[...]nt ='lgc'>=/= transcendent

power speaking to Moses in the desert disas="trms">sociates itself from the bush and identifies itself as the god of Moses's father ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> needs introduction ='lgc'>=/= numinous power speaking to the mesopotamian Enkidu in Gilgamesh Epis does not choose to disas="trms">sociate itself from it locus and so needs no introduction. ='lgc'>--='lgc'>{"the sun god heard the word of his mouth; from afar, from the midst of heaven, he kept calling to him.” ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- the power is here seen as immanent in the visible sun, is what animates it and motivates it, ='strcls'>*is the god who informs it='strcls'>*='lgc'>}

in Akkadian (the ="trms">language in which epic of Gilgamesh is ="trms">written)='lgc'>: ‘the word for X='lgc'> = the numinous power in X’
="lsts lst1">•(word for) visible sun='lgc'> = sun god
="lsts lst1">•the sumerian word for sky, the visible blue dome overhead, which turns black and full of stars that make their wat across it at night='lgc'> = the name of the numinous power in the sky, its power and its will to be, the sky god

the form given to numinous encounter may adjust to the content revealed in it

='strcls'>*sometimes the form-giving ="trms">imagination ="trms"nttrm="already,spread">reads details and meaning into a form beyond what is given in simple observation='strcls'>* ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> the numinous power in thunderstorm developed from the dark thundercloud into an enormous black eagle, but since the mighty roar of the thunder could not well be ="trms">imagined as issuing from other than a lion's maw, this ="trms">bird was given a lion's head

='strcls'>**form-giving ="trms">imagination='strcls'>**
rings the changes on a basic meaningful form in a whole series of variations, each expressing the underlying numinous content in ="trms">different ways
="prgrph">-series of sug="trms">gestive variant images all expressive of its power to wax, to produce and yield

="large lg2" stl="font-size:111%">
lord='lgc'>: a charismatic leader magically ="trms">responsible for producing fertility and plenty for his subjects
...="trms">situationally determined nonhuman forms ='lgc'>--='not'>✕='lgc'>='lgc'>--> victory of human form over nonhuman forms slowly and with difficulty (with the begining of third millennium from early Dynastic onward)


="trms">intransitive='lgc'>: fulfilled in the ="trms">specific ="trms">situation or ="trms">phenomenon and did not reach out beyond it (='lgc'>~ characteristic boundness to some ="trms">phenomena)
(ancient mesopotamian saw) numinous as immanent ='lgc'>==> name that power and attribut form to it in terms of the ="trms">phenomena


='lgc'>[Jacobsen's well ="trms">articulation to pose a ="trms">question ='lgc'>='lgc'>-->='lgc'>] ='strcls'>*the characteristic of mesopotamian boundness to the externals of ="trms">situation in which the numinous was encountered...='strcls'>* ='lgc'>==>
="lsts lst1">•="trms">intransitiveness
="lsts lst1">•="trms">differentiation ='lgc'>==> p="trms"nttrm="failure,blur,plur,lurk,tallur,slur">lura="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">listic aspect (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> polytheism) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> divine aspects that it recognized

="large lg1" stl="font-size:119%"> p="trms"nttrm="failure,blur,plur,lurk,tallur,slur">lurality ='lgc'>==> ability to='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•distinguish
="lsts lst1">•evaluate
="lsts lst1">•choose

“No god went by, why are my muscles paralyzed” (Gilgamesh) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ‘god='lgc'> = paralyzing fear’
uncannily good luck
sudden realization of having come to harm
numinous power experienced in sudden illness
='strcls'>*no allegiance was invented='strcls'>* ='lgc'>==> no cult developed

they are gloomy, their shadow dark,
no light is in their bodies,
ever they slink along covertly,
walk not up="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">right,
from their claws drips bitter gall,
their footprints are (full of) evil venom.

(from ='lgc'>[more primitive='qstn'>?='lgc'>]) d="trms"nttrm="already,spread">read ='lgc'>--to='lgc'>='lgc'>--> fascination

the shivers and chills (of death)
that fritter the sun of things,
spawn of the god of heavens,
spawned on an evil spirit,
the death warrants, be="trms">loved sons of the storm god,
born of the queen of the nether="trms">world,
who were torn out of heaven and hurled from the earth as castoffs,
are creatures of hell, all

we are not determined, we are engendered


numinous as immanent ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> external habituation='lgc'>: inviting (or magically enforcing) the ="trms">presence of the power within

efforts of such habituation='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•cult dramatic
="lsts lst1">•="trms">fashioning or appropriate divine images
="lsts lst1">•="trms">religious ="trms">literature
="lsts lst1">•temples

='strcls'>*cult drama='lgc'>: the form fills with its content='strcls'>*
="trms">literally re-="trms">present god, ="trms">presenting his external form, (bring about the god's ="trms">presence through ritual re="trms">presentation of him) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> beneficent results for the ="trms">community ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>--> still works today='lgc'>]
="lsts lst1">•sacred marriage
="lsts lst1">•yearly lamentations
="lsts lst1">•battle drama (primeval contest for ="trms">world order against the forces of chaos)
="trms">fashioning of images (of the god) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> to achive lasting ="trms">presence

="trms">poetry='lgc'>: means of invoking the ="trms">presence of powers ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>--> we are doing this still='qstn'>?! bad ="trms">poetry='lgc'>]
creative power of the word underlines all mesopotamian (="trms">religious) ="trms">literature
="lsts lst1">•works of praise
="lsts lst1">•works of lament (specialized lamentation-priest ='at'>@="frds scrmbld">Sana, ="frds scrmbld"nttrm="Alice,Shariati">Ali )
='strcls'>*lament='lgc'>: influencing and swaying the divine heart by reminding the god of ="trms">past happiness, rather than by magically recreating that ="trms">past='strcls'>*


(mesopotamian='lgc'>:) ='strcls'>*temple='lgc'> = house='strcls'>*
(implication between) the divine owner and his house ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> emotional closeness of a human owner and his home ='lgc'>+ the ='strcls'>*closeness of essence='strcls'>* (of being) ='lgc'>--amounting='lgc'>='lgc'>--> to ="trms">embodiment ='lgc'>=/= habituation
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> house='lgc'> = temple='lgc'> = re="trms">presentation of the power that is meant to fill it

(similar to human dwelling) ='strcls'>***house='lgc'> = temple='lgc'> = the place where the owner could be found (or felt)='strcls'>***
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> that god (the owner) was ="trms">present and available

the god's retainers ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> because the temple was god's home, was not only near and approachable, he was involved with the fortunes of the ="trms">community and commited ti maintaining it ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*mesopotamian temple was profoundly awesome='strcls'>* (it carried awesome aura, awesome or angry nimbus هاله)
="prgrph">-the temple was covered with ="trms">loveliness
="prgrph">-the god's private apartment shrouded in darkness ='lgc'>: the dark room (no eye is to see)
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">specific closeness of essence ='lgc'>+ the power inhabiting it

="trms">authoritative revelation
know what was “the proper thing”

house mountain
house rising sun
house causing light
he who issues forth from the thriving...


ancient ='lgc'>=='qstn'>? ancient to us ='lgc'>='lgc'>~=='qstn'>? ancient to them

there is no living cultural tradition that connects us with mesopotamia

immediate unanalyzed total reactions (='qstn'>?)

false meanings jar, stop, and lead no further

older elements (seemingly unchanged) come to mean something quite ="trms">different, have been ="trms">interpreted to fit into a new ="trms">system of meanings

="trms">religious ="trms">="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">metaphors='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•spiritual core in ="trms">phenomena
="lsts lst1">•rulers
="lsts lst1">•parents


="large lg3" stl="font-size:111%"> ='lgc'>[and then later='lgc'>] dark age closed down on mesopotamia
many divine wills to the willful whim of a single despot
='strcls'>*major gods became ="trms">natural gods='strcls'>* (identified with narrow national political aspirations)
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> barbarization of ='thdf'>the idea of divinity

="display:block;white-space:nowrap;margin-bottom:-1em;overflow:hidden;">...................................

(how to take ="trms">seriously) water's ="trms">materiality ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> how to think with water (or ='strcls'>*how water means='strcls'>*)='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•water can bring human conceptual life along with it from local to global concerns
="lsts lst1">•='lgc'>[can help us to='lgc'>] go beyond qualities that express some timeless properties

="large lg4" stl="font-size:110%"> (my point='lgc'>: the experience of fire is as inseparable from that of stone)
='lgc'>[="ppl">Alberti sug="trms">gests='lgc'>] ='strcls'>*to think in terms of the properties of the ="trms">phenomenon ‘rock/water’ as engendered by ="trms">specific, ="trms">embodied practices in this place='strcls'>* (='lgc'>=/= grappling with the ="trms">question of the ="trms">agentive capacities or properties of the rock or water)

='strcls'>***there are many waters (fires, jinns, divs, stones, shadows), not only many meanings of water (fires, jinns, divs, stones, shadows)='strcls'>***

='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="ppl">Alberti's brilliant ="trms">response to Strang's ='thdf'>bad idea of universal notions of properties (which is a very common tendency towards ="trms">relationality among artists ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> Strang='lgc'>: “common ="trms">material properties of things, and the shared cognitive and ="trms">phenomenological processes through which people ="trms">interact with them, generate recurrent ideas and patterns of engagement in diverse cultural and ="trms">historical contexts”)

to bear on the form and content of an argument about water as='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•="trms">material
="lsts lst1">•="trms">social
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> describing ="trms">relations (human and nonhuman) established through water
='strcls'>*what water can do='lgc'>: flow='strcls'>*

="trms">agentive or ="trms">affective capacities of ="trms">materials ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> (bad philosophy of flux) flow as a over="trms">generalized model for ="trms">materiality ='lgc'>=/= expanding ="trms">relations water engenders through its properties in particular locations or rivers

="large lg5" stl="font-size:157%"> ='strcls'>*humans are able to shift conceptual scales through reflexivity='strcls'>*

(="ppl">Alberti asking within archaeology='lgc'>:) how to reconcile ="trms">materials and meaning without introducing a re="trms">presentationa="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list logic where meaning is applied to matt[...]