Abstracts
Nanno MARINATOS
(University of Illinois at Chicago)
The Stone in the Soul
As recently as last summer, the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago excavated a large stone stele in Zincirli, Anatolia dating to the 8th cent. BCE. It depicts the deceased Kuttamuwa seated and holding a cup in his hand. An accompanying inscription states clearly that his soul resides in the stone.
The implication of this inscription is explored in this paper. Statues and stelai from other east Mediterranean cultures are considered, including the statue of Phrasikleia in Attica. The statement that the soul resides in the stone and animates it fits very well the theory of animism first proposed by E. B. Tylor in 1871. According to it, “savages” in the infantile stage of humanity believed in the independent existence of the soul and its ability to enter inanimate objects.
This 19th century theory is not to be totally rejected. On the contrary, it fits the Zincirli stele so well, that it needs to be re-thought. This paper will explore E.B. Tylor’s and J. Frazer’s ideas on animism and magic and propose that, if nuanced and modified, they adequately explain the residence of Kuttamuwa’s soul in the stone.
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