Assyrian and Babylonian Scholarly Text Catalogues, Medicine; Magic and Divination

Year

2018

Publisher

De Gruyter

Language

English

Pages

Link

Last Update

16-Nov-2025

Keywords

History ; Health Sciences ; Religion

Description

Lists of scriptures or “text catalogues” are common in different literate cultures of the ancient world. Such lists appear in various forms and types, serving different purposes and functions. Especially lists of literary works and authors from the Greco-Roman world, designated in Greek as pinax (plural pinakes; Latin index), display distinct characteristics and developments that can be compared with Mesopotamian text catalogues. The basic meaning of the term pinax is “(wooden or metal) board/tablet” used e.g. for official inscriptions, but the word also refers to lists of various kinds such as chronological lists of the winners in the great Greek...