MOMENTAN AUSVERKAUFT
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Product Identifiers
PublisherCambridge University Press
ISBN-101107404932
ISBN-139781107404939
eBay Product ID (ePID)117293695
Product Key Features
Number of Pages390 Pages
Publication NameDemocracy's Ancient Ancestors : Mari and Early Collective Governance
LanguageEnglish
Publication Year2012
SubjectArchaeology, Anthropology / Cultural & Social, Political Ideologies / Democracy
TypeTextbook
Subject AreaPolitical Science, Social Science
AuthorDaniel E. Fleming
FormatTrade Paperback
Dimensions
Item Height0.9 in
Item Weight20.2 Oz
Item Length9 in
Item Width6 in
Additional Product Features
Intended AudienceScholarly & Professional
Dewey Edition22
Reviews'This is an important and impressive work ... What emerges from this study is a picture that is much more complex, nuanced, and to some extent confusing than those traditionally drawn of Mesopotamian societies and states. It is thus certain to be received with great interest by a number of disciplines beyond Assyriology (such as history, political science, and anthropology) and to stimulate intensive discussions on a wide range of issues. Not least, it makes a serious contribution to an old debate, triggered more than a half-century ago by Thorkild Jacobsen, on whether certain traits in Mesopotamian mythical and literary traditions can be interpreted as evidence for the existence of 'primitive democracies' in an early period, before the emergence of the great empires led by centralized monarchies. In this respect the book is certain to attract the interest of classicists and ancient historians as well.' Kurt A. Raaflaub, 'This is an important and impressive work … What emerges from this study is a picture that is much more complex, nuanced, and to some extent confusing than those traditionally drawn of Mesopotamian societies and states. It is thus certain to be received with great interest by a number of disciplines beyond Assyriology (such as history, political science, and anthropology) and to stimulate intensive discussions on a wide range of issues. Not least, it makes a serious contribution to an old debate, triggered more than a half-century ago by Thorkild Jacobsen, on whether certain traits in Mesopotamian mythical and literary traditions can be interpreted as evidence for the existence of 'primitive democracies' in an early period, before the emergence of the great empires led by centralized monarchies. In this respect the book is certain to attract the interest of classicists and ancient historians as well.' Kurt A. Raaflaub
IllustratedYes
Dewey Decimal939/.43
Table Of ContentPreface; Part I. Introduction: 1. The Mari texts; 2. A survey of Mari history; 3. The Mari archives and political history; 4. A text-based study: comments on methodology; Part II. The Tribal World of Zimri-Lim: 5. Tribally organized pastoralists and the Amorrites; 6. The primary constituents of the confederacies: Sim'alite gayum and Yaminite li'mum; 7. The local leader of tribe and town: the Sugagum in service to the Mari kingdom; 8. The chief of pasture: the Merhum; 9. The 'Hana' tent-dwellers; 10. The other confederacy: the Yaminites; Part III. The Archaic State and the Matum 'Land': 11. Urbanism and archaic states; 12. The matum: the basic unit of regional politics in the early second millennium; 13. Subdividing the major matums: the halsum district; 14. Population terminology not tied to political entity; 15. Zimri-Lim and the land of the tent-dwellers (mat Hana); Part IV. The Collective and the Town: 16. The towns of the Mari archives; 17. The collective face of town or land; 18. Elders; 19. Heads; 20. Words for assembly; 21. Imar, Tuttul, and Urgis: old towns with strong collective traditions; 22. Mari in third-millenium towns; 23. On explaining corporate power; Part V. Conclusions: 24. The political world of the Mari archives; 25. Before democracy; Bibliography; Glossaries; Indices.
SynopsisThis volume examines the political landscape of the ancient Near East through the archive of over 3,000 letters found in the royal palace of Mari. These letters display a rich diversity of political actors, encompassing major kingdoms, smaller states and various tribal towns. Mari's unique contribution to the ancient evidence is its view of tribal organization, made possible especially by the fact that its king, Zimri-Lim, was, first of all, a tribal ruler who claimed Mari as an administrative base and source of prestige. These archaic political traditions are not essentially unlike the forms of pre-democratic Greece, and they offer fresh reason to recognize a cultural continuity between the classical world of the Aegean and the older Near East. This book bridges the areas of archaeology, ancient and classical history, early Middle and Near East, and political and social history., Democracy's Ancient Ancestors examines the political landscape of the ancient Near East through the archive of over 3000 letters found in the royal palace of Mari. These letters display a rich diversity of political actors, encompassing major kingdoms, smaller states and various tribal towns. Mari's unique contribution to the ancient evidence is its view of tribal organization, made possible especially by the fact that its king Zimri-Lim was first of all a tribal ruler, who claimed Mari as an administrative base and source of prestige. These archaic political traditions are not essentially unlike the forms of pre-democratic Greece, and they offer fresh reason to recognize a cultural continuity between the classical world of the Aegean and the older Near East. This book bridges several areas of interest, including archaeology, ancient and classical history, early Middle and Near East, and political and social history., This book examines the politics of the ancient Near East through archives of over 3000 letters found in the royal palace of Mari. These letters, encompassing major kingdoms, smaller states and tribal towns, similar to pre-democratic Greece, justify recognizing a continuity between the classical Aegean world and the older Near East.
LC Classification NumberDS99.M3
