Convergences and divergences in the social memory of ancient Israel

lamentations of Mourning and solemn festivals

Abstract

The concepts related to what is judged, in contemporary times, as being the definitions of the term memory, are many and quite heterogeneous. This article begins, in the first chapter, focusing on the concepts of memory, considering it as a historical, sociocultural and religious phenomenon. Such concepts were articulated by three important theorists in the areas of human and social sciences. In the second and third chapters, we intend to present, through a bibliographical study and biblical pericopes, the remarkable disparity that existed between two important Israeli memorials, at the time of the Old Testament: the lamentations of mourning and the solemn feasts. For centuries, these ancient memorials occupied an important space among other memorials, and acted as factors in the construction and preservation of the cultural and religious identity of the Israelites. However, each of them had its ritualistic and symbolic peculiarities, its own characteristics and aimed at different purposes. However, despite having significant differences, mourning lamentations and solemn feasts had points of confluence and approximation to each other. Finally, we propose to contribute to extending the interest of today's society in the issues addressed here and, consequently, it can achieve a better understanding of these and other memorial elements present in the culture and religiosity of the Israelites who lived in the Old Testament era.