Hello I am doing a research paper on Lament. I am comparing it in the ANE and the OT. Where is a good place to start? I cannot find anything in the factbook.
Use the Psalms Explorer to identify the psalms that are laments. Read your commentaries on those psalms paying attention to the footnotes and bibliographies to find other resources.
Repeat for the book of Lamentations.
I have the parameters of the study of lament in the ANE and the book of Psalms. I am using the psalms explorer but cannot find anything in the ANE world
a search of lament NEAR "Ancient Near East" brings up literally hundreds of references in my Bible commentaries to related ANE materials. In my library Sparks, Kenton L. Ancient Texts for the Study of the Hebrew Bible: A Guide to the Background Literature. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2005. is the most obvious reference book on the matter.
Christian, I think you need to expand what you mean by a lament. In ANE, there's multiple types, so also the Jewish Bible.
I just finished up this volume, which is a broad discussion of communicating between the gods and humans. A chapter specifically deals in what we call 'prayer' (various problems, laments, mourning) and the development across time.
Mediating Between Heaven and Earth: Communication with the Divine in the Ancient Near East
More specific to the hebrew Lamentations, and I'm guessing your 'lament'? This deals directly with parallels in ANE and hebrew.
Mourning in the Ancient Near East and the Hebrew Bible
Added:
A bit off-topic, but in the Ugaritic lament of El for Baal's death, the ANE plane for lamenting is the ground. El had to first climb down to his footstool, and only then, to the ground. Couldn't just 'lament'. The interesting part is the footstool, which plays a part as a location intermediary with YHWH.
