Ancient Assyria sheds new light on importance of etiquette
Understanding the role that etiquette plays in regulating individual interactions and group cohesion can provide new insights into how and why cultures evolve.
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“Our analysis of etiquette suggests these were not religious gestures, as previously thought,” he adds. “Rather, the clasping hands gesture indicated that the hands had been active and that duties were successfully achieved. The pointing finger was simply a means of indicating specific sections within inscribed texts or images.” This work enabled Portuese to redefine etiquette in Assyria – a word that only emerged in France in the 1580s – as a set of conventions that regulate interactions between individuals.
“We were able to develop the fundamental idea that people adhere to etiquette rules, in ancient Mesopotamia as much as today, out of fear of being excluded or ostracised from a group,” he notes. “Fear, in essence, is the real reason driving individuals to adopt and adapt to social rules.”
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