redrawing the boundaries of “secrecy” and “publicity” of texts and ritual practices. His Caiva public was both resistant and hegemonic. He resisted Protestantist Christianity by translating it into the conceptual framework of Tamil Śaiva Siddhānta. His public was hegemonic by privileging the dominant Ve

ā

ar caste and its textual and ritual traditions. Finally, this thesis contributes to the study of modern South Asian religious movements by interpreting his work both in relation to the precolonial history of Tamil Śaiva Siddhānta and colonial modernity.

Logic, Lives, and Lineage: Jetsun Chökyi Gyaltsen's Ascension and the Secret Biography of Khedrup Geleg Pelzang

This thesis focuses on the ways sacred biography was used as a tool in constructing the doctrinal authority of three major religious teachers in the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism. It points out the way portrayals of these figures shifted throughout the school's history, and argues that those changes reflect the socio-political and institutional agendas of the biographers themselves. It also shows how correctness of philosophical arguments can be bolstered by the personal prestige of the logicians making them.

The thesis begins by identifying a shift in the figuration of the Gelugpa school's founding figure, Tsongkhapa Lobsang Dragpa (1357–1419). An analysis of a series of early biographies reveals a change in his image, from being seen as a devoted disciple of the bodhisattva Mañjuñrī, to becoming the deity's emanation and equal. Chapter 2 goes on to show that this change is in turn related to a development in the characterization of Tsongkhapa's biographer and disciple, Khedrup Geleg Pelzang (1385–1438), today considered to be one of Tsongkhapa's two chief disciples, and an integral member of the illustrious Jey Yabsey Süm triumvirate alongside Tsongkhapa and Gyaltsab Darma Rinchen (1364–1432). It demonstrates that earlier materials do not in fact support this characterization of Khedrup, and that his membership in the triumvirate is a relatively late development. Chapter 3 examines the career of the logician Jetsun Chökyi Gyaltsen (a.k.a. “Jetsunpa,” 1469–1544), whose writings are considered today to be the principal doctrinal authority at the Jey College of Sera Monastery, one of Central Tibet's most prestigious Gelugpa institutions. It explores how the shift in Khedrup's representations was in turn closely connected to Jestunpa's ascension as Sera Jey's central textual authority in the first half of the 16^th century, when he refuted and subsequently supplanted the philosophical commentaries of his precursor, Sera Jey's original founder, Lodrö Rinchen Sengey (14^th–15^th c.). Key to this was Jetsunpa's composition of a panegyrical “secret” biography of Khedrup, elevating his hero as the principal expositor of Tsongkhapa's teachings.

In the process of demonstrating the developments in the characterizations of Tsongkhapa, Khedrup, and Jetsunpa, this thesis clarifies key phases of early Gelugpa history. It suggests that lineage affiliation and the personal charisma afforded by philosophical prowess might have been on occasion more important in the formation of doctrinal orthodoxy than were the tenets of that orthodoxy itself. It demonstrates the value of closely studying biographical rhetoric as a way of discerning the interconnectedness of religious identities, lineage, and status, and their relation to the functioning of the great philosophical systems of Tibetan Buddhism.

Rethinking the Supposed JE Document

Since the work of Julius Wellhausen in the late-nineteenth century, a basic component of the classical formulation of the Documentary Hypothesis has been the belief that the J and E documents of the Pentateuch were combined at an early point into a document known as JE. This combination has never been proven literarily, however, but has been assumed by generations of source critics. In this dissertation, I examine the question of whether such a document ever existed.

First, I examine the origins of the scholarly theory of the JE document, as well as its ramifications for subsequent scholarship. Second, I discuss the twentieth-century views on the formation of the Pentateuch, with a particular emphasis on views regarding the combination of J and E. Third, I undertake a detailed textual analysis of the narratives of D as compared to J and E, in which I show that D is dependent on the separate J and E documents, and not on their purported combined form. Fourth, I address the issue of the role of the redactor, and demonstrate that the common scholarly attributions of passages to the redactor of JE are mistaken. Fifth, I argue that the methodology of the redactor is identical across all books and source documents in the Pentateuch, strongly suggesting that there was but one redactor for the entire Pentateuch. Sixth, I critically examine some of the major historical assumptions regarding the combination of the source documents. Finally, in the conclusion, I put forward an alternative to the classical theory regarding the formation of the Pentateuch.

Sea Peoples or Syrian Peddlers? The Late Bronze–Iron I Aegean Presence in Syria and Cilicia

To date, a great deal of attention has been focused on the Aegean presence in the Near East during the pivotal point of transition between the Late Bronze and Iron Ages. Traditional theories advocating a mass immigration of the “Sea Peoples” into Cyprus and the southern Levant have been borne out by evidence for a pervasive, intrusive population of Aegean origins in these regions. Circumstances in the northern Levant during this transition remain considerably more opaque. Scholarly emphasis has been upon coastal areas and particularly focused upon evidence for destructions; moreover, labyrinthine terminology has added to the difficulties in ascertaining whether and which vessels of Mycenaean origin can be identified in a northern milieu.

Drawing upon published sites, multiple surveys, and unpublished collections, this study gathers all of the evidence for Iron Age Mycenaean-style pottery currently known in Cilicia and Syria. The Iron Age wares are presented alongside data for imported assemblages at these sites (where present), and provided with brief archaeological context. In addition, we present herein a detailed analysis of the unpublished Mycenaean-style collections from the 'Amuq sites of Chatal Hüyük and Tell Judeideh in the Syrian interior. The ceramic evidence is paired with a brief examination of the features of Aegean and Anatolian material culture appearing also during this horizon in the northern Levant. In light of the distributive patterns of the Mycenaean-style wares, their morphology and decorative repertoires, and additional evidence of intrusive cultural elements, we explore throughout the validity of both Sea Peoples' migration and Sherratt's mercantilist hypothesis as possible mechanisms for the appearance of Mycenaean-style pottery in the Iron Age northern Levant.

Strategic Alliances: The Complex Relationship Between Japanese and Korean Buddhism, 1877–1912

This dissertation reevaluates the dynamic relationship between Japanese and Korean Buddhism from 1877 to 1912. Conventional scholarship has tended to view this relationship in political terms, using the frameworks of nationalism versus imperialism/colonialism, or resistance versus collaboration. The thesis of this dissertation is that Japanese Buddhist missionaries were equally motivated to advance their own sects' interests, at times in conflict with the state's intentions. Likewise, Korean Buddhist monks were less concerned with Korea's political future than they were with protecting and furthering their own personal and institutional needs. Korean monks allied with Japanese priests to draw on the priests' political and social influence, while Japanese missionaries worked to bring Korean Buddhism under the administration of their own sects. Japanese priests and Korean monks shifted strategies according to changes in the political and religious landscape: the growth of Christianity, Japan's wars, and Japan's annexation of Korea. The governments administrating Korea sought to gain control of Japanese missionaries, Korean Buddhism, and their relationship by issuing regulations in 1902, 1906, and 1911.

To understand the intricacies of this period, this dissertation revisits the merger attempted by the Japanese Sōtōshū sect and the Korean W njong organization in 1910. It examines the underlying motivations of the priest Takeda Hanshi, who acted on behalf of the Sōtōshū, by drawing on his treatise Enshū rokuteiron. This treatise, as well as his other writings, show that Takeda, a staunch imperialist, prioritized advancing the Sōtōshū. This case also shows how Yi Hoekwang, the Wŏnjong's head monk, sought to use the Sōtōshū's political power to influence state authorities to officially recognize Korean Buddhism. The colonial government, frustrated by the disorder caused by this and other alliances and by sectarianism, promulgated the 1911 Temple Ordinance, effectively ending institutional contact between the two Buddhisms.

This dissertation seeks to complexify the historiography of this period. By using primary sources from both Korea and Japan, this study emphasizes the significance of Japanese sectarianism and the agency of Korean Buddhists. It shows that Japanese Buddhists, by sharing methods in education, institutionalization, and propagation, played a significant part in the modern transformation of Korean Buddhism.

The Language of Verbal Insults in the Hebrew Bible

This study is an analysis of verbal insults in the Hebrew Bible. Beginning with the conviction that language is a social phenomenon, the study recognizes that insults are acts of rudeness and insolence, which are deeply rooted in the symbolic world of ancient Israel. Some features of that world are universal; others are specific to the historical and cultural milieu of Israel. Therefore, the analysis of biblical insults requires sensitivity to the social dynamics that are represented and assumed by the written text. By uttering words of scorn, speakers employ language in a performance of conflict. The study first explores what kind of performance is entailed in the insult. It then turns toward an examination of the words used to insult. These creative speech acts often employ metaphorical language to generate emotive connotations to stigmatize the addressee. Imagery from the realms of social relationships and the physical environment provide a vast array of symbols to manipulate. Furthermore, insults are not only conveyed through lexemes, but also encoded into various conversational strategies that are particularly significant in social interaction. It will be seen that in biblical literature insults are a means of subverting or reinforcing social boundaries and hierarchies between characters, whether human or divine. Awareness of these processes sharpens our perception of the social world presented in the text, and provide an opportunity to consider the social reality of ancient Israel, to which the literature points.

Abraham's Dialogue with God over the Destruction of Sodom: Chapters in the History of the Interpretation of Genesis 18

This dissertation analyzes the early history of the interpretation of Genesis 18:16–33. Because translation necessarily involves some level of interpretation, the Septuagint, Vulgate, Old Latin, Peshitta, and Samaritan Pentateuch are examined, along with the portion of our text that was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The rabbinic tradition that avers a scribal emendation to Gen 18:22 is likewise evaluated, with the conclusion that the earlier text, which read that yhwh remained standing before Abraham, makes better sense of the passage from a literary point of view, thereby supporting the tradition of a tiqqûn so

erîm.

Chapter 2 surveys the allusions found in some of the postbiblical literature, including the Targumim, Josephus, Jubilees, Pseudo-Philo, the Greek Apocalypse of Ezra, and The Testament of Isaac. These showed increased freedom in the way they appropriated the passage, and point to the use of Abraham's dialogue with God as paradigmatic.

Chapter 3 focused on Philo of Alexandria, a Jew who lived in Alexandria, and his interpretation of Genesis 18. His classical education included studying the works of Homer and their allegorical significance, a method he then applied to the Bible. His influence can be seen in the church fathers, particularly Origen.

The patristic era dominates chapter 4, and we spend time looking at how Justin Martyr, Origen, Eusebius, Ambrose, John Chrysostom, and Augustine of Hippo interpret and use our passage. The theological controversies concerning the relationship between Christianity and Judaism, the nature of the divinity of Jesus, the developing doctrine of the Trinity, and the place of the church in the wider political affairs of the state are all reflected in the treatment of Genesis 18 by the church fathers.

Our passage lends itself to a variety of questions: the intellectual (or theological) milieu of each interpreter plays a critical role in determining which of these is actually addressed. We see, therefore, in the history of the interpretation of Genesis 18, a representative view of the development of the history of ideas.

An Intellectual and Spiritual Biography of Rabbi Avraham Yitzhaq Ha-Cohen Kook from 1865 to 1904

This dissertation seeks to fill a gaping hole in the voluminous literature surrounding the outstanding modern Jewish mystic, theologian, jurist, and rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (1865–1935)—the decades prior to his emigration from Latvia to the Land of Israel in 1904 at age thirty-eight. The numerous works he wrote before 1904 have been almost completely neglected in the scholarly literature as well as the concrete details of his life and activities at that time. Moreover, very little has been written of him as a scholarly biography and this dissertation hopes to set a model for others to follow.

These early works differ from his later, better-known writings in a number of ways, including their explicit indebtedness to medieval rationalism, their casting of Jewish nationalism in universalizing and non-Messianic terms, and the absence of discussion of the Land of Israel as a theologically central term; this, in contrast to Jewish peoplehood which is significant for him throughout.

This dissertation traces Rabbi Kook's evolution in this period from an ethos of self-cultivation—under the impress of the intellect and an indebtedness to medieval philosophy—to one of self-expression and subjectivity. While he began to study Kabbalah at an early age it was not until later in the period covered by this dissertation that he began to internalize Kabbalistic concepts and thus come to see the individual, the collective, and the world as a whole as a dynamic arena of contending, dialectical metaphysical forces. This in turn was related to the mounting expressivism and subjectivity of his thought, which rose out of the combination of his own introspection and reflection on the social and cultural circumstances of his times. The dissertation shows that his reworking of medieval philosophical categories, in particular the relationship between intellect and imagination, was crucial to this development.

In addition to these themes, the dissertation offers a chronological portrait of his early life and education in the context of Lithuanian Rabbinic culture of the time, his early publications and Rabbinic posts, his complex engagement with the Mussar movement, the evolution of his thinking on Jewish nationalism and modern heresy, and his eventual emigration to the Land of Israel. It also discusses his discovery of the spiritual diary as the genre which most suited both his character and the tenor of his thought.

In conclusion the implications of all the above for our understanding of Rav Kook's thought as a whole are discussed, and, to some extent, the implications for the study of religion in general. The conclusion takes the measure of his passage to subjectivity and his development of an autobiographical theology. It also relates the findings of the dissertation to contemporary Israeli politics, as well as to theology—in terms of theology as autobiography—and the dynamics of the inheritance and reinterpretation of multiple traditions.

Vision and Visuality in Late Antique Rabbinic Culture

There has been a relatively recent rehabilitation of the visual in the study of Jewish culture, mostly in terms of the study of images and attitudes towards them. This thesis extends the recognition of the importance of visuality in Jewish studies by treating vision itself as a phenomenon in need of historical study. Specifically, this study describes and analyzes “Rabbinic visuality.” It demonstrates the ways in which the Rabbis of late antiquity expended exegetical, legal and narrative energy in an effort to construct vision, to regulate vision, and indeed to “Rabbinize” vision itself.

Through close study of specific themes, textual traditions and comparative material, it is shown that the Rabbinic regime of the visual manifested itself in several realms (ritual, fantasies about the destroyed Temple, making the past visible, categorizing humans and mapping the landscape), and was configured differently across space and in time from third-century Palestine, to fifth-century Palestine and sixth-century Persia. Rabbinic visuality is variously shown to be distinctive from, appropriative of, and indebted to, late antique, Greco-Roman, Christian, Persian and other contemporaneous visualities.

Vision, literally and as employed literarily, functioned as a site of differentiation and commonality, polemic and rhetoric, between different groups, religions, ethnicities and genders. The thesis shows that the Rabbis, like their fellow Near Easterners, were very much engaged in visual cultural practices and that they invented their own objects and formats of visual piety, theology and culture. The Rabbis saw in ways that were specific to, and constitutive of, their identities and interests, while at the same time sharing a language and landscape of visuality with their fellow late antique neighbors.

Emek ha-Neẓiv :A Window into the Intellectual Universe of Rabbi Naftali Ẓvi Yehudah Berlin

Through his position as head of the Eẓ Ḥayyim Yeshiva in Volozhin and as a prolific and popular author, Rabbi Naftali Ẓvi Yehudah Berlin (Neẓiv; 1816–1893) stood at the very center of Lithuanian rabbinic society during the second half of the nineteenth century. This dissertation proposes that one can derive unique insight into the creative and highly influential mind of Neẓiv from an analysis of his earliest intellectual product, a commentary on the rabbinic compilation of halakhic midrash known as Sifre, posthumously published (1958) under the name

Emek ha-Neẓiv. It argues that Neẓiv's earliest work belongs to the intellectually vibrant, yet heretofore unstudied world of early nineteenth-century midrash commentary. Furthermore, it suggests that the cultural elements which gave rise to this flourish of midrash scholarship—namely the influence of the Ga'on of Vilna, the role of the Lithuanian Maggid, and the rise of Hebrew print—are clearly manifest in the pages of

Emek ha-Neẓiv.

Armed with an understanding of Neẓiv's earliest intellectual endeavors we shall then examine his later work against the backdrop of

Emek ha-Neẓiv. Doing so shall demonstrate that much of Neẓiv's later commentarial endeavors are natural outgrowths of his early work and his formative experiences in the world of early nineteenth-century midrash study. At the same time, we shall demonstrate that setting his later work against the relief of his earlier endeavors helps to highlight limited, yet critical, points where Neẓiv's Ha

amek Davar diverges significantly from the exegetical path he had taken in ‘Emek ha-Neẓiv. Much of this divergence may be attributed to the impact of a Jewish society which had greatly changed over the course of Neẓiv's life. These changes in society confronted the Lithuanian rabbinic establishment with an altered set of norms, expectations, and fears, many of which are reflected in Neẓiv's Ha

amek Davar. Thus our exploration of Neẓiv's later work offers important insight into the intellectual and religious development of Neẓiv, as well as into the history of nineteenth-century Jewish Lithuania as a whole.

Philistine Figurines and Figurines in Philistia in the Iron Age

This dissertation is a study of a group of terracotta figurines—those found in Philistia and dating to the Iron Age (ca. 1200–600 b.c.e.). Previously scholars have focused on this group of figurines only intermittently, and none has made a comprehensive study and analysis of the material. This survey and update of previous research is particularly valuable now, as new material found over the last two decades (above all those recovered by the Leon Levy Expediton to Ashkelon, as well as from Tel Miqne-Ekron and the ongoing excavations at Tell es-Safi) allows for a more thorough understanding of the corpus.

An introductory section deals with theoretical and methodological issues not generally addressed in figurine studies; it is argued that the lack of attention to such issues has had a negative impact on the results of the scholarship. After a survey of the previous research on Philistine figurines, a revised methodology for figurine studies is offered, based on the strengths and weaknesses of prior research.

The figurine study proper is composed of three basic parts. First, it provides a catalogue of the as-yet unpublished figurine corpus from Ashkelon: at over 200 figurines, this is one of the key sets of figurines in the region. This is followed by a full typology covering all of the figurines of Philistia, using the catalogue and a comparison with figurines from other sites. Finally, the study includes a discussion of more general questions relating to the figurines and Philistine culture. These include the meaning and function of the figurines, based on the types, their contexts, and their iconography, as well as how the figurines relate to Philistia as a cultural area—both the degree of its homogeneity and its relationship to surrounding regions—and how these characteristics change over time.

“For the anxious thrill and serene satisfaction of good people”: Rethinking the Pāli Mahāva

sa

Steven Collins noted, “Although [va

sas] have been edited and translated for some time they have received scarcely any study by modern scholars aside from being used by historians as a source of data for their own historiography. Serious and sympathetic investigation of them in and for themselves … is more or less non-existent” (Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities, 254). Imagined as a corrective to the dominant and persistent readings of the Pāli Mahāva

sa as a mine for historical data and/or as a political charter to justify contemporary charges of Sinhalese Buddhist supremacy, this dissertation begins by taking the reading instructions provided in the proem seriously and sympathetically to help understand the text as a religiously and poetically effective piece of literature.

The clearly stated and frequently reiterated aims of the fifth-century compiler-monk, namely that the Mahāva

sa was compiled “for the anxious thrill and serene satisfaction of good people,” provokes herein a sustained attention to the use of literary elements such as myth and metaphor that elicit the desired exercise of the imagination and consequent emotional response of the audience. Reading the Mahāva

sa through the expectations established in the proem, we uncover the literary efficacy of the metaphor of light in its first chapter, and the narrative utility of the particularly salient snake-beings, nāgas, who are simultaneously model worshippers and unworthy hoarders of the relics of the Buddha. As nonhuman agents in the narrative, nāgas obviously challenge historicist readings of the text. I argue that the centrality of the nāga helps to refocus the attention of the audience on the imaginative and emotional aims of this religious text.

Studies in Zoroastrian Exegesis and Hermeneutics with a Critical Edition of the Sūdgar Nask of Dēnkard Book 9

My dissertation examines the various interpretive dimensions of a ninth century c.e. Pahlavi (Middle Persian) commentary on the five Old Avestan Gā

ās (second millennium b.c.e.), the oldest and most sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, ascribed to the prophet Zarathustra himself. Dēnkard Book 9 is a threefold commentary (Pahl. nask), thus providing us with an opportunity to study three different interpretations of the Old Avesta. My dissertation comprises two halves. The first half consists of a four-part introduction, three interpretive essays, and a conclusion. The second half is a text, translation, and apparatus criticus of the first of the three commentaries, the Sūdgar Nask (Dēnkard 9.1–23).

My first essay is a study of the division of the Zoroastrian religious corpus into three fields of knowledge: seven Gathic nasks, seven ritual nasks, and seven legal nasks. My discussion focuses on symbolic interpretation, as the 21 nasks are explicitly connected with the 21 words of the Ahuna Vairiia prayer (Yasna 27.13), and the three fields of knowledge are associated with its three verse lines. I argue that the division of a religious corpus on the basis of its most sacred prayer and the resulting numerological speculations on it are vital for understanding the associative nature of Zoroastrian interpretive thought, and are closely paralleled with Vedic taxonomies of scripture found in the brāhma

a literature of ancient India.

My second essay contains a close reading of the Sūdgar Nask of the Kamnamāezā Hāiti (Yasna 46.1–19), which begins with a question posed by Zarathustra: “To what ground am I bending? Where shall I go to (find) pasture?” Based on the subsequent answer, I argue that the interpretation of this section reveals a reading strategy of “Intertextuality” and the employment of the hermeneutical principle of “Omnisignificance”—literary-theoretical concepts which I have adapted from Rabbinic Studies.

My third essay deals with the last section of the Old Avesta, which is interpreted in an eschatological sense by all three nasks. As eschatology is a reflection of cosmogony, the Ā Airii

mā Išiiō (Yasna 54.1), at the end of the Old Avesta is juxtaposed with the Ahuna Vairiia, which begins the Old Avesta. I argue that the correlation of the progress of the ritual with the linear progression of cosmology is a characteristic feature of Zoroastrian hermeneutics.