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Care of Animals in Ancient Mesopotamia

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Care of Animals in Ancient Mesopotamia HE LENA ISOLADOMESTIC ANIMALS IN ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIAHumans and animals have a long common history. Domesticated animals were al-ready an important source of food, materials and income in the ancient societies. Animals were also needed as beasts of burden to carry and pull heavy objects. With the rise of animal husbandry people learned to observe illnesses and traumas in an-imals, possibly also to treat them in one way or another and assist farm animals with difficult labor. At least some knowledge of welfare and good care of animals becomes an important financial factor when dealing with larger groups of animals. Conversely if a family only has a very small number of cattle, sheep or donkeys, their loss due to an illness can have disastrous effects on their owners. In that sense the care of animals is never just about the animals, it is about the welfare of people as well. If one thinks of animal welfare today, the discussions often concentrate on is-sues such as the possibility for species specific behavior and avoidance of stress and pain. Also the questions of how justified it is to use products of animal origin or have animals working for us come up every now and then. Sometimes even the concept of having companion animals is questioned. The subject with this paper is not to deal with those issues but to discuss the evidence of care and medical treat-ment of animals in ancient Mesopotamia in light of textual evidence and to study how this reflects the attitudes of the ancients towards animals and their value to the society. Sheep, goats, pigs and cattle had been domesticated early and were all common species in Mesopotamia. Meat, milk, wool and hides were all important products. Oxen were important draft animals. Animals were also sacrificed in religious cere-monies.
© 2015 transcript Verlag

Care of Animals in Ancient Mesopotamia HE LENA ISOLADOMESTIC ANIMALS IN ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIAHumans and animals have a long common history. Domesticated animals were al-ready an important source of food, materials and income in the ancient societies. Animals were also needed as beasts of burden to carry and pull heavy objects. With the rise of animal husbandry people learned to observe illnesses and traumas in an-imals, possibly also to treat them in one way or another and assist farm animals with difficult labor. At least some knowledge of welfare and good care of animals becomes an important financial factor when dealing with larger groups of animals. Conversely if a family only has a very small number of cattle, sheep or donkeys, their loss due to an illness can have disastrous effects on their owners. In that sense the care of animals is never just about the animals, it is about the welfare of people as well. If one thinks of animal welfare today, the discussions often concentrate on is-sues such as the possibility for species specific behavior and avoidance of stress and pain. Also the questions of how justified it is to use products of animal origin or have animals working for us come up every now and then. Sometimes even the concept of having companion animals is questioned. The subject with this paper is not to deal with those issues but to discuss the evidence of care and medical treat-ment of animals in ancient Mesopotamia in light of textual evidence and to study how this reflects the attitudes of the ancients towards animals and their value to the society. Sheep, goats, pigs and cattle had been domesticated early and were all common species in Mesopotamia. Meat, milk, wool and hides were all important products. Oxen were important draft animals. Animals were also sacrificed in religious cere-monies.
© 2015 transcript Verlag

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter 1
  2. Inhalt 5
  3. Tiere – Texte – Transformationen 9
  4. Das Paradies der Erde liegt auf dem Rücken der Pferde – besonders wenn man Mongole ist 23
  5. Care of Animals in Ancient Mesopotamia 41
  6. Ein pulverisierter Penis für die Potenz, eine Kralle fürs Glück 51
  7. Marx Fugger’s Von der Gestüterey 69
  8. Doing Their Master’s Bidding 85
  9. Interspecies Mothering in der zeitgenössischen Kunst 111
  10. Musik für das zoon politikon 135
  11. Heideggers Anthropozentrismus: Methodologische Überlegungen 141
  12. Tierbezeichnungen als abwertende Personenbezeichnungen 157
  13. Language Creates Relations Between Humans and Animals 179
  14. Die ökologische Relevanz von Sprache im Umgang mit Tieren 193
  15. Hybrid Animals and Hybridizing Representational Strategies in R. Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull 213
  16. Von Amseln, Elstern und Nachtigallen 227
  17. Animal as Text, Text as Animal 245
  18. “More Than Just Animals...” 263
  19. “We Support Circus Animals Who Kill Their Captors” 277
  20. Zu den Tieren selbst? 297
  21. Über die Rolle der Biologie in der Entwicklung der Mensch-Tier-Beziehung 317
  22. Der Veganismus: Nicht bloß eine Entscheidung für einen Lebensstil 329
  23. The Neoliberalization of Nature 339
  24. Tierrecht(e), Aktivismusrecht, Animal Law, Legal Animal Studies und HAS 353
  25. Informationen zu den Autorinnen 383
  26. Backmatter 389
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https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839428733-003

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter 1
  2. Inhalt 5
  3. Tiere – Texte – Transformationen 9
  4. Das Paradies der Erde liegt auf dem Rücken der Pferde – besonders wenn man Mongole ist 23
  5. Care of Animals in Ancient Mesopotamia 41
  6. Ein pulverisierter Penis für die Potenz, eine Kralle fürs Glück 51
  7. Marx Fugger’s Von der Gestüterey 69
  8. Doing Their Master’s Bidding 85
  9. Interspecies Mothering in der zeitgenössischen Kunst 111
  10. Musik für das zoon politikon 135
  11. Heideggers Anthropozentrismus: Methodologische Überlegungen 141
  12. Tierbezeichnungen als abwertende Personenbezeichnungen 157
  13. Language Creates Relations Between Humans and Animals 179
  14. Die ökologische Relevanz von Sprache im Umgang mit Tieren 193
  15. Hybrid Animals and Hybridizing Representational Strategies in R. Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull 213
  16. Von Amseln, Elstern und Nachtigallen 227
  17. Animal as Text, Text as Animal 245
  18. “More Than Just Animals...” 263
  19. “We Support Circus Animals Who Kill Their Captors” 277
  20. Zu den Tieren selbst? 297
  21. Über die Rolle der Biologie in der Entwicklung der Mensch-Tier-Beziehung 317
  22. Der Veganismus: Nicht bloß eine Entscheidung für einen Lebensstil 329
  23. The Neoliberalization of Nature 339
  24. Tierrecht(e), Aktivismusrecht, Animal Law, Legal Animal Studies und HAS 353
  25. Informationen zu den Autorinnen 383
  26. Backmatter 389
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