Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Adalbert of Prague
6. Son of Jeroham
Adalia
/Haman, Sons of
7. Descendant of Bani
This person appears in the list of men who married
foreign women (Ezra 10 : 29 = 1 Esd 9 : 30). Following Ezras command, these men separate themselves from their wives and children (Ezra 10 : 11,
44). 1 Esdras 9 : 30 [LXX] reads his name as
which may reflect the name Jedaiah (MT Ye day;
cf. 1 Chr 9 : 10; Ezra 2 : 36; Neh 7 : 39; 11 : 10) rather
than Adaia. Also, 1 Esd 9 : 30 [LXX] lists his father
as rather than Bani.
8. Descendant of Binnui
As with Adaiah son of Bani, this person appears in
the list of men who married foreign women (Ezra
10 : 39). 1 Esdras 9 : 34 [LXX] provides no record of
this person, but lists his father Binnui, among the
sons of Bani.
Bibliography: N. Avigad/B. Sass, Corpus of West Semitic
Stamp Seals (Jerusalem 1997).
Jeremy Schipper
Adalbert of Prague
Adalbert of Prague (ca. 956997 CE) became bishop
of Prague in 983 CE and argued against polygamy
and the slave trade. In 988, he entered the Benedictine monastery on the Aventine in Rome, but
returned to Prague in 993 and founded a monastery in Brevnov. He undertook missionary work,
first among the Slavic Lutizes and then the Baltic
Prussians, where he suffered martyrdom on 23
April 997. Adalbert is the likely author of a Latin
Gorgonius legend, two Latin homilies, and of the
hymn Hospodine pomiluj ny (Lord, Have Mercy on
Us; Mares 40376). He was buried in Gniezno and
canonized in 999. In 1000 CE, Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor, took pilgrimage to Adalberts grave.
In 1039, his relics were transferred to Prague.
Bibliography: M. Gerwing, Die Lage des lateinischen
Christentums um 1000, Bohemia 40 (1999) 337. H. H.
Henrix, Adalbert von Prag: Brckenbauer zwischen dem Westen
und dem Osten Europas (Baden-Baden 1977). J. Hoffmann,
Vita Adalberti. Frheste Textberlieferung der Lebensgeschichte
Adalberts von Prag (Essen 2005). F. V. Mares, Cyrilometode jsk tradice a slavistika (Prague 2000). L. Weinrich (ed.),
Heiligenleben zur deutsch-slawischen Geschichte: Adalbert von Prag
und Otto von Bamberg (Darmstadt 2005).
Manfred Gerwing
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I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
Howard N. Wallace
II. Judaism
Second Temple and Hellenistic Judaism Rabbinic
Judaism Medieval Judaism
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increasingly the person Adam. This tendency is evident in the Septuagint, which begins at Gen 2 : 16
to render the generic (ha)adam as a proper name,
. This is particularly clear in Gen 2 : 20, 23;
3 : 20, 22, and 4 : 1, where appears without
an article (not so in 3 : 12).
There is little to no unity in the depiction of
Adam in the Second Temple period. Occasional
agreements between different sources are generally
due to their common dependence on the Genesis
stories and the same Greco-Roman concepts. Particularly prominent are traditions about Adams sinfulness and purity, mortality and immortality, and
his dominion over other creatures. On the other
hand, this period generates mystical traditions
about Adam that would pave the way to innumerable speculations about the status and glory of the
protoplast in the classical rabbinic writings.
In regard to the exalted status of Adam, particularly significant are Sir 49 : 16, 1 En. 85 : 310, and
37 : 1. Sirach contains several generic references to
humanity in terms reminiscent of Gen 13: Sir
15 : 14; 16 : 1718 : 14; 33 : 713; 40 : 111 (
of Sir 40 : 1b translates a generic reference to
be n adam, although the latter phrase is translated
more ably with & in Sir 36 : 28). Adam
as an individual is possibly mentioned in 49 : 16:
above every other living being [is] the glory of
Adam (l kl h y tprt dm; ;< = /
0 +
0
). It is not immediately clear if the phrase describes a generic (or humanity in general) as
more honored than the animals (an idea that the
author seems to be familiar with and to have deduced from the Genesis stories cf. Sir 17 : 24) or
if Adam the person is depicted as the highest in
honor among all humans and other creatures. It
must be noted that the immediately preceding
praise of Shem, Seth, and Enosh (Greek misreads
Enosh: . + & +)
supports a reference in 49 : 16 to Adam the person.
In the terms of the allegory of the Book of
Dreams, Adam, described as a white bull that grows
larger (1 En. 85 : 310), not only shares his heavenly
color with the angels, but is also the forebear of
generations of white bulls.
The Book of the Parables (1 En. 37 : 1) reiterates
the special position of Enoch in biblical genealogies: Enoch is the seventh from Adam (cf. also Jude
14). In a common numerological speculation, this
phrase makes Enoch an elect and describes his special status as a share in the glory of Adam.
Jubilees, which tells Adams story in Jub. 2 : 14
4 : 30, marks another development in Adam traditions. In Jubilees 3 : 27 Adam is portrayed as a
priestly figure; he brings sacrifices in or in front
of the garden of Eden, a location that the author
describes as the holy of holies of creation (3 : 1213;
8 : 19). It has been argued that, prior to this explicit
depiction of Adam as a priest, the priestly status
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B. Rabbinic Judaism
Classical rabbinic Judaism (extending approximately from the 2nd to the 8th centuries CE)
presents a vast spectrum of ideologies. Thus, it does
not offer a consistent portrait of Adam. Nevertheless, most of the classical rabbinic literature
reads adam of Gen 14 as the person Adam. Moreover, it seems that it was quite widely assumed that
several psalms were autobiographical creations of
Adam (e.g., Ps 92, according to BerR 22 : 13; Ps 139,
according to bBB 14b and bSan 38b). Also, several
texts suggest that certain Adam traditions generated concerns within rabbinic circles. Some rabbis
took issue with what they perceived to be polytheistic implications of certain Adamic speculations.
However, even in this regard the rabbinic literature
does not present a unified front. Certain sources
profess quite firmly what other opinions denounce vehemently.
Several texts attest to the fact that a tradition
according to which Adam was created on the first
day circulated in the Judaism of late antiquity. The
tradition is commonly opposed in rabbinic literature for the fear that it would imply that Adam
acted as Gods associate in the creation of the world
(e.g., bSan 38a). The predominant rabbinic opinion
is that Adam was created, soul and body, on the
sixth day. Even so, another rabbinic opinion places
the creation of the soul of Adam on the first day
and of his body on the sixth (BerR 8 : 1; WayR 14 : 1),
while other texts imply that Adams body was created on the first day and his soul on the sixth (cf.
WayR 14 : 1; see also Ginzberg: 5 : 79, n. 22). The
creation on the sixth day is commonly viewed as
an expression of Adams superiority and dominion
over all creatures (bSan 38a; tSan 8 : 9; BerR 19 : 4;
BemR 12 : 4). However, according to some opinions,
by creating Adam on the last day, God prevented
him from becoming conceited (bSan 38a; tSan 8 : 8).
The idea that the angels were created on the
first day is also opposed due to the same fear that
it would imply that God had helpers in the creation
of the world (cf. BerR 1 : 3; 3 : 8). Nevertheless, according to several texts, God created Adam with
the counsel and help of the angels (BerR 8 : 45;
bSan 38b; BemR 19 : 3). In most instances the angels
oppose the creation of Adam (bSan 38b; BemR 19 : 3)
and God creates the protoplast against their opposition (BerR 8 : 5). This tradition is a part of the recurring theme of the animosity between angels and
humans (see Schfer).
Adam was created fully developed (BerR 14 : 7).
His body was created from dust from all four corners of the world (bSan 38a; PRE 11) or, according
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C. Medieval Judaism
Undoubtedly the Jewish Adam traditions of the
Middle Ages should be viewed as evolving to a large
extent from earlier forms of rabbinic and non-rabbinic Judaism. Nevertheless, they are also the prod-
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uct of a continuous conversation (more or less affable) with ancient philosophy and with Christianity.
The Christological applications of Adam traditions
can explain the reluctance of certain Jewish circles
to make too much use, at least overtly, of speculations about Adam.
1. Hekhalot Mysticism. The origins of Hekhalot
literature can be dated mostly to the end of late
antiquity. However, its study here is warranted by
the fact that this literature is a forerunner of the
Spanish Kabbalah and of certain forms of medieval
Hasidism. Moreover, the extant forms of these
highly fluid writings are ultimately products of
medieval Judaism.
Considering how widespread Adam traditions
are in kabbalistic literature, it is intriguing that
Adam speculations seem to be suppressed in Hekhalot circles. Thus, while the Adamic identity of
Metatron is attested in kabbalistic sources, explicit
associations of Adam with Metatron are absent
from the Hekhalot texts. Moreover, there are no
explicit speculations about the primordial cosmic
Adam in the Hekhalot literature, yet discussions
about the supernal Adam abound in kabbalistic literature, particularly in the Spanish Kabbalah.
While this lack of Adam traditions has been occasionally attributed to reactions against Gnostic and
Mandaean speculations, it is more reasonable to assume that it reflects tensions between different
forms of Jewish mysticism and possibly opposition
to Christianity (Idel: 22023).
Nevertheless, several themes in Hekhalot mysticism seem to be related to Adam traditions, although the connection is not generally explicit.
The Ah er tradition of 3 En. 16 may be linked to BerR
8 : 9 and the Adam speculation of the Alphabet of
Rabbi Aqiva B (Wertheimer: vol. 2, 412). Also a case
can be made that Enoch-Metatron is presented in
terms reminiscent of Adams original status, although overt associations between Enoch and
Adam surface later on, particularly in the works of
the late 12th/early-13th-century rabbi David Qimh i
and of the 16th-century Kabbalist Solomon Molkho
(Idel: 22331).
2. Kabbalistic Literature. Kabbalistic texts
abound in speculations that the physical Adam was
modeled after a spiritual Adam, referred to as adam
elyon or adam di-leela in earlier sources, and as adam
qadmon starting with the 13th century. More often
than not, this first, spiritual Adam is depicted as
containing the entire world of emanation or the ten
sefirot. Particularly beginning with the 13th century, this cosmic Adam is identified with Metatron
(e.g., in Meirat Enayim of Isaac ben Samuel of Acre)
and the merkavah of Ezek 1, an identity that is
widely depicted as the goal of religious experience
or transformation.
The first human (and every human) is a smallerscale image of this supernal Adam. Through sin,
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(2 : 17). The consequence is that humankind became futile in their thinking, and their foolish
hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise they became fools (1 : 2122), which again sounds like a
different take on the familiar story of Adams
failure. Given the prominence of the Adam allusions in the rest of Romans it would be surprising
if, in talking about human failure to respond appropriately to the Creator, Paul did not have the
story of Adam in mind, and the failure of Adam as
the archetypal failure of humankind as a whole.
j. Most disputed of all is whether the Christ
hymn of Phil 2 : 611 was intended to evoke the
Adam story: Adams being made in Gods image,
his treating likeness to God as something attainable, and his consequent subjection to death. In the
reversal or counterpoint of the last Adams story,
he who was in the form of God did not count equality with God as something to be grasped, but nevertheless subjected himself to the condition of humankind that ends in death. In consequence he was
exalted to the status of lordship over all creation
that God had intended for Adam in the first place.
The contrast is at best implicit.
4. Son of Man as Adam? In the Gospels it is possible that the frequent Son of Man self-references
by Jesus allude to the man (Adam) = son of man of
Ps 8 : 46, but the allusion is never clear and its
relevance to what Jesus is recorded as saying is obscure. Most intriguing here are not the earthly
Son of Man references (like Matt 8 : 20), but those
which draw on the vision of Dan 7 (Mark 13 : 26;
14 : 62). For the Daniel vision can be seen as a reworking of the creation myth: as Adam was given
authority over the rest of animate creation (Gen 2),
so the saints of the Most High are to be given authority over their bestial oppressors (Dan 7 : 914).
So any drawing on that vision to explain Jesus destiny could be seen as a further reworking of Daniels re-use of the Adam myth.
Only if such reflection lies behind the Gospel
tradition does it become likely that the Adam story
also lies behind the account of Jesus temptation
(Mark 1 : 13): Jesus begins his mission to rectify the
outcome of Adams sin by defeating a similar temptation to that which caused Adam to fail. Some support is given this possibility by the fact that Luke
follows the genealogy of Jesus back to Adam (Luke
3 : 38) and immediately goes on to narrate the account of Jesus being tempted (4 : 1).
Bibliography: J. H. Charlesworth/G. Oegema (eds.), The
Pseudepigrapha and Christian Origins (London). [Forthcoming]
J. D. G. Dunn, Christology in the Making: an Inquiry into the
Origins of the Doctrine of the Incarnation (London 21989
[11980]; Grand Rapids, Mich. 1996) ch. 4. J. D. G. Dunn,
The Theology of Paul the Apostle (Grand Rapids/Edinburgh
1998) chs. 4 and 8.6. J. Jeremias, Adam, TDNT 1 : 141
43. J. Jervell, Imago Dei: Gen 1 : 26f. im Sptjudentum, in der
Gnosis und in den paulinischen Briefen (FRLANT 76; Gttingen
1960). J. R. Levison, Adam and Eve in Romans 1 : 1825
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and the Greek Life of Adam and Eve, NTS 50 (2004) 51934.
H. Lichtenberger, Das Ich Adams und das Ich der Menschheit:
Studien zum Menschenbild in Rmer 7 (WUNT 164; Tbingen
2004). A. J. M. Wedderburn, Adam in Pauls Letter to
the Romans, in Studia Biblica, vol. 3 (ed. E. A. Livingstone;
JSNTSup 3; Sheffield 1978) 41330.
James D. G. Dunn
IV. Christianity
Greek Patristics and Orthodox Churches Latin
Patristics and Early Medieval Times Medieval Times
and Reformation Era European History of Modern
Times New Christian Churches and Movements
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The key intertext for this reading is Pauls Epistle to the Romans. There Paul had claimed that his
bodily members were at war with those of his mind
(Rom 7 : 23), by which he meant that he could know
what the good was but be unable to practice it.
Prior to the fall, Augustine reasoned, things must
have been different a perfect concord would have
existed between the body and the soul. What was
willed could be done. After the transgression (Gen
3 : 7) the sexual organs began to disobey the dictates of the mind and as a result Adam and Eve felt
shame and put on fig leaves. The point here is not
that sex is particularly evil, but the unwilled movement of the sexual members is a sign of a larger
change in the make-up of the human person.
For many thinkers this means that Augustine
has an inherently negative attitude toward the sexual organs. But such is not really the case. For Augustine the break between will and the body cuts
two ways. To be sure the male organ could be recalcitrant and achieve erection at inappropriate times.
But even when sex is moral or even required the
organ could almost inexplicably go limp. This is
just as much a sign of the fall, Augustine claimed,
as when the organ behaves inappropriately.
It is important to note that Augustine was not
simply fixated on sex. The introduction of sexuality into his account of the fall followed from the
Bibles own observation that Adam and Eve were
ashamed of their genital members after the fall
(Gen 3 : 7). By linking sex to the fall, Augustine was
able to be far more tolerant toward sexual deviancy
than his opponents. The problem with an untrammeled free will is that one can be held accountable
for whatever one does. Augustine was much more
tolerant of human sinfulness because he realized
that much of what we do is outside our conscious
control. For Augustine, salvation is much more dependent on the gracious love of God than it is in
the thought of Pelagius and Augustines other opponents.
Bibliography: G. Bonner, Augustine of Hippo (London
P. Brown, Augustine of Hippo (London 1967).
1963).
E. A. Clark, Adams Only Companion, RechAug 21
(1986) 13962. E. A. Clark, Heresy, Asceticism, Adam
and Eve, in id., Ascetic Piety and Womens Faith (Leviston,
N.Y. 1986) 35373. P. Fredricksen, Beyond the Body/
Soul Dichotomy, RechAug 23 (1988) 87114.
Gary A. Anderson
C. Medieval Times and Reformation Era
In the Middle Ages the name Adam is used on
the one hand for the individual, the man formed
from the dust of the ground (Gen 2 : 7) and set in
the Garden of Eden where he lived together with
Eve until the first sin. On the other hand, Adam
is used to indicate the ancestor, first representative,
the educator of humankind and so the typos of man,
created in Gods image and according to Gods likeness (cf. Gen 1 : 26), fallen in sin and in need of
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Martin Forward
V. Islam
For Muslims, Adam is both the first human and
also the first prophet in a line which ends in Muh ammad. Indeed, Adam is widely seen as the primogenitor of the prophet of Islam.
1. Adam in the Quran. The material on Adam in
the Quran is scattered over three main narratives,
with several shorter passages elsewhere adding details to the overall picture. The name Adam (Arabic
Adam) comes 18 times in the Quran. Adam is not
included in the Qurans typical lists of prophets
(S 4 : 163; 6 : 84; 33 : 7). However, God chose Adam
(istafa, S 3 : 33, ijtaba, S 20 : 122). The first reference
to Adam in the canonical progression is when God
announces to the angels that he will place a viceroy (khal fa) in the earth (S 2 : 30). God says he will
create a human (bashar) from clay (S 38 : 71), or dust
(S 3 : 59), shape him and breathe into him of his
spirit (S 38 : 72; 15 : 29). God creates Adam with his
two hands (S 38 : 75) from a clay of mud moulded (S 15 : 28).
God teaches Adam all the names and challenges the angels to tell him the names. When the angels are unable to do this, God asks Adam to tell
them of their names (S 2 : 3133).
A major concern of the Adam passages appears
to be Gods command to the angels to bow down
to Adam. This theme appears seven times in the
Quran. God commands the angels to prostrate (sajada) themselves before Adam. All of the angels
obey except Ibl s, who refuses out of pride (S 2 : 34;
cf. 7 : 11; 20 : 116, 38 : 7276). Scholars have drawn
parallels between this episode and similar stories in
Midrash and Talmud, as well as in Christian sources.
The Quran mentions that God makes a covenant with Adam (S 20 : 115), which includes the
stipulation that his descendants will not serve Satan but rather serve God (S 36 : 6061; cf. 7 : 172).
However, Adam fails to keep this covenant: He
forgot, and we found in him no constancy
(S 20 : 115). Gods offer and prohibitions in the garden come to both Adam and his wife, as do the
consequences of their subsequent actions (see
Adam and Eve, Story of). But in a number of
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VII. Literature
Amongst the earliest mentions of Adam in European literature are those in 9th-century West Saxon
royal genealogies, tracing kingly ancestry back
through pagan gods to Noah and Adam. In medieval literature, outside the mystery plays, a significant text is the 14th-century religious lyric, Adam
lay ibowndyn, in which Adam is doomed to imprisonment for a thousand years. But it was a felix culpa,
a fortunate fall; otherwise, we are told, Our Lady
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would never have been Queen of Heaven. The Cursor Mundi (probably early 14th century) contains a
lengthy lament in which Adam, on Seths return
from Paradise to tell him that he will die, is depicted as a worn-out old man who has lived long
enough and welcomes death. Even hell will be better than prolonged life on earth. He is buried where
the seeds of the tree of the cross (the rood-tree) will
lie dormant for a thousand years. In Langlands
Piers Plowman (late 14th century) Adam appears as
Sir Do-Well. Chaucer, in an early poem, seems to
jest that Adam is his amanuensis (Adam scriveyn). After the rich treatment of the story of
Adam and Eve in medieval drama, Adam is increasingly metamorphosed into Everyman in medieval
morality plays such as The Castle of Perseverance. In
the Vienna Passion Adam throws away the robe of
immortality, thematically counterpoised with
Christs seamless cloak.
After the Reformation, Adam becomes an element in the development of the figure of Faust,
as in C. Marlowes Doctor Faustus (1604) and Jacob
Bidermanns Cenedoxus (1609). Marlowe himself
had been accused of blasphemy in 1593, part of the
evidence being his claim that, if Adam lived 6,000
years ago (as was conventionally believed), he could
not have been the first man, since ancient authors
referred to events 16,000 years ago.
A popular folk-rhyme of the middle ages was
the couplet, When Adam delved and Eve span,
Who was then the gentleman? quoted by John Ball
in his Blackheath sermon of 1381, which led to his
execution in front of the king. In the 17th century
the lines were drawn in England between the Levellers who, like Ball, found sanction in the Eden
story, and figures like Thomas Peyton who presented the royal line as Adamic. Elsewhere Verstegen speculated that the Adamic language was
Dutch.
Miltons Adam is on negotiating terms with
God. When he asks for human company in Book
VIII of Paradise Lost, God reminds him that God has
always been happy in solitude. This was one of the
many arguments of Paradise Lost which W. Blake in
Urizen essayed to overturn, in this case making Jehovah project his own loneliness onto Adam.
The ancient idea that Adam was androgynous,
revived by J. Boehme (15751634), is perhaps reflected in two works of Dryden (16311700), The
Unhappy Favourite and The Hind and the Panther, in
which the roles of Adam and Eve are conflated.
Blake certainly treated Adam as androgynous until
divided into male and female, something effectively accomplished by Jesus to enable his own birth
as redeemer. Satan and Adam are brothers in
Blakes poem Milton (1804), with Satan as the lower
part of The Mundane Egg in an illustration and
Adam the upper part. In Urizen, Los as Jehovah is
contaminated by the malevolent and materialistic
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tianity, the figure of Adam was a symbol suggesting baptism. The earliest uncovered baptistery at
Dura-Europos from the 3rd century CE included a
depiction of Adam, shown nude. The patristic authors Cyril of Jerusalem (Myst. cat. 2.2) and Theodore of Mopsuestia (Bapt. hom. 3.8) both emphasized Adam as a baptismal figure to their
candidates in catechetical homilies. Adams nudity
in the visual arts reflected the nudity that a candidate embodied in the ancient rite of baptism. Candidates were exhorted to personify the unabashed
nudity of the first man. Their clothing served as a
reminder of the shame and mortality that followed
the Fall, and was ceremoniously removed in a ritual
inaugurating the process towards new life in
Christ. In the visual arts, the symbol of Adams nudity signified Adam as a baptismal candidate. In
the examples that portrayed a clothed Adam,
Adams garments were slightly tattered, and he was
illustrated in the action of performing his labors.
The garments and the spade of Adam depicted in
representations of his Labors were symbols of the
Fall. Adam was shown tilling the earth, emphasizing his physical toil. Several 5th-century Syrian
floor mosaics (see Huarte, northern Syria; National
Museum, Copenhagen; Hama Museum) exhibited
Adam enthroned. Adam enthroned demonstrated a
connection to Jesus, recalling the passages in Pauls
letters that deliberately associate Adam with Christ
(Rom 5 : 14; 1 Cor 15 : 22). In the visual arts, the appearance of Adam accompanied by the figure of
Christ made this connection quite lucid. Artistic
scenes that demonstrated a connection between
Adam and Christ asserted Adam as the Man of
Creation and Christ as the New Creation. Thus, the
person of Adam in the visual arts symbolized
death, birth, renewal, and resurrection.
3. Scriptural Episodes in the Visual Arts. Images
of Adam are common throughout history, from the
initial development of the Christian artistic language through the Renaissance. The scriptural episodes depicted were: the Creation of Adam (occasionally referred to as the Animation of Adam: God
Modeling Adam out of Clay; God Breathing Life into
Adam), Adam in Paradise, Adam Naming the Animals,
the Expulsion from Paradise (the Labors of Adam, Adam
Digging with a Spade), and the Death of Adam (Gen
5 : 5).
4. Frequent Iconographic Motifs in the Visual
Arts. In the visual arts, images that solely included
Adam were less common than images that incorporated his companion, Eve.
a. Late Antiquity. In early Christian and Byzantine
art, Adam was most often depicted with Eve in
scenes of the Creation and the Fall. Images displaying Adam as a baptismal figure, emphasizing
death, birth and resurrection, occurred regularly in
funerary artworks of late antiquity. Adam was frequently portrayed in early Christian catacombs and
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condition. In notable representations of Adam Naming the Animals, Adam was shown in Paradise, gesturing towards the beasts in the symbol of speech,
exhibiting his authority and their submission. The
scene of the Naming of the Animals has a precedent
in the Greco-Roman image of Orpheus with the
animals. The scene also was similar to images of the
Good Shepherd, bearing an association with Christ.
The action of Adam Naming the Animals demonstrated his command over the dominion of Paradise
and his ability to make judgments. Adam as Judge
was a motif that appeared in several enthronement
images in the visual arts. Adam was shown enthroned on a backless seat in several mosaic representations in Syria. An enthroned Adam demonstrated the iconographic connection to Jesus of
Nazareth. The enthroned Christ was also regularly
portrayed in Western art, emphasizing his dominion and imminent judgment. In the visual arts, the
person of Adam was a recognizable and enduring
figure, as it reflected issues derived from the Genesis narrative as well as purveying particular elements of Christian doctrine germane to its era.
The popularity and utility of the person Adam are
attested by his ubiquity in Christian art.
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IX. Music
Fig. 7
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The biblical town of Adam (MT Adam) is usually
identified with Tell ed-Damiyeh, located at the confluence of the Jabbok and Jordan rivers, on the
way of the plain (2 Sam 18 : 23) that ran along the
deep Jordan rift from Jericho to the Valley of BethShean (Aharoni: 58). It is mentioned in Josh 3 : 16
as the place where the water of Jordan stood still,
rising up in a single heap so that the Israelites
could cross over into Canaan. The high banks of
the Jordan run deep down between two walls of
very soft limestone rock in this region. The collapse
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