Objective:
This thesis aims at identifying and analyze the role of the "Creative Word" or "Performative Word" in myths of creation of the Ancient Near East., through the study of two specific cases: the Memphite Theology in Egypt and the Enuma Eliš in Mesopotamia.
Methods:
Two case studies were selected according to the definition of the concept of “performativity”, both in cultural and linguistic studies, and through the application of a rigorous methodology for comparisons in humanities.
The analysis of the two case studies was preceded by a brief summary and a comparison between the so called “Ritual of the Opening/Washing of the Mouth” in Mesopotamia (mīs pî) and in Egypt (wp·t-rȝ). This comparison was useful for understanding the approach of these two cultures to the same problem: the attribution of a performative value to a cultural/artistic product.
The texts were extensively studied in two separate chapters, in which they have been explained according to their respective cultural and chronological backgrounds. In addition to the description of their contexts, they have also been related to other documents with the same cultural provenance (Egypt, Mesopotamia) sharing different degrees of affinity with our two initial texts.
Considering all the peculiarities of the two myths (structure and length of the narratives, complexity, language, fruition), their analysis did not develop in a perfectly mirrored way, but on a number of specific issues that have been identified within each text. The comparison was conducted mainly on the analysis of the similarities and differences found in these highlighted topics (linguistic features; how to create; creation as a "divine plan"; terminology; legacy).
Conclusions
The comparative activity has shown that both traditions shared and elaborated the concept of “Performative Word”, yet in two very different and peculiar ways, specific of the single context.
At the end of our investigation it has been possible to draw several conclusions regarding the legacy produced by these two important documents, in relation to other texts written several centuries later than the period in which these phenomena have been produced and enjoyed by an ancient audience
