Autor: Voegelin, Eric

Buch: Israel and Revelation

Titel: Israel and Revelation

Stichwort: Hammurabi; keine geschichtliche Zeit im kosmischen Mythos Mesopotamiens

Kurzinhalt: Parallele zwischen himmlischer u. menschl. Ordnung, the spatial organization of the empire reflects the spatial organization of the cosmos

Textausschnitt: The construction is the same as in the inscription of Lugalzaggisi, but it has become more elaborate. There is the clear parallelism between the creation of order, the foundation of Babylon under the lordship of Marduk in the heavens, and the creation of the earthly realm of Babylon under the lordship of Hammurabi.
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A political organization exists in time, and as a recognizable unit originates in time. In the cosmological style of symbolization, however, there is no flow of historical time articulated by an originating event. The foundation of a government is rather conceived as an event in the cosmic order of the gods, of which the earthly event is the analogous expression. What today we would call the category of historical time is symbolized by origination in a cosmic decree.
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While in time the political process is a reflection of the cosmogonic process, the spatial organization of the empire reflects the spatial organization of the cosmos. The spatial order of the universe is determined by the revolutions of the main celestial bodies from east to west, creating the system of the four cardinal points, of the four corners of the world, and of the four corresponding regions.