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Mesopotamian Religion

3. Notes

Notes to Chapter 24. Them and Us

Giorgio Buccellati, “When on High…”

August 2023

24.1 A Value Judgment
24.2 The Suspension of Judgment
24.3 The Appropriation of Perceptions
24.4 The Limits of Authority
24.5 Consistencies and Structural Contrasts


ERRORS in databases:
  • "Boson1918Assiriologia.d": duplicate bibliography "Boson1918Assiriologia" for site "Akk-lg".
  • "Bottero1992Reasoning.d": duplicate bibliography "Bottero1992Reasoning" for site "Mes-rel".
  • "Buccellati1972Teodicea.d": duplicate bibliography "Buccellati1972Teodicea" for site "Mes-lit".
  • "Cauvin2000Birth.d": duplicate bibliography "Cauvin2000Birth" for site "Mes-rel".
  • "DMB.d": duplicate bibliography "DMB" for site "Mes-rel".
  • "Edzard2003Sumerian.d": duplicate bibliography "Edzard2003Sumerian" for site "Mes-rel".
  • "Oshima2014Sufferers.d": duplicate bibliography "Oshima2014Sufferers" for site "Mes-rel".
  • "Trinkaus1983Shanidar.d": duplicate bibliography "Trinkaus1983Shanidar" for site "Mes-rel".

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24.1 A Value Judgment

  1. In this chapter, and in the whole book, the author implicitly insists on the application of an -emic perspective in the analysis of ancient cultures. This topic is well discussed by G. Buccellati in his paper Buccellati 2006 Emic. A similar topic, i.e. that of empathy in reading the past, is presented by G. Buccellati in Buccellati 2014 Dalprofondo, pp. 71-72.

    – [ Marco De Pietri, November 2020]

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24.3 The Appropriation of Perceptions

  1. Buber writes: «The might of karma or of the stars no longer controls inevitably the lot of man; many powers claim the mastery, but rightly considered most of our contemporaries believe in a mixture of them, just as the late Romans believed in a mixture of gods.» (p. 56) Buccellati also points out the polytheistic undercurrents in the ostensibly Christian West. See Buber 1937 Iandthou.

    – [ Jonah Lynch, April 2020]

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24.4 The Limits of Authority

  1. On fate/destiny in ancient Mesopotamia, cf. supra 14.5.

    – [ Marco De Pietri, November 2020]