The Emergence of individuality. Part One

Abstract

The article discusses the problem of movement to “axial time” (Karl Jaspers’ term) on the basis of two cultural traditions - Sumero-Akkadian and Egyptian. An attempt is made to find signs of the emergence of a new consciousness within the framework of collective-traditional consciousness. These signs are the emergence of authorship, the emergence of new genres, the peculiarity of which is a free change in the position of the speaker, the change in the perception of the world through the ideas of justice, the emergence of new narratives, existing in parallel with the traditional ones. It is shown that by the end of the second millennium BC both cultures possessed almost all the set of the named features. We consider the peculiarities of functioning of such mystically experienced images-concepts as “me” (norm, measure, etc) and “shimtu” (fate) in Mesopotamia and “maat” (order, justice, etc) in Egypt. In both cultures, the existence of personal gods, doubles, and personified souls creates the possibility of a regularly practiced reflection on one’s life. The notion of authorship of certain texts shows that, along with folklore, certain narratives are formed that are transmitted along with authoritative names. Nevertheless, the possibility of transition to individual consciousness proper was blocked by two crucial features of these cultures - the consciousness of absolute dependence on the gods, who could, if they wished, but were not obliged to reveal to man his destiny, and the attachment of each individual to his social position, where status plays a leading role in determining man's destiny than his own efforts.