The Babylonian World

'The Babylonian World' presents an extensive, up-to-date and lavishly illustrated history of the ancient state Babylonia and its 'holy city', Babylon. It is a volume of 38 essays, conceived and edited by Gwendolyn Leick.

The Babylonian World at the beginning of third millennium AD, as seen through the eyes of the leading specialists in the field, brings into focus areas of concern typical for our time: ecology, productivity, power relations, economics, epistemology, scientific paradigms, complexity.

The general division of the volume proceeds from the general ‘hard facts’ - geography, ecology, material culture to the ‘software’ provided primarily by cuneiform tablets, our richest source of information and at a time when archaeological research in Iraq continues to be practically impossible, the only current opportunity for new insights. The majority of the articles are based on primary epigraphic research.

Historicized by the New Testament as a centre of decadence and corruption, Babylon and its surrounding region was in fact a rich and complex civilization, responsible for the invention of the dictionary and laying the foundations of modern science. This book explores all key aspects of the development of this ancient culture, including the ecology of the region and its famously productive agriculture, its political and economic standing, its religious practices, and the achievements of its intelligentsia.

Contents:

1. Introduction Gwendolyn Leick

Part 1: Land and Land Use
2. Babylonian Countrysides Seth Richardson
3. Land and Land Use: The Middle Euphrates Valley Lucia Mori
4. Agricultural Techniques Blahoslav Hruska
5. Urban Form in the First Millennium Heather Baker Part 2: Material Culture
6. Architecture in the Old Babylonian Period Harriet Crawford
7. Babylonian Seals Dominique Collon
8. Babylonian Sources of Exotic Raw Materials Daniel Potts 9. Cloth in the Babylonian World Irene Good
10. The Babylonian Visual Image Zainab Bahrani
11. Food and Drink in Babylonia Frances Reynolds

Part 3: Economic Life
12. Economy of Ancient Mesopotamia: A General Outline Johannes Renger
13. The Old Babylonian Economy Anne Goodderies
14. Aspects of Society and Economy in the later Old Babylonian Period Franz van Koppen
15. The Babylonian Economy in the First Millennium BC Michael Jursa
16. The Egibi Family Cornelia Wunsch

Part 4: Society and Politics
17. Social Configurations in Early Dynastic Babylonia (c. 2500–2334 B.C.) Petr Charvat
18. Palace and the Temple in Babylonia Walther Sallaberger 19. Power, Economy and Social Organization in Babylonia Gebhard Selz
20. Arameans and Chaldeans: Environment and Society Frederick M. Fales
21. Women and Gender in Babylonia Laura Steele

Part 5: Religion
22. The Role and Function of Goddesses in Mesopotamia Brigitte Groneberg
23. Inanna and Ishtar in the Babylonian World Joan Goodnick Westenholz
24. The Babylonian god Marduk Takayoshi Oshima
25. Divination Culture and Handling of the Future Stefan Maul
26. Witchcraft Literature in Mesopotamia Tzvi Abush

Part 6: Intellectual Life: Cuneiform Writing and Learning
27. Incantations within Akkadian Medical Texts Mark Geller
28. Writing, Sending, and Reading Letters in the Amorite World Dominique Charpin
29. Mathematics, Metrology, and Professional Numeracy Eleanor Robson
30. Babylonian Lexical Lists John Taylor
31. Gilgamesh and the Literary Traditions of Ancient Mesopotamia Andrew George
32. Babylonian Astral Science David Brown
33. Omens Concerned with Human Behaviour Ann Guinan
34. Late Babylonian Intellectual Life Paul-Alain Beaulieu

Part 7: International Relations: Babylonia and the Ancient Near Eastern World
35. Egypt and Babylon David Warburton
36. A View from Hattusa Trevor Bryce
37. Babylonian Relations with the Levant during the Kassite Period Petrus van Vermaak
38. Looking down the Tigris: The Interrelations between Assyria and Babylonia Hannes D. Galter
39. The View from Jerusalem: Biblical Responses to the Babylonian Presence Baruch Levine
40. Babylonia and Persia Amélie Kuhrt