Based on author's doctoral dissertation at Unviersity of Pennsylvania in 2017.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Newly understanding healing goddesses and asûs : theory and methods -- The origins of the healing goddess Gula -- Gula in the 2nd and 1st millennia B.C.E. -- Gula compared to other healing goddesses -- An overview of the Mesopotamian medical marketplace -- Rethinking the term "asû" -- Legitimization as a response to competition and the demands of clientele -- The process of Gula becoming the divine legitimization of professional asûs -- Conclusion and suggestions for future research.

"This volume exposes one of the world's oldest medical marketplaces and the emergence of medical professionalization within it. Through an unprecedented analysis of the Mesopotamian healing goddesses as well as asûs, a diverse group of "healers", Irene Sibbing-Plantholt demonstrates that from the Middle Babylonian period onwards, the goddess Gula was employed as a divine legitimization model for scholarly, professional asûs. With this work, Sibbing-Plantholt provides a unique insight in processes of medical competition and legitimization in ancient Mesopotamia, which speak to similar processes in other societies"-- Provided by publisher.

Description based on print version record.