Writing, Law, and Kingship in Old Babylonian Mesopotamia
By Dominique Charpin and Jane Marie Todd
4.5/5
()
About this ebook
Ancient Mesopotamia, the fertile crescent between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is now western Iraq and eastern Syria, is considered to be the cradle of civilization—home of the Babylonian and Assyrian empires, as well as the great Code of Hammurabi. The Code was only part of a rich juridical culture from 2200–1600 BCE that saw the invention of writing and the development of its relationship to law, among other remarkable firsts.
Though ancient history offers inexhaustible riches, Dominique Charpin focuses here on the legal systems of Old Babylonian Mesopotamia and offers considerable insight into how writing and the law evolved together to forge the principles of authority, precedent, and documentation that dominate us to this day. As legal codes throughout the region evolved through advances in cuneiform writing, kings and governments were able to stabilize their control over distant realms and impose a common language—which gave rise to complex social systems overseen by magistrates, judges, and scribes that eventually became the vast empires of history books. Sure to attract any reader with an interest in the ancient Near East, as well as rhetoric, legal history, and classical studies, this book is an innovative account of the intertwined histories of law and language.
Related to Writing, Law, and Kingship in Old Babylonian Mesopotamia
Related ebooks
Egyptian Hieroglyphs in the Late Antique Imagination Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAncient Mesopotamia: Portrait of a Dead Civilization Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise of Coptic: Egyptian versus Greek in Late Antiquity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhilosophy before the Greeks: The Pursuit of Truth in Ancient Babylonia Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5History of the Persian Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ancient Egyptian Coffins: Past – Present – Future Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Voice of the Poor in the Middle Ages: An Anthology of Documents from the Cairo Geniza Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAstrology in Ancient Mesopotamia: The Science of Omens and the Knowledge of the Heavens Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ancient Mesopotamia at the Dawn of Civilization: The Evolution of an Urban Landscape Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ancient Egypt Before Writing: From Markings to Hieroglyphs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMyths of Babylonia and Assyria Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReligions of the World: The Religion of Ancient Mesopotamia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mesopotamian Archaeology Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Early History of the Ancient Near East, 9000-2000 B.C. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ancient Mesopotamia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDynamics of Production in the Ancient Near East Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hyksos and Israelite Cities Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFounding Gods, Inventing Nations: Conquest and Culture Myths from Antiquity to Islam Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hittites: The Story of a Forgotten Empire Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe House of Seleucus: All Volumes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Face of the Ancient Orient: Near Eastern Civilization in Pre-Classical Times Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Afterlives of Egyptian History: Reuse and Reformulation of Objects, Places, and Texts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCivilizations of Ancient Iraq Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Open Sea: The Economic Life of the Ancient Mediterranean World from the Iron Age to the Rise of Rome Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Legendary Kings of Babylon: Hammurabi and Nebuchadnezzar II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Herodotus and the Question Why Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPagan Trinity - Holy Trinity: The Legacy of the Sumerians in Western Civilization Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mystery-Religions Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Rosetta Stone Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
History For You
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5100 Things You're Not Supposed to Know: Secrets, Conspiracies, Cover Ups, and Absurdities Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Whore Stories: A Revealing History of the World's Oldest Profession Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Becoming Cliterate: Why Orgasm Equality Matters--And How to Get It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wise as Fu*k: Simple Truths to Guide You Through the Sh*tstorms of Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Richest Man in Babylon: The most inspiring book on wealth ever written Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Lessons of History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Awakening: Defeating the Globalists and Launching the Next Great Renaissance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Huckleberry Finn Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5100 Amazing Facts About the Negro with Complete Proof Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Reset: And the War for the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England: 400 – 1066 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 1]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secret History of the World Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of The War of Art: by Steven Pressfield | Includes Analysis Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Grief Observed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unveiled: How the West Empowers Radical Muslims Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Power of Geography: Ten Maps That Reveal the Future of Our World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Writing, Law, and Kingship in Old Babylonian Mesopotamia
3 ratings1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Excellent !
Lecture agréable autant qu'un sujet clair, concis et passionnant. Dominique Charpin, à chacun de ses ouvrages introspectifs à l'aube de notre civilisation, nous permet de mieux comprendre notre place à l'autre bout de l'Histoire... et de constater que rien n'a bien changé depuis.