Destructive WatersâRefreshing Waters: Ancient Near Eastern Aquatic Symbolism at the Dawn of History

Rosel Pientka-Hinz

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Chapter 4 Destructive WatersâRefreshing Waters: Ancient Near Eastern Aquatic Symbolism at the Dawn of History

äºMiddle East and North Africa

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Rosel Pientka-Hinz

Rosel Pientka-Hinz
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Page Range:: 114â134

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004444973_006

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Abstract

In search of the most ancient references to the legendary Mesopotamian Flood and thus the mother of all climatic catastrophes, a cylinder seal from the Uruk period (ca. 3300â2900 BCE) depicting apparently dangerous hybrid animals that are arranged in a remarkably harmonic equilibrium caught my eye. Interpreting them as symbols of natural forces in cosmic interaction, this essay aims to highlight the crucial role of the symbolic snake twist in combination with powerful and aggressive animals like eagles and lions. Hypothesising that the beneficial curling of the snake not only symbolises fertility and a secure water supply, but also develops its harmonising potential by generating the notion of a balanced hybridity, places special emphasis on the twin snakesâ integrative effect. As a veritable âintercultural symbolâ that emerged in a cultural contact situation, the mediating role of the snake twist becomes obvious in different fields of human creativity, namely in the invention of writing and the simultaneous development of an iconographic program. Conflict resolution strategies were developed in various media not only in order to avert climatic disasters. In the course of this, the lines between technical, symbolic or magical spheres blur.

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Middle East and North Africa

Climate, Culture, and Conflicts

ä¸ç¼ï¼ Climate and Culture, å·ï¼ 6

ISBN:: 9789004444973

åºçç¤¾:: Brill

å°å·åºçæ¥æ:: 22 Jan 2021

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African Studies	Education	Media Studies
American Studies	History	Middle East and Islamic Studies
Ancient Near East and Egypt	Human Rights and Humanitarian Law	Musicology
Art History	International Law	Philosophy
Asian Studies	International Relations	Religious Studies
Biblical Studies	Jewish Studies	Slavic and Eurasian Studies
Biology	Languages and Linguistics	Social Sciences
Book History and Cartography	Life Sciences	Theology and World Christianity
Classical Studies	Literature and Cultural Studies

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Chapter 4 Destructive WatersâRefreshing Waters: Ancient Near Eastern Aquatic Symbolism at the Dawn of History

Abstract

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