Francesca Minen | Università degli Studi di Udine / University of Udine (original) (raw)

Thesis Chapters by Francesca Minen

Children's book by Francesca Minen

L'invenzione della scrittura segna il passaggio dalla Preistoria alla Storia. Purtroppo la Storia... more L'invenzione della scrittura segna il passaggio dalla Preistoria alla Storia. Purtroppo la Storia dell'umanità viene spesso raccontata solo dal punto di vista degli uomini. Nessuna notizia di donne, bambine e bambini. Eppure tutti loro hanno lasciato tracce di sé. Basta scovarle! Chi meglio di Agatha Christie, scrittrice, esperta di misteri e archeologa per passione, può accompagnarci in questo viaggio nel tempo? A bordo della sua tavola, surfando tra le onde delle antiche civiltà dei fiumi, andremo dalla Mesopotamia all'India, passando per l'Egitto e la Cina, osservando con altri sguardi, in cerca di nuovi racconti.

La collana «Storie nella Storia» propone alle bambine e ai bambini, alle ragazze e ai ragazzi un racconto nuovo della storia, capace di intrecciare le vicende di donne e uomini, di valorizzare le relazioni e le differenze, di contribuire infine alla costruzione di un mondo comune migliore.

Italy was hit dramatically by the first-pandemic wave in 2020. Many institutions and businesses h... more Italy was hit dramatically by the first-pandemic wave in 2020. Many institutions and businesses have been shut down since end February. School education has been converted to distance learning for the remaining of the school year. Therefore, the publishing house Settenove invited its authors to upload videos on a dedicated Youtube channel in order to not leave the children alone. From my part, I contributed with three videos. In this one, I read extracts from my children's book related to ancient Mesopotamia.

Italy was hit dramatically by the first-pandemic wave in 2020. Many institutions and businesses h... more Italy was hit dramatically by the first-pandemic wave in 2020. Many institutions and businesses have been shut down since end February. School education has been converted to distance learning for the remaining of the school year. Therefore, the publishing house Settenove invited its authors to upload videos on a dedicated Youtube channel in order to not leave the children alone. From my part, I contributed with three videos. In this one, I introduce children to cuneiform and I explain them how to write their names in Akkadian syllabic writing.

Publications by Francesca Minen

Fly me to the Moon. La luna nell'immaginario umano, 2022

Many cultures attest beliefs acknowledging to the Moon a power to influence human health. Ancient... more Many cultures attest beliefs acknowledging to the Moon a power to influence human health. Ancient Mesopotamia tradition is no exception. The Moon, through its identification with the god Sîn, was associated with female fertility and male potency, and even neurological, ophthalmic and dermatological complaints. Even if these case studies are well known in Ancient Near Eastern studies, the underlying rationale for their link with the Moon-god has not been explained convincingly. After presenting Mesopotamian etiology of disease and the health issues linked to the god Sîn, this arti- cle provides some new insights on the rationale behind these associations.

Pallas. Revue d'études antiques, 2021

Le Journal des Médecines Cunéiformes, 2020

Proceedings of the 11th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East Vol. 1, 2020

The paper aims at presenting an assessment of the practice of flaying in Neo-Assyrian times, stil... more The paper aims at presenting an assessment of the practice of flaying in Neo-Assyrian times, still lacking in the context of Ancient Near Eastern studies. After a brief introduction to the punishment, both archaeological and textual sources related to this practice will be presented and discussed. It will emerge how these sources offer different but complementary information on flaying, and how the latter may have been viewed as a means aimed at dehumanizing the enemy.

F.M. Fales (ed.), La medicina assiro-babilonese, Roma, pp. 167-203, 2018

Notes and Records. The Royal Society Journal for the History of Medicine, 2020

Most recent advances in the study of ancient Mesopotamian medical texts have disclosed informatio... more Most recent advances in the study of ancient Mesopotamian medical texts have disclosed information pertaining to the fields of diagnosis, prognosis and therapy and are now available for a comparative study with other ancient medical systems. However, in the framework of Assyriological studies there are still methodological problems that need to be addressed. Disregarding a retrospective diagnostic approach, this paper aims at highlighting the cultural–historical relevance of the medical information reported in cuneiform texts, assuming data related to skin imperfections and ailments as a case study. After a brief overview of the sources from ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern cultures that may be referred to the modern medical specialty of dermatology, the specificities of Mesopotamian medicine and dermatology will be presented. Two examples, dedicated to the reconstruction of the ancient Mesopotamian view on the skin and the body, will demonstrate how relevant sources may be fruitfully analysed in a cultural–historical context.

S. Del Prete et al. (a cura di), Tempo. Tra esattezza e infinito. Atti del IX Convegno interdisciplinare dei dottorandi e dei dottori di ricerca italiani Universita degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata, 14-16 giugno 2017, vol. 2, Universitalia, Roma, pp. 119-132, 2019

Antesteria, 2018

In the last decades the study of ancient Mesopotamian medicine has enjoyed a considerable popular... more In the last decades the study of ancient Mesopotamian medicine has enjoyed a considerable popularity among Assyriological studies. The recent publications of both primary sources and secondary literature have shed new light on a field previously unknown to the general public. Among such activities, also contributions on dermatology have been provided. However, the theme is still lacking a comprehensive study offering, on the one hand, updated references on dermatological technical terms and considering, on the other, dermatological information from both scientific texts and sources outside the medical corpora. From this rich gamut of references, it is possible to reconstruct not only medical information concerning dermatological diagnosis, but also Mesopotamian common beliefs on skin ailments and diseases. The wide variety of genres displaying such data provides good arguments for the cultural-historical importance of skin appearance among ancient Mesopotamian civilizations. By comparing both medical and non-medical content, it will be shown how common beliefs on skin ailments and diseases were spread and shared among scholars and laymen.

RESUMEN: En las últimas décadas el estudio de la antigua medicina mesopotámica ha gozado de una considerable popularidad entre los estudios asiriológicos. Las recientes publicaciones de fuentes primarias y literatura secundaria han arrojado nueva luz sobre un campo previamente desconocido para el público en general. En estas actividades se han proporcionado contribuciones también sobre dermatología. Sin embargo, el tema sigue careciendo de un amplio estudio que ofrezca, por un lado, referencias actualizadas sobre términos técnicos dermatológicos y, por otro, considerando la información dermatológica tanto de textos científicos como de fuentes fuera de los corpus médicos. De esta rica gama de referencias es posible reconstruir no sólo la información médica relativa al diagnóstico dermatológico, sino también las creencias comunes mesopotámicas sobre las anomalías y las enfermedades de la piel. La gran variedad de géneros que muestran tales referencias proporciona buenos argumentos para la importancia histórico-cultural de la apariencia de la piel en las antiguas civilizaciones mesopotámicas; además, al comparar tanto el contenido médico como el no médico, quedará claro cómo las creencias comúnmente diferentes sobre anomalías y enfermedades cutáneas fueron difundidas y compartidas entre eruditos y laicos.

Notes by Francesca Minen

Seminars by Francesca Minen

Postgraduate Work-in-progress Seminar, Institute of Classical Studies, University of London Schoo... more Postgraduate Work-in-progress Seminar, Institute of Classical Studies, University of London School of Advanced Studies, 20th April 2018

Conference Presentations by Francesca Minen

67th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, "Eating and Drinking in the Ancient Near East", Tur... more 67th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, "Eating and Drinking in the Ancient Near East", Turin, 12th-16th 2021 [ONLINE] | The proposed paper is dedicated to the use of honey in ancient Mesopotamian medicine, as widely attested by cuneiform healing therapies. As a matter of fact, honey was one of the main sweetening agents in the ancient Near East. Together with date syrup, it was used commonly for baking sweets and preparing alcoholic beverages (Ermidoro 2015: 196; Stol 1994). Honey was a common element in offerings to the deities, according to different types of rituals, prayers and incantations (Scurlock 2006, Abusch & Schwemer 2011), as well as libations (Lambert 1972-1975) and healing therapies (Herrero 1984). In this respect, honey was used mainly as an excipient to administer remedies, as in potions and anointments. Nevertheless, the progress in the sub-field of Mesopotamian medicine and the publication of therapeutic texts now allow wider investigations on the subject. In this contribution we will present the results of a survey centered mostly on published therapeutic texts from 1st millennium BCE Assyria and Babylonia. The corpus will include recipes aimed at curing different types of ailments, e.g. eye diseases (Fincke 2000; Attia 2015; Geller & Panayotov 2020), skin problems (Bácskay & Simkó 2017; Minen 2018), renal and rectal diseases (Geller 2005). Such differentiation of testimonies will help us to highlight specialized applications of honey for therapeutic purposes, besides the generic label of “excipient”.

If a city is situated on seven heights…” Current insights into Ancient Near Eastern divination, w... more If a city is situated on seven heights…” Current insights into Ancient Near Eastern divination, webinar at Istituto Svizzero di Roma. Event date: September 23rd - 24th, 2020 | The study of the rich Mesopotamian medical corpus is crucial to the reconstruction of Babylonian scientific and intellectual history. Nevertheless, if considered alone, these sources do not allow us to understand various aspects of medical rationale. For this reason, scholars have been interested also in sources outside the medical corpus. The proposed communication aims at presenting the preliminary results of a pilot research project, conducted at the Warburg Institute, School of Advanced Study, University of London (January–April 2019). The project consisted of a first survey of all medical-related information comprised in the first half of the divination series Šumma ālu (tablets 1-63), capitalizing on its recent edition (2017). The aim of the project was to verify if the label of Šumma ālu as a veritable encyclopedia for every aspect of ancient Mesopotamian everyday life was also valid from a medico-historical viewpoint.
After a brief contextualization of the pilot project, the communication will present some of its preliminary results and its possible, future developments.

Italy was hit dramatically by the first-pandemic wave in 2020. Many institutions and businesses h... more Italy was hit dramatically by the first-pandemic wave in 2020. Many institutions and businesses have been shut down since end February. School education has been converted to distance learning for the remaining of the school year. Therefore, the publishing house Settenove invited its authors to upload videos on a dedicated Youtube channel in order to not leave the children alone. From my part, I contributed with three videos. In this one, I introduce children to cuneiform and I explain them how to write their names in Akkadian syllabic writing.

Fly me to the Moon. La luna nell'immaginario umano, 2022

Pallas. Revue d'études antiques, 2021

Le Journal des Médecines Cunéiformes, 2020

Proceedings of the 11th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East Vol. 1, 2020

F.M. Fales (ed.), La medicina assiro-babilonese, Roma, pp. 167-203, 2018

Notes and Records. The Royal Society Journal for the History of Medicine, 2020

Antesteria, 2018

International Conference "Fly Me to the Moon. The Moon in Human Imagination", University of Genov... more International Conference "Fly Me to the Moon. The Moon in Human Imagination", University of Genova, 12th-13th December 2019

Scientific Traditions in the Ancient Mediterranean and Near East September 19th-20th, 2019. Insti... more Scientific Traditions in the Ancient Mediterranean and Near East
September 19th-20th, 2019. Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, NYU, New York.

Le fluides corporels en Égypte et au Proche-Orient anciens, Université Paul Valéry Montpellier, 5... more Le fluides corporels en Égypte et au Proche-Orient anciens,
Université Paul Valéry Montpellier, 5-7 septembre 2019

65ème Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Paris, 8th-12th July 2019 // Over the last decad... more 65ème Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Paris, 8th-12th July 2019 //

Over the last decades, Assyro-Babylonian medicine has received much attention from Assyriologists and is now regarded as a proper sub-discipline in the framework of Ancient Near Eastern studies. Most recent years have experienced intense analysis of medical sources in order to reconstruct the background and role of medical practitioners, their sources, theories and methods of healing. These activities have been generally focused on therapeutic sources, which are still in the process of being edited; however, they have left aside another consistent part of the medical corpus, namely diagnosis.
The most representative source for diagnosis is the so-called handbook Sakikkû, “Symptoms”. The series has been edited first by René Labat (1951), but the text has been improved consistently over the years, mainly thanks to Nils Heeßel (2000), who provided new textual editions of selected tablets also a first comprehensive study on the handbook, and JoAnn Scurlock (2014), who offered an updated, almost complete English translation of Sakikkû and other relevant medical sources.
The handbook consists of 40 chapters distributed in 6 different thematic sub-series. Among these, the last subseries, šumma ālittu arâtma (tablets 36-40), is quite fragmentary and, together with its position in the economy of Sakikkû, has been labelled so far generally as a collection of medical prescriptions regarding woman and child. As a matter of fact, the sub-series has never been considered in its entirety: even specific studies have been focused on diagnostic omens concerning either women (Stol 2000) or children (e.g., Cadelli 1997, Couto Ferreira 2017).
The proposed paper, considering the subseries as a whole, aims at investigating the reasons of its inclusion in the canonical version of the Diagnostic Handbook. The working hypothesis is that a new perspective may be found underneath the complex of cultural and religious beliefs interconnecting life and immortality, birth and offspring, and their significance for kingship. Therefore, the content of šumma ālittu arâtma will be contextualised not only with gynaecological and obstetric therapy, but also with further data deriving from relevant cuneiform sources of II and I millennium BCE, namely divination (especially the female section of the physiognomic handbook Alamdimmû, i.e. šumma sinništu qaqqada rabât), letters etc., as well as neighbouring medical systems.

2019 Annual Meeting of Postgraduates in Ancient History University of Cambridge, 16th March 2019

13th London Ancient Science Conference, 11th-15th February 2019 The present paper will focus o... more 13th London Ancient Science Conference, 11th-15th February 2019

The present paper will focus on surgical practices attested in cuneiform therapeutic tablets of dermatological interest.
In the most recent years, Assyriologists have dedicated themselves to the study and edition of medical sources from the ancient Near East. Last summer, the research project Babylonian Medicine (coordinated by prof. M.J. Geller) published on-line the collations of the therapeutic tablets collected by F. Köcher in his BAM series, volumes I-VI (1963-1980). This activity represents an important achievement: previously, the majority of this corpus of nearly 600 texts was available only in the form of hand-copies.
The disclosure of this corpus is significant since it allows now a fully comprehensive study of Mesopotamian therapeutic rationale and techniques. As a matter of fact, even if P. Herrero's La thérapetique mésopotamienne (1984) is still valid in its principles, scholars came to realise that Mesopotamian practitioners varied their therapeutical practices according to the type of ailment treated. This is true also in the case of dermatology.
After a brief presentation of cuneiform therapeutic texts and their core features, the specifics of dermatological therapy will be presented. Particular attention will be dedicated to superficial surgery.

Couleur et soins dans les médecines anciennes. Époques antique et médiévale entre Orient et Occid... more Couleur et soins dans les médecines anciennes. Époques antique et médiévale entre Orient et Occident. Grèce, Rome, Inde, Égypte et Proche-Orient. Colloque international HISOMA - Archéorient - CIHAM, 22-23 novembre 2018, Lyon

Paper presented at the 46th Congress of the International Society for the History of Medicine, Li... more Paper presented at the 46th Congress of the International Society for the History of Medicine, Lisbon, 3rd-7th September 2018

38. Interdisziplinären Arbeitskreises "Alte Medizin", 30. Juni - 1. Juli 2018 Johannes Gutenber... more 38. Interdisziplinären Arbeitskreises "Alte Medizin", 30. Juni - 1. Juli 2018
Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

The present paper aims at proposing a wider assessment of colour notations in the diagnostic entries of the Medical Handbook Sakikku.
Colour represents a constant feature of human culture and communication and has been correlated to symbolic values and meanings also in ancient Mesopotamia. The dichotomy of white and black is often referred to in divinatory passages to indicate if an omen might be favourable or unfavourable. These hues, together with red and yellow, represent a recurring chromatic series which is usually correlated to fixed apodoses.
This has been argued also for the case of diagnostic entries, where colour is one of the most registered features in symptom descriptions. Benno Landsberger, in his classical study Uber Farben im Sumerisch-akkadischen (1967), has argued that such notations are scholastic and not to be read as medical indications. Since then, the edition of the diagnostic handbook has been improved and much work has been done in the field of ancient Mesopotamian medicine. However, an in-depth analysis of colour notations in Sakikku has not been conducted yet. The aim of this paper is to prove that Sakikku, besides preserving passages of divinatory nature, represents overall a scholarly product derived from observations of veritable medical nature, also on the matter of chromatic notations.
After a brief summary on Sakikku and on the relevant terminology of colour, the paper will show the different types of chromatic notations in the diagnostic handbook. Secondly, it will present an analysis of significant entries and their apodoses correlations. The hypothesis that chromatic notations reflect the result of veritable medical observations rather than standard associations will be fostered by presenting significant instructions attested in therapeutic texts.

11th International Congress of the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Ludwig-Maximilians-Unive... more 11th International Congress of the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 3rd-7th April 2018

I Incontro dei Giovani Ricercatori Italiani di Assiriologia, Università degli Studi di Verona, 1-... more I Incontro dei Giovani Ricercatori Italiani di Assiriologia, Università degli Studi di Verona, 1-2 marzo 2018

Le problematiche di tipo dermatologico risultano essere tra le più comuni nella Mesopotamia antica. Ad esse vengono dedicate sezioni specifiche rispettivamente in testi medici (per es., Sakikkû, UGU) e fisiognomici (Alamdimmû), pervenutici nella maggior parte dei casi tramite copie di periodo neo-assiro, ma anche da esemplari di II millennio. Inoltre, nozioni di interesse cutaneo vengono menzionate in fonti testuali estranee a questi corpora, diverse per provenienza e datazione. Ad eccezione dei testi scolastici e lessicali, i riferimenti si possono trovare in testi rituali, magici, letterari, giuridici, legislativi, diplomatici ed epistolari.

L’insistenza delle fonti mesopotamiche sulle problematiche dermatologiche si può spiegare alla luce delle credenze ad esse correlate, come le nozioni di colpa e purezza, ma anche dell’impatto che esse potevano avere sulle relazioni sociali e inter-personali di chi ne era affetto. Le fonti dimostrano che queste condizioni, alla luce della loro aperta visibilità, potevano suscitare disgusto, paura per un possibile contagio e una conseguente tendenza all’emarginazione sociale e all’esclusione dalla vita comunitaria.

In particolare, la purezza rappresentava un aspetto chiave sia nella vita quotidiana che nella sfera religiosa in termini, rispettivamente, di pulizia quotidiana e purezza cultuale. Sul piano della gradevolezza estetica, sporcizia e impurità costituivano dei problemi nel momento in cui ci si doveva relazionare con altre persone o presentarsi al cospetto delle divinità. Alla sporcizia e all’impurità venivano indirizzati rituali e misure magico-esorcistiche, ma anche i testi medici non erano estranei a questi aspetti, dimostrando come le credenze religiose, anche sotto questi aspetti, potessero permeare la letteratura scientifica.

Dopo un breve inquadramento delle nozioni dermatologiche ricostruibili a partire dalle fonti cuneiformi, l’intervento si concentrerà sul tema della purezza e sulle condizioni cutanee ad essa correlate. Particolare attenzione sarà dedicata alla presentazione di passi terapeutici di interesse dermatologico, dove vengono incluse materia medica, misure e atti purificanti.

Divination and Medicine in Ancient Mesopotamia: A Journey Among the Stars, Università Niccolò Cus... more Divination and Medicine in Ancient Mesopotamia: A Journey Among the Stars, Università Niccolò Cusano, Rome, 26th-27th October 2017

3rd Annual Conference of the HSTM Network Ireland 2017, Dublin, 13th-14th October 2017

"Text and Studies on Babylonian Medicine" Workshop, 63émeRencontre Assyriologique Internationale,... more "Text and Studies on Babylonian Medicine" Workshop, 63émeRencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Philipps-Universität Marburg, 24th-28th July 2017

IX Convegno interdisciplinare dei dottorandi e dei dottori di ricerca italiani "Tempo. Tra esatte... more IX Convegno interdisciplinare dei dottorandi e dei dottori di ricerca italiani "Tempo. Tra esattezza e infinito", Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata, 14th-16th June 2017

XVI Encuentro de Jóvenes Investigadores de Historia Antigua, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 3... more XVI Encuentro de Jóvenes Investigadores de Historia Antigua, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 3rd-5th May 2017

6th Oxford Postgraduate Conference in Assyriology, Wolfson College, University of Oxford, 21st-22... more 6th Oxford Postgraduate Conference in Assyriology, Wolfson College, University of Oxford, 21st-22nd April 2017

Berner Altorientalisches Forum (BAF) 2019, 12th June

Tea Time Talk presentation, The Warburg Institute, School of Advanced Studies, University of Lond... more Tea Time Talk presentation, The Warburg Institute, School of Advanced Studies, University of London, 28 January 2019

Presentation of the volume "La medicina assiro-babilonese" (Assyro-Babylonian Medicine) with the ... more Presentation of the volume "La medicina assiro-babilonese" (Assyro-Babylonian Medicine) with the editor, Frederick Mario Fales, and the contributors Roswitha Del Fabbro, Silvia Salin, Francesca Minen.

Giornate dottorali sul tema comune "I quattro elementi: pensieri, opere, immagini e altro, tra An... more Giornate dottorali sul tema comune "I quattro elementi: pensieri, opere, immagini e altro, tra Antichità e Medio Evo", organizzate dal Corso di Dottorato in Scienze dell'Antichità, Università Ca' Foscari, Venezia, 14 dicembre 2015

65éme Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale Paris, 8th-12th July 2019

64th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Universität Innsbruck, 16th-20th July 2018

Inaugurazione dell'Anno Dottorale, Ca' Foscari Graduate School, Venezia, 20th November 2015

by Marinella Ceravolo, Flavia Pacelli, Ludovica Bertolini, Gioele Zisa, Valerio Pisaniello, Andrea Rebecca Marrocchi Savoi, Francesca Minen, Silvia Salin, Beatrice Baragli, Geraldina Rozzi, Edoardo Zanetti, Sergio Alivernini, Ludovico Portuese, and Lorenzo Verderame

BAF-Online: Proceedings of the Berner Altorientalisches Forum, 2019

The proposed communication aims at presenting the preliminary results of my pilot research projec... more The proposed communication aims at presenting the preliminary results of my pilot research project “Mesopotamian medical notions in the divination series Šumma ālu”. Thanks to the endowment of a Henri Frankfort Short-Term Fellowship, I have conducted this study at the Warburg Institute, School of Advanced Study, University of London (January-April 2019). The aim of this research was to conduct a first survey of all medical-related information comprised in the terrestrial omens of the series Šumma ālu. Medical sources provide useful information to the reconstruction of Babylonian scientific and intellectual history; however, if considered alone, they do not allow us to understand various aspects of medical rationale. For this reason, scholars have been interested also in sources outside the medical corpus. I decided to follow their footsteps by focusing on Šumma ālu, which has been labelled as an encyclopaedia for every aspect of ancient Mesopotamian everyday life. This line of enqui...