Mainly Akkadian and some Sumerian texts provide the primary material for this study, which is a lexical analysis of the semantic field of the death, and of terms, expressions and euphemisms used to refer to dying. All literary genres are examined, especially divinatory texts. The purpose is not only to bring together a corpus, up to here non-existent, by going through the texts systematically, but also to analyze all the terminology and to summarize the subject. This research concerns concrete aspects of death, especially the different ways in which Mesopotamians died and the acts that followed death, such as funerary practices and rites. We are also interested in different feelings, values, and uses attributed to death by the living. [table “6” not found /]
Categories: PhD Research