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 Pazmany Peter

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 topoi 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.