Prophecy and Power

The Hellenistic period was a turbulent era, in which great changes occurred in the fields of culture and religion. Developments took place in the literature that was written in this period as well. In the centuries after the death of Alexander the Great, texts were composed throughout the Near East which combine a description of political events with a prediction of the future. Such texts often display a strong interest in kingship and in events such as battles, revolts and dynastic struggles. Strikingly, they conclude with a prediction about the arrival of an ideal ruler, who will instigate a golden age. Were such texts composed for a specific purpose, such as criticizing Greek rule? Was the emphasis on political events a literary development, instigated by the changing world of the Hellenistic period? This thesis discusses three predictive texts from the Hellenistic period: the visions of Daniel (chapters 7 to 12) from Judaea, the Dynastic Prophecy from Babylonia and the Potter’s Oracle from Egypt. The texts are translated, analysed and compared in order to shed light on the historical context, social background and political function of predictive literature in the Hellenistic Near East.