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The cuneiform literature of ancient Mesopotamia is vast, ranging from economic texts, other sorts of record-keeping documents, and letters through texts that modern readers consider literary, including one category that is often considered esoteric. The latter works appear to be attempts on the part of the ancient scribe-scholars to explain parts of their own culture, to elucidate their own traditions. In the mid-1980s, Alasdair Livingstone studied these texts and then published the collection he had gathered. These texts demonstrate that the Assyrian and Babylonian scholars responsible for their creation had their own distinctive ideas about the function of myth and ritual. Livingstone's study was first published in 1986 by Oxford University Press but has been out of print for a number of years. Eisenbrauns is happy to make it available once again, in a quality hardback reprint.
The collection 'Babylonian and Assyrian Literature' masterfully encapsulates the profound depths and varied expanse of ancient Mesopotamian cultural, religious, and literary traditions. With a rich assortment of epic poems, legal codes, hymns, and historical inscriptions, this anthology represents a wide gamut of literary styles, from the lyrically profound to the rigorously formal, showcasing the diversity and significance of the ancient Near East's written heritage. Standout pieces provide a glimpse into the soul of a civilization that has laid foundational stones for much of Western literature, highlighting themes of creation, morality, and the divine that continue to resonate today. Under the careful curation of Epiphanius Wilson, in concert with the presentation of anonymous ancient texts, the collection offers a bridge to the past, illuminating the literary and philosophical context of Babylonian and Assyrian societies. The contributing editor, Epiphanius Wilson, alongside the enigmatic voices of unknown authors, brings a collective expertise that spans the rich tapestry of Babylonian and Assyrian life. Their works, rooted in the historical and cultural movements of ancient Mesopotamia, forge a connection to the literary traditions that have informed and shaped human understanding for millennia. By aligning with significant literary and philosophical movements, this anthology offers readers a nuanced exploration of themes such as justice, power, and faith, through a compilation that transcends time and geography. 'Babylonian and Assyrian Literature' represents a unique scholarly endeavor, inviting readers into the heart of ancient wisdom and storytelling. It extends an unparalleled opportunity to delve into a world where every tablet and inscription offers a dialogue with the past, enriching our modern understanding of human culture and civilization. Scholars, students, and enthusiasts of ancient literatures will find in this collection a precious gateway to the complexities and beauties of Mesopotamian thought, making it an indispensable resource for those seeking to broaden their knowledge and engage in the profound dialogue between the ancient and contemporary worlds.
The reconstruction of ancient Mesopotamian medical, ritual and omen compendia and their complex history is still characterised by many difficulties, debates and gaps due to fragmentary or unpublished evidence. This book offers the first complete edition of the Assur Medical Catalogue, an 8th or 7th century BCE list of therapeutic texts, which forms a core witness for the serialisation of medical compendia in the 1st millennium BCE. The volume presents detailed analyses of this and several other related catalogues of omen series and rituals, constituting the corpora of divination and healing disciplines. The contributions discuss links between catalogues and textual sources, providing new insights into the development of compendia between serialization, standardization and diversity of local traditions. Though its a novel corpus-based approach, this volume revolutionizes the current understanding of Mesopotamian medical texts and the healing disciplines of "conjurer" and "physician". The research presented here allows one to identify core text corpora for these disciplines, as well as areas of exchange and borrowings between them.
In 'The Mythology of Babylonia and Assyria' by Donald A. Mackenzie, readers are immersed in a comprehensive exploration of the ancient mythology of Mesopotamia. Focusing on the rich mythological narratives of Babylonia and Assyria, the book delves into the intricate and mystical stories of gods, goddesses, heroes, and monsters that populated the ancient Near East. Mackenzie's scholarly approach to the subject provides readers with a detailed analysis of the cultural and religious significance of these myths, offering insight into the beliefs and practices of these ancient civilizations. The book is written in a clear and accessible style, making it a valuable resource for both scholars and enthusiasts of mythology. Mackenzie's thorough research and attention to detail ensure a captivating and informative reading experience. One can truly appreciate the depth and complexity of these ancient mythologies through Mackenzie's expert analysis. Donald A. Mackenzie, a respected authority on mythology and folklore, brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to 'The Mythology of Babylonia and Assyria'. His passion for the subject shines through in the meticulous research and interpretation presented in the book. As a renowned scholar in the field, Mackenzie's work serves as a cornerstone for understanding the mythology of ancient Mesopotamia. Readers interested in delving into the fascinating world of Babylonian and Assyrian mythology will find this book to be an indispensable guide to a rich and storied past.
In this book, Mehmet-Ali Ataç argues that the palace reliefs of the Neo-Assyrian Empire hold a meaning deeper than simple imperial propaganda.
There are many ancient West Asian stories that narrate the victory of a warrior deity over an enemy, typically a sea-god or sea dragon, and his rise to divine kingship. In The Conflict Myth and the Biblical Tradition, Debra Scoggins Ballentine analyzes this motif, arguing that it was used within ancient political and socio-religious discourses to bolster particular divine hierarchies, kings, institutions, and groups, as well as to attack others. Situating her study of the conflict topos within contemporary theorizations of myth by Bruce Lincoln, Russell McCutcheon, and Jonathan Z. Smith, Ballentine examines narratives of divine combat and instances of this conflict motif. Her study cuts across traditional disciplinary boundaries as well as constructed time periods, focusing not only on the Hebrew Bible but also incorporating Mesopotamian, early Jewish, early Christian, and rabbinic texts, spanning a period of almost three millennia - from the eighteenth century BCE to the early middle ages CE. The Conflict Myth and the Biblical Tradition advances our understanding of the conflict topos in ancient west Asian and early Jewish and Christian literatures and of how mythological and religious ideas are used both to validate and render normative particular ideologies and socio-political arrangements, and to delegitimize and invalidate others.
Among the most important sources for understanding the cultures and systems of thought of ancient Mesopotamia is a large body of magical and medical texts written in the Sumerian and Akkadian languages. An especially significant branch of this literature centres upon witchcraft. Mesopotamian anti-witchcraft rituals and incantations attribute ill-health and misfortune to the magic machinations of witches and prescribe ceremonies, devices, and treatments for dispelling witchcraft, destroying the witch, and protecting and curing the patient. The Corpus of Mesopotamian Anti-Witchcraft Rituals aims to present a reconstruction of this body of texts; it provides critical editions of the relevant rituals and prescriptions based on the study of the cuneiform tablets and fragments recovered from the libraries of ancient Mesopotamia. "Now that we have the second volume, we the more admire the thoughtful organisation of the entire project, the strict methods followed, and the insightful observations and decisions made." - Martin Stol, in: Bibliotheca Orientalis LXXIV n° 3-4 (mei-augustus 2017)
In the modern West, we take for granted that what we call the “natural world” confronts us all and always has—but Before Nature explores that almost unimaginable time when there was no such conception of “nature”—no word, reference, or sense for it. Before the concept of nature formed over the long history of European philosophy and science, our ancestors in ancient Assyria and Babylonia developed an inquiry into the world in a way that is kindred to our modern science. With Before Nature, Francesca Rochberg explores that Assyro-Babylonian knowledge tradition and shows how it relates to the entire history of science. From a modern, Western perspective, a world not conceived somehow within the framework of physical nature is difficult—if not impossible—to imagine. Yet, as Rochberg lays out, ancient investigations of regularity and irregularity, norms and anomalies clearly established an axis of knowledge between the knower and an intelligible, ordered world. Rochberg is the first scholar to make a case for how exactly we can understand cuneiform knowledge, observation, prediction, and explanation in relation to science—without recourse to later ideas of nature. Systematically examining the whole of Mesopotamian science with a distinctive historical and methodological approach, Before Nature will open up surprising new pathways for studying the history of science.
Ancient Knowledge Networks is a book about how knowledge travels, in minds and bodies as well as in writings. It explores the forms knowledge takes and the meanings it accrues, and how these meanings are shaped by the peoples who use it.Addressing the relationships between political power, family ties, religious commitments and literate scholarship in the ancient Middle East of the first millennium BC, Eleanor Robson focuses on two regions where cuneiform script was the predominant writing medium: Assyria in the north of modern-day Syria and Iraq, and Babylonia to the south of modern-day Baghdad. She investigates how networks of knowledge enabled cuneiform intellectual culture to endure and adapt over the course of five world empires until its eventual demise in the mid-first century BC. In doing so, she also studies Assyriological and historical method, both now and over the past two centuries, asking how the field has shaped and been shaped by the academic concerns and fashions of the day. Above all, Ancient Knowledge Networks is an experiment in writing about ‘Mesopotamian science’, as it has often been known, using geographical and social approaches to bring new insights into the intellectual history of the world’s first empires.