Cover

Dedication

Preface

Table of Contents

List of Figures

Abbreviations

Chapter One The Royal Epilogues and the Politics of Dead Kings

1.1. Introduction

1.2. Research Objectives

1.2.1. Interpretive Model

1.2.1.1. Theoretical Precepts

1.2.1.2. Transition Rituals and Funerary Rites

1.2.2. Theory, Artifact and Text: A Synthesis

1.3. Conclusion

Chapter Two The Formulaic Epilogues in the Book of Kings

2.1. Introduction

2.2. History of Research into the Epilogue Formulary

2.2.1. The Study of the Deuteronomistic History

2.2.2. The Epilogue Formulae: A Brief History of Research

2.3. To Be Gathered to/Lie with the Ancestors

2.3.1. Interpreting the Phrase: A History of Scholarship

2.3.1.1. The Biblical Interpretation

2.3.1.2. The Archaeological Interpretation

2.3.1.3. The Interpretative Problems

2.3.2. A New Approach

2.3.2.1. The Social Context

2.3.2.2. The Biblical Context

2.3.2.3. The Literary Order

2.3.3. The Inheritance Implications of “Gathered to His People”

2.3.3.1. The Death of Jacob

2.3.3.2. Ishmael, Moses and the Death of Aaron

2.3.3.3. “Gathered to their Fathers” in Judges 2:10

2.4. Concluding Remarks

Chapter Three The Socio-Political Significance of Funerary Rites

3.1. Introduction

3.2. Reconstructing the Royal Tombs of Israel and Judah

3.2.1. Elite Burials in Iron Age II Judah

3.2.2. Royal Tombs in the Ancient Levant

3.2.2.1. Intramural Burials

3.2.2.2. Secondary Rites

3.3. The Desecration of Royal Tombs

3.4. The Eradication of the House of Saul

3.5. Summary Observations

Chapter Four The Dynastic Notice

4.1. Introduction

4.2. The Northern Kingdom

4.2.1. The House of Omri and the Death of Ahab

4.2.2. The House of Jehu

4.3. The Kingdom of Judah

4.3.1. The United Monarchy and the Establishment of the Dynasty

4.3.1.1. The Dynastic Oracle

4.3.1.2. The Succession Narrative

4.3.1.3. The Transition of Solomon (1 Kings 11:21)

4.3.2. The Lineage of David and the Kingdom of Judah

4.3.2.1. The Interregnum of Athaliah

4.3.2.2. The Death of Amaziah

4.3.2.3. The Ritual Politics of Irregular Succession

4.3.3. The Latter Kings of the House of David

4.3.3.1. The Death of Josiah and Huldah’s Prophecy

4.3.3.2. The Fate of Jehoiakim

4.3.3.3. Dynastic Legitimacy as an Exilic Theme

4.4. Conclusion

Chapter Five The Burial Notice

5.1. Introduction

5.2. The Archaeological Quest for the Tombs of David

5.2.1. Royal Burial in the City of David

5.2.1.1. Weill’s Royal Necropolis

5.2.2. Burial in the Garden of Uzza

5.2.2.1. The Tombs of Saint Étienne

5.2.2.2. The Western Hill

5.3. Samaria and the Royal Tombs of the Israelite Kings

5.4. The Formulaic Burial Notices in Kings

5.5. Synthesis

Chapter Six The Notice of the Successor

6.1. Introduction

6.2. Formulaic Terminology

6.2.1. To “Sit upon the Throne”

6.2.2. To “Rule in One’s Stead”

6.3. Jeroboam II and the Dynastic Throne of Jehu

6.4. The Edomite King List

6.5. Royal Ancestors and Succession at Ugarit

6.6. Concluding Remarks

Chapter Seven Rephaim and Royal Ancestors

7.1. Introduction

7.2. The Rephaim in Near Eastern Literature

7.2.1. The rapi’ma at Ugarit

7.2.2. The Rephaim in Phoenician Sources

7.3. The Rephaim in the Hebrew Bible

7.3.1. Rephaim and the Royal Dead in Prophetic Literature

7.3.1.1. Isaiah 14

7.3.1.2. Ezekiel 32

7.4. Royal Ancestors, a Genealogical Perspective

7.4.1. The Genealogical Perspectives of Genesis

7.4.2. The “Fathers” as Royal Ancestors

7.5. The Epilogues within Kings and the Hebrew Bible

Chapter Eight The Epilogues and the Royal Ancestors

Conclusion

Bibliography

Scripture Index

Hebrew Bible/Old Testament

Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books

Source Index

Akkadian

Northwest Semitic

Sumerian

Ugaritic

Author Index

Subject Index