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Journals / Akademik Tarih ve Düşünce Dergisi / 2026 / Cilt: 13 Sayı: 5

The Bodily, Cosmic, and Political Dimensions of Happiness in Ancient Mesopotamian Texts: An Analysis Within the Framework of Embodied Cognition and Conceptual Metaphor

Eski Mezopotamya Metinlerinde Mutluluğun Bedensel, Kozmik ve Politik Boyutları: Bedenlenmiş Biliş ve Kavramsal Metafor Çerçevesinde Bir İnceleme

Şeyma Ay Arçın(PAMUKKALE ÜNİVERSİTESİ)0000-0002-1356-6180
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Publication Date
2026-10-18
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AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

By incorporating this metaphorical system into scholarship on embodied cognition and the sociology of emotions through an original theoretical framework, the study fills a significant gap in Turkish literature.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:How happiness was experienced in ancient Mesopotamian texts, and where in the body it was located, offers remarkable insights into the history of emotions.
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Key Findings & Data:Data scattered across philology, medicine, and the history of religion in international scholarship are integrated for the first time through a thematic organization across text genres.
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Conclusion & Impact:By incorporating this metaphorical system into scholarship on embodied cognition and the sociology of emotions through an original theoretical framework, the study fills a significant gap in Turkish literature.
🔬Design:Araştırma Makalesi
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:Eski Mezopotamya · Duygu · Beden

Abstract

How happiness was experienced in ancient Mesopotamian texts, and where in the body it was located, offers remarkable insights into the history of emotions. Recent linguistic studies of Neo-Assyrian documents show that Mesopotamian emotional perception differed from contemporary bodily mappings: the liver was the center of happiness, while anger was felt in the feet. Building on these studies, this article analyzes physical emotion localizations in Mesopotamian texts. Selected examples from the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Hymn to Ninkasi, Sumerian proverbs, the Hymn to Ishtar, the Akitu Festival, and divinatory texts show that happiness in Mesopotamian culture had bodily, cosmic, and political dimensions as well as a psychological one. Interpreted through Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Embodied Cognition, these data indicate that the relationship between emotion and the body is largely constructed through cultural and linguistic structures. Data scattered across philology, medicine, and the history of religion in international scholarship are integrated for the first time through a thematic organization across text genres. By incorporating this metaphorical system into scholarship on embodied cognition and the sociology of emotions through an original theoretical framework, the study fills a significant gap in Turkish literature.

Özet

Eski Mezopotamya metinlerinde mutluluk duygusunun nasıl deneyimlendiği ve bu duygusal durumun insan vücudunun hangi bölgelerine konumlandırıldığı, duyguların tarihi söz konusu olduğunda dikkat çekici bilgiler sunmaktadır. Son dönemde Yeni Asur devri belgelerini dilbilimi metotlarıyla inceleyen çalışmalar, Mezopotamya toplumunun duygusal algısının çağdaş bireylerin zihnindeki bedensel haritalamalardan ayrıştığını gözler önüne sermiştir. Örneğin, o dönemde mutluluk hissinin merkezinin karaciğer olduğu kabul edilirken öfke duygusunun ayaklarda hissedildiği tespit edilmiştir. Bu makale, söz konusu çalışmaları temel alarak fiziksel duygu lokalizasyonlarını Eski Mezopotamya metinleri çerçevesinde analiz etmektedir. Gılgamış Destanı, Ninkasi İlahisi, Sumer atasözleri, İştar İlahisi, Akitu Festivali ve kehanet metinlerinden seçilmiş örnekler, mutluluğun Mezopotamya kültüründe yalnızca psikolojik değil aynı zamanda bedensel, kozmik ve politik bir boyut taşıdığını göstermektedir. Kavramsal Metafor Teorisi ve Bedenlenmiş Biliş kuramları çerçevesinde yorumlanan bu veriler, duygu ile beden arasındaki ilişkinin büyük ölçüde kültürel ve dilsel yapılarla kurulduğunu ortaya koymaktadır. Yabancı literatürde dağınık ve farklı disiplinler (filoloji, tıp, din tarihi) altında ele alınan veriler, bu çalışmada ilk kez metin türleri arası tematik organizasyonla bütünleştirilmiştir. Mezopotamya duygu dünyasına ait bu metaforik sistem, Türkçedeki bedenlenmiş biliş ve duygu sosyolojisi literatürüne özgün bir teorik çerçeveleme ile entegre edilerek yerli alan yazındaki önemli bir boşluğu doldurmaktadır.

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Cite This Article

Arçın, Ş. A. (2026). The Bodily, Cosmic, and Political Dimensions of Happiness in Ancient Mesopotamian Texts: An Analysis Within the Framework of Embodied Cognition and Conceptual Metaphor. Akademik Tarih ve Düşünce Dergisi, Cilt: 13 Sayı: 5. https://ajindex.com/articles/1443654

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