Infecting the Ancient Mesopotamian Cosmos

Epidemics and the Transmission of Disease in Assyria and Babylonia
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-3-11-223861-5
Verlag: De Gruyter

Buch, Englisch, Band Band 14, 98 Seiten, Format (B × H): 210 mm x 280 mm, Gewicht: 462 g

Reihe: Band 14: Die babylonisch-assyrische Medizin in Texten und Untersuchungen

Epidemics have shaped human history, yet studies of their ancient attestations remain a developing field. This volume examines how epidemics were conceptualized, experienced, and responded to in Mesopotamia from the 3rd to the 1st millennium BCE. Drawing on cuneiform sources, contributors explore ancient terminology, beliefs about disease transmission, divine attributions, and societal impacts. The book investigates ritual, medical, epistolary, and administrative texts to assess how people sought to understand and control widespread diseases. By contextualizing Mesopotamian epidemics within broader historical frameworks, the volume highlights their role in shaping socio-political responses and the intellectual reasoning behind such devastating events. Essential for Assyriologists, historians of medicine, and researchers of ancient societies, this work offers new insights into humanity’s earliest written records of epidemics.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Arbøll, Troels P.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Naher & Mittlerer Osten
• Medizin | Veterinärmedizin Medizin | Public Health | Pharmazie | Zahnmedizin Medizin, Gesundheitswesen Geschichte der Medizin
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionsgeschichte Religionen der Antike
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Bibelwissenschaften Altes Testament: Exegese, Geschichte
• Medizin | Veterinärmedizin Medizin | Public Health | Pharmazie | Zahnmedizin Vorklinische Medizin: Grundlagenfächer

Über Autor(innen)

Troels P. Arbøll , Associate Professor at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.