The Babylonian World

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