lÅ« awÄ«lÄt! (Be a Man!) The Vocabulary of Courage in Mesopotamian Royal Inscriptions

Sarah C. Melville

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Chapter 2 lÅ« awÄ«lÄt! (Be a Man!) The Vocabulary of Courage in Mesopotamian Royal Inscriptions

In: Brill's Companion to Courage and Cowardice in Ancient Warfare

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Sarah C. Melville

Sarah C. Melville
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 35â56

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004749290_003

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Abstract

Tracing the development of war narratives across three millennia, this chapter explores how the ancients described ideal martial behavior and its opposite, the enemy crimes that led to war in the first place. Third millennium war accounts were brief and straightforward â the gods helped the pious king defeat his enemies. Over time, as the scribal arts developed along with the kingâs power, war narratives turned into elaborate vehicles of royal self-promotion, as the (still pious) king took on qualities that had previously been reserved for the gods. Now a divinely inspired hero (at times a god himself), the king began to acknowledge his brave soldiers as instruments of his own might. By the first millennium, the gods had imbued the king with superhuman radiance that in combination with his brave army made him nearly invulnerable. Courageous men feared only the gods, faced the enemy eagerly and stood their ground. Characterization of the enemy followed a concomitant trajectory from near anonymity to lengthy descriptions of treachery and flight. Over time, the vocabulary used to designate valorous qualities expanded greatly, but while descriptions of ignoble deeds offered more detail, no specific word for coward appeared. Official war narratives reveal a much more complex attitude toward warfare and leadership than the terms courage and cowardice represent.

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Brill's Companion to Courage and Cowardice in Ancient Warfare

Series:Â Brill's Companions to Classical Studies, Volume: 12Â andÂ Brill's Companions to Classical Studies: Warfare in the Ancient Mediterranean World, Volume: 12

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004749290

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 02 Dec 2025

Subjects
- Classical Studies
  - Ancient History
  - Greek & Latin Literature

Front Matter

Introduction

Part 1 Courage and Cowardice: Setting the Groundwork

Part 2 Philosophy

Part 3 Courage and Its Limits

Part 4 The Individual and the Collective

Part 5 Fear and Flight, Punishment and Reward

Epilogue

Back Matter

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Chapter 2 lÅ« awÄ«lÄt! (Be a Man!) The Vocabulary of Courage in Mesopotamian Royal Inscriptions

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Brill's Companion to Courage and Cowardice in Ancient Warfare

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Chapter 2 lÅ« awÄ«lÄt! (Be a Man!) The Vocabulary of Courage in Mesopotamian Royal Inscriptions