The present study draws on interdisciplinary research to establish an interpretative framework for an analysis of the material and textual evidence concerning infant loss in ancient Mesopotamia (c. 3000-500 BCE ). This approach rejects the notion that high infant mortality rates result in widespread parental indifference to infant loss, arguing instead that underlying biological and transcultural realities inform human responses to this phenomenon. With this conclusion in mind, a review of ancient Mesopotamian archaeological evidence reveals patterns of differential infant burial; while the interpretation of these patterns is uncertain, the broader contexts of infant burials in ancient Mesopotamia do not point to parental indifference, but rather the opposite. The available textual evidence in turn indicates that ancient Mesopotamians valued their infants, sought actively to protect them from harm, and mourned deeply when they died, a conclusion that is not controverted by evidence of infant exposure.

中文翻译：

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“他们在银和金的餐桌上享用糖浆和酥油”：古代美索不达米亚的婴儿流失

本研究利用跨学科研究建立了一个解释框架，用于分析有关古代美索不达米亚（约公元前3000-500年）婴儿流失的物质和文字证据。这种方法拒绝了这样的观点，即婴儿死亡率高导致父母普遍对婴儿流失漠不关心，而是认为潜在的生物学和跨文化现实为人类对这一现象的反应提供了依据。考虑到这一结论，对古代美索不达米亚考古证据的回顾揭示了不同的婴儿埋葬方式。尽管对这些模式的解释尚不确定，但在古代美索不达米亚，婴儿葬礼的更广泛的背景并不是指向父母的冷漠，而是相反。