ABSTRACT
This chapter considers Daniel and his colleagues in terms of a scribal masculinity in the ancient Near East. It discusses the dynamics of an ancient Near Eastern scribal masculinity that illumine the court tales of Daniel. The chapter shows that rather than displaying power through violence, scribal masculinity displays power through knowledge. It argues that Daniel and his colleagues are differently masculine in the cultural context. Texts from ancient Egypt provide the most thorough evidence for the construction of a scribal masculinity in an ancient Near Eastern context. In the Hebrew Bible, two relatively explicit statements about gender address the power of knowledge generally without a direct connection to scribalism narrowly construed. Numerous wall reliefs from the northwest palace of Ashurbanipal depict scribes in a similar visual context. The "Words of Ahikar" contain additional evidence for the construction of a scribal masculinity in an ancient Near Eastern context.
