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Knowledge and Rhetoric in Medical Commentary
Ancient Mesopotamian Commentaries on a Handbook of Medical Diagnosis (Sa-gig), Cuneiform Monographs vol. 49/1
Series: - Cuneiform Monographs, Volume: 49
Author:
Knowledge and Rhetoric in Medical Commentary is intended for historians of medicine and interpretation, and explores the dynamic between scholastic rhetoric and medical knowledge in ancient commentaries on a Mesopotamian Diagnostic Handbook.
In line with commentators self-fashioning as experts of diverse disciplines, commentaries display intertextuality involving a variety of lexical, astronomical, religious, magic, and literary compositions, while employing patterns of argumentation that resist categorization within any single branch of knowledge. Commentators choices of topics and comments, however, sought to harmonize atypical language and ideas in the Handbook with conventional ways of perceiving and describing the sick body in therapeutic recipes. Scholastic rhetoricsupposedly unfettered to any disciplineserved in fact as a pretext for affirming current forms of medical knowledge.
In line with commentators self-fashioning as experts of diverse disciplines, commentaries display intertextuality involving a variety of lexical, astronomical, religious, magic, and literary compositions, while employing patterns of argumentation that resist categorization within any single branch of knowledge. Commentators choices of topics and comments, however, sought to harmonize atypical language and ideas in the Handbook with conventional ways of perceiving and describing the sick body in therapeutic recipes. Scholastic rhetoricsupposedly unfettered to any disciplineserved in fact as a pretext for affirming current forms of medical knowledge.
John Z. Wee, Ph.D. (2012), Yale University, is Assistant Professor of Assyriology at the University of Chicago. He is author of books and articles on medicine and astronomy in Mesopotamian and Greco-Roman antiquity, and editor of The Comparable Body (Brill, 2017).
"The two-volume work of John Z. Wee is a welcome new contribution to the discussion of Babylonian and Assyrian cuneiform commentariesan at times complex and, to readers unaware of its intricacies, often opaque textual genre, mainly known from the late time of Cuneiform Culture. (...) The first volume addresses not only Assyriologists but also scholars interested in the history of medicine and the history of interpretation and science. The study presented here includes a great many detailed discussions and presentations of interrelated issues within Mesopotamian commentary literature particularly in relation to the DH and its structure, as well as the context of these commentaries and their arguments in respect to their use and institutional background. Volume two provides the relevant data, presenting a collective edition of all commentaries on the DH so far known. This offers the particular advantage of making all relevant data accessible in a printed, citable form together with detailed philological commentaries and discussions on difficult or peculiar words and phrases."
- Eric Schmidtchen, Universit de Genve, in Bibliotheca Orientalis LXXVIII N 3-4 (2021).
"In short, John Wees Knowledge and Rhetorical in Medical Commentary in an erudite and refreshing analysis of Sa-gig and its commentaries. Although a highly specialized subject, some of his broader observations about serialization, canonization, textual sources of authority, and embedded variants may be helpful for folks in religious studies thinking about so-called canon, interpretive practices and textual sources of authority, and the boundaries in the ancient world of what we often designate science and literature."
- William Brown, in The Biblical Review, 2021.
- Eric Schmidtchen, Universit de Genve, in Bibliotheca Orientalis LXXVIII N 3-4 (2021).
"In short, John Wees Knowledge and Rhetorical in Medical Commentary in an erudite and refreshing analysis of Sa-gig and its commentaries. Although a highly specialized subject, some of his broader observations about serialization, canonization, textual sources of authority, and embedded variants may be helpful for folks in religious studies thinking about so-called canon, interpretive practices and textual sources of authority, and the boundaries in the ancient world of what we often designate science and literature."
- William Brown, in The Biblical Review, 2021.
I. Knowledge and Rhetoric in Medical Commentary
Preface
Acknowledgements
Contents (Two Volumes)
List of Figures
Medical Text Labels and Abbreviations
Format and Translation Issues
Glossary
I.1 Introduction to the Sa-gig Commentaries
âI.1.1 The Situatedness of Commentaries
âI.1.2 The Diagnostic Handbook Sa-gig and Its Serialization
âI.1.3 Serialized Variants and Their Interpretation
âI.1.4 The Presentation of Alternatives in Text Series and Commentaries
I.2.1 Commentary Designations and Scribal Actors
âI.2.1.1 Glossary (tu)
âI.2.1.2 Oral Lore (t p)
âI.2.1.3 Readings (malstu)
âI.2.1.4 Questionings (maaltu)
âI.2.1.5 From the Mouth of the Ummnu-scholar (a p ummni)
âI.2.1.6 Patterns of Commentary Designations
I.2.2 Textual Sources of Authority
âI.2.2.1 Lexical Text Citations
âI.2.2.2 Narratival Intertextuality
I.2.2 Forms of Argumentation
âI.2.3.1 Two-Member Arguments
âI.2.3.2 Multiple Member Arguments
âI.2.3.3 Single Member Arguments
I.2.4 Exemplar and License in Scholastic Hermeneutics
I.3.1 Epistemic Progression in Medical Practice and Texts
âI.3.1.1 The Therapeutic Tradition
âI.3.1.2 Structuring the Diagnostic Handbook
I.3.2 Harmonizing Texts and Phenomena
âI.3.2.1 Knowledge Assumptions in Topic Choice
âI.3.2.2 The Pericope and Omissions from Topics
âI.3.2.3 Comment Choice and Argument as Pretext
I.3.1 Habits of Use and the Cuneiform Handbook
I.4 Conclusion: Scholasticism and the Boundaries for Interpretation
Appendix One: Embedded Variants in the Diagnostic Handbook Sa-gig
Appendix Two: Transliterations of Medical Texts
Bibliography
Index of Excerpts (Two Volumes)
II. Mesopotamian Commentaries on the Diagnostic Handbook Sa-gig
Preface
Acknowledgements
Contents (Two Volumes)
Medical Text Labels and Abbreviations
Format and Translation Issues
II.1.1 Commentary Sa-gig 1A
II.1.2 Commentary Sa-gig 1B
II.1.3 Commentary Sa-gig 1C
II.1.4 Commentary Sa-gig 1D
II.1.5 Commentary Sa-gig 13
II.1.6 Commentary Sa-gig 3A
II.1.7 Commentary Sa-gig 3B
II.1.8 Commentary Sa-gig 3C
II.1.9 Commentary Sa-gig 4A
II.1.10 Commentary Sa-gig 4B
II.1.11 Commentary Sa-gig 4C
II.1.12 Commentary Sa-gig 5
II.1.13 Commentary Sa-gig 7A
II.1.14 Commentary Sa-gig 7B
II.1.15 Commentary Sa-gig 7Ca
II.1.16 Commentary Sa-gig 7Cb
II.1.17 Commentary Sa-gig 7Cc (?)
II.1.18 Commentary Sa-gig 10 & 11
II.1.19 Commentary Sa-gig 13+
II.1.20 Commentary Sa-gig 14
II.1.21 Commentary Sa-gig 18
II.1.22 Commentary Sa-gig 19
II.1.23 Commentary Sa-gig 21 & 22a
II.1.24 Commentary Sa-gig 23
II.1.25 Commentary Sa-gig 29
II.1.26 Commentary Sa-gig 34
II.1.27 Commentary Sa-gig 36
II.1.28 Commentary Sa-gig 39
II.1.29 Commentary Sa-gig 40A
II.1.30 Commentary Sa-gig 40B
II.2.1 Disjunction Sign
II.2.2 The Case of / Where (a)
II.2.3 Which It Said (a iqb)
II.2.4 As in (libb)
II.2.5 Complement to (IGI / pni)
II.2.6 (Points) to (ana)
II.2.7 The Usual (Meaning) (kayyn)
II.2.8 Other Notations
Photographs
Bibliography
Index of Excerpts (Two Volumes)
Preface
Acknowledgements
Contents (Two Volumes)
List of Figures
Medical Text Labels and Abbreviations
Format and Translation Issues
Glossary
I.1 Introduction to the Sa-gig Commentaries
âI.1.1 The Situatedness of Commentaries
âI.1.2 The Diagnostic Handbook Sa-gig and Its Serialization
âI.1.3 Serialized Variants and Their Interpretation
âI.1.4 The Presentation of Alternatives in Text Series and Commentaries
Chapter Two: Commentary and Scholastic Rhetoric
I.2.1 Commentary Designations and Scribal Actors
âI.2.1.1 Glossary (tu)
âI.2.1.2 Oral Lore (t p)
âI.2.1.3 Readings (malstu)
âI.2.1.4 Questionings (maaltu)
âI.2.1.5 From the Mouth of the Ummnu-scholar (a p ummni)
âI.2.1.6 Patterns of Commentary Designations
I.2.2 Textual Sources of Authority
âI.2.2.1 Lexical Text Citations
âI.2.2.2 Narratival Intertextuality
I.2.2 Forms of Argumentation
âI.2.3.1 Two-Member Arguments
âI.2.3.2 Multiple Member Arguments
âI.2.3.3 Single Member Arguments
I.2.4 Exemplar and License in Scholastic Hermeneutics
Chapter Three: Commentary and Medical Knowledge
I.3.1 Epistemic Progression in Medical Practice and Texts
âI.3.1.1 The Therapeutic Tradition
âI.3.1.2 Structuring the Diagnostic Handbook
I.3.2 Harmonizing Texts and Phenomena
âI.3.2.1 Knowledge Assumptions in Topic Choice
âI.3.2.2 The Pericope and Omissions from Topics
âI.3.2.3 Comment Choice and Argument as Pretext
I.3.1 Habits of Use and the Cuneiform Handbook
I.4 Conclusion: Scholasticism and the Boundaries for Interpretation
Appendix One: Embedded Variants in the Diagnostic Handbook Sa-gig
Appendix Two: Transliterations of Medical Texts
Bibliography
Index of Excerpts (Two Volumes)
II. Mesopotamian Commentaries on the Diagnostic Handbook Sa-gig
Preface
Acknowledgements
Contents (Two Volumes)
Medical Text Labels and Abbreviations
Format and Translation Issues
Chapter One: Edition of the Sa-gig Commentaries
II.1.1 Commentary Sa-gig 1A
II.1.2 Commentary Sa-gig 1B
II.1.3 Commentary Sa-gig 1C
II.1.4 Commentary Sa-gig 1D
II.1.5 Commentary Sa-gig 13
II.1.6 Commentary Sa-gig 3A
II.1.7 Commentary Sa-gig 3B
II.1.8 Commentary Sa-gig 3C
II.1.9 Commentary Sa-gig 4A
II.1.10 Commentary Sa-gig 4B
II.1.11 Commentary Sa-gig 4C
II.1.12 Commentary Sa-gig 5
II.1.13 Commentary Sa-gig 7A
II.1.14 Commentary Sa-gig 7B
II.1.15 Commentary Sa-gig 7Ca
II.1.16 Commentary Sa-gig 7Cb
II.1.17 Commentary Sa-gig 7Cc (?)
II.1.18 Commentary Sa-gig 10 & 11
II.1.19 Commentary Sa-gig 13+
II.1.20 Commentary Sa-gig 14
II.1.21 Commentary Sa-gig 18
II.1.22 Commentary Sa-gig 19
II.1.23 Commentary Sa-gig 21 & 22a
II.1.24 Commentary Sa-gig 23
II.1.25 Commentary Sa-gig 29
II.1.26 Commentary Sa-gig 34
II.1.27 Commentary Sa-gig 36
II.1.28 Commentary Sa-gig 39
II.1.29 Commentary Sa-gig 40A
II.1.30 Commentary Sa-gig 40B
Chapter Two: Commentary Notations
II.2.1 Disjunction Sign
II.2.2 The Case of / Where (a)
II.2.3 Which It Said (a iqb)
II.2.4 As in (libb)
II.2.5 Complement to (IGI / pni)
II.2.6 (Points) to (ana)
II.2.7 The Usual (Meaning) (kayyn)
II.2.8 Other Notations
Photographs
Bibliography
Index of Excerpts (Two Volumes)
All interested in ancient histories of medicine and of interpretation, particularly as they pertain to Mesopotamian antiquity.