The World of the Old Testament - The Ancient Middle East

3. The Reception

3.2. The Ancient Middle East

3.2.3. The World of the Old Testament

3.2.3.1. General Introduction

The last topic to touch in our chapter gathered around the world of the Ancient Middle East is the Old Testament. It could be a really hard introduction to write here as the structure, history, poetry, social and cultural context of the Hebrew Old Testament each has its own rich literature. As the Bible and the Old Testament within are the foundations of European Christian culture we cannot say that the stories found in it are ancient mythological and religious scriptures that have no actuality for today’s people but are a curiosity. Although for our cause we only regard the scriptures of the Old Testament as works of high literature that bear all the features as the Egyptian, Mesopotamian and forward to cite other cultures’ ancient myths without denying its impact and importance for Western society. In Chapter 2.3. we had some remarks about the Bible from the viewpoint of literary theory. In this section without forgetting those points in each case of reception we are going to focus more on the religious and historical context before the birth of Christ. On the pages below four topics and six instances of reception are going to be spoken of. We are going to follow the structure of the Old Testament, thus the sequence is the following:

1) The Flood (1 album)

2) The Tower of Babel (2 songs) 3) The Exodus (1 album)

4) Paganism in the Old Testament (2 songs)

Because of the monotheistic system of the Old Testament the well known gods and their names inspiring musical bands’ name choice section is missing but as it can be seen above we are going to have more stories highlighted for examination. Let us know close to the first topic: the cataclysm of the Flood from the book of Genesis.

93 3.2.3.2. The Flood

The story of the Flood that starts with the 7^th verse of Genesis chapter 6 could be called as the second creation epic within the Old Testament. The cataclysm³²⁹ mentioned and presented in the Genesis is not a unique sujet, we can find its parallels in Mesopotamia, in the Epic of Gilgamesh or Atra-Hasis Epic, or in the Greek mythology. It may be called as a general topic for mythologies of the European culture, with the central issue of God or the gods are disappointed with their own creation and decide to destroy it with only a few true human left alive.³³⁰ The structure of the story is lead by the decisive decision of God:

1) The decision to destroy the world 2) The promise to never repeat this act

The figure and words of God should be observed in the introduction of the story as besides his fury many other emotions are mixed as well: the wickedness of man (that appears to be a problem of the mentioned generation without detailing the sins) makes him angry but sad as well as he is to eradicate life.³³¹

From the pool of wickedness one man and his family emerges: “These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.”³³² There is one true man on earth, protected by God’s will to save him and his family, thus commands him to build the Ark and enumerate the animals to rescue them from his wrath coming upon the sinners. On this point we meet the categorization of pure and impure animals. Noah does everything as the Lord commanded him, and when the windows of the heavens’ opened up and for forty days and forty nights rain poured upon the ground and devoured all life. In the end when Noah and his family are saved and the water lessened God made a covenant with his chosen one, incorporating his promise never to repeat his act of destruction. We have two important consequences of this story: first we can see that the creator and good intended God can be furious and destructive, and also a portent of the arrival of Jesus Christ, who is the saviour of the people. With his crucifixion and the washing away of all sin God really do not have a reason to destroy the world again.³³³ During later theological development the story is in many cases cited or reinterpreted and is shown now to

329 Katakylsmos (Greek) = Flood. Compare: Jack P. LEWIS, Flood = The Anchor Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel FREEDMAN, Logos Library Systems, 1995-1999 (CD version).

330 Claus WESTERMANN, Genesis, London, T&T Clark International, 1987, 51.

331 Gen 6:6

332 Gen 6:9

333 Claus WESTERMANN, ibid. 1987, 66-67.

94 be a source of inspiration for a metal musical group actualizing and translating its meaning for today’s society.

Orphaned Land, originating from Israel, the kibbutz of Petah-Tikva released their groundbreaking concept album in 2004, entitled Mabool – The Story of Three Sons of Seven.³³⁴ The band works with a mixture of progressive, death, doom and Middle Eastern folk metal creating their own definition of the term “oriental metal”. Besides the folk tunes and instruments (like bouzouki) incorporated their lyrical programme also revolves around their homeland and it religious milieu attributed with hate and hostility between Abrahamic religions, mainly Islam and Judaism. Their opinion about the situation of the Levant and Israel is manifested in all their works and especially in the Mabool (Hebrew for Flood) record.

As all the songs are part of the same sequence it is now time to take a closer look on a whole corpus of a musical record.³³⁵

The first song, the opening of the epic entitled Birth of the Three (The Unification) is one of the most enigmatic but informative pieces on the LP. The song can be named as a musical ars poetica regarding the whole record. Its plot contains the split of a divine unit that has something to do with the Flood in the following. We hear of a seventh descendant (who is Noah in the Biblical narrative, but here we lack his name) who is split into three. These three persons or “concepts” have their own unique form and symbols. The first one is a Snake, with the symbol of David’s Star, the second one is an Eagle with a triangle and a crescent and the last one is a Lion who is wise and has the cross as a hallmark. The Snake could be identified with the Nehusthan, the brass snake nailed by Moses upon the command of God to save his people from the venomous bites of real snakes.³³⁶ The crescent and the sword summons the images of Islam to our minds and especially the Jihad, while the triangle may refer to the ethical triangle of Islam,³³⁷ while the Lion and the cross represent Christianity and Jesus. The split of the unity of these three concepts declares a vision of religious ecumenism that states that all three Abrahamic religions come from the same root thus there should be no difference between them, and more, they could be stronger together. We also have some references to Job and Jesus but the composition is led towards the Flood.

The second song, Ocean Land can be interpreted as a prophetic message. If the first song was a prelude then this is the introduction. It is not the voice of God to Noah that is

334 Orphaned Land, Mabool – The Story of Three Sons of Seven, Century Media Records, 2004.

335 For the complete lyrics please visit: https://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Orphaned_Land/Mabool_-_The_Story_of_the_Three_Sons_of_Seven/32762 (Retrieved: 2018. 08. 01.)

336 Num 21:8-9

337 http://www.islamicity.com/Articles/articles.asp?ref=IC0510-2830 (Retrieved: 2018. 08. 01.)

95 interpreted³³⁸ but another glance on the fate of humanity: a great rain will come that will erase humankind. The visions listed by the song give a picturesque impact of the coming storm, comparing the world after to a mass grave that is under the ocean. The voice of desperation can be heard in the song along with the accepting of the task by the Three.³³⁹ The thread of the Biblical story is started in the third song, The Kiss of Babylon (The Sins) listing the sins committed by humanity. It is revealed that humankind is in a dark night, where sons and fathers kill each other, sin is upon sin what deserves punishment. The Three introduced above appear here as the executives of God’s command. We also find some references to stories that are mentioned in the Old Testament before and after the flood, like the fall to sin of the first men, represented by the venomous kiss of the snake (not the same as the hero, but a representation of Satan like in Genesis 1) or the murder of Abel by Cain, and the rise of Babylon that should be connected to the Babel’s tower episode (according to popular interpretation that states that Babel is equal with Babylon).³⁴⁰ The song is closed with a Hebrew verse that incarnates the desire of the ones who were banished from the Holy Land, making Jerusalem being the real object of want. In this lyric we can see that the Old Testament is used by the band as a whole, as a full reality not dealing with the problem of the canonization process, creating a clear resemblance to the many myth variants of other cultures, where contradictory events may occur in different versions of a certain myth.

The fourth piece, A’salk breaks in musicality and language the process of the preceding. It an acoustic piece with the Hebrew singing of Shlomit Levi in an Eastern manner, not continuing the story. It is a begging prayer that draws from authentic source: using the poetry of Rabbi Shalom Shabazi.³⁴¹ In our context it is a prayer for God’s mercy said by the Three. Halo Dies (The Wrath of God) introduces the real wrath of God that was only mentioned and prophesized earlier. Its prelude is a citation from the Old Testament³⁴² listing the sins once again. Than we hear God himself to speak (with distorted, death metal style vocals) to determine to destroy humanity with fire, and release all pain and anguish to humanity that may occur during one’s life. The death of men is compared to the death of Abel, making it that the natural disaster to come is of will (by fire and water) and not of chance. The Three is presented again as the hand of God, who follow His will. After this the text changes its viewpoint declaring the will of God to be righteous. The fall of Adam and

338 Compare: Gen 6:13

339 The three protagonists (Snake, Eagle, Lion) are going to be called as the Three for an easier identification on the further pages.

340 This topic is to be described in details in the next section.

341 http://www.metal-archives.com/release.php?id=32762 (Retrieved: 2018. 08. 01.)

342 Gen 6:11

96 Eve and the example of Job are mentioned intensifying the situation. The last verse is once again a citation of the Old Testament creating a frame for the piece, stressing the sins again.³⁴³

A Call to Awake (The Quest) is the title of the continuing chapter in what the Three starts the journey to warn the people that God is furious and why He is as. They call the world to repent their sins and their astray faith (the worship of pagan gods). They speak through prophets who are not taken into account by the people. In the mirror of the five first pieces this song can be named as the first section after the rather long introduction (that has the dramatic effect of stressing the cause of the Flood from all sides possible), where the Three acts first time. The righteous judgement of God is presented here once again, and the attempts of the Three to make the people onto repentance as they are not celebrate death but to save their lives.

With a big leap in the original story we find ourselves at the building of the Ark with the seventh song of the same title. Besides the repeated wrath of God we find the instructions to build the Ark by an unnamed person. One of the Three speaks as well accepting the task from the Lord and fulfills it. The song should be split to two major parts what are divided in performance and language as well. The first and longer part is performed by a choir and a solo singer in turns, its language is in Latin containing citations from the Vulgata. This long verse is an individual piece within that cites many parts of the Vulgata but not in the original sequence, nevertheless containing the most important information.³⁴⁴ The list in order is: Gen 6:12, 6:14, 6:11, 6:19 that are in some cases not full verse only short portions important for the rhetoric of the album. 6:12 cites the corruption of the world, 6:14 is of the parameters of the Ark, 6:11 mentions perdition and 6:19 is of the command to collect the animals. The picture is enhanced if we recollect that a Jewish band uses the ancient form of the Western Christian Bible. The second section is the shorter one, where Kobi Farhi the lead singer uses English once again. This part can be counted as an answer to the previous one, where an unknown person accepts God as his Lord. According to the consequent structure of the album, and the lack of Noah’s name throughout the record, we may assume that as the Snake is the spokesman of the Three than it is his hymn to God. It is clear that this part reinterprets the 4^th verse of the 23^rd chapter of Psalms.³⁴⁵

The eight piece, Norra el Norra, takes a break again in the sequence of the story, used as prayer by the speaker for shelter from God. The Egyptian folk tune is in Hebrew and can be

343 Gen 6:5-6

344 Compare the listed verses of the Vulgata.

345 Psalms 23:4: „Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”

97 regarded in a pair with the previous one, as that one opened up the way to Christianity, its tunes open the way to the Islam with the same gesture. Without lyrics only with music created is the atmosphere of the ninth song The Calm Before the Flood leading to the tenth piece, Mabool (The Flood). This rather long lyric contains Biblical citations, mainly only the detailing of the cataclysm itself. The sin of Eve is mentioned alongside with Rome what was the primary enemy of early Christianity. The concrete and picturesque narrative also gives advices for the ones surviving and repopulating earth. The most important amongst the advices is to find true faith and to create a Heaven on earth by peace. We find three citations to enhance the tension of the song³⁴⁶ that are on the Flood, its coming and on the lex talionis.

This is not the end of the story of course, in a nine minute long epic (The Storm Still Rages Inside) the desperation and thrill of the Ark’s passengers are detailed. A picture is painted about the rampage of the storm, with a prayer from the inside of the Ark. We have a short reference to Jonas as well, comparing his desperation in the belly of the beast to the feelings of the surviving ones. In the end the choir functioning as the choir of Angels in heaven ask God to help his sons below closing the story with the last, instrumental song Rainbow (The Resurrection) only mentioning in the title the resolution of the narrative. We can see from the pages above and the whole concept of the album that this personal reinterpretation of the Flood that stresses the sinfulness of the people the most. The mysterious Three embody the three Abrahamic religions always underlining their unity³⁴⁷ with common acts and speaking. This actualized Flood narrative is a message for the peoples of the mentioned religions to unite and not fight each other as with this act of peace a greater catastrophe may be driven away.³⁴⁸

3.2.3.3. The Tower of Babel

The word by word interpretation of Genesis 11:1-9 is nothing about but the conceited nature of humanity and its consequences, and about the origin of languages on the world. Modern Biblical scholarship although has a more detailed picture about the story. According to scientific common sense we must understand the Tower of Babel as a single structure that is

346 Gen 6:17, 7:11, 9:6

347 For a more detailed examination correlated with an interview with one of the members of the band please see our work of 2012: FEJES János, KŐSZEGHY Miklós, Rajtunk a Vízözön? Egy ősi történet modern funkcióban, Egyháztörténeti Közlemények 2012/1, 25-45.

348 For a full review on the lyrical programme of the band please see our work of 2012: FEJES János, Vallásközi Párbeszéd a (metal)zene nyelvén = „Vidimus enim stellam eius…” ed. SZÁVAY László, L’Harmattan Kiadó, Budapest, 2011, 100-108.

98 to be found in Babylon (Bab-ili in its original form), the great main sanctuary ziqqurat of Marduk, the Étemenanki.³⁴⁹ This theory has some problematic points although. The word used for the tower in the Old Testament, migdal is a totally secular word not containing any reference to a temple while the term ziqqurat has a clearly sacral connotation in the Akkadian culture. Besides this the migdal is mentioned with the term „‘īr”, meaning city thus the building may be a fortified structure or settlement rather than a sanctuary.³⁵⁰ Furthermore, the building material is not the same in the case of the Étemenanki and the Babel Tower. The Biblical account speaks of burned bricks, while the mentioned ziqquratu only partially contains the said material. After a closer examination of the Akkadian and ancient Hebrew texts we may assume that the Babel Tower is a reference to the new capital city of Sarrukin II., one of the greatest kings of the Neoassyrian Empire, called Dur-Sarrukin. Thus the story besides serving as the origin myth of languages is also a propaganda text against the Assyrian power.

The yet cited album of Greek Septicflesh, Communion is mentioned once again to show an instance of reception. The song entitled Babel’s Gate³⁵¹ consists of five verses with the first one giving us the starting situation,³⁵² with a summary of the context. On its composition we can say that it is a direct message towards the listener, listing the reasons of confusion that torments humanity (the existence of different languages). From the title we can see that it is a personal interpretation of the topic. In this regard we can see that the Tower of Babel is not a tower by its manifestation that reaches the sky but a kind of a dimensional gate, that may open the way up to God thus giving the opportunity to make God fall and step in his place. This power is articulated that men want to gain to be alike God himself, but this power can be ruled by only one person: its originator, the Lord. The mysterious reference in the

In document Doktori (PhD) értekezés (Pldal 95-0)