ABSTRACT
The Babylonian World presents an extensive, up-to-date and lavishly illustrated history of the ancient state Babylonia and its 'holy city', Babylon.
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.
Comprehensive and accessible, this book will be an indispensable resource for anyone studying the period.
1. Introduction Part 1: Land and Land Use 2. Babylonian Countrysides 3. Land and Land Use: The Middle Euphrates Valley 4. Agricultural Techniques 5. Urban Form in the First Millennium Part 2: Material Culture 6. Architecture in the Old Babylonian Period 7. Babylonian Seals 8. Babylonian Sources of Exotic Raw Materials 9. Cloth in the Babylonian World 10. The Babylonian Visual Image 11. Food and Drink in Babylonia Part 3: Economic Life 12. Economy of Ancient Mesopotamia: A General Outline 13. The Old Babylonian Economy 14. Aspects of Society and Economy in the later Old Babylonian Period 15. The Babylonian Economy in the First Millennium BC 16. The Egibi Family Part 4: Society and Politics 17. Social Configurations in Early Dynastic Babylonia (c. 2500–2334 B.C.) 18. Palace and the Temple in Babylonia 19. Power, Economy and Social Organization in Babylonia 20. Arameans and Chaldeans: Environment and Society 21. Women and Gender in Babylonia Part 5: Religion 22. The Role and Function of Goddesses in Mesopotamia 23. Inanna and Ishtar in the Babylonian World 24. The Babylonian god Marduk 25. Divination Culture and Handling of the Future 26. Witchcraft Literature in Mesopotamia Part 6: Intellectual Life: Cuneiform Writing and Learning 27. Incantations within Akkadian Medical Texts 28. Writing, Sending, and Reading Letters in the Amorite World 29. Mathematics, Metrology, and Professional Numeracy 30. Babylonian Lexical Lists 31. Gilgamesh and the Literary Traditions of Ancient Mesopotamia 32. Babylonian Astral Science 33. Omens Concerned with Human Behaviour 34. Late Babylonian Intellectual Life Part 7: International Relations: Babylonia and the Ancient Near Eastern World 35. Egypt and Babylon 36. A View from Hattusa 37. Babylonian Relations with the Levant during the Kassite Period 38. Looking down the Tigris: The Interrelations between Assyria and Babylonia 39. The View from Jerusalem: Biblical Responses to the Babylonian Presence 40. Babylonia and Persia
