Salt Extraction and Imagery in the Ancient Near East 1

Salt has a polymorphic symbolic functionality that recommends it as one of the most impressive and effective symbols ever. Like many other basic symbols of a remote origin, its perception was ambivalent. Most of its symbolic functions derive from its practical features. It has been valued both for its corrosive and therefore destructive nature, and for its antiseptic and preservative qualities. And this is why its imagery was all the time positive as well as negative within the same type of cultural environment. We will analyze within this article the main archaeological and literary evidence related to the salt extraction and symbolism in the Oriental sources, from Anatolia, Middle Euphrate Valley, Ugarit, and Siyannu.

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