• The Bitter Sea and the Waters of Death: the Sea as a Conceptual Border in Mesopotamia

    Author(s):
    Gina Konstantopoulos (see profile)
    Date:
    2020
    Group(s):
    Ancient Near East, Assyriologists
    Subject(s):
    Akkadians, Sumerian language, Borderlands
    Item Type:
    Article
    Tag(s):
    Akkadian, Frontiers, Neo-Assyrian empire
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/bz5r-v283
    Abstract:
    The article examines the role of the seas in Sumerian and Akkadian royal inscriptions and literary texts from the third millennium BCE onwards. By tracing the presence of the sea in these texts, it becomes clear that the Upper and Lower Sea – or the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf, though the former could shift geographically – could stand as terminal points for imperial control; as an obstacle or opponent to tackle; and moreover, as markers of distant, even constructed space. Overall, the sea functioned as both a real and imaged border within the Mesopotamian worldview.
    Metadata:
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    Published as:
    Journal article     Show details
    Journal:
    Journal of Ancient Civilizations
    Volume:
    35
    Issue:
    2
    Page Range:
    171 - 198
    ISSN:
    1004–9371
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    3 years ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved
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