Hugo Gressmann - Babylonian Influence on the Hebrews

 

An excerpt from, "Babylonian Influence on the Hebrews: The Tower of Babel. Hugo Gressmann" by William Creighton Graham, University of Chicago - The Journal of Religion, April 1930:

This series of five lectures, the first to be delivered under the Hilda Stch Stroock Foundation of the Jewish Institute of Religion, New York, constitutes literally the last of the many notable contributions of the late Professor Hugo Gressmann to Old Testament Study. The Preface by Professor Obermann contains a touchingly beautiful appreciation of the author's work and an eloquent tribute to his personality. 

The theme of the lectures is the intellectual and spiritual relationship between Israel and the Babylonians. "The Tower of Babel" stands as the symbol of Babylonian civilization, and it is from the angle of the influence of the latter upon Hebrew thought that the theme is approached. 

The first lecture deals with the form and the symbolism of the Babylonian temple tower and expounds the influence of these upon the architecture and thought of the whole ancient Near East. In the second lecture this theme is developed by an exposition of the dependence of the "legends of mankind in Genesis i-xi" upon the Babylonian legends. The third lecture discusses Babylonian influence upon the literary forms and ideology of Hebrew prophecy. It is followed, through an examination of the Johannine Apocalypse, by a lecture on the relation between late Hellenistic Judaism and Babylonia. The concluding lecture most interestingly contrasts and compares the religions of Babylon and Israel. 

Making all due allowance for Professor Gressmann's well-known enthusiasm for the civilization of the Tigris-Euphrates Valley, and for the fact that his theme itself did not permit the presentation of the claims of other civilizations to a part in influencing Hebrew thought and life, these lectures contribute materially to the very desirable end of freeing us from the tendency, fostered by certain dogmatic positions relative to the nature of Scripture, of regarding the Hebrew people as having lived their life, socially speaking, in a vacuum. They also contribute splendidly to a better understanding of the influence of the Semitic world on the origin and development of what we today designate as the scientific view of life.

Wikipedia:

Hugo Gressmann (March 21, 1877 – April 6, 1927) was a prominent Old Testament scholar in Protestant Germany and a friend and associate of the eminent scholar Hermann Gunkel. He was a member of the history of religions school.

An excerpt from, "The Tower of Babel" by Hugo Gressmann, Jewish Institute of Religion Press, New York, 1928, Pg. 1 - 2:

As the pyramids are the symbol of Egypt, so the tower of Babel is the symbol of Babylonia, not only of its art, but also of its religion and its literature. From an architectural standpoint it belongs to the wonders of the old world. From a religious standpoint it is a necessary part of every Mesopotamian temple, from which it cannot be separated any more than the clock-tower can be divorced from the Christian church, although it had another meaning and is in no way related to Christianity historically. Considered from the view-point of literary history, the tower of Babel not only played a réle for the Mesopotamian authors but also for the peoples of the whole Near East. A great number of legends and motifs associated with it have been the themes of the phantasy of poets and artists even as late as the Christian middle ages.

It is not the purpose of these lectures to gather these stories together and to speak about them, but rather to treat the general relations or Israel to Babylonia. If we have chosen the tower of Babel as the special symbol of Babylonian culture, it is not only because it incorporates the Babylonian spirit and art in its most impressive form but also because we cannot understand the Babylonian influence upon Israel in the truest sense, unless we take into consideration the tower of Babel. For in many instances it will be the centre of our attention because it played such a role in ancient Israel and also in later Judaism. It is therefore fitting that we devote our first lecture to the tower of Babel, in order to grasp its true significance and to illustrate it at least by several examples. It towered to heaven as a titanic work; it was not as a wanton sin against God, but it was as a pious act that they built this gigantic tower, and therefore we are not surprised that it attracted mightily the peoples of the world.

Wilfred G. Lambert On The Link Between Sumerian Epics And Babylonian Epics

 

Wikipedia:

Wilfred George Lambert FBA (26 February 1926 – 9 November 2011) was a British historian and archaeologist, a specialist in Assyriology and Near Eastern Archaeology.

. . .Lambert taught and researched at the University of Birmingham for thirty years, during which period he made weekly trips to work on deciphering cuneiform tablets in the British Museum. After retirement, he worked with the Museum on their Catalogue of the Western Asiatic Seals Project, dealing with the inscriptions on the seals. In January 2010, Professor Lambert and Irving Finkel identified pieces from a cuneiform tablet that was inscribed with the same text as the Cyrus Cylinder.

Lambert was an external consultant for the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary. His work, 'Introduction: the transmission of the literary and scholarly texts', in Cuneiform Texts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art II: Literary and scholastic texts of the first millennium BC, was used as background material for The Higher Education Academy's project, Knowledge and Power in the Neo-Assyrian Empire. He was also noted for his new discoveries in relation to the Gilgamesh text.

. . .Lambert was widely regarded as one of the foremost Assyriologists of the 20th century, known for his meticulous philological work and contributions to the decipherment and interpretation of cuneiform texts. His scholarship significantly advanced the understanding of Mesopotamian religion, wisdom literature, and mythology. Among his most influential works is Babylonian Wisdom Literature (1960), which brought new attention to ancient Near Eastern didactic and philosophical texts, including dialogues, fables, and instructions. He also played a critical role in the study and reconstruction of the Enūma Eliš, the Babylonian creation epic, and provided authoritative editions of Akkadian texts that remain standard references in the field.

Beyond his publications, Lambert contributed to the field through decades of teaching at the University of Birmingham and active participation in major international research projects, including work with the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary and the State Archives of Assyria. His expertise in Sumerian and Akkadian lexicography, as well as his comparative approach to Mesopotamian and biblical traditions, earned him widespread respect. Lambert was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1971, a recognition of his scholarly impact and intellectual leadership in ancient Near Eastern studies.

An excerpt from, "Babylonian wisdom literature" by Wilfred George Lambert, 1960, Oxford University Press, Pg. 6:

When considering Babylonian epics it is necessary to bear in mind how much is directly owed to Sumerian forerunners. The Descent of Ištar, to take the obvious example, is nothing but a free rewriting of the Sumerian Descent of Inanna. Even where the actual story is not proved to be of Sumerian origin the motifs and phraseology can be strongly influenced by Sumerian. It will be understood that Babylonian epics are under a burden of tradition, for which their change in outlook is all the more remarkable. The nearest approach to Enki's libertinism in the whole range of Babylonian literature is in an incantation which describes how Sin, the moon god, fell in love with one of his cows called Geme-Suena ('Handmaid-of-Sin"), assumed the form of a bull, and secretly mated with her. It is probably one of those old elements which have survived in incantations with their "fresh earthy pregnance", to quote a phrase of Landsberger, and this metamorphosis of the god is better paralleled in Canaanite and classical Greek myths than in Mesopotamian sources. In general the gods of Babylonian epics are more respectable, if more dull. Era, as already noted, does not let loose destruction without first persuading Marduk and the other gods of its desirability. In the Gilgamesh Epic Ištar wishes to send a destructive divine bull to earth for revenge on Gilgameš, who had insulted her. By correct etiquette she begs permission from her father Anu, who only grants it after making careful inquiry if his daughter's intemperate revenge may not lead to the extinction of mankind by famine. Ištar satisfies her father, and use of the divine bull is sanctioned. Another daughter of Anu, the demon Lamaštu, so provoked her father by her improper designs that he forthwith kicked her from heaven to earth. In divine families naughty children have to be punished just as among humans. Two Babylonian epics do centre on fighting among the gods: the Zú Myth, in which the demon god Zû steals the Tablet of Destiny (a literal cuneiform tablet laying down the status quo), and the Epic of Creation, in which the old generation of gods, angry with the younger for its noise, try to destroy them, but are themselves destroyed by Marduk. In both of these epics the main body of gods are assumed to be in the right. Zů, the irresponsible demon, has robbed them of a thing the loss of which could bring chaos on the universe. In the Epic of Creation a primeval monster is threatening extinction on the gods and has to be faced. The responsible gods sit in committee like a group of civil servants, until a junior member is prevailed upon to take up the cause.

Despite the odd misdemeanour, the Mesopotamian gods learnt the art of being good citizens by 1000 B.C. The very fact that many of the old myths, such as the Paradise Myth, were not passed on is evidence of the change of outlook.

Population Collapse In Ukraine

The EU is running out of Ukrainians to kill Russians, so they’re going to pay poors from the Global South to kill Russians for them. Ukraine’s population has collapsed from 52 million in 1991, to about 20 million today. https://t.co/33gOCPWHOc

— Mark Ames (@MarkAmesExiled) June 13, 2026

An excerpt from, "Demographic catastrophe: Ukraine’s remaining population has been revealed" prm.ua, May 10, 2026:

Social Policy Minister Denys Ulyutin estimated the population of Ukraine living in government-controlled territory at 22-25 million.

The minister made this statement while speaking to journalists. “This is a disaster,” Ulyutin noted.

An excerpt from, "Reversing Ukraine's Population Loss After Four Years of War" by Nataliia Bushkovska, Think Global Health, February 24, 2026:

In 1991, when Ukraine gained independence, its population was 52.1 million. During this period, migration was from former Soviet blocs, primarily involving people with Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar heritage.

By the time Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, the population had dropped more than 10% to 45.9 million. "The decline in birth rates in Ukraine reflected broader European trends," said Olga Dukhnich, head of the Demography and Migration program at the Frontier Institute. "Since the second half of the twentieth century, people across Europe have been having fewer children. The 1990s were also years of crisis, which inevitably affected population growth."

Even before the 2022 invasion, excess mortality in Ukraine was particularly pronounced among men of conscription age, 25 to 49 years old. During the full-scale war, the death rate has increased even more, especially within these age groups. This trend is driven by combat losses as well as civilian deaths caused by shelling.

Marchak emphasized that because of low birth rates and mass emigration, Ukraine's population is rapidly aging. Shushpanov said it is also valuable to account for indirect deaths. For example, at the start of the invasion, many people died because they could not receive medical care in time. Given their high levels of stress, people are developing illnesses they might never have developed if not for the war—such as cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune disorders, and cancer.

2 World Cup Thoughts After Host Nations Games

 

1. Host Nations Momentum 

So far, so good. 

Mexico, USA, and Canada all played attacking football, albeit against weaker competition. Mexico and USA are rising to the occasion. It's only one game. Tougher opposition awaits, but momentum can carry a team beyond familiar expectations. South Korea made a lot of noise in 2002 by making the Semis. Mexico and USA should look to replicate that and continue to build momentum.

It should have been a hat trick of victories after the first games. Canada may come to regret only getting one point against a Bosnia team that really shouldn't be here. I don't know how Italy lost to this team in their playoff game in March. They couldn't string five passes together on Friday. If Canada had a more clinical striker it could've been 2-1. Thank God for Cyle Larin. He saved Canada. 

Bosnia played uninspired football. And ditto for Czechia. They beat a great Denmark team to make the World Cup but that seemed to satisfy them because they were horrible against South Korea. South Korea dominated that game.

A theme that's developing is teams that play with speed and intensity will go far this tournament. The addition of the two extra breaks gives the runners the advantage. Big, bulky teams that just defend all game may need to revise their strategy. The attacking sides will be victorious.

2. The Flow of The Game

The two breaks that were added for commercial reasons have impacted the flow of the game negatively and probably unbalanced these players psychologically. They're used to playing 45 minutes non-stop. Introducing a 3-4 minute break in the middle of that regular game clock means that we're essentially getting 4 halves, and 4 games in one. It's a bigger change than what FIFA made it out to be. 

I still think the better team will find a way to win but the viewing experience has changed for the worse. Football was different from other sports because it didn't have stupid commercials every ten minutes. You can just sit back and watch the game uninterrupted. Hopefully this change isn't permanent.

Omar's Not Coming: The Strange Banishment of A Somali Referee By FIFA From The World Cup

 

If they can ban one of you they can ban all of you. Shame on FIFA for letting things get to this point.

An excerpt from, "Canadian officials welcome Somali referee—but his FIFA dream may still be over" By Alice Gibbs, Yahoo Sports, June 10, 2026:

Canadian officials have said a World Cup referee denied entry to the United States would be welcome to officiate matches north of the border—but under FIFA’s tournament structure, that offer is unlikely to change anything.

Following backlash over Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan being refused entry to the U.S., political leaders in British Columbia and Toronto publicly signaled he could still work matches in Canada. But the way the 2026 World Cup is organized means referees cannot simply operate independently in one host country.

Video Title: FIFA World Cup Somalian Referee DENIED US Entry. My Take...Source: Have Hope's Football Hut. Date Published: June 10, 2026.