David in Cultural Memory

The studies collected in this volume are the outcome of papers presented
at the workshop “David in Cultural Memory,” held at the Pázmány Péter
Catholic University Budapest, 9-10 October, 2013. The person of king
David of biblical history have long ago been the object of persistent
scholarly interest. The present volume aims at offering an assemblage of
the diversified memories constructed about David in various collections
and communities. Narratives in the Deuteronomistic historiography
reflect Ancient Near Eastern social and legal customs, and are added by
literary <i>topoi</i> bearing specific meaning, customary motifs of
royal biographies. Persian period Chronicles offer a substantially
different picture of David. The Psalms’ religious poetry memorized him
as an author and example, while prophetic literature and its exegesis
refer to him in messianic terms. David is one of the rare figures of
biblical history remembered also in visual memory, in the synagogue of
Dura Europos.