The Loss of Male Sexual Desire in Ancient Mesopotamia

The Loss of Male Sexual Desire in Ancient Mesopotamia PDF Author: Gioele Zisa
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110757265
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 612

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Book Description
After more than fifty years since the last publication, the cuneiform texts relating to the treatment of the loss of male sexual desire and vigor in Mesopotamia are collected in this volume. The aim of the book is to present Mesopotamian medical tradition regarding the so-called nīš libbi therapies. šà-zi-ga in Sumerian, nīš libbi in Akkadian, lit. "raising of the 'heart'", is the expression used to indicate a group of texts intended to recover the male sexual desire. This medical tradition is preserved from the Middle Babylonian period to the Achaemenid one. This broad range testifies to the importance of the transmission of this material throughout Mesopotamian history. The book provides the edition of this textual corpus and analyzes it in the light of new knowledge on ancient Near Eastern medicine. Moreover, this volume aims to show how theories and methodologies of Cultural Anthropology, Ethnopsychiatry and Gender Studies are useful for understanding the Mesopotamian medical system. This edition is an important tool for understanding Mesopotamian medical knowledge for Assyriologist, however since the texts have been translated and discussed using the anthropological and gender perspectives they are accessible also to scholars of other research fields, such as History of Medicine, Sexuality and Gender.

The Loss of Male Sexual Desire in Ancient Mesopotamia

The Loss of Male Sexual Desire in Ancient Mesopotamia PDF Author: Gioele Zisa
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110757265
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 612

Get Book Here

Book Description
After more than fifty years since the last publication, the cuneiform texts relating to the treatment of the loss of male sexual desire and vigor in Mesopotamia are collected in this volume. The aim of the book is to present Mesopotamian medical tradition regarding the so-called nīš libbi therapies. šà-zi-ga in Sumerian, nīš libbi in Akkadian, lit. "raising of the 'heart'", is the expression used to indicate a group of texts intended to recover the male sexual desire. This medical tradition is preserved from the Middle Babylonian period to the Achaemenid one. This broad range testifies to the importance of the transmission of this material throughout Mesopotamian history. The book provides the edition of this textual corpus and analyzes it in the light of new knowledge on ancient Near Eastern medicine. Moreover, this volume aims to show how theories and methodologies of Cultural Anthropology, Ethnopsychiatry and Gender Studies are useful for understanding the Mesopotamian medical system. This edition is an important tool for understanding Mesopotamian medical knowledge for Assyriologist, however since the texts have been translated and discussed using the anthropological and gender perspectives they are accessible also to scholars of other research fields, such as History of Medicine, Sexuality and Gender.

Gastrointestinal Disease and Its Treatment in Ancient Mesopotamia

Gastrointestinal Disease and Its Treatment in Ancient Mesopotamia PDF Author: J. Cale Johnson
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 1501506579
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Babylonian medicine is the most important corpus of ancient medicine prior to the Greeks. This volume provides a comprehensive picture of how gasrtrointestinal illness, jaundice and related fevers, as well as diarrhea were treated in ancient Mesopotamia. The editions include transliterations, straightforward translations and essential commentary, and are divided into three main sections: the standard corpus for the treatment of gastrointestinal illness in Royal Library in Nineveh (otherwise known as the sualu subcorpus), the related group of texts that attribute intestinal disturbances to malevolent ghosts and a third group of texts focused on diarrhea. In addition to the standard compendia, isolated precursor texts, which were incorporated into these compendia, are included here in appendices. This volume provides an overarching picture of the entire field of gastrointestinal illnesses and related conditions in ancient Mesopotamia.

Living and Dying in Mesopotamia

Living and Dying in Mesopotamia PDF Author: Alhena Gadotti
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350301884
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
Exploring life, death, and the afterlife in Mesopotamia, Alhena Gadotti and Alexandra Kleinerman examine how life and death experiences continually developed over the course of nearly three millennia of Mesopotamian history. To achieve this, the book follows the life cycle of the people of the Tigris and Euphrates River valleys from 3000 BCE to 300 BCE, from birth, through death, and beyond. This book is the first to interrogate the relationships between living and dying through case studies and primary evidence. Including letters written by both women and men, the book allows readers to enter the minds of the ancients. First, the authors focus on life through topics such as the rituals surrounding birth, marriage, and religion. The authors then examine the common causes of death, the rituals associated with death, and the Mesopotamian views of the netherworld, its gods, and inhabitants. Concepts of gender fluidity, both in life and death, are considered alongside evidence from epigraphic data. Illustrating daily life as a multifaceted subject affected by time, space, location, socioeconomics, and gender, this book creates a window into the conditions and concerns of the Mesopotamian people.

Gender in the Ancient Near East

Gender in the Ancient Near East PDF Author: Stephanie Lynn Budin
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000860787
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
Gender in the Ancient Near East is a wide-ranging study through text and art that presents our current understanding of gender constructs in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Anatolia, Cyprus, and the Levant, and incorporates current trends in gender theory. Budin begins with definitions of sex and gender in modern society and scholarship before exploring ancient Near Eastern understandings of these concepts. Readers are then guided through sources in translation in order to understand how the denizens of the ancient Near East understood notions of femininity, masculinity, and other, with a final chapter considering how modern notions of hetero- and homosexuality apply to the ancient world. The volume also explores how these concepts are portrayed in ancient art and material culture through accompanying photographs and illustrations. The overview of both Near Eastern history and contemporary gender theory allows readers unfamiliar with the material easily to approach the subject and draw meaningful conclusions. Gender in the Ancient Near East offers a comprehensive and engaging introduction to the subject for students of the ancient Near East and of gender in the ancient world. It is also of interest to those working in gender studies and queer studies.

Migration and Mobility in the Ancient Near East and Egypt - the Crossroads IV

Migration and Mobility in the Ancient Near East and Egypt - the Crossroads IV PDF Author: Ludovica Bertolini
Publisher: Lockwood Press
ISBN: 1957454113
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 435

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Book Description
Movement and mobility represent intertwined concepts that have persisted throughout human history. The act of moving from one place to another is, however, intricately tied to the challenges that hinder it. These obstacles can either be natural in origin or the product of human design aimed at constraining the movement of individuals or groups. Furthermore, movement and mobility can also manifest themselves within society, encompassing the fluid shifts of people within the social hierarchy and the transitions between various social groups. The transfer of words, technologies, and religious ideologies often accompanies these human movements. The region of ancient Western Asia and northeast Africa serves as a rich repository of evidence for these forms of movement and mobility, extensively documented through written sources and material culture. The essays collected in this volume variously examine the political dimensions of movement and mobility; how ideas, concepts, and languages move across boundaries; and the material evidence for cultural interactions.

The Divine/Demonic Seven and the Place of Demons in Mesopotamia

The Divine/Demonic Seven and the Place of Demons in Mesopotamia PDF Author: Gina Konstantopoulos
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004546138
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description
In The Divine/Demonic Seven and the Place of Demons in Mesopotamia, Gina Konstantopoulos analyses the Sebettu, a group of seven divine/demonic figures found across a wide range of Mesopotamian textual and artistic sources in Mesopotamia from the late third to first millennium BCE. The Sebettu appeared both as fierce, threatening demons and as divine, protective, figures. These seemingly contradictory qualities worked together, as their martial ferocity facilitated their religious and political role. When used in royal inscriptions, they became fierce warriors attacking the king’s enemies, retaining that demonic nature. This flexibility was not unique to the Sebettu, and this study thus provides a lens through which to examine the place of demons in Mesopotamia as a whole.

Legitimising Magic

Legitimising Magic PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004687416
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 223

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Book Description
As magic is a powerful means to influence the natural world and human beings, and is deeply connected to the divine sphere, persons using it are in constant need to justify its use. The ambivalence of magic to serve both well-wishing and ill-wishing aims puts the practitioners ever at risk. This volume illuminates the strategies adopted to legitimise the practice of magic and analyses how these justifications are phrased and formulated in cuneiform texts, thereby revealing the underlying principles and unexplained axioms of using magic in the Ancient Near East.

Assyria

Assyria PDF Author: Eckart Frahm
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 1541674391
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 501

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Book Description
A new history of Assyria, the ancient civilization that set the model for future empires At its height in 660 BCE, the kingdom of Assyria stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. It was the first empire the world had ever seen. Here, historian Eckart Frahm tells the epic story of Assyria and its formative role in global history. Assyria’s wide-ranging conquests have long been known from the Hebrew Bible and later Greek accounts. But nearly two centuries of research now permit a rich picture of the Assyrians and their empire beyond the battlefield: their vast libraries and monumental sculptures, their elaborate trade and information networks, and the crucial role played by royal women. Although Assyria was crushed by rising powers in the late seventh century BCE, its legacy endured from the Babylonian and Persian empires to Rome and beyond. Assyria is a stunning and authoritative account of a civilization essential to understanding the ancient world and our own.

The Healing Goddess Gula

The Healing Goddess Gula PDF Author: Barbara Böck
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 900426146X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 231

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Book Description
Providing a comprehensive examination of the traits and areas of authority Ancient Babylonians attributed to their healing goddess, this book draws on a wide range of Sumero-Akkadian cuneiform sources, including god lists, literary compositions, lexical lists, prognostic texts, incantations, and prescriptions. Analysing the use of selected metaphors associated with the goddess, a new perspective is offered on the explanation for disease as well as the motivation for particular treatments. Special chapters deal with the cuneiform handbook on prognosis and diagnosis of diseases, medical incantations appealing to the healing goddess, and the medicinal plants attributed to her. For the first time a body of evidence for the use of simple drugs is brought together, elaborating on specific plant profiles. The result is a volume that challenges many long-held assumptions concerning the specialized cuneiform medical literature and takes a fresh look on the nature of Ancient Babylonian healing.

The Routledge Handbook of Emotions in the Ancient Near East

The Routledge Handbook of Emotions in the Ancient Near East PDF Author: Karen Sonik
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000656217
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 817

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Book Description
This in-depth exploration of emotions in the ancient Near East illuminates the rich and complex worlds of feelings encompassed within the literary and material remains of this remarkable region, home to many of the world’s earliest cities and empires, and lays critical foundations for future study. Thirty-four chapters by leading international scholars, including philologists, art historians, and archaeologists, examine the ways in which emotions were conceived, experienced, and expressed by the peoples of the ancient Near East, with particular attention to Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and the kingdom of Ugarit, from the Late Uruk through to the Neo-Babylonian Period (ca. 3300–539 BCE). The volume is divided into two parts: the first addressing theoretical and methodological issues through thematic analyses and the second encompassing corpus-based approaches to specific emotions. Part I addresses emotions and history, defining the terms, materialization and material remains, kings and the state, and engaging the gods. Part II explores happiness and joy; fear, terror, and awe; sadness, grief, and depression; contempt, disgust, and shame; anger and hate; envy and jealousy; love, affection, and admiration; and pity, empathy, and compassion. Numerous sub-themes threading through the volume explore such topics as emotional expression and suppression in relation to social status, gender, the body, and particular social and spatial conditions or material contexts. The Routledge Handbook of Emotions in the Ancient Near East is an invaluable and accessible resource for Near Eastern studies and adjacent fields, including Classical, Biblical, and medieval studies, and a must-read for scholars, students, and others interested in the history and cross-cultural study of emotions.