The Material and Ideological Base of the Old Babylonian State: History, Economy, and Politics

(Hardback)

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This book describes and analyzes the economic and administrative structure as well as the ideological background of the Old Babylonian state during the rule of the First Dynasty (18941595 BC). The study of these issues is based on the analysis of written sources of various types, mainly of royal inscriptions, economic and administrative documents, legal records (contracts, court procedures as well as law codes and royal edicts), letters and year names. The book focuses on the activities that the Old Babylonian state performed in the field of economy, administration, politics and ideology. Primarily, the book brings an analysis of the political and economic role of the Old Babylonian state and it pays attention to the various levels of activities of the king himself as well as the state administration. The author delimits the fields of competences of various state officials as well as reconstructs mutual relations among persons on various levels of the state administration. As the Old Babylonian state maintained close relations also to other economic and administrative subjects (such as temples and private persons), the book also reconstructs the relations between the state and those subjects.

Reviews

The entanglement of politics and economy has become an exciting field of research in Near Eastern studies. Lukas Pecha is the first to offer a detailed analysis for the state of the First Dynasty of Babylon (1894-1595 BCE), the dynasty of ammu-rabi. Building on previous scholarship and after a first-hand research of thousands of cuneiform texts, he focuses on the management of state revenues and taxes, and their social embedding. In addition, Pecha discusses the ideological foundations as formulated by the kings of Babylon, and thus arrives at a new and comprehensive view. With the data at hand, a new explanation for the decline and eventually the fall of Babylon can be offered. For all those interested in the history, culture and society of one of the most inventive periods in ancient times, this voluminous analysis offers important background information. In a larger historical perspective, it defines the place of the First Dynasty of Babylon after the early era of the city states and before the international states of the Late Bronze Age. -- Walther Sallaberger, University of Munich
Luk Pecha has carefully gathered together the many strands of the political and economic aspects of Babylonian life and woven them into a cogent and compelling account of how an ancient state system organized itself. Historians and political scientists alike should take note of this important new synthesis. -- Seth Richardson, Managing Editor, Journal of Near Eastern Studies

Author Bio

Luk Pecha is professor of philosophy and arts at University of West Bohemia, Pilsen