Crouch War and Ethics in the Ancient Near East

Military Violence in Light of Cosmology and History
1. Auflage 2010
ISBN: 978-3-11-022352-1
Verlag: De Gruyter
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, Band 407, 260 Seiten

Reihe: Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft

The monograph considers the relationships of ethical systems in the ancient Near East through a study of warfare in Judah, Israel and Assyria in the eighth and seventh centuries BCE. It argues that a common cosmological and ideological outlook generated similarities in ethical thinking.
In all three societies, the mythological traditions surrounding creation reflect a strong connection between war, kingship and the establishment of order. Human kings’ military activities are legitimated through their identification with this cosmic struggle against chaos, begun by the divine king at creation. Military violence is thereby cast not only as morally tolerable but as morally imperative.
Deviations from this point of view reflect two phenomena: the preservation of variable social perspectives and the impact of historical changes on ethical thinking.
The research begins the discussion of ancient Near Eastern ethics outside of Israel and Judah and fills a scholarly void by placing Israelite and Judahite ethics within this context, as well as contributing methodologically to future research in historical and comparative ethics.

Zielgruppe

Academics, Institutes, Libraries

Autoren/Hrsg.

Crouch, Carly L.

Crouch, C. L.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Militärgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Geschichte der klassischen Antike
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Naher & Mittlerer Osten

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Foreword;7
2;Contents;9
3;1. Introduction;13
4;Part I Ideology, cosmology and ethics;25
4.1;2. Ideology and the confrontation of cultures;27
4.2;3. Assyrian cosmology;33
4.3;4. Judahite and Israelite cosmology;41
5;Part II Ethics and society;45
5.1;5. Ethics of the Assyrian élite;47
5.2;6. Ethics of the Judahite and Israelite élite;77
5.3;7. Ethics of the non-élite;109
6;Part III Ethics and history;129
6.1;8. Developments in Assyrian ethics;131
6.2;9. Developments in Judahite and Israelite ethics I;168
6.3;10. Developments in Judahite and Israelite ethics II;186
7;11. Conclusions;203
8;Abbreviations;209
9;Bibliography;215
10;Index of ancient sources;245
11;Index of modern authors;255

Über Autor(innen)

Carly L. Crouch, University of Cambridge.