Anthropos: Anthropos, 101.2006+Ind.1906-2005(CD-ROM)

Anthropos, 101.2006+Ind.1906-2005(CD-ROM)

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Strukturtyp:: Zeitschrift

Werks-URN (URL):: https://digi.evifa.de/viewer/resolver?urn=urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-714820

URN:: urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-714820

Persistenter Identifier:: BV043334262

Titel:: Anthropos

Erscheinungsort:: Fribourg

Verlag:: Ed. St. Paul

Erscheinungsjahr:: 1906

Sammlung:: Zeitschriften und Zeitungen > Zeitschriften zur Ethnologie

Wissensgebiet:: Sozial- und Kulturanthropologie > Allgemeines

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Strukturtyp:: Zeitschriftenband

Werks-URN (URL):: https://digi.evifa.de/viewer/resolver?urn=urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-711754

URN:: urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-711754

Persistenter Identifier:: 1510223177592

Titel:: Anthropos, 101.2006+Ind.1906-2005(CD-ROM)

Erscheinungsjahr:: 2006

Signatur:: LA 1118

Sammlung:: Zeitschriften und Zeitungen > Zeitschriften zur Ethnologie

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Strukturtyp:: Zeitschriftenheft

Titel:: Bd. 101, 2006, Heft 2

Sammlung:: Zeitschriften und Zeitungen > Zeitschriften zur Ethnologie

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Strukturtyp:: Zeitschriftenartikel

Titel:: Joseph the Smith and the Salvational Transformation of Matter in Early Medieval Europe

Sonstige Person:: Helms, Mary W.

Sammlung:: Zeitschriften und Zeitungen > Zeitschriften zur Ethnologie

ANTHROPOS 101.2006: 451-471 Joseph the Smith and the Salvational Transformation of Matter in Early Medieval Europe Mary W. Helms Abstract. - In early medieval Western Europe, Joseph, the e arthly father of Jesus, was identified occupationally not only as a domestic woodworker but also as a blacksmith, the most Mysterious, powerful, and sacrosanct category of supematurally endowed skilled crafting known to traditional nonindustrial soci- e ties. After reviewing skilled crafting and especially smithing as r Uual processes, this essay considers typological identification °f Joseph the smith as earthly parallel of the Deus artifex and as symbolic of the purifying (salvational) transformation of earthly Matter (humanity) into a more rarefied (spiritual) state by fire as ^presented metaphorically by metallurgical processes. Aspects °f the ideological climate of opinion encouraging such an identi fication in the early Middle Ages are also discussed. [St. Joseph, tr ansformation of matter, smithing, early medieval cosmology, Metaphors of salvation] ^ary W. Helms, Professor Emerita of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, USA, is a cultural anthropologist inter red in cosmology, cosmography, and political and ideological ^ e gitimation. Recent publications in early medieval cosmology ar >d ideology include “Sacred Landscape and the Early Medieval European Cloister” {Anthropos 2002) and “Before the Dawn” (A nthropos 2004). Judeo-Christian sacred lore, as in numerous °ther religious systems, the ordered cosmos and its features are perceived to be the products of skilled Cr afting by an artisanal deity who first constructed the world by order and design and then created or ganic forms and beings and imbued them with life. 1 Approaching creativity and artisanry from a more e arthly perspective, traditional ideologies, includ es those of Judaism and Christianity, have long c °nsidered highly skilled human craftsmen to be imbued with uncanny, supernatural talents that, in turn, associate them with the original causal powers and creator-deities of the cosmos (Helms 1993). This essay discusses Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, as one representative of these extraordinary human artisans. Today Joseph is typically portrayed as a humble, domestically-oriented woodworker with an in-home workshop (Albright and Mann 1971: 172). In earlier Christianity, however, Joseph could be described more broadly as a professional woodwright, builder, stonemason, or blacksmith. I am especially interested in his identification as a smith in early medieval Western Europe (approxi mately the fourth through the eleventh centuries). During this time Joseph, as a member of the Holy Family, is a very marginal figure in formal Christian theology but, as a smith, he seemingly should stand in company with other metalworkers of lore and legend such as Hephaistos, Tubal-Cain, Wayland, and Volundr, among others, all of whom represent the most mysterious and sacrosanct category of supematurally endowed skilled crafting known to traditional societies. This essay examines the role and character of Joseph in the contexts of tradi tional skilled crafting in general and smithing in particular and considers how identification of him as a smith can be understood within the ideological milieu characteristic of Western European Chris tianity during the early Middle Ages. 1 Genesis 1, 2; Niditch (1985); von Rad (1965).

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