Ma'at : Gerechtigkeit und Unsterblichkeit im Alten Ägypten
About: This article is published in Vetus Testamentum.The article was published on 1993-01-01. It has received 133 citations till now.
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11 May 2000
TL;DR: In this paper, a general and comprehensive treatment of the political thought of ancient Greece and Rome is presented, starting with Homer and ending in late antiquity with Christian and pagan reflections on divine and human order.
Abstract: This book, first published in 2000, is a general and comprehensive treatment of the political thought of ancient Greece and Rome. It begins with Homer and ends in late antiquity with Christian and pagan reflections on divine and human order. In between come studies of Plato, Aristotle and a host of other major and minor thinkers - poets, historians, philosophers - whose individuality is brought out by extensive quotation. The international team of distinguished scholars assembled by the editors includes historians of law, politics, culture and religion, and also philosophers. Some chapters focus mostly on the ancient context of the ideas they are examining, while others explore these ideas as systems of thought which resonate with modern or perennial concerns. This clearly written volume will long remain an accessible and authoritative guide to Greek and Roman thinking about government and community.
192 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors studied the effect of abrupt changes in the watershed of the Nile tributaries on agricultural yield as a function of pronounced interannual variability, as well as episodic variations in response to abrupt climatic changes.
Abstract: Egyptian civilization depended on the bounty of the River Nile. Frequent fluctuations in the height of summer floods influenced both floodplain geomorphology and the area cultivated. Thus agricultural yield oscillated as a function of pronounced interannual variability, as well as episodic variations in response to abrupt climatic changes in the watershed of the Nile tributaries. This situation also created a dynamic landscape and a variety of cultural responses depending on the specific cultural-historical circumstances. The aggradation of the floodplain has also influenced the recovery of archaeological remains. Predynastic settlement sites in the Delta are 4-6m below the surface and Graeco-Roman settlements are 1-2m deep. Subsidence of the Delta and sea-level change were responsible for pronounced changes in the geomorphology of the Delta, the distribution of waterways and hence trade.
129 citations
TL;DR: The concept of sign, a portent observed in the physical world which indicates future events, is found in all ancient cultures, but was first developed in ancient Mesopotamian texts as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The concept of sign, a portent observed in the physical world, which indicates future events, is found in all ancient cultures, but was first developed in ancient Mesopotamian texts. This branch of Babylonian scientific knowledge extensively influenced other parts of the world, and similar texts written in Aramaic, Sanscrit, Sogdian, and other languages. The seminar will investigate how much do we know about the Babylonian theory and hermeneutics of omens, and the scope of their possible influences on other cultures and regions.
77 citations
01 May 2000
TL;DR: In fact, it is the ancient Greeks, rather than the Phoenicians, say, or Etruscans, who first discovered or invented politics in this sense, and it is unarguable that their politics and ours differ sharply from each other both theoretically and practically.
Abstract: Terminology Much of our political terminology is Greek in etymology: aristocracy, democracy, monarchy, oligarchy, plutocracy, tyranny, to take just the most obvious examples, besides politics itself and its derivatives. Most of the remainder – citizen, constitution, dictatorship, people, republic and state – have an alternative ancient derivation, from the Latin. It is the ancient Greeks, though, who more typically function as ‘our’ ancestors in the political sphere, ideologically, mythologically and symbolically. It is they, above all, who are soberly credited with having ‘discovered’ or ‘invented’ not only city-republican forms but also politics in the strong sense: that is, communal decision-making effected in public after substantive discussion by or before voters deemed relevantly equal, and on issues of principle as well as purely technical, operational matters. Yet whether it was in fact the Greeks – rather than the Phoenicians, say, or Etruscans – who first discovered or invented politics in this sense, it is unarguable that their politics and ours differ sharply from each other, both theoretically and practically. This is partly, but not only nor primarily, because they mainly operated within the framework of the polis, with a radically different conception of the nature of the citizen, and on a very much smaller and more intimately personal scale (the average polis of the Classical period is thought to have numbered no more than 500 to 2,000 adult male citizens; fifth-century Athens’ figure of 40,000 or more was hugely exceptional). The chief source of difference, however, is that for both practical and theoretical reasons they enriched or supplemented politics with practical ethics (as we might put it).
63 citations
Book•
20 Sep 2018TL;DR: Praxis as discussed by the authors investigates both the existing practices of international politics and relations during and after the Cold War, and the issue of whether problems of praxis (individual and collective choices) can be subjected to a "theoretical treatment".
Abstract: Praxis investigates both the existing practices of international politics and relations during and after the Cold War, and the issue of whether problems of praxis (individual and collective choices) can be subjected to a 'theoretical treatment'. The book comes in two parts: the first deals with the constitution of international relations and the role of theoretical norms in guiding decisions, in areas such as sanctions, the punishment of international crimes, governance and 'constitutional' concern, the second is devoted to 'theory building'. While a 'theorization' of praxis has often been attempted, Kratochwil argues that such endeavours do not attend to certain important elements characteristic of practical choices. Praxis presents a shift from the accepted international relations standard of theorizing, by arguing for the analysis of policy decisions made in non-ideal conditions within a broader framework of practical choices, emphasizing both historicity and contingency.
55 citations