Alternative voices in Babylonian Medicine
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35305/cl.vi20.65Keywords:
Babylonian medicine, Diagnostic Handbook, witchcraft, 'hand' (of gods, demons, ghosts), medical incantationsAbstract
The usual approach to Babylonian medical writings is to assume a monolithic corpus of data presented in either recipes, lists of drugs, or collections of symptoms for prognosis and diagnosis. Despite the lengthy period of documentation of Babylonian medicine, no attempt has been made to view the acquisition of Akkadian medical knowledge as a dynamic process, which also needed to adapt to changing expectations. The present paper will survey Babylonian medicine while seeking out the cacophony of different voices, ending with the intriguing question: who controls the narrative?
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Abbreviations
AM = Asfar Malwaša (Book of the Zodiac)
AMD = Ancient Magic and Divination (Brill)
BAM = Babylonisch-Assyrische Medizin (de Gruyter)
BMS = Babylonian Magic and Sorcery (L. W. King)
STT = The Sultantepe Tablets, published by Gurney, Finkelstein, and Hulin
TUAT = Texte aus der Umwelt des Alten Testaments (Gutersloher Verlag)
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