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Infecting the Ancient Mesopotamian Cosmos

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Franz Köcher's magnum opus on Babylonian and Assyrian medicine, which was envisioned to include cuneiform copies, translations, and commentary, was unfinished at his death in 2002 with six volumes ...
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  • 01 June 2026
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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.

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Price: $142.99
Pages: 108
Publisher: De Gruyter
Imprint: De Gruyter
Publication Date: 01 June 2026
ISBN: 9783112238615
Format: Hardcover
BISACs: HISTORY / Middle East / General, MEDICAL / History
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Troels P. Arbøll, Associate Professor at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.