Ancient Texts Reveal How Mesopotamians Experienced Emotions in Their Bodies

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Ancient Texts Reveal How Mesopotamians Experienced Emotions in Their Bodies

Modern and ancient Mesopotamian emotions reveal striking similarities but also major differences. Credit: Juha M. Lahnakoski et. al /

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A groundbreaking study has revealed how emotions were understood and expressed in ancient Mesopotamia, offering insights into how feelings were tied to the body thousands of years ago. The findings, published in iScience on December 4, shed light on how Mesopotamians (now modern-day Iraq) experienced emotions like happiness, anger, and love.

The study was conducted by a multidisciplinary team, including Saana Svärd, Juha Lahnakoski, Professor Mikko Sams of Aalto University, Ellie Bennett of the University of Helsinki, Professor Lauri Nummenmaa of the University of Turku, and Dr. Ulrike Steinert of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz.

Ancient texts reveal emotional insights

The study examined over one million words of Akkadian text, written in cuneiform on clay tablets between 934 and 612 BC. These texts included records of prayers, literature, and daily transactions, offering a window into Mesopotamian life. The analysis focused on linking emotional expressions to body parts – a method never before applied to ancient texts.

Developed at the Center of Excellence in Ancient Near Eastern Empires (ANEE), the method uses corpus linguistics to analyze large datasets. The team hopes the approach can be applied to other cultures and languages to explore how emotions differ across time and place.

Professor Saana Svärd of the University of Helsinki, who led the

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, highlighted the Mesopotamians’ basic understanding of anatomy. They recognized the significance of organs like the heart, liver, and lungs.

“Even in ancient Mesopotamia, there was a rough understanding of anatomy, for example the importance of the heart, liver and lungs,” she said. Words like “open,” “shining,” and “full” were commonly used to describe joy, emphasizing the liver’s symbolic importance.

Comparing ancient and modern emotional maps

The study also revealed contrasts in how emotions were felt in ancient and modern times. Cognitive neuroscientist Juha Lahnakoski of Aalto University noted that Mesopotamian happiness maps are largely similar to modern ones but emphasize the liver as a center of joy.

Body maps showing the physical locations where emotions such as happiness, anger, love, and sadness were felt and expressed in the ancient Mesopotamian context. Credit: Juha M. Lahnakoski et. al / CC BY 4.0

Anger, however, showed stark differences. While modern humans often report feeling anger in their upper body and hands, Mesopotamians described it as concentrated in their feet. On the other hand, love appeared more universal, with ancient and modern individuals linking it to the heart. However, Mesopotamians also associated love with the liver and knees.

The researchers stressed caution when comparing ancient emotional maps with modern ones. Modern findings rely on self-reported experiences, while the Mesopotamian maps are based solely on linguistic descriptions.

The team plans to expand their work of exploring Mesopotamian emotions by analyzing a 20th-century English text corpus containing 100 million words. They also aim to study Finnish materials to compare emotional expressions across cultures.

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