The Routledge Handbook of Emotions in the Ancient Near East

"This in-depth exploration of emotions in the ancient Near East illuminates the rich and complex worlds of feelings encompassed within the literary and material remains of this remarkable region, home to many of the world's earliest cities and empires, and lays critical foundations for future study. Thirty-four chapters by leading international scholars, including philologists, art historians, and archaeologists, examine the ways in which emotions were conceived, experienced, and expressed by the peoples of the ancient Near East, with particular attention to Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and the kingdom of Ugarit, from the Late Uruk through to the Neo-Babylonian Period (ca. 3300-539 BCE). The volume is divided into two parts: the first addressing theoretical and methodological issues through thematic analyses, and the second encompassing corpus-based approaches to specific emotions. Part I addresses Emotions and History; Defining the Terms; Materialization and Material Remains; Kings and the State; and Engaging the Gods. Part II explores Happiness and Joy; Fear, Terror, and Awe; Sadness, Grief, and Depression; Contempt, Disgust, and Shame; Anger and Hate; Envy and Jealousy; Love, Affection, and Admiration; and Pity, Empathy, and Compassion. Numerous sub-themes threading through the volume explore such topics as emotional expression and suppression in relation to social status, gender, the body, and particular social and spatial conditions or material contexts. The Routledge Handbook of Emotions in the Ancient Near East is an invaluable and accessible resource for Near Eastern Studies and adjacent fields, including Classical, Biblical, and Medieval Studies, and a must-read for scholars, students, and others interested in the history and cross-cultural study of emotions"-- Provided by publisher Cover Half Title Title Copyright Contents List of Figures List of Tables List of Contributors Acknowledgments Editors’ Note Transliteration Conventions for Ancient Texts List of Abbreviations Introduction: Emotions in the Ancient Near East: Foundations for a Developing Field of Study PART I Theoretical and Thematic Approaches and Methods I. Emotions and History 1 The Emotions of Dead Civilizations: “Come, Tell Me How You Lived” 2 Emotion and the Body: Embodiment, Conceptual Metaphor, and Linguistic Encoding of Emotions in Akkadian 3 Digital Approaches to Analyzing and Translating Emotion: What Is Love? II. Defining the Terms 4 Sumerian Emotion Terms 5 Akkadian Emotion Terms 6 Hittite Emotion Terms 7 Ugaritic Emotion Terms III. Materialization and Material Remains 8 Emotions and Archaeology in Ancient Mesopotamia 9 Emotions and Musical Performance 10 Emotions and Body Language: The Expression of Emotions in Visual Art IV. Kings and the State 11 Emotions and Assyrian Kingship 12 Emotions and Hittite Kingship: Feeling Like a King 13 Emotions and the Brotherhood of Kings: Affection in the Amarna Letters V. Engaging the Gods 14 Emotions and Emesal Laments: Motivations, Performance, and Management 15 Emotions and Ritual Laments: The Affective Function of Beer in Mesopotamia 16 Emotions and Religion: Ritual Performance in Mesopotamia 17 Emotions and Hittite Prayers PART II Corpus-Based Approaches I. Happiness and Joy 18 Joy and Happiness in Mesopotamian Royal Inscriptions 19 Joy and Happiness in Hittite Texts II. Fear, Terror, and Awe 20 Awe as Entangled Emotion: Prosociality, Collective Action, and Aesthetics in the Sumerian Gilgamesh Narratives 21 Fear and Terror in Assyrian Palace Reliefs III. Sadness, Grief, and Depression 22 Grief and Sadness in the Sumerian Gilgamesh Narratives 23 Sadness and Grief in Akkadian Texts 24 Grief and Sadness in Ugaritic Texts IV. Contempt, Disgust, and Shame 25 Contempt and Related Emotions in Hittite and Akkadian Literary Texts 26 Shaming the Enemy in Assyrian Palace Reliefs and Royal Inscriptions V. Anger and Hate 27 Anger and Hatred in Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Royal Inscriptions 28 Anger and Hatred in Hittite Te VI. Envy and Jealousy 29 Envy and Jealousy in Magico-Medical Texts VII. Love, Affection, and Admiration 30 Love and Desire in Sumerian Texts 31 Love and Kindness in the Assyrian State 32 Love and Affection in Hittite Texts VIII. Pity, Empathy, and Compassion 33 Compassion, Pity, and Empathy in Sumerian Sources 34 Pity and Suffering in Old Babylonian Akkadian Sources Index This volume examines how emotions were conceived, experienced, and expressed within the vast literary and material remains of the ancient Near East from 3300 to 539 BCE. An invaluable and accessible resource for students and scholars in Near Eastern Studies and adjacent fields. Affection; Akkadian; Ancient; Archaeology; Art; Brotherhood; Civilizations; East; Emotions; Expression; Feeling; History; Hittite; Kings; Kingship; Materialization; Mesopotamia; Remains; State; Texts; Theoretical; Translating; Transliteration; Visual