Medieval History
They got married, had children, made beer. Although they lived 3,500 years ago in Nippur, Babylonia, in many ways they seem like us. Whether they were also slaves is a hotly contested question which Jonathan Tenney, assistant professor of ancient Near Eastern studies, addresses in the newly released Life at the Bottom of Babylonian Society: Servile Laborers at Nippur in the 14th and 13th Centuries, B.C., published by Brill.
The book is based on Tenney?s dissertation at the University of Chicago, for which he received the 2010 Dissertation of the Year Award by the American Academic Research Institute in Iraq.
Some previous scholars identified the 8,000-strong group of government workers as temple employees. ?But the problem is the records included food for little babies, which didn?t make much sense,? says Tenney, who joined the Cornell faculty this past fall. ?And sometimes the workers ran away, and when they were captured they were put in prison.?
Click here to read this article from History of the Ancient World
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Medieval History
Slaves or not, Babylonians were much like us, says book
They got married, had children, made beer. Although they lived 3,500 years ago in Nippur, Babylonia, in many ways they seem like us. Whether they were also slaves is a hotly contested question which Jonathan Tenney, assistant professor of ancient Near Eastern studies, addresses in the newly released Life at the Bottom of Babylonian Society: Servile Laborers at Nippur in the 14th and 13th Centuries, B.C., published by Brill.
The book is based on Tenney?s dissertation at the University of Chicago, for which he received the 2010 Dissertation of the Year Award by the American Academic Research Institute in Iraq.
Some previous scholars identified the 8,000-strong group of government workers as temple employees. ?But the problem is the records included food for little babies, which didn?t make much sense,? says Tenney, who joined the Cornell faculty this past fall. ?And sometimes the workers ran away, and when they were captured they were put in prison.?
Click here to read this article from History of the Ancient World
- Sex, Beer And Politics: Riddles Reveal Life Of Ancient Mesopotamians
Millennia before modern-day Americans made fun of their politicians or cracked crude jokes over a cold one, people in ancient Mesopotamia were doing much the same thing. The evidence of sex, politics and beer-drinking comes from a newly translated tablet,...
- Researchers To Use Dna To Learn Origins Of Roman Slaves
Using only a tooth, researchers at Idaho State University can help solve ancient archeological mysteries ? for example, determining what someone ate hundreds of years ago on Easter Island or tracing the genetics of 2,000-year-old Roman slaves ? by utilizing...
- Research Reveals Massive Extent Of Slavery Between Muslims, Christians During Early Modern Period
Although most people think of slavery as a matter of racial oppression, new research has suggested that, between 1500 and 1800, human bondage was often based on religion rather than on race. Long-running hostilities between Muslims and Christians in...
- When Is A Product Of Research Ready For Public Release?
By now, many readers will probably be aware of the debate surrounding the recent release of the American Historical Society's Statement on Policies Regarding the Embargoing of Completed History PhD Dissertations. The discussion has gained quite...
- Joseph Lynch, Obituary
Professor Joseph H. Lynch died unexpectedly on December 27, 2008 at the age of 65. He held the Joe & Elizabeth Engle Chair in the History of Christianity at The Ohio State University in Columbus Ohio. He was a fellow of the Medieval Academy, past President...