THE LABYRINTT SYMBOL IN ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA

• 来源期刊: 世界古典文明杂志（英文版）
• 关键词: United States
• 年，卷（期）: 2013,（1）
• 页码范围: 41-64
• 页数: 24页
• 语种: 英文

摘要

1.Introduction The labyrinth concept exists in multiple forms,and is attested as both artistic depiction and mythological motif in many ancient and modern cultures across parts of Europe,India,the south-western United States and South-America.1Two distinct types of labyrinth symbol can also be identified in ancient Mesopotamia,the most common of which is a round,spiral-shaped design based on the appearance of animal intestines examined during extispicy.The practice of extispicy involved the solicitation of omens through the ritual slaughtering of animals,the entrails of which were then'read'by scholars who specialised in divination2.These'spiral'labyrinths,inscribed on a series of clay tablets dated to the Kassite period,3 are here compared with labyrinth patterns from the ancient Mediterranean,and it is suggested that both types of design may have shared a common origin rooted in anatomical observation.