Abstract

Symbolic inversion is a widespread cultural phenomenon, the earliest examples of which can be traced back to the cultures of the ancient Near East. Symbolic inversion (mundus inversus) relates to those forms of expressive behaviour which invert commonly accepted social codes. One such area in the ancient Near Eastern and Old Testament world where this phenomenon manifested itself prominently is in the conception of life after death: life after death is often conceived as the direct inverse of what is customary in ordinary life.

Highlights

  • In c. 1950 BC the Egyptian prophet Neferti saw a world which is characterised as follows: “I show thee the land topsy-turvy

  • Babcock (1978:14) presents the following characterisation of this topos: “Symbolic inversion may be broadly defined as any act of expressive behavior which inverts, contradicts, abrogates, or in some fashion presents an alternative to commonly held cultural codes, 1 For a discussion of other literary passages where the same phenomenon occurs (e.g. “The Admonitions of Ipuwer”, etc.), cf

  • The Egyptians, resorted to the same technique of inversion a number of times in his Histories (Hartog 1988:213); Tacitus employed a similar strategy in his depiction of the Jews (Bloch 2002), and this phenomenon persisted even in the ethnography of colonial writing[3]. Another especially important form of symbolic inversion in many cultures in the world is to mark the boundaries between normal life and life after death: life after death is in many instances the direct reverse of ordinary life (Durkheim & Mauss 1963:xxxix)

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Summary

INTRODUCTION

In c. 1950 BC the Egyptian prophet Neferti saw a world which is characterised as follows: “I show thee the land topsy-turvy. The Egyptians, resorted to the same technique of inversion a number of times in his Histories (Hartog 1988:213); Tacitus employed a similar strategy in his depiction of the Jews (Bloch 2002), and this phenomenon persisted even in the ethnography of colonial writing[3]. Another especially important form of symbolic inversion in many cultures in the world is to mark the boundaries between normal life and life after death: life after death is in many instances the direct reverse of ordinary life (Durkheim & Mauss 1963:xxxix). With regard to the ancient Near East, the following inversions appear to be the most significant: i) The netherworld is the realm “below” over against the world “above”; ii) It is a domain ruled by “darkness” instead of “light”; iii) The quality of normal life is replaced by all forms of misery; iv) “Normal” beings become “inverted” in that sphere

The netherworld is the realm “below” versus the normal world “above”
The domain of darkness versus the normal world of light
Sound as the symbol of life is replaced by silence
Joy is replaced by joylessness
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