Raaflaub - The Adventure of the Human Intellect

1. Chapter 02
2. Chapter 11

Series Editor: Kurt A. Raaflaub

War and Peace in the Ancient World
Edited by Kurt A. Raaflaub

Household and Family Religion in Antiquity
Edited by John Bodel and Saul Olyan

Epic and History
Edited by David Konstan and Kurt A. Raaflaub

Geography and Ethnography: Perceptions of the World in Pre-Modern Societies
Edited by Kurt A. Raaflaub and Richard J. A. Talbert

The Roman Empire in Context: Historical and Comparative Perspectives
Edited by Johann P. Arnason and Kurt A. Raaflaub

Highways, Byways, and Road Systems in the Pre-Modern World
Edited by Susan E. Alcock, John Bodel, and Richard J. A. Talbert

The Gift in Antiquity
Edited by Michael L. Satlow

The Greek Polis and the Invention of Democracy
Edited by Johann P. Arnason, Kurt A. Raaflaub, and Peter Wagner

Thinking, Recording, and Writing History in the Ancient World
Edited by Kurt A. Raaflaub

Peace in the Ancient World: Concepts and Theories
Edited by Kurt A. Raaflaub

The Adventure of the Human Intellect: Self, Society, and the Divine in Ancient World Cultures
Edited by Kurt A. Raaflaub

Edited by

Kurt A. Raaflaub

This edition first published 2016
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Raaflaub, Kurt A., editor of compilation.
Title: The adventure of the human intellect : self, society, and the divine in ancient world cultures / edited by Kurt A. Raaflaub.
Description: Chichester, UK ; Malden, MA : John Wiley & Sons, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015048916 | ISBN 9781119162551 (cloth) | ISBN 9781119162612 (epub) | ISBN 9781119162599 (Adobe PDF)
Subjects: LCSH: Philosophy, Ancient. | IntellectHistory. | Intellectual lifeHistory. | SelfHistory. | Thought and thinkingHistory.
Classification: LCC B108 .A38 2016 | DDC 180dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015048916

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Cover image: Shutterstock/astroskeptic
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The purpose of this series is to pursue important social, political, religious, economic, and intellectual issues through a wide range of ancient or early societies, while occasionally covering an even broader diachronic scope. By engaging in comparative studies of the ancient world on a truly global scale, this series hopes not only to throw light on common patterns and marked differences, but also to illustrate the remarkable variety of responses humankind developed to meet common challenges. Focusing as it does on periods that are far removed from our own time, and in which modern identities are less immediately engaged, the series contributes to enhancing our understanding and appreciation of differences among cultures of various traditions and backgrounds. Not least, it thus illuminates the continuing relevance of the study of the ancient world in helping us to cope with problems of our own multicultural world.

The present volume picks up a topic tackled 70 years ago in a visionary project by members of the University of Chicagos Oriental Institute: the world view of three important Near Eastern civilizations (Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Israel). Under the title The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man, the contributors used the extant texts produced by highly developed, sophisticated, and literate societies to reconstruct their views on the place of human beings in society and state, in nature and cosmos, in space and time, in life and death, and in relation to those in power and the world of the divine. This book proved highly popular and successful. Although it is still in print, it is badly outdated. The present volume reassesses the books accomplishments and shortcomings, establishes a theoretical foundation for such a project in the twenty-first century, and offers insights into what a new version, up-to-date not only in theoretical underpinning and approach, evidence and scholarship, but also in scope, might include. Much broader in its coverage, it encompasses not only the original three but many other eminent civilizations around the globe and illustrates the variety of ways by which these ancient or early societies embarked on their unprecedented intellectual adventures of discovering and defining their place in the world and dealing with the challenges posed by this world.

Earlier volumes in the series are listed at the very beginning of this volume. After Slavery and Social Death (eds John Bodel and Walter Scheidel) is in preparation.

James P. Allen is the Charles Edwin Wilbour Professor of Egyptology at Brown University and past president of the International Association of Egyptologists. He is the author of numerous books and articles on ancient Egyptian language, literature, history, and religion, including