April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
Siena prof to travel like Medieval scholar
A recent Fulbright Grant recipient, Dr. Michael B. Dick of the Religious Studies Department will spend the spring semester teaching the Hebrew and Akkadian languages, and religious literature at the University of Lund's Lutheran School of Theology, in Lund, Sweden.
The Fulbright program is an international educational exchange sponsored by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Genesis
"One class I will teach will be on Hebrew texts that deal with creation. The other will be an introduction to ancient Near Eastern religions," Dr. Dick recently told The Evangelist.He said that the seminar he plans to present will be titled, "Ishtar's Descent into the Underworld."
"This is an important document written in Akkadian and Sumerian dialects with regard to the Babylonian's goddess Ishtar, descending into the underworld and being born again," he explained.
The subject of his two lectures will be on cult images, one for the theology department at the university and the other for the general community.
Past present
Dr. Dick's expertise in his field is extensive. He recently completed a critical edition of "The Babylonian Mis Pi Ritual," an ancient rite used by the Babylonians for consecrating the cult statue of their god."By performing this ritual, the Babylonians believed that the statue actually took on the presence of the god itself," he said. His book "was assembled from hundreds of fragmentary cuneiform tablets written in Akkadian, Sumerian, Hittite, and Hurrian."
The book, soon to be published by the University of Helsinki, represents 20 years of research by the professor.
Dr. Dick explained that Akkadian languages, used in Babylon and ancient Assyria, are studied because they are connected with the languages of the Mesopotamian people of the Old Testament of the Bible. Research of these languages allows scholars to better understand interpretations of both the ancient Hebrew and Christian texts of the Bible.
Reclaiming tradition
During the six months that he will be teaching in Lund, Dr. Dick plans on doing research on ancient inscriptions. He is enthusiastically looking forward to his upcoming trip."In a sense, we can now return to the medieval model of traveling to different universities and colleges to share the information we have gained with each other," he said.
He added that "the Franciscan scholar Duns Scotus believed this to be the ideal way to educate and exchange information during medieval times. The cosmopolitan atmosphere of the Middle Ages is coming back."
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