Local Power in Old Babylonian Mesopotamia


Book Description

This book focuses on certain local powers in Old Babylonian Mesopotamia (ca. 2000 - 1595 B.C.), namely the chief of the city (rabianum), the elders, the "city," and the assembly. This is a novel approach to Old Babylonian history that allows us to understand the constituency, activities, and sphere of influence of local institutions of authority, and the way they coped with state officials and royal policies. Focusing on local powers changes the traditional manner of looking at the state. This is so because far from being a monolithic entity that unilaterally made decisions concerning people, water, land, and other resources, the state had to deal with local institutions that were not always willing to accept royal decisions passively. The state was often unable to penetrate deeply into traditional social and economic practices that were controlled by local leaders, as is most apparent in the conflict of jurisdiction related to land distribution. However, the state did surreptitiously co-opt local leaders into the royal domain. The methodology and conclusions of this case study of local authorities in Old Babylonian Mesopotamia will also be useful for those studying other ancient states and complex societies.




Babylonia


Book Description

Exploring key historical events as well as the day-to-day life of the ancient Babylonians. A comprehensive guide to one of history's most profound civilizations.




Ancient Mesopotamia


Book Description

"This splendid work of scholarship . . . sums up with economy and power all that the written record so far deciphered has to tell about the ancient and complementary civilizations of Babylon and Assyria."—Edward B. Garside, New York Times Book Review Ancient Mesopotamia—the area now called Iraq—has received less attention than ancient Egypt and other long-extinct and more spectacular civilizations. But numerous small clay tablets buried in the desert soil for thousands of years make it possible for us to know more about the people of ancient Mesopotamia than any other land in the early Near East. Professor Oppenheim, who studied these tablets for more than thirty years, used his intimate knowledge of long-dead languages to put together a distinctively personal picture of the Mesopotamians of some three thousand years ago. Following Oppenheim's death, Erica Reiner used the author's outline to complete the revisions he had begun. "To any serious student of Mesopotamian civilization, this is one of the most valuable books ever written."—Leonard Cottrell, Book Week "Leo Oppenheim has made a bold, brave, pioneering attempt to present a synthesis of the vast mass of philological and archaeological data that have accumulated over the past hundred years in the field of Assyriological research."—Samuel Noah Kramer, Archaeology A. Leo Oppenheim, one of the most distinguished Assyriologists of our time, was editor in charge of the Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute and John A. Wilson Professor of Oriental Studies at the University of Chicago.




The Material and Ideological Base of the Old Babylonian State


Book Description

This book describes and analyzes the economic and administrative structure as well as the ideological background of the Old Babylonian state during the rule of the first dynasty. The author focuses on the role of the state in the economy, administration, politics, and ideology.




Organization, Representation, and Symbols of Power in the Ancient Near East


Book Description

In July, 2008, the International Association for Assyriology met in Würzburg, Germany, for 5 days to deliver and listen to papers on the theme “Organization, Representation, and Symbols of Power in the Ancient Near East.” This volume, the proceedings of the conference, contains 70 of the papers read at the 54th annual Rencontre, including most of the papers from two workshop sessions, one on “collective governance” and the other on “the public and the state.” As the photo of the participants on the back cover demonstrates, the surroundings and ambience of the host city and university provided a wonderful backdrop for the meetings.




Ancient States and Infrastructural Power


Book Description

Ancient States and Infrastructural Power examines how early states built their territorial, legal, and political powers before they had the capacity to enforce them. Contributors trace how state power first developed from the Andes to China, from Babylon to Rome.




The Sumerians


Book Description

The Sumerians, the pragmatic and gifted people who preceded the Semites in the land first known as Sumer and later as Babylonia, created what was probably the first high civilization in the history of man, spanning the fifth to the second millenniums B.C. This book is an unparalleled compendium of what is known about them. Professor Kramer communicates his enthusiasm for his subject as he outlines the history of the Sumerian civilization and describes their cities, religion, literature, education, scientific achievements, social structure, and psychology. Finally, he considers the legacy of Sumer to the ancient and modern world. "There are few scholars in the world qualified to write such a book, and certainly Kramer is one of them. . . . One of the most valuable features of this book is the quantity of texts and fragments which are published for the first time in a form available to the general reader. For the layman the book provides a readable and up-to-date introduction to a most fascinating culture. For the specialist it presents a synthesis with which he may not agree but from which he will nonetheless derive stimulation."—American Journal of Archaeology "An uncontested authority on the civilization of Sumer, Professor Kramer writes with grace and urbanity."—Library Journal




The Code of Hammurabi


Book Description

The Code of Hammurabi (Codex Hammurabi) is a well-preserved ancient law code, created ca. 1790 BC (middle chronology) in ancient Babylon. It was enacted by the sixth Babylonian king, Hammurabi. One nearly complete example of the Code survives today, inscribed on a seven foot, four inch tall basalt stele in the Akkadian language in the cuneiform script. One of the first written codes of law in recorded history. These laws were written on a stone tablet standing over eight feet tall (2.4 meters) that was found in 1901.




Historical Dictionary of Mesopotamia


Book Description

The Greek name Mesopotamia means 'land between the rivers.' The Romans used this term for an area that they controlled only briefly (between 115 and 117 A.D.): the land between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, from the south Anatolian mountains ranges to the Persian Gulf. It comprises the civilizations of Sumer and Akkad (third millennium B.C.) as well as the later Babylonian and Assyrian empires of the second and first millennium. Although the 'history' of Mesopotamia in the strict sense of the term only begins with the inscriptions of Sumerian rulers around the 27th century B.C., the foundations for Mesopotamian civilization, especially the beginnings of irrigation and the emergence of large permanent settlements, were laid much earlier, in the fifth and fourth millennium. The second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Mesopotamia defines concepts, customs, and notions peculiar to the civilization of ancient Mesopotamia, from adult adoption to ziggurats. This is accomplished through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, appendixes, and hundreds of cross-reference dictionary entries on religion, economy, society, geography, and important kings and rulers.







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