Although we often treat the senses as though they are immutable, fundamental properties of our physiology, the way we parse our sensory experiences is dictated by our cultural context. Accordingly, the essays in Distant Impressions explore the social aspects of sensation in the ancient Near East, inviting the reader to move beyond the physiological study of sensation to an examination of its cultural meanings.

The essays in this book approach the question of sensory experience in ancient Near Eastern societies from philological, literary, art historical, and archaeological perspectives. They address the means of sense perception (such as vision, hearing, and smell) and the objects of perception (such as light, noise, and odor), examining the senses within religious, political, and social frameworks. The first part of this volume looks at the monumental architecture, bas-reliefs, and tablets of the Neo-Assyrian period, while the second explores sensory dimensions of the built environment and textual representations of sensation in other times and places, such as Neolithic northern Mesopotamia and Hittite Anatolia. Building on recent scholarship that focuses on the social aspects of sensation in history, Distant Impressions brings this approach to bear on ancient Near Eastern studies for the first time.

In addition to the editors, the contributors include Elke Friedrich, Sara Manasterska, Alice Mouton, Kiersten Neumann, Ludovico Portuese, and Diana Stein.

About the Author

Ainsley Hawthorn is an alumna of Yale University and a nonfiction author.

Anne-Caroline Rendu Loisel is Lecturer (maitre de conferences) in Assyriology at the University of Strasbourg.

Reviews

"The sensory worlds of the Hittites, Akkadians, Neo-Assyrians, and late Neolithic Halaf culture are explored in essays by different authors within this interesting, well-researched, and attractively designed work."

-T. Doran Choice

Book Information
ISBN 9781575069678
Author Ainsley Hawthorn
Format Hardback
Page Count 224
Imprint Eisenbrauns
Publisher Pennsylvania State University Press
Weight(grams) 635g
Dimensions(mm) 254mm * 178mm * 254mm