Interpreting "heroic" concepts in Ancient Near Eastern studies : towards an emic framework for the understanding of Shimshôn and Gilgameš

Abstract

The confluence of modern and ancient concepts is a constant in academics' minds. Much of our modern culture can trace its roots, even tangentially, to some ancient custom performed by our ancestors or necessitated by environmental changes. However, in many cases, this link between the ancient and the modern is so distant that it is no longer apparent to the modern researcher. This creates a knowledge gap that the mind’s subconscious automatically fills by interpreting the unknown through the known, resulting in the ancient being interpreted through the lens of the modern. This has been proven to be controllable and, in some cases, preventable. In this thesis, a framework is proposed that would incorporate cognitive sciences, emic-etic theory, and Panofsky’s Iconology to provide a researcher with the means to independently isolate the source material they are studying and, as much as possible, remove their own modern-cultural-infused bias from the subject matter. The concept of “Heroism” was chosen as a test, with Shimshôn and Gilgameš used as subject matter since a direct comparison has yet to be done (or isn’t widely available), even though researchers often compare the two to Herakles as if they were contemporaries in a vast pantheon of Ancient Near Eastern heroes. Through a systematic and methodological approach, the emic characters of Shimshôn and Gilgameš are revealed and contrasted.