Abstract
The article explores whether key features of Babylonian textual standardisation may have may have influenced basic patterns of text and commentary in the Babylonian Talmud. The paper takes the view that canonicity is a complex process involving different levels of standardising texts. On the whole, canonicity preserved major texts (like Gilgamesh, the Bible, the Hippocratic Corpus), but others considered as non-canonical (or ‘outside’) could still be used for explanatory purposes. The structure of the Babylonian Talmud (Mishnah, Gemara, Tosephta-based Beraitôt) serves as a useful model for comparison with earlier cuneiform compendia.
Funding source: H2020 European Research Council
Award Identifier / Grant number: ERC-2012-AdG. 323596–BabMed
AbbreviationsBAK = H. Hunger, Babylonian-assyrian Kolophone (1968)SAA = State Archives of Assyria
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