Ancient Mesopotamian Texts Map Emotions to Body Parts

New research reveals how Neo-Assyrians associated emotions like happiness, anger, and love with specific body regions, offering insights into historical emotional expression.

Researchers analyzed one million Akkadian words from Neo-Assyrian cuneiform texts dated 934–612 BCE to map emotions to body parts.
Happiness was linked to the liver in Mesopotamian culture, contrasting with modern associations in the chest and head.
Anger was described as being felt in the feet, whereas modern humans associate it with the upper body and hands.
Love showed similarities across time, being tied to the liver, heart, and knees in Mesopotamian texts, with parallels to modern experiences.
The study highlights cultural and historical variations in emotional embodiment, using linguistic analysis to explore intercultural differences in emotional perception.