Abstract
Animals constitute a reservoir of images frequently mobilized in Mesopotamian literature. Sumerian proverbs, many of which feature a vast bestiary, attribute various behaviors to species that function as metaphors for human behavior, revealing a largely anthropocentric reading of fauna. Royal inscriptions from the Ist millennium B.C. also make frequent use of animal imagery to characterize individuals, sometimes in a laudatory manner, sometimes as a means of devaluing them. What about the Paleobabylonian corpus of letters from Mari (XVIIIth century BC) ? This paper will provide an overview of the use of animals in comparisons and metaphors in this epistolary documentation. It will examine the species used, the features retained in the construction of these figures, and their functions. The analysis aims to identify a typology of these uses, and hopes to shed light on what they reveal about cultural representations of fauna and, more broadly, about man's relationship with animals in the Paleobabylonian period.
