Ambiguous Materials

Drawing on the work of archaeologist Lori Khatchadourian, the article examines four categories of objects in the book of Daniel: delegates, proxies, captives, and affiliates. The book portrays the material artifacts and conditions of empire as evidence of empire's contingency while advancing the artifact of the (Judean) written text not only as affiliate but as a delegate of divine power. Scrolls take on added significance in relation to the captive status of other sacred objects portrayed in the book. A key to the book's strategy is the portrayal of imperial delegates as in fact proxies which neither represent, enact, nor confer lasting power. This portrayal raises an anxiety to assert that the scrolls portrayed in the book are not themselves proxies but in fact delegates (authoritative, true, efficacious). This analysis expands a prior focus on the agency of human actors in the phenomenon of resistance to include the agency of material objects, including the scroll/book of Daniel itself, in relation to the book's strategies and functions as literature of resistance.