Infecting the Ancient Mesopotamian Cosmos: Epidemics and the Transmission of Disease in Assyria and Babylonia

Epidemics have shaped human history, yet studies of their ancient attestations remain a developing field. This volume examines how epidemics were conceptualized, experienced, and responded to in Mesopotamia from the 3rd to the 1st millennium BCE. Drawing on cuneiform sources, contributors explore ancient terminology, beliefs about disease transmission, divine attributions, and societal impacts. The book investigates ritual, medical, epistolary, and administrative texts to assess how people sought to understand and control widespread diseases. By contextualizing Mesopotamian epidemics within broader historical frameworks, the volume highlights their role in shaping socio-political responses and the intellectual reasoning behind such devastating events. Essential for Assyriologists, historians of medicine, and researchers of ancient societies, this work offers new insights into humanity’s earliest written records of epidemics.