Plants and Humans in the Ancient Near East

This volume explores the role of plants in the ancient Near East through a multidisciplinary approach that integrates archaeology, philology, archaeobotany, and the history of religions. It examines the significance of plant species not only as economic and dietary resources (passive role) but also as fundamental elements in the co-production of space with humans to forge symbolic systems, religious practices, and artistic representations. By carefully analyzing textual sources, archaeological and iconographic evidence, and archaeobotanical remains, this volume presents selected case studies on the interactions between human societies and the plant world in the region. In recent years, scholarly interest in plants within the context of the ancient Near East has grown significantly, aligning with the development of the Environmental Humanities and the emergence of Critical Plant Studies. This evolving theoretical and methodological perspective forms the core of two research initiatives: the BioANE project (Biodiversity in the Ancient Near East), directed by Silvana Di Paolo and Gioele Zisa, and the PLANET project (Plants in the Ancient Near Eastern Texts), coordinated by Gioele Zisa. This volume stands at the intersection of these two projects, offering fresh insights into how ancient Near Eastern cultures perceived, utilized, and represented plants. But not only that: the collected studies highlight the complexity of these relationships, challenging anthropocentric perspectives and proposing an interpretation that acknowledges plants as active participants in the region’s cultural and environmental history. By exploring the intricate relationships between humans and plants in the ancient Near East, this volume challenges anthropocentric perspectives and highlights the agency of vegetal beings in shaping cultural, religious, and economic landscapes. In doing so, it contributes to a growing scholarly discourse that redefines our understanding of the natural world as an active participant in historical processes, urging us to rethink the boundaries between nature and culture.

This volume explores the role of plants in the ancient Near East through a multidisciplinary approach that integrates archaeology, philology, archaeobotany, and the history of religions. It examines the significance of plant species not only as economic and dietary resources (passive role) but also as fundamental elements in the co-production of space with humans to forge symbolic systems, religious practices, and artistic representations. By carefully analyzing textual sources, archaeological and iconographic evidence, and archaeobotanical remains, this volume presents selected case studies on the interactions between human societies and the plant world in the region. In recent years, scholarly interest in plants within the context of the ancient Near East has grown significantly, aligning with the development of the Environmental Humanities and the emergence of Critical Plant Studies. This evolving theoretical and methodological perspective forms the core of two research initiatives: the BioANE project (Biodiversity in the Ancient Near East), directed by Silvana Di Paolo and Gioele Zisa, and the PLANET project (Plants in the Ancient Near Eastern Texts), coordinated by Gioele Zisa. This volume stands at the intersection of these two projects, offering fresh insights into how ancient Near Eastern cultures perceived, utilized, and represented plants. But not only that: the collected studies highlight the complexity of these relationships, challenging anthropocentric perspectives and proposing an interpretation that acknowledges plants as active participants in the region’s cultural and environmental history. By exploring the intricate relationships between humans and plants in the ancient Near East, this volume challenges anthropocentric perspectives and highlights the agency of vegetal beings in shaping cultural, religious, and economic landscapes. In doing so, it contributes to a growing scholarly discourse that redefines our understanding of the natural world as an active participant in historical processes, urging us to rethink the boundaries between nature and culture.

Silvana Di Paolo / Gioele Zisa: Decentering the human: A first map of plant culture, value, and agency in the ancient Near East

Federica Giardini: Environmental Humanities: A journey through disciplines

Section 1. Ecological knowledge: Near and distant plant geographies

Jason Leonel Bruce: Memory and permanency: The role of trees during the Late Neolithic of northern Mesopotamia

Ali Binandeh / Silvana Di Paolo / Nicola Macchioni: Revisioning the plant-human interaction in Iran. From microscope to Relational practices: the case of Juglans Regia L.

Licia Romano / Alessandra Celant / Mary Anne Tafuri / Franco D’Agostino: The lifecycle of the giant reed: Exploring human-plant interactions in Sumer through Abu Tbeirah evidence (3rd millennium BCE, Nasiriyah, Iraq)

Angela Greco: For sugar, wood, and shade. Some considerations on tree plantations in the ancient Near East during the Early Bronze Age

Section 2. Arboreal imaginaries: Plants as relational beings

Lorenzo Verderame: Palm, king of trees, and the solitary poplar. An essay on tree symbolism in ancient Mesopotamia

Gioele Zisa: Plants as persons: First millennium Mesopotamian anti-witchcraft botany

Marinella Ceravolo: “As you come out from the forest”: The plant body of the gods in the mīs pî ritual

Davide D’Amico: Meeting god under a tree: Literary-historical insights on trees and divine encounters in the Hebrew Bible

Section 3. Vegetality in art: The metonymic imagery

Laura Battini: The reed and its uses according to the archaeological and cuneiform sources

DLshad Aziz Marf: Trees and shrubs in the Zagros Mountains: cuneiform and visual records

Davide Nadali: Disputes, affiliations, and substitutions: Role and function of the human-arboreal relationship in the Ancient Near East

Thomas Staubli: Plants in the iconic symbol system of compositions on stamp seal amulets of the southern Levant: Four case studies

Zohreh Hosseini / Flavia Bartoli: Pasargadae WHS: a balance between culture, nature, and heritage

• By (author) Silvana Di Paolo
• By (author) Gioele Zisa