Medicine in Ancient Assur : : A Microhistorical Study of the Neo-Assyrian Healer Ki?ir-Assur / / Troels Pank Arbøll.

• Superior document: Ancient Magic and Divination Series ; Volume 18
• VerfasserIn: Arbøll, Troels Pank,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, The Netherlands : : Koninklijke Brill NV,, [2021]; ©2021
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Edition: First edition.
• Language: English
• Series: Ancient magic and divination ; Volume 18.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (433 pages) :; digital, PDF file(s).

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.

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 Kiṣir-Aššur -- 2.4 Quantifying and Contextualizing Kiṣir-Aššur's Texts -- Kiṣir-Aššur's Magico-Medical Education as šamallû ṣeḫru -- 3.1 Complex Diagnoses in Kiṣir-Aššur's šamallû ṣeḫru 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 šamallû ṣeḫru -- 3.8 Summary -- Training in Anatomy and Physiology as šamallû ṣeḫru -- 4.1 The Role of Venom in Kiṣir-Aššur's Anatomical Understanding -- 4.2 Veterinarian Knowledge in Kiṣir-Aššur'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: šamallû to mašmaššu ṣeḫru -- 5.2 The šamallû mašmaššu ṣeḫru-phase -- 5.3 The mašmaššu ṣeḫru-phase -- 5.4 Excursus: The ša Nabû tuklassu-phrase -- 5.5 Summary -- Kiṣir-Aššur's mašmaššu-phase -- 6.1 Texts with Colophons Including the Title mašmaššu -- 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 mašmaššu-phase -- 7.1 Omission and Inclusion of Titles -- 7.2 Tablets Without Kiṣir-Aššur's Professional Title -- 7.3 Tablets with Broken Colophons -- 7.4 The mašmaššu-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 -- Kiṣir-Aššur's mašmaš bīt Aššur-phase -- 8.1 The Title mašmaš bīt Aššur -- 8.2 Medical Texts from Kiṣir-Aššur's mašmaš bīt Aššur-phase -- 8.3 Tested Prescriptions Among the Medical Texts -- 8.4 Panaceas Among the Medical Texts -- 8.5 Ritual Texts from Kiṣir-Aššur's mašmaš bīt Aššur-phase -- 8.6 Texts Connected to the Aššur Temple -- 8.7 Summary -- Situating Kiṣir-Aššur's Knowledge Production -- 9.1 Kiṣir-Aššur's Overall Medical Focus -- 9.2 Numbered Nisḫu-extracts -- 9.3 Catch-lines and Duplicate Passages in Kiṣir-Aššur's Texts in Relation to the Therapeutic Series Ugu -- 9.4 The Exorcist's Manual (EM) -- 9.5 Kiṣir-Aššur 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.