Overview

In Medicine in Ancient Assur Troels Pank Arbøll offers a microhistorical study of a single exorcist named Kiṣir-Aššur who practiced medical and magical healing in the ancient city of Assur (modern northern Iraq) in the 7th century BCE. The book provides the first detailed analysis of a healer’s education and practice in ancient Mesopotamia based on at least 73 texts assigned to specific stages of his career. By drawing on a microhistorical framework, the study aims at significantly improving our understanding of the functional aspects of texts in their specialist environment. Furthermore, the work situates Kiṣir-Aššur as one of the earliest healers in world history for whom we have such details pertaining to his career originating from his own time.

Full Product Details

Author:   Troels Pank Arbøll
Publisher:   Brill
Imprint:   Brill
Volume:   18
Dimensions:   Width: 15.50cm , Height: 3.20cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.765kg
ISBN:  

9789004436077

ISBN 10:   9004436073
Pages:   432
Publication Date:   01 October 2020
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements List of Figures and Tables Abbreviations and Symbols Symbols and Further Abbreviations Introduction 1.1 Colophons 1.2 Mesopotamian Medicine 1.3 Authorship 1.4 Proof and Possibility 1.5 Scope and Structure Framework and Background 2.1 Microhistory 2.2 Framework 2.3 Background for Studying Kisir-Assur 2.4 Quantifying and Contextualizing Kisir-Assur's Texts Kisir-Assur's Magico-Medical Education as samallu sehru 3.1 Complex Diagnoses in Kisir-Assur's samallu sehru Texts 3.2 Principles Understood Through Examples 3.3 The Head: BAM 9 3.4 The Strings and Inner Body 3.5 Snakes, Scorpions and Horses: A Discussion of RA 15 pl. 76 3.6 Gaining an Understanding of Anatomy and Physiology 3.7 Preparation for Other Duties as samallu sehru 3.8 Summary Training in Anatomy and Physiology as samallu sehru 4.1 The Role of Venom in Kisir-Assur's Anatomical Understanding 4.2 Veterinarian Knowledge in Kisir-Assur's Education 4.3 Excursus: Animal Variants of Human Illnesses 4.4 Animal and Human Physiology: The Reverse of RA 15 pl. 76 4.5 Summary Further Apprenticeship: samallu to masmassu sehru 5.2 The samallu masmassu sehru-phase 5.3 The masmassu sehru-phase 5.4 Excursus: The sa Nabu tuklassu-phrase 5.5 Summary Kisir-Assur's masmassu-phase 6.1 Texts with Colophons Including the Title masmassu 6.2 Making House Calls: Discussion of KAR 230 6.3 Ritually Protecting the Houses of Clients: Discussion of KAR 298 6.4 Namburbi-rituals and House Calls: KAL 4 no. 7 and LKA 115 6.5 Other Technical Literature: CT 37 pl. 24f. 6.6 Summary Additional Texts that May Belong to the masmassu-phase 7.1 Omission and Inclusion of Titles 7.2 Tablets Without Kisir-Assur's Professional Title 7.3 Tablets with Broken Colophons 7.4 The masmassu-phase and Purpose Statements 7.5 A Discussion of the Dated Tablet KAR 267 7.6 Other Technical Literature: BAM 307 and ACh Supp. 2 24 7.7 Summary Kisir-Assur's masmas bit Assur-phase 8.1 The Title masmas bit Assur 8.2 Medical Texts from Kisir-Assur's masmas bit Assur-phase 8.3 Tested Prescriptions Among the Medical Texts 8.4 Panaceas Among the Medical Texts 8.5 Ritual Texts from Kisir-Assur's masmas bit Assur-phase 8.6 Texts Connected to the Assur Temple 8.7 Summary Situating Kisir-Assur's Knowledge Production 9.1 Kisir-Assur's Overall Medical Focus 9.2 Numbered Nishu-extracts 9.3 Catch-lines and Duplicate Passages in Kisir-Assur's Texts in Relation to the Therapeutic Series Ugu 9.4 The Exorcist's Manual (EM) 9.5 Kisir-Assur and the Scholarly Traditions in Assur 9.6 Summary Synthesis and Conclusion Catalogue of Texts Edition of RA 15 pl. 76 Transliteration General Observations Commentary Bibliography 346 Index

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Author Information

Troels Pank Arbøll, Ph.D. (2017) in Assyriology from the University of Copenhagen, is a Postdoctoral Fellow at that university. He is currently engaged in research on Mesopotamian medicine, magic, and the transmission of knowledge in the ancient world.

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