Tiere im Leben der alten Kulturen. Schriftlose Kulturen, Alter Orient, Ägypten, Griechenland und Rom

Contribution to Publishing Costs D 3194 Günther Lorenz "Tiere im Leben der alten Kulturen" Ingomar WEILER 24.01.2000 The topic of the book is the relationship between man and animals within the cultural framework that spans from prehistory over the Ancient Near East`s and Egypt`s early literate cultures to Greek and Roman Antiquity. For the illiterate phases of history ethnological material is used, too. Although the utilisation of animals by man is taken into consideration as a necessary basic knowledge, a profound interest is paid to the ideas on the life and nature of animals as well as to the emotional attitude towards them. The spontaneous inclination to projecting human feeling and thinking into animals (in a negative sense leading to animal punishment) is considered as an anthropological fundamental constant being confronted with contrary developments - amongst them the attempts of ancient philosophers to establish a general distinction between man and animal including ethical implications. Furthermore the book yields information on the development of zoological knowledge, doctrines on animal souls and magical powers. Rituals of animal sacrifice and critical voices levelling at them, sympathy and empathy, protection of animals and examples of affection in the arts are topics of the third main part. It is the goal to provide a history of mentality and everyday life. Therefore a disposition according to the zoological system of species is consciously avoided, whereas historical facts having a concrete impact on the actual relationship between man and animals are the central focus of this book - symbolic meaning of animals, myths, fables are left aside. Those things that are easily lost by informations of lexical style are touched again and again: the point of view as well as the perspective of the sources, for example in the sense of the historical-critical analysis of the Old Testament. Thus no static typology of cultures is offered, but an understanding of the historical change. The aspects of the relationship between man and animals are put into the general context of cultures, epochs and religions as far as possible. The question of the importance of hunting in prehistory, the Ancient Near East and in Hellas (in the latter it was very closely connected with initiation rites and the respective deities for a long time) is such an example. Also from the same point of view the priestly norms for animal sacrifice and utilisation of animals are judged in their identity-promoting function for Ancient Israel. Further paragraphs of the book deal with the social and cultural preconditions for vivisection in Hellenistic and Roman medicine or with the importance of the Stoic psychology of animals for the crucial theological positions of ancient christianity. Last but not least similarities and differences between ancient cultures are under discussion. There are strong signs that the ancient Greeks have adopted rituals of animal sacrifice, magic taboos and similar phenomena from Syria, Cilicia, Cyprus and Egypt interpreting them in a new way adequate to their traditions.