The Nature of Greek Myths

Europe's place in history is re-assessed in this first comprehensive history of the ancient world, centering on the Indian Ocean and its role in pre-modern globalization. Philippe Beaujard presents an ambitious and comprehensive global history of the Indian Ocean world, from the earliest state formations to 1500 CE. Supported by a wealth of empirical data, full color maps, plates, and figures, he shows how Asia and Africa dominated the economic and cultural landscape and the flow of ideas in the pre-modern world. This led to a trans-regional division of labor and an Afro-Eurasian world economy. Beaujard questions the origins of capitalism and hints at how this world-system may evolve in the future. The result is a reorienting of world history, taking the Indian Ocean, rather than Europe, as the point of departure. Volume II provides in-depth coverage of the period from the seventh century CE to the fifteenth century CE.

The Worlds of the Indian Ocean: A Global History

Philosophy before the Greeks

Iron Age silver in the Levant has attracted scholarly attention regarding its function as currency. Scholars debate whether hacksilber can be interpreted as representing a pre-monetary economic sys...

Four Iron Age Silver Hoards from Southern Phoenicia: From Bundles to Hacksilber

Cover photo: Zev Radovan/BibleLandPictures.com In this new book Shawn Zelig Aster critiques the predominant scholarly position that dates many passages in First Isaiah to the Babylonian period and later. He o ers a strong case for dating much of Isaiah 1–39 to the time of Tiglath-pileser III, Sargon, and Sennacherib and analyzes the theology of First Isaiah in relation to Assyrian imperial propaganda. By relating the prophecies of First Isaiah to the historical events of the eighth century BCE, when Assyria controlled much of the ancient Near East, Aster reveals that the arguments behind Isaiah 1–2, 6–8, 10–12, 14, 19, 31, and 36–37 contain hidden polemics against the imperial propaganda of the Assyrian Empire. Aster illustrates that the prophet adapts Assyrian motifs, while subverting Assyrian claims to universal dominion, and argues that First Isaiah promotes belief in a single omnipotent God who is more powerful than any human empire. e book exposes the meaning behind these passages in Isaiah, as well as the history of Judah and Israel in the period 745–701 BCE, for students and scholars interested in the history, politics, prophecy of ancient Israel.

/pdf/reflections-of-empire-in-isaiah-1-39-responses-to-assyrian-3oas62kpfn.pdf

Reflections of Empire in Isaiah 1-39: Responses to Assyrian Ideology

Although ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia are often considered to have been very similar in their economic structures, it is clear that the attitudes toward silver differed substantially between the two. This paper surveys the evidence for the economic uses of silver in both cultures during the third and second millennia BC, and attempts to explain the reasons for the differences we can observe in the ancient source material.

https://www.springer.com/cda/content/document/cda_downloaddocument/9783319061085-c2.pdf?SGWID=0-0-45-1464918-p176686938

Silver as a Financial Tool in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia

Revenge, Assyrian Style

A study in contrast: sargon of assyria and rusa of urartu

Theses on Babylonian Philosophy

With Shamshi-Adad of Assur and Hammurabi of Babylon, the author draws the attention to two ambitious and military-skilled rulers of 19th c. BCE Mesopotamia. Both of them established control over northern and southern Mesopotamia after periods of sustained campaigning. However, their accomplishments were short-lived since they were too much dependent on personal abilities and had insufficient time for altering political and economic structures.

Marc Van De Mieroop

Papers

Silver as a Financial Tool in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia

Revenge, Assyrian Style

A study in contrast: sargon of assyria and rusa of urartu

Theses on Babylonian Philosophy

From Warlord to Emperor: The Careers of Shamshi-Adad and Hammurabi