Mesopotamian Medicine, Magic, and Literature: Tribute to a Polymath

Abstract

Mark Geller is well known to everyone in his field and, unsurprisingly, his Festschrift is a bulging volume of contributions—from thirty-four scholars in a variety of different specialties. Like most Festschriften, it is of uneven quality, but there are some very fine articles, including useful text editions and offerings that raise interesting scholarly questions. Although there is nothing here on economics, there are articles that engage historical and/or anthropological questions, exegetical issues, and matters of composition of literary texts, including one offering on Akkadian grammar. None of these would be expected from a volume entitled Mesopotamian Medicine and Magic, but their presence is a testimony to the very broad interests of the honoree.