Original Articles

The world ‘topsy-turvy’ and the ancient Near Eastern cultures: a few examples

Published in: Anthropology Southern Africa
Volume 29 , issue 3-4 , 2006 , pages: 115–121

DOI: 10.1080/23323256.2006.11499937

Author(s): Paul A. Kruger Department of Ancient Studies,

Keywords: ancient Near East , symbolic inversion/mundus inversus , otherness , social criticism , utopianism

Abstract

This paper considers socio-political examples of the universal cultural phenomenon of symbolic inversion (mundus inversus), the earliest instances of which can be traced back to the cultures of the ancient Near East. Symbolic inversion refers to manifestations of expressive behaviour where everything is inverted in relation to the normal state of affairs. Two spheres in the ancient Near Eastern world where this cultural theme is especially prominent are in the conception of the ‘other’ (other ethnic groups) and in the sphere of social criticism, where a given status quo is attacked and alternative structures are propagated.

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