The Public and the State in the Ancient Near East

2012 ◽  
pp. 171-190
Author(s):  
Eva von Dassow
Keyword(s):  
Near East ◽  
The State ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
The Public

From Freedom to Slavery

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 41-67
Author(s):  
Annunziata Rositani
Keyword(s):  
Labor Force ◽  
Near East ◽  
Prisoners Of War ◽  
The State ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Old Babylonian

Abstract This article presents some reflections on slavery in the Ancient Near East during the Old Babylonian period. Particular attention is paid to an analysis of the sources for prisoners of war originating from Uruk in which the bīt asīrī, “the house of prisoners of war” is mentioned. These texts from the bīt asīrī date to the short reign of Rīm-Anum, who held power in Uruk for about eighteen months, between 1742 and 1740 BC. The use of war prisoners as labor force and slaves is examined in detail. It is suggested that the bīt asīrī was an institutional entity, managed by the state, and moreover that it was connected with the production of flour. This investigation also makes comparisons with other references to prisons in the Ancient Near East and especially in the Bible. Lastly, the ways in which war captives could be freed are discussed.

A Titanic Phenomenon: Marxism, History and Biblical Society

2008 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 141-166
Author(s):  
Roland Boer
Keyword(s):  
Near East ◽  
The State ◽  
Ancient World ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Critical Survey ◽  
Biblical Criticism ◽  
Lack Of Fit ◽  
Look Back

Marxist contributions to biblical criticism are far more sustained and complex than many would expect. This critical survey of the state of play, with a look back at the main currents that have led to that state, deals with Marxist contributions to the reconstructions of biblical societies and the interpretation of the literature produced by those societies. It begins by outlining the major Marxist positions within current biblical criticism and then moves on to consider two possible sources of further insight from outside biblical criticism: Western-Marxist studies of the ancient world (Karl Kautsky, Perry Anderson and G.E.M. de Ste. Croix) and the long and neglected tradition of Soviet-era Russian work on the ancient Near East. I conclude by pointing to a number of lingering problems: the unreliability of the literature for historical purposes; the lack of fit between juridical distinctions in the literature and class distinctions in the ancient world; the question as to whether the state can be a class; and the viability of imposing on the ancient world Marxist categories developed in very different situations.

Tudománymetria: Mit Mérünk, Mit Hasonlíthatunk Össze És Mivel? •

2020 ◽  
Vol 145 (1) ◽  
pp. 237-247
Author(s):  
F. Romhányi Beatrix
Keyword(s):  
Near East ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Reference Database ◽  
Hirsch Index ◽  
Annual Average ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Data ◽  
Number Of Publications

A 2020 tavaszán nyilvánossá vált referencia-adatbázis három paraméter, az idézetek évenkénti átlaga, a Hirsch-index és a Q1-es folyóiratokban megjelent publikációk száma alapján rangsorolja a kutatókat. Az összesített rangsorban a harmadik paraméter kétszeres súllyal szerepel. A cikk a régészek és az ókori kelettel foglalkozó kutatók nyilvános adatainak felhasználásával végzett teszt eredményeit ismerteti, és a felmerülő problémákra alternatív megoldások lehetőségét veti fel.The reference database “Scientometrics of Hungarian Researchers”, published in spring 2020, classifies researchers on the basis of three parameters: the annual average of citations, the Hirsch index, and the number of publications in Q1 journals. Presented here are the results of a test using the public data of archaeologists and researchers of the Ancient Near East, a review of the specific problems faced by humanities researchers, and a call for a discussion to find a more appropriate set of parameters that would better fit the specifics of the humanities.

Egyptian—Demotic

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Friedhelm Hoffmann
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Near East ◽  
Late Phase ◽  
The State ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Seventh Century ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Textual Material ◽  
Large Corpus

Demotic is a late phase of the Egyptian language and writing which began in the middle of the seventh century BCE. When after 30 BCE Egypt became part of the Roman Empire, Demotic was still widely used by the Egyptian priestly elite. A large corpus of literary, paraliterary and documentary texts has survived mainly on papyri, sherds, and as graffiti. Only in the middle of the fifth century CE, by which time Christianity was established as the state religion, does Demotic cease to exist. This chapter gives an overview of the Demotic language and writing, as well as its rich textual material and different forms and genres, and also draws the reader’s attention to the international relations (mainly with the ancient Near East and with Greece, but also e.g. with India) which can be observed in Demotic texts.

Greek and Roman Slaving in Comparative Ancient Perspective

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Jursa ◽  
Sven Tost
Keyword(s):  
Near East ◽  
The State ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Roman World ◽  
Diachronic Change ◽  
Institutional Sector ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Traditional Image

This chapter surveys the evidence for dependent labour in the Ancient Near East, particularly in the state or institutional sector of the economy, comparing the findings to pertinent institutions and structures known from the Graeco-Roman world. There is a focus on diachronic change within the Ancient Near East, where the role of dependent labour evolved significantly over time. The chapter highlights similarities as well as differences and points to some pathways for causation. The ‘traditional’ image (often associated with views expressed by Moses Finley) of the Ancient Near East as being characterized by a labour regime relying nearly exclusively on compelled dependent (but not slave) labour and thus being fundamentally different from ‘the’ Graeco-Roman world is nuanced considerably.

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