Mesopotamian Conceptions of the Supernatural: A Taxonomy of Zwischenwesen
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Karen Sonik
Abstract
The monsters and daimons (demons) of Mesopotamia belonged to a constellation of Zwischenwesen - interstitial beings with supernatural qualities or capacities - that occupied the space between humans and their gods. As the “Other,” if not always the enemy, their alterity was not only inscribed in their bodies but also reflected in their social alienation and geographical isolation. Strikingly imagined, where depicted or described, as morphologically anomalous or miscegenated (Mischwesen), the monsters and daimons lacked the kinship affiliations of both citydwelling humans and their gods and properly dwelt at the wild and inhospitable margins of the known world. This study explores their definition, functioning, and classification in a cosmos in which the overarching conflict was between order and chaos rather than good and evil, in which divinely organized and guarded civilization was ever threatened by the pressing and savage forces gathered in the wilderness beyond the city walls.
© 2013 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co.
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Titelseiten
- Introduction
- I Evil Spirits, Monsters and Benevolent Protectors: Demonology in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia (Conference at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York)
- Towards a Comparative Approach to Demonology in Antiquity: The Case of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia
- Striking Cobra Spitting Fire
- Divine Taxonomy in the Underworld Books
- Das Krokodil als göttliche Waffe in einer medico-magischen Bildkomposition aus Deir el Medineh
- Amente Demons and Christian Syncretism
- Mesopotamian Conceptions of the Supernatural: A Taxonomy of Zwischenwesen
- “Their Divinity is Different, Their Nature is Distinct!” Nature, Origin, and Features of Demons in Akkadian Literature
- The Head of Humbaba
- II Daimones and Demons in the Wider Mediterranean World
- The Corpse Daemon Antinoos
- Daimones in the Thracian Sea: Mysteries, Iron, and Metaphors
- Bodiless Docetists and the Daimonic Jesus: Daimonological Discourse and Anti-Docetic Polemic in Ignatius’ Letter to the Smyrnaeans
- “Oh, Lord, Give This One a Daimon So That He May No Longer Sin”: The Holy Man and His Daimones in Hagiography
- III Research
- Forschungsbericht Römische Religion (2009– 2011)
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Titelseiten
- Introduction
- I Evil Spirits, Monsters and Benevolent Protectors: Demonology in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia (Conference at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York)
- Towards a Comparative Approach to Demonology in Antiquity: The Case of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia
- Striking Cobra Spitting Fire
- Divine Taxonomy in the Underworld Books
- Das Krokodil als göttliche Waffe in einer medico-magischen Bildkomposition aus Deir el Medineh
- Amente Demons and Christian Syncretism
- Mesopotamian Conceptions of the Supernatural: A Taxonomy of Zwischenwesen
- “Their Divinity is Different, Their Nature is Distinct!” Nature, Origin, and Features of Demons in Akkadian Literature
- The Head of Humbaba
- II Daimones and Demons in the Wider Mediterranean World
- The Corpse Daemon Antinoos
- Daimones in the Thracian Sea: Mysteries, Iron, and Metaphors
- Bodiless Docetists and the Daimonic Jesus: Daimonological Discourse and Anti-Docetic Polemic in Ignatius’ Letter to the Smyrnaeans
- “Oh, Lord, Give This One a Daimon So That He May No Longer Sin”: The Holy Man and His Daimones in Hagiography
- III Research
- Forschungsbericht Römische Religion (2009– 2011)
