Cuneiform Texts and the Writing of History
To understand the history of Mesopotamia, historians have had to rely on cuneiform texts which represent the oldest tradition of human history. The number and variety of texts written in cuneiform script are enormous, and present a unique source for the study of this ancient culture. \ Clear and accessible, Cuneiform Texts and the Writing of History explores the possibilities and challenges these sources offer. Marc Van De Mieroop considers the political, social, and economic conditions that...
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To understand the history of Mesopotamia, historians have had to rely on cuneiform texts which represent the oldest tradition of human history. The number and variety of texts written in cuneiform script are enormous, and present a unique source for the study of this ancient culture. Clear and accessible, Cuneiform Texts and the Writing of History explores the possibilities and challenges these sources offer. Marc Van De Mieroop considers the political, social, and economic conditions that these texts illuminate as well as the way historians have used these sources to validate their readings of particular historical events. Filled with examples taken from the entirety of Mesopotamian history, Cuneiform Texts and the Writing of History offers readers insight into how we have come to learn about this fascinating chapter of the human past.
List of illustrationsAcknowledgementsIntroduction11The First Half of History9Administrative documents13Private legal documents17Letters22Historiographic texts25Literay texts27Scholarly texts322History from Above39Assyrian royal inscriptions40Sargon of Agade59Mesopotamian history and narrative763History from Below86Prosopography89Innaja, an old Assyrian merchant92The effects of war984Economic History106Theories of ancient economics108The primitivism-modernism debate109Marxist interpretations111Max Weber115Modernist approaches120Agriculture in Ur III Lagash1235Gender and Mesopotamian History1386Conclusions161Notes167Annotated bibliography171Bibliography176Index194
