| The thesis aims to provide a general and up-to-date survey of illness and health care in ancient Israel as reflected in the Hebrew Bible and extra-biblical materials. In particular, it explores how different socio-religious conceptual frameworks led to, and interacted with, different systems of health care in Israel, Greece and Mesopotamia. The thesis devises a new coherent typology of temple functions in order to define the role of the temples of Asclepius, Gula/Ninisina and Yahweh in their respective health care systems.;The most distinctive feature of the thesis is the combination of a medical anthropological approach with modern critical biblical and Near Eastern studies. Emphasis is on the study of health care as a system which usually includes, but is not limited to, the presuppositions regarding the causes and diagnosis of illness, the options available to the patient, and the modes of therapy administered. Other dimensions include any social differences in accessibility to what is perceived to be the best care available in the society, and the attitudes toward the patient. New typologies are proposed to compare ideas concerning the etiology and prognosis of illness, and to explore the amount of state responsibility in the health care system. The thesis includes a discussion of the impact of demography and ecology on some of the health care systems.;There is particular focus upon the role of the specialization of Asclepius in healing in the growth of his cult; a critique of Edith Ritter's mode which distinguishes magical (asipu) and non-magical healers (asu) in Mesopotamia; the relationship between socio-economic productivity and the definition of "purity" in ancient Israel; and a new hypothesis which attempts to explain the evolution of access to the temple in ancient Israel. |
