How did ancient civilizations view the liver?
Throughout history, humankind has thought there was something special about the liver of mammals. The Babylonians were the first to use a sheep s liver for divination. Many ancient cultures, from the most advanced to the most primitive, have believed that the liver was the center and the source of life. The Dictionary of the Bible by James Hastings verifies this. It states the following about the Semitic people s belief in the liver. “According to Semitic ideas, a peculiar holiness belonged to the liver and kidneys together with the fat attached to them; the reason being that they were regarded as the special seats not only of emotion but of life itself (p. 588).” Now the Greek word for liver is “hepar” and all things pertaining to the liver are called hepatic. Both the Gentiles and Israel had cultural views about the liver. Ancient cultures failed to understand the reality of the liver because modern science did not exist. One of the most remarkable things about the liver is its abili
