The Importance of Aquatic Fauna on Ancient Mesopotamian Healing Practices—An Environmental Humanities Approach to Human Dependency of Non-Human World

Humanities Pub Date : 2024-01-26 DOI:10.3390/h13010025
Ana Satiro, Isabel Gomes de Almeida, Cristina Brito
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Abstract

Diachronically, Mesopotamian data pertaining to the religious spheres point to a transversal notion that deities were considered responsible for every cause–effect event observed/experienced by humans in their natural/cosmic surroundings. Such notion is especially visible on texts pertaining to the restoration of human health, where such an aspect was ultimately considered as a divine prerogative. Yet, these textual data also show how natural elements were basilar to the success of healing practices when thoroughly manipulated by specialists. Their examination through a perspective that intertwines the apparatus of History of Religions and Environmental History thus reveals great potential for contributing to the topic of human/nonhuman entanglements in the longue durée. With this paper, we propose to revisit the uses of aquatic fauna as displayed in Babylonian and Assyrian healing texts dated to the second half of the 2nd millennium and the first half of the 1st millennium BC. Although at a preliminary stage, our research has been guided by the combined theoretical-methodological perspective above-mentioned, aiming at highlighting the great importance conferred to these animals. Ultimately, we aim at stressing the importance of addressing the dependence of Mesopotamian specialists and patients on such elements of Nature to better understand this ancient context.
水生动物对古代美索不达米亚治疗方法的重要性--从环境人文角度探讨人类对非人类世界的依赖性
从时间上看,美索不达米亚有关宗教领域的资料表明了一种横向观念,即神灵被认为对人类在自然/宇宙环境中观察到/经历到的每一个因果事件负责。这种观念在有关恢复人类健康的文本中尤为明显,在这些文本中,恢复人类健康最终被视为神的特权。然而,这些文本资料也显示了自然元素是如何在专家的彻底操纵下取得疗效的。因此,从宗教史和环境史交织在一起的视角来审视这些资料,对于探讨长期的人类/非人类纠葛这一主题具有巨大的贡献潜力。通过本文,我们建议重新审视公元前两千年后半期和公元前一千年前半期的巴比伦和亚述医治文献中对水生动物的利用。尽管研究尚处于初步阶段,但我们的研究以上述理论与方法相结合的视角为指导,旨在强调这些动物的重要性。最终,我们旨在强调解决美索不达米亚专家和病人对这些自然元素的依赖问题的重要性,以便更好地理解这一古代背景。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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