CIVILIZATION BEFORE CIVILIZATION

secondary sources

• R. W. Mathisen. 2014. Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations
  1. Civilizations before Civilization (2,000,000-3000 BCE)
  2. Mesopotamia and the Bronze Age (6000-1200 BCE)
• Coogan et al. 2001:3-7_HB
  introduction to the Tanakh, or Pentateuch (the first “five books”)
  Documentary Hypothesis (J E P D sources)

ancient texts

• Genesis
  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  “Moses” / J E P D sources / redaction under Josiah / editing post-exile
      SIMPLIFIED: “Moses”, oral traditon, written, edited
  when: ca.1200 / 1000 / 610 / 530 BCE
      SIMPLIFIED: 1200-530 BCE
  where: Jerusalem
  context: elite Hebrew speaking worshippers of YHWH
  
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Genesis, Torah (“law”) or Pentateuch (first “five books”)
  where: the cosmos
  when: in the beginning; antediluvian
  summary: explanations about the origin of the cosmos, human life, various customs and social affinities
  — Deluge
• • Gen 6.1-4 • cause: monstrous violence (J or Yahwistic)
    breach of the divine-human boundary; the “sons of God” (’El) mate with human women, leading to 120-year limit of human life; beget violent “warriors of renown” (i.e. the giant Nephilim)
  • 6.5-8 • cause: human wickedness (Priestly)
  • 6.9-22 • Noah and family chosen (P)
  • 7.1-5 • method: rain 40 days and nights (J? non-Priestly source)
  • 7.6-9 • Noah, family and animals board ark (giant rectangular box)
  • 7.10-12 • method: chaotic waters erupt from Dome of the Sky and the Deep (P)
  • 7.13-16 • Noah, family and animals board ark (giant rectangular box)
  • 7.17-8.22 • Noah et al. survive (P and non-Priestly interwoven)
    conclusion: thanksgiving sacrifice; never again will all life be destroyed
  • 9.1-17 • Covenant with Noah (P)
    do not consume animal blood (sign: rainbow)
• Genesis — Origin of Nations
• • Gen 9: 18-29 • Curse of Ham
    ethnicity: eponymous ancestor Canaan putatively related to Ham rather than Shem; etiology of viticulture and drunkeness
  • 10.1-32 • Generations of Noah (P, toledoth)
    ethnicity: division of peoples by kinship
  • 11.1-9 • Tower of Babel (J)
    ethnicity: division of peoples by language
• Pseudo-Apollodorus Library
  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  who: Pseudo-Apollodorus
  when: 1st BCE
  where: Athens
  context: audience of Greek-speaking Romans
  
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Library
  where: Ancient Greece
  when: many generations ago
  summary: Zeus (Jupiter) causes deluge; Prometheus helps Deucalion survive; he and his wife reseed people (laos) from stones (laas)
  — Deluge & Origin of Nations
• • [Apollod.] 3.98-99 (livius.org) • cause: human wickedness
    impeity of the Sons of Lycaon
  • 1.47 • cause: violence of the Bronze Race
    Deucalion and family chosen; board giant rectangular box
  • 1.48 • method: rain 9 days and nights
    conclusion: thanksgiving sacrifice
  • 1.48-50 • Generations of Hellen
    ethnicity: division of peoples by kinship
• Gilgamesh
  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  who: Sumerian | Akk/Hurr/Hitt | Assyrian (Sin-leqe-unnini) scribes
  when: EB/2200 | LB/1400 (redactions) | Early Iron/625 BCE (standard edition)
  where: Sumerian city states | MB/LB kingdoms | Nineveh
  context: Sumero-Akkadian speaking elite
  
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Gilgamesh
  who: Gilgamesh, Enkidu, Shamhat, Humbaba, Bull of Heaven; Scorpion-people; Siduri, Ut-napishtim, Enlil, Ishtar, etc
  where: Mesopotamia (Uruk), Cedar Forest, edge of the world
  when: heroic age; many generations ago
  summary: mortality, urban-civilized vs nomadic-savage, origin of...
  — Deluge (tab.IX)
  • CoS 1.132 (livius.org)
• Atrahasis
  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  who: Ipiq-aya
  when: ca.1700 BCE (Old Babylonian Era)
  where: Babylonia
  summary: Akkadian speaking elite
  
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Atra-ḫasis
  who: Annunaki/Igigi, Enlil/Ellil, Ea/Enki, Ninhursag/Mami, Atrahasis where: Mesopotamia
  when: many generations ago
  summary: antediluvian, flood narrative, corruption of man, mortality (& suffering)
  — Deluge
  • CoS 1.130 (livius.org)
• Berossus On Babylon
  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  who: Berossus of Babylonia
  when: 3rd BCE
  where: Seleucid Mesopotamia
  summary: Greek-speaking elite
  
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Babylōnikē (“Babylonian Things”)
  who: Cronus, Xisuthrus
  where: Babel/Babylon, Armenia/Urartu/Ararat
  when: ante-diluvian, flood narrative
  summary: How man became corrupt/violent, division by language...
  (Babylonian Affairs) — Deluge
  • FGrHist 680 F4b (livius.org)

lectures

handouts

active reading

Pseudo-Apollodorus

Great Flood

table of Nations

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | REVIEW

BRONZE AGE EGYPT & MESOPOTAMIA

secondary sources

• R. W. Mathisen. 2014. Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations
  2. Mesopotamia and the Bronze Age (6000-1200 BCE)
  3. Egypt and the Bronze Age (5000-1200 BCE)

ancient texts

• Genesis
  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  “Moses” / J E P D sources / redaction under Josiah / editing post-exile
      SIMPLIFIED: “Moses”, oral traditon, written, edited
  when: ca.1200 / 1000 / 610 / 530 BCE
      SIMPLIFIED: 1200-530 BCE
  where: Jerusalem
  context: elite Hebrew speaking worshippers of YHWH
  
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Genesis, Torah (“law”) or Pentateuch (first “five books”)
  where: the cosmos
  when: in the beginning; antediluvian
  summary: explanations about the origin of the cosmos, human life, various customs and social affinities
  — Potiphar's Wife Motif | Palace Redistrubition
  cf. R. Crumb illustrated edition
• • Gen 37 •
  • 39 •
  • 40 •
  • 41 •
• Linear B
  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  who: Mycenaean / Achaean scribe
  when: ca.1350 BCE
  where: Pylos, Mycenae, Cnossus
  summary: Greek-speaking elite, palace redistribution archive
  
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Linear B tablets
  when: ca.1350 BCE
  who:
  where: Pylos, Mycenae, Cnossus
  context/summary: palace and temple dedications (including slaves), military records, prestige items
  — Palace Redistrubition
• • KN (Cnossus):
  • MY (Mycenae):
  • PY (Pylos):
• Tale of Two Brothers
  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  author: Egyptian scribes (Kagab and Ennana)
  when: LB/NK/19th Dyn/ca.1200 BCE
  where: 17th nome of Upper Egypt, city of Hardai (Gk. Cynopolis, "city of the dog") with temple of Anubis and city of Saka (mod. al-Qaïs) with temple of Bata
  context/summary: Egyptian speaking elite
  
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Tale of Two Brothers (P.Jumilhac and P.D’Orbiney)
  when: timeless
  who: Anubis (and his wife), Bata (and his wife), pharaoh, Khnum, Re-Harakhti
  where: Egypt, Retjenu (Valley of Pine / Cedar)
  context/summary: one of the world's oldest and richest sources of folklore motifs
  — Potiphar's Wife Motif
• • CoS 1.40 • Bata & Anubis
• Homer Iliad
  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  who: "Homer" | rhapsodes (oral tradition) | redactor | editor (Pisistratus)
  when: 1200 | 1000 | 750 | 530 BCE
  where: Aegean (Euboea)
  summary: Greek-speaking elite of city-states
  
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Iliad
  when: ca.1200 BCE
  who: Glaucus, Diomedes, Belerephon, Proetus, Anteia
  where: Troy, Lycia
  context/summary: Potiphar’s Wife motif
  — Potiphar's Wife Motif
• • Hom.Il.V.119-236 • Bellerophon
• Birth of Sargon
  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  author: Assyrian Scribe
  when: 8th BCE (reign of Sargon II)
  where: Assyria
  context/summary: Akkadian speaking elite
  
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Birth of Sargon
  when: ca.2300 BC
  who: Sargon of Akkad
  where: Akkad / AGADE^KI
  context/summary: Found(l)ing Hero motif
  — Found(l)ing Hero Motif
  • CoS 1.133 • Sargon
• Exodus
  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  who: “Moses“ | J E P D sources | redaction under Josiah | post-exile edition
  when: ca.1200 | 1000 | 610 | 530 BCE
  where: Jerusalem
  summary:internal attribution to Moses, but various traditional sources were interwoven under Josiah and edited after the Babylonian exile
  
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Exodus (or Torah / Pentateuch, or Tanakh)
  when: ca.1200 BC
  who: Moses, Pharaoh’s daughter
  where: banks of the Nile, [Pithom (Goshen)]
  context/summary: Found(l)ing Hero motif
  — Found(l)ing Hero Motif
  • Ex 2:1-10 • Moses
• Herodotus History
  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  author: Herodotus of Halicarnassus
  when: ca.420 BCE
  where: Athens
  context/summary: Greek speaking elite
  
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: History (“inquiry”)
  when: ca.600 BCE
  who: Cyrus, Astyages, Mandane, magi, Hapargus, Mitradates, Cyno (“bitch”)
  where: Media, Persia
  context/summary: Found(l)ing Hero motif
  — Found(l)ing Hero Motif
  • Herod.I.107-114 • Cyrus
• T. Livius (Livy) From the Foundation of the City
  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  author: T. Livius (Livy)
  when: 1st BCE/1st CE
  where: Padua > Rome
  context/summary: Latin speaking elite
  
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: From the Foundation of the City (Ab urbe condita)
  when: ca.750 BCE
  who: Romulus and Remus, Mars, Rhea Silvia (Vestal), Faustulus, Laurentia/Lupa (“she-wolf”)
  where: Alban Mount, Rome, banks of the Tiber
  context/summary: Found(l)ing Hero motif
  — Found(l)ing Hero Motif
• Liv.AUC.I.3-4 • Romulus & Remus

lectures

handouts

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | REVIEW

EGYPTIAN EMPIRE

secondary sources

• R. W. Mathisen. 2014. Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations
  3. Egypt and the Bronze Age (5000-1200 BCE)
  4. Coastal Civilizations of the Eastern Mediterranean (2500-800 BCE)
• Coogan et al. 2001: 309-313_HB
  introduction to the Deuteronomic Historian (DtrH)

ancient texts

• Hymn to the Aten

  AUTHORS CONTEXT

  who: Egyptian Scribe

  when: 1350 BCE LB/NK (Late Bronze Age / New Kingdom) Dynasty 18

  where: Akhetaten (mod. Tall al-‘Amarna)

  summary: Atenist revolution

  NARRATIVE CONTEXT

  title: Hymn to the Aten

  who: Aten, Akhenaten

  where: everywhere (beyond Canaan and Nubia)

  when:1350 BCE (LB/NK/Dyn18)

  summary: henotheism, universal monad over all

  – Henotheism
• • CoS 1.28 •
• Amarna Correspondence

  AUTHORS CONTEXT
  who: Akkadian speaking Egyptian scribe
  when: ca.1350 BCE LB/ NK (Late Bronze Age / New Kingdom) Dynasty 18
  where: Akhetaten (mod. Tall al-‘Amarna)
  summary: international correspondence from the reign of Akhetaten
  
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Amarna Letters, or Amarna Correspondence
  who: between the pharaoh (Akhetaten) and peer kings (“brothers”) or vassals (e.g. Rib-Hadad of Byblos)
  where: Egypt, Canaan/Retenu, Mesopotamia
  when: ca.1350 BCE
  summary: conspicuous consumption of wealth in gift exchanges; appeal for military support against hapiru (the “Hebrew” or mountain brigands)

  – Egypt & Canaan
• • CoS 3.92A •
  • 3.92B •
  • 3.92C •
  • 3.92D •
  • 3.92E •
  • 3.92F •
  • 3.92G •
  • 4.80 •
  • 4.81 •
  • 4.82 •
  • 4.83 •
  • 4.84 •
  • 4.85 •
  • 4.86 •
• Moabite Stone
  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  who: Moabite scribes
  when: ca.810 BCE
  where: Dibon (Moab)
  summary: Moabite speaking elite (Canaanite dialect nearly identical to Hebrew)
  
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Moabite Stone, or Mesha Stela
  who: Mesha, Chemosh
  where: Moab(Dibon)
  when: ca.850 BCE
  summary: success of king attributed to Chemosh; victory of subjects over former overlord; era of small states
  – Mesha of Moab
• • CoS 2.23.1-3a (livius.org) • Introduction and Identification
    king Mesha, the son of Kemosh-yatti of Dibon (mod. Dihban)
  • 3b-4 • Occasion for the Erecting of the Stela
    builds high-place for Kemosh in Karchoh (quarter of Dibon)
  • 5-7a • Military Achievements
    ‘Omri, king of Israel, oppressed Moab but now his “house has gone to ruin”
  • 7b-9 • Restoration of Medeba
    ‘Omri had taken Medeba (mod. Madaba), but Kemosh restored it
  • 10-13 • Conquest of Ataroth
    captured Ataroth (mod. Khirbet Ataruz) and killed all the people as sacrum for Kemosh
  • 14-18a • Destruction of Nebo
    Kemosh commanded that Mesha “Go, take Nebo from Israel!”
    captured it and killed its whole population–citizens, resident-aliens, servants–as sacrum (ḥrm) for Ashtar-Kemosh took (statues? vessels?) of YHWH, and “hauled them before the face of Kemosh”
  • 18b-21a • Conquest of Jahaz
    king of Israel built Jahaz, used it as a base, but “Kemosh drove him away before my face”
  • 21b-25 • Mesha's Building Activities at Karchoh
    Mesha builts Karchoh (quarter of Dhibon)
    cuts out moat with labor of Israelite war-prisoners
  • 26-27 • Other Building Activities
  • 28-29 • First Conclusion
  • 30-31a • Other Building Activities
  • 31b-34 • Battle at Horonaim
    Kemosh said: “Go down, fight against Horonaim!”
  • 34- • Second Conclusion
• II Kings
  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  who: Deuteronomistic Historian (DtrH), derivative of D source, redacted under Josiah | post-exile edition
  when: ca.610 | 530 BCE
  where: Jerusalem
  summary: compiled under Josiah and edited after the Babylonian exile for a Hebrew-speaking audience
  
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: II Kings (Kgs), Nevi'im (“prophets”, or historical books)
  where: Israel
  when: ca.850
  summary: campaigns against Mesha; sheep-breeders; era of small states
  – Mesha of Moab
  • II Kgs 3:1-3 • kings of Israel and Judah
  • 4-8 • Mesha of Moab refuses to pay tribute (rebellious vassal)
    ethnicity: uncivilized “sheep breeder”
  • 9-20 • prophecy and miracle of Elisha
  • 21-25 • battles; seige of Kir-hareseth (mod. Kerak)
  • 26-27 • Moabite attempt sally, king sacrifices son, “great wrath” befalls Israel
    ethnicity: child sacrifice
• Judges
  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  who: Deuteronomistic Historian (DtrH), derivative of D source, redacted under Josiah | post-exile edition
  when: ca.610 | 530 BCE
  where: Jerusalem
  summary: compiled under Josiah and edited after the Babylonian exile for a Hebrew-speaking audience
  
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Judges (Jdg), Nevi'im (“prophets”, or historical books)
  where: Israel
  when: ca.1200
  summary: Samson campaigns against Philistines; circumcision; era of small states
  – Samson vs Philistines
  • Jud 14 •
  • 15 •
  • 16 •
• I-II Samuel
  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  who: Deuteronomistic Historian (DtrH), derivative of D source, redacted under Josiah | post-exile edition
  when: ca.610 | 530 BCE
  where: Jerusalem
  summary: compiled under Josiah and edited after the Babylonian exile for a Hebrew-speaking audience
  
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: I Samuel (I Sam), Nevi'im (“prophets”, or historical books)
  where: Israel
  when: ca.1000
  summary: campaigns of Saul against Philistines; circumcision; David vs Goliath of Gath, last of the nephilim; era of small states
  – Goliath
  • I Sam 17 • David of Bethlehem vs Goliath of Gath
    ethnicity: uncircumcised Philistine, spearshaft like a weaver's beam
  • II Sam 21:15-22 • Elhanan of Bethlehem vs Goliath of Gath
    descendants of repha‘im (i.e. nephilim), spearshaft like a weaver's beam

lectures

handouts

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | REVIEW

ASSYRIA & BABYLONIA vs ISRAEL

secondary sources

• R. W. Mathisen. 2014. Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations
  4. Coastal Civilizations of the Eastern Mediterranean (2500-800 BCE)
  5. Iron Age Empires: Assyria, Babylonia and Persia (850-500 BCE)

ancient texts

• Report of Wenamun

  AUTHORS CONTEXT
  who: Egyptian scribe
  when: ca.1000 BCE (Early Iron / Late Period) Dyn.XXI
  where: Tayu-djayet/Ankyronpolis (mod. al-Ḥība)
  summary: traveller's tale
  
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Tale of Wenamun
  who: Wenamun, ambassador of Herihor of Thebes (High Priest of Amun); Smendes of Tanis (Chief of the Ma / Meshwesh), Ramesses XI of Pi-Ramesses; Tiekerbaal (or Zakarbaal) of Byblus; Sea Peoples (Tjeker, cf. Pelset)
  where: Egypt, Canaan/Retenu
  when: 1075 BCE (Year 5 of the Renaissance Era); transition between Ramesside Dyn XX and Libyan Dyn XXI; independence of High Priest of Amun
  summary: weakness and fragmentation of Egypt; threat of Sea Peoples; comparative equal standing and strength of Byblus

  – Egypt & Canaan
• • CoS 1.41 •
• II Kings
  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  who: DtrH (Deuteronomistic Historian) under Josiah | post-exile
  when: 610 | 530 BCE
  where: Jerusalem
  summary: written for Hebrew speaking, YHWH worshipping elite; retribution theory, centrality of the Davidic monarchy and the Jerusalem temple
  
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: II Kings 17-20, or Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), or Nevi’im (“Prophets”)
  who: Hoshea of Israel; YHWH/El(ohim); Hezekiah of Judah vs Sennacherib of Assyria
  when: ca.722-700 BCE
  where: Levant (Israel)
  context: fall of Israel/Samaria, Israelite identity (YHWH) vs Canaanite (Ba‘al), rebellious vassals, henotheism, destruction of Samaria, deportation and resettlement…
  – Israel & Judah vs Assyria
• • 2 Kgs 17:1-41 • Fall of Israel
    4 - Hoshea as rebellious vassal, refuses tribute payment
    Israel aligns with king So (Shabako?) of Egypt
    imprisoned by Shalmaneser V of Assyria
    5-6 - destruction of Samaria, deportation
    7-18 - Israel led astray (apostacy), sinning against YHWH
    ethnicity: customs of Canaanites (“nations whom the LORD drove out”)
    build high places, set up pillars and sacred poles; served idols; made cast images of calves; made sons and daughters pass through fire (child sacrifice); used divination and augury
    24-34 resettlement of Samaria
    henotheism - each nation worships their own deity alongside YHWH
  • 2 Kgs 18:1-12 • Reign of Hezekiah (good)
    4 - ethnicity: orthodox reform eliminates foreign customs
    removes high places; breaks down pillars and poles; shatters idolatrous snake into pieces
    7-8 - Hezekiah as rebelious vassal, refuses tribute payment; attacks Philistines
  • 2 Kgs 18:13-19:37 • Assyrian campaign against Judah
    13-16 - Sennacherib invades, takes Lachish (701 BCE)
    20-25 - Rabshakeh (vizier?) mocks Hezekiah for relying upon Egypt (“that broken reed of a staff”) and upon YHWH
    26-28 - ethnicity: use of Aramaic language vs Hebrew
    18:31-32, 19:29-30 - Mediterranean triad
    19:35 - wrath of the angel of the LORD (plague?)
• II Kings
  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  who: DtrH (Deuteronomistic Historian) under Josiah | post-exile
  when: 610 | 530 BCE
  where: Jerusalem
  summary: written for Hebrew speaking, YHWH worshipping elite; retribution theory, centrality of the Davidic monarchy and the Jerusalem temple
  
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: II Kings 21-25, or Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), or Nevi’im(“Prophets”)
  who: JYHWH/El(ohim); Hezekiah (good), Manasseh (bad) and Josiah (good) rule Judah; Jehoiachin of Judah vs Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia
  when: ca.700-587 BCE
  where: Levant (Judah)
  context: fall of Judah; good vs bad rulers; Israelite identity (YHWH) vs Canaanite (Ba‘al), rebellious vassals, deportation and resettlement (Babylonian Exile)…
  – Judah vs Babylonia
• • 2 Kgs 21:1-18 • Reign of Manasseh (bad)
    2-8 - Judah led astray (apostacy), sinning against YHWH
    ethnicity: customs of Canaanites (“nations whom the LORD drove out”)
    Manasseh rebuilds high places; erects altars for Ba‘al and the Host of Heaven; sets up a sacred pole (asherah); served idols; makes cast images of calves; makes his son pass through fire (child sacrifice); practices divination and augury; deals with mediums and wizards; set up a carved image of Asherah in the Temple
    9-16 - sins of Manasseh lead to destruction of Judah
    retribution theory: sins of the father
  • 2 Kgs 21:19-26 • Reign of Amon (bad)
    Judah led astray (apostacy)
  • 2 Kgs 22:1-23:30 • Reign of Josiah (good)
    3-10 - high priest Hilkiah & scribe-secretary Shaphan find 2nd scroll of The Law
        redaction under Josiah
        Deuteronomy (debarim, or deuteros nomos "second law")
    14-20 - prophet Huldah (female!)
    23:4-24 ethnicity: orthodox reform eliminates foreign customs
    removes vessels of Ba‘al, Asherah, and Host of Heaven as well as the carved image of Asherah from the Temple; deposes idolatrous priests; breaks down the houses of (male) prostitutes and of (female) weavers of Asherah; tears down high places; defiles Tophet so that no sons or daughters pass through fire (child sacrifice); removed horses of and burned chariot of the Sun; pulls down altars; defiles high places built for Astart of Sidon, Chemosh of Moab, and Milcom of the Ammonites; broke down pillars and cut down sacred poles (asherah); put away mediums, wizards, teraphim, idols and all abominations
    28-31 Neco of Egypt goes up to Assyria (to aid against Babylonia?), kills Josiah
  • 23:32-24:5 • Reign of Jehohaz and Jehoiakim (bad)
    33-34 - Jehoiakim set on throne as tributary vassal of Neco
    24:1-2 - rebellious vassal of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon
  • 24:6-25:30 • Fall of Judah, Reign of Jehoiachin (bad)
    8-17 Nebuchadnezzar beseiges Jerusalem; Jehoiachin surrenders
  mass deportation to Babylon (warriors, artisans), except for the poorest
  • 24:18-25:7 Reign of Zedekiah (bad)
    Nebuchadnezzar again beseiges Jerusalem; Zedekiah captured, blinded and imprisoned
    8-19 Nebuzaradan destroys Temple, mass deportation to Babylon, except for the poorest “to be vine-dressers and tillers of the soil”

essay

E01 guidelines

lectures

handouts

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | REVIEW

ASSYRIAN EMPIRE

secondary sources

• R. W. Mathisen. 2014. Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations
  5. Iron Age Empires: Assyria, Babylonia and Persia (850-500 BCE)

ancient texts

• Standard Inscription of Assurnasirpal

  AUTHORS CONTEXT
  who: Assyrian-Akkadian scribe
  when: ca.879 BCE
  where: capital of Assurnasirpal at Kalhu (mod. Nimrud)
  summary: depiction and legitimizaton of king's might; celebration of new capital
  
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Standard Inscription, repeated panels, including Va.1 Virginia Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary inscriptions (Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia, or RIMA 2.0.101.023, ex.265)
  who: Assurnasirpal (883-859 BCE)
  where: Kahlu (mod. Nimrud), NW Palace, Room S, panel 14
  when: ca.879 BCE
  summary: list of campaigns and tribute...

  (Virginia Theological Seminary)
• • RIMA 2 A.0.101.23 •
• Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser

  AUTHORS CONTEXT
  who: Assyrian-Akkadian scribe
  when: ca.825 BCE
  where: capital of Shalmaneser at Kalhu (mod. Nimrud)
  summary: depiction and legitimizaton of king's might; continuation of campaign vs Aramaean Coalition (Battle of Qarqar 853 BCE)
  
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser
  who: Shalmaneser III (858-824); Jehu of Samaria/Israel (842-814)
  where: Levant
  when: ca.825 BCE
  summary: list of campaigns and tribute, depiction of tribute-bearing vassals; end to era of small states

  – Aramaean Coalition
  • CoS 2.113F •
• II Kings

  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  who: Deuteronomistic Historian (DtrH), derivative of D source, redacted under Josiah | post-exile edition
  when: ca. 610 | 530 BCE
  where: Jerusalem
  summary: compiled under Josiah and edited after the Babylonian exile for a Hebrew-speaking audience
  
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: II Kings, Nevi'im (“prophets,” or historical books)
  where: Israel
  when: ca.722 BCE
  summary: campaigns of Shalmaneser V (727-722); unfaithful Judean vassals ally with King So (Nubian Dyn 25 King Piye, ca.714); end to era of small states, destruction of Samaria and 10 lost tribes

  – Aramaean Coalition
• • II Kgs 8:7-15 • Ben-Hadad and Hazael of Aram (Damascus)
  • II Kgs 10:32-43 • Hazael of Aram (Damascus) vs Jehu of Israel (Samaria)
• Samarra Tablets
  AUTHORS CONTEXT
  who: Assyrian-Akkadian scribe
  when: ca.691 BCE
  where: Sūr-marrati (mod. Samarra)
  context: Akkadian speaking elite
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Washington/Baltimore Inscription RINAP 3/2 Sennacherib 230 (Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period), composite of large fragment from the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore (ex.001), and Catholic University, Washington (ex.002)
  who: Sennacherib of Assyria
  when: ca.691 BCE
  where: Mesopotamia, Levant
  context: campaign …
  
  (Baltimore / Washington)  
• • RINAP 3/2.230 ex.1-2 •
• Annals of Sennacherib
  AUTHORS CONTEXT
  who: Assyrian-Akkadian scribe
  when: ca.700 BCE
  where: Nineveh (mod. Tall Quyunguq and Tall Nabi Yunus)
  context: Akkadian speaking elite
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Annals of Sennacherib
  composite of the Taylor Prism in the British Museum (BM 91032), Sennacherib Prism in the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago (OIM A2793), and Jerusalem Prism in the Isreael Museum (IMJ 71.072.0249, 70.062.0398)
  who: Sennacherib of Assyria, Hezekiah of Jerusalem
  when: ca.691
  where: Mesopotamia, Levant
  context: campaign vs Levant, relations with rebellious vassals (destruction and deportation)…
  • CoS 2.119B • campaign against Hatti (Neo-Hittites / Upper Levant)
  • “awesome splendor of my lordship” overwhelmed Lulli of Sidon (Phoenician)
    set up vassal (Tuba'lu), imposed tribute and annual dues
  • tribute of Amurru ("west" Levant) brought sumptuous presents and they kissed my feet
  • Sidqa of Ashkelon (Philistine) had not submitted to my yoke — his family gods, himself, his wife, his sons, his daughters, his brothers, etc. deported and brought to Assyria; set up vassal (Sharruludari), imposed upon him tribute and he now “bears my yoke”
  • Ekron handed over loyal Padi to Hezekiah the Judean, allied with kings of Egypt and Ethiopia; “trusting in the god Ashur”, S. inflicted a defeat, slew rebels, hung bodies on watchtowers; freed vassal Padi, imposed tribute
  • besieged Hezekiah the Judean, with ramps, battering rams, mines, breeches, and siege machines, captured people as spoil; locked him in Jerusalem “like a bird in a cage”; imposed dues in addition to the former tribute; overwhelmed Hezekiah with “the awesome splendor of my lordship”; send lots of loot/tribute to Nineveh with messenger who does obeisance
• Victory Stela of Piye

  AUTHORS CONTEXT
  who: Egyptian speaking Nubian scribe
  when: ca.730 BCE
  where: Temple of Amun at Napata (mod. Ǧabal al-Barkal), Nubian capital (Dynasty 25)
  summary: depiction and legitimizaton of king's might; Nubian control of the High Priests of Amun in Thebes
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Victory Stela of Piye
  who: rebel Tefnakht of Saïs, Chief of the Ma (732-725 BCE, Libyan Dyn. XXIV), with allies Osorkon IV of Bubastis (730-715 BCE, Libyan Dyn. XXII); Iuput of Leontopolis (754-715 BCE); Namart of Hermopolis (754-725 BCE)
  punitive campaign led by Piye of Napata (732-725 BCE, Nubian Dyn. XXV), in defense of loyal vassal Peftuaubast of Heracleopolis (754-720 BCE, Libyan Dyn. XXIII)
  where: Napata, Thebes, Hermopolis, Heracleopolis, Memphis
  when: ca.734 BCE
  summary: campaign vs coalition of Libyan dynasts in Lower Egypt; end to era of small states

  – Nubian Egypt
• • CoS 2.7 •
• II Kings

  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  who: Deuteronomistic Historian (DtrH), derivative of D source, redacted under Josiah | post-exile edition
  when: ca. 610 | 530 BCE
  where: Jerusalem
  summary: compiled under Josiah and edited after the Babylonian exile for a Hebrew-speaking audience
  
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: II Kings, Nevi'im (“prophets,” or historical books)
  where: Israel
  when: ca.722 BCE
  summary: campaigns of Shalmaneser V (727-722); unfaithful Judean vassals ally with King So (Nubian Dyn 25 King Piye, ca.714); end to era of small states, destruction of Samaria and 10 lost tribes

  – Nubian Egypt
• • II Kgs 17:3-4 •

lectures

handouts

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | REVIEW

DARK AGE & ARCHAIC PERIOD

secondary sources

• R. W. Mathisen. 2014. Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations
  6. Greece in the Dark and Archaic Ages (1100-500 BCE)

ancient texts

• Herodotus History
  AUTHORS CONTEXT
  who: Herodotus of Halicarnassus
  when: ca.420 BCE
  where: Halicarnassus > Athens > Thurii
  context: Greek speaking elite, primarily in Athens
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: History (‘istoriē “inquiry”)
  who:
  when: ca.500-480 BCE, with earlier periods treated parenthetically
  where: Greek ecumene (oikoumenē, their known “inhabited world”)
  context: ethnic identity (Hellene vs barbaros; Ionian vs Dorian; Sparta vs Argos); folklore; narrative history
  
  — Hellenic Ethnic Identity
• • Herod.I.0-6 • introduction and program of the ‘istoriē (“inquiry”), mythical conflicts between Greek & barbaros (“oogah-boogah” i.e. non-Greek speaker)
  • I.23-45 • Arion; Solon visits Croesus (not bloody likely!); Adrastus and xenia (“ritualized guest friendship”)
  • I.56-60 • Croesus, king of Lydia, inquires about the Hellenes; ethnicity: Dorian and Ionian subunits; and the Lacedaemonian/Spartan and Attic/Athenian sub-subunits
  • I.139-148 • read with dialect map
    ethnicity: Ionian dodecapoleis (12 cities): shared dialect (with 4 sub-dialects); shared alphabet (e.g Ionian Σ or sigma vs. Dorian Ϻ or san); shared Panionium ("All Ionian") sanctuary that excludes other Hellenes; shared common descent with 12 cities of Achaea; “pure-blooded” but intermarry Carian barbaroi
    ethnicity: Dorian pentapoleis (6 cities): shared dialect; shared Triopian sanctuary that excludes other Hellenes
  • V.2 • ethnicity: Alexander I, king of Macedonia (non-Greek?), participates at Olympia as descendant of Heracles
  • VIII.140-144 • Alexander I, king of Macedonia, acting as ambassador for the Great King of Persia, tried to persuade the Spartans (Dorians) and the Athenians (Ionians) to Medize (i.e. ritually offer earth and water to Ahuramazda)
    ethnicity: Athenians cannot—first because they burned their city and temples, second because of to Hellēnikon (“the Greek thing,” “Greekness”)—their shared blood, language, religion and customs
• Herodotus History
  AUTHORS CONTEXT
  who: Herodotus of Halicarnassus
  when: ca.420 BCE
  where: Halicarnassus > Athens > Thurii
  context: Greek speaking elite, primarily in Athens
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: History (‘istoriē “inquiry”)
  who:
  when: ca.500-480 BCE, with earlier periods treated parenthetically
  where: Greek ecumene (oikoumenē, their known “inhabited world”)
  context: ethnic identity (Hellene vs barbaros; Ionian vs Dorian; Sparta vs Argos); folklore; narrative history
  
  — Greece vs Egypt, pt.1
• • II.112-20 • Egyptians grant land to Phoenicians (“Camp of the Tyrians”) with temple of Astarte/Aphrodite; Helen in Egypt, human sacrifice by Menelaus
  • II.151-154 • Saïte king Psammetichus (Psamtik ca. 650 BCE) gains throne with help of “bronze men” (Greek and Carian mercenaries), to whom he grants land (“The Camps”)
  • II.174-182 • Saïte king Amasis takes advice from Solon of Athens (not bloody likely!); concession of land to Greek merchants at Naucratis (emporium of Saïs); Dorians, Ionians and Aeolians build a common temple (the Hellenium); takes one of his wives from Cyrene; makes dedications at Greek sanctuaries
  • VI.53 • trace the genealogy of the Dorians back far enough, past the heroic age, find descendants of Danäe, thus Egyptians
  • Fornara no.24 • graffiti of Greek mercenaries under Psammetichus, who tagged Egyptian monuments
• Herodotus History
  AUTHORS CONTEXT
  who: Herodotus of Halicarnassus
  when: ca.420 BCE
  where: Halicarnassus > Athens > Thurii
  context: Greek speaking elite, primarily in Athens
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: History (‘istoriē “inquiry”)
  who:
  when: ca.500-480 BCE, with earlier periods treated parenthetically
  where: Greek ecumene (oikoumenē, their known “inhabited world”)
  context: ethnic identity (Hellene vs barbaros; Ionian vs Dorian; Sparta vs Argos); folklore; narrative history
  
  — Ionian Logographers
• • II.15-34 • MAP
    Ionian logographers are mistaken about Egypt and how continents are organized (e.g. Egypt should be considered a transition from Asia to Libya); ethnicity: Egypt/Egyptians; explanation of Nile inundation; interviews with witnesses and hearsay; ethnicity: Ethiopians are civilized by Egyptians; the Deserters (Asmakh); Ammonian king says that Nassamones say that some of their youngsters say that they saw pygmies; Nile runs parallel to Danube
  • II.35-37 • MAP
    ethnicity: Egyptian customs are the opposite of everywhere else
  • II.142-47 • antiquity of Egypt – king lists and gods older than those of the Greeks (e.g. Heracles); information from personal observation (autopsy)
  • Hdt.III.38 • cultural (and moral) relativity (i.e. cannibalism); custom (nomos) is king; metaphor of the market
  • Hdt.VII.152 • cultural (and moral) relativity; metaphor of the market
• Herodotus History
  AUTHORS CONTEXT
  who: Herodotus of Halicarnassus
  when: ca.420 BCE
  where: Halicarnassus > Athens > Thurii
  context: Greek speaking elite, primarily in Athens
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: History (‘istoriē “inquiry”)
  who:
  when: ca.500-480 BCE, with earlier periods treated parenthetically
  where: Greek ecumene (oikoumenē, their known “inhabited world”)
  context: ethnic identity (Hellene vs barbaros; Ionian vs Dorian; Sparta vs Argos); folklore; narrative history
  
  — Hellenic Ethnic Identity
• • Hdt.I.71-73 • Persians are tough because they had harsh/poor upbringing; Halys River as ethnic boundary; Scythians serve human flesh to king of the Medes
  • I.192-200 • MAP
    ethnicity: Babylonia and Assyria, e.g. Babylonian, and Venetian, maidens auctioned off; women serve as temple prostitutes; fish eaters
  • I.205-216 • MAP
    Cyrus shows hybris (violently goes too far); crossing Araxes River enters Asia, fights Massegatae; ethnicity: M. are tough because they had harsh/poor upbringing; Tomyris puts Cyrus head in a bucket of blood; M. eat elders, share wives; eat meat & fish, drink milk
  • II.134-136 • Greeks believe that a courtesan, somehow related to Aesop, and sister-in-law to the poetess Sappho, built the pyramid; another built of brick
  • II.137-141 • Nubian/Ethiopian Shabako invades Egypt; mud brick cities become mounds/islands during inundation; mice ate bowstrings when fighting Assyrians in Palestine
  • II.164-171 • caste system of Egypt; Apries uses mercenaries; Egyptian goddess (Neith) interpreted as Athena
  • III.11-12 • Greek and Carian mercenaries offer human sacrifice; Egyptians have thick skulls; Persians thin
• Herodotus History
  AUTHORS CONTEXT
  who: Herodotus of Halicarnassus
  when: ca.420 BCE
  where: Halicarnassus > Athens > Thurii
  context: Greek speaking elite, primarily in Athens
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: History (‘istoriē “inquiry”)
  who: Pseudo-Smerdis, Darius, Otanes, Megabyzus
  when: ca.520 BCE
  where: secret palace intrigue (Parsagadae or Persepolis)
  context: political debate, use of speeches, legitimacy of Darius
  — Revolution & Political Theory
• • Hdt.III.61-79 (skim) • Revolt of the Magi (false Smerdis), seven Persian co-conspirators
  • III.80 • historiography: the seven rebels against the magi held a council “at which words were uttered which to some Greeks seem incredible; but there is no doubt that they were spoken”
    Otanes favors giving power to the Persian people (democracy) and to end the tyranny due to the insolence (hybris) of Cambyses and the insolence of the magus; sole ruler can do what he will, without being held accountable; “he turns the laws (nomoi) of the land upside down, he rapes women, he puts high and low to death”; virtue of the multitude (demos): “equality before the law,” all offices are assigned by lot (sortition), magistrates are accountable; general assembly arbitrates
  • III.81 • Megabyzus agrees – against the rule of one – but also against giving power to the many: “Nothing is more foolish and violent than a useless mob; to save ourselves from the insolence of a despot by changing it for the insolence (hybris) of the unbridled mob”; despot acts with knowledge, the people without; favors giving power to the best (aristocracy)
  • III.82 • Darius agrees – against rule of the many – but also against giving power to the few (oligarchy); monarchy is best because one will govern the multitude with perfect wisdom, avoiding faction and bloodshed; the many engender evilmindedness, until someone rises to champion the people (tyrannos); from whom comes freedom – from the many or the few or the one? The rule of one gave us freedom, so that type of rule will preserve freedom due to good laws; favors giving power to the one (monarchy)
  • III.83 • four out of seven choose monarchy; Otanes waives his claim to kingship, thus to this day his family (and no others in Persia) remain free
  • III.84 • resolve to justly pick a king; any one of the seven should, if he so wished, enter the king's palace unannounced, and the king cannot take a wife except from the households of the conspirators; resolved that whomever's horse first neighs at sunrise will be king
  • III.85-87 • Darius' clever groom, Oebares, uses mare's yoni trick, which works, has a statue now to prove it
  • III.88 • Darius marries Cyrus' daughters Atossa and Artystone (the former had married her brother Cambyses and had married the magus before Darius); also married Parmys, a daughter of (true) Smerdis, and married a daughter of Otanes
    set up a carved stone, with the figure of a horseman, inscribed: “Darius son of Hystaspes, aided by the excellence of his horse (insert horse's name) and of Oebares, his groom, won the kingdom of Persia.”
  • Hdt.III.89-96 (skim) • list of tributaries
• Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions
  DB Behistun Inscription
  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  who: Old Persian, Elamite and Akkadian scribes
  when: ca.500 BCE
  where: Behistun (mod. Bīsutūn)
  context: gods as audience (hundreds of meters up a cliff face)
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: DB (Darius Behistun) - Behistun Inscription
  who: Darius vs Gaumata (false Smerdis), Ahuramazda vs The Lie, the magi, Persian conspirators (e.g. Otanes, Megabyzus)
  when: ca.520 BCE
  where: Persian empire, multiple satrapies (provinces) join revolt
  context: usurper Darius claims legitimacy due to support of Ahuramazda
  • livius.org
  • DB 1-5 • Darius claims legitimacy as Achaemenid
  • 6-9 • list of 23 tributary vassals under Ahuramazda: Persia, Elam, Babylonia, Assyria, Arabia, Egypt, the countries by the Sea, Lydia, the Greeks, Media, Armenia, Cappadocia, Parthia, Drangiana, Aria, Chorasmia, Bactria, Sogdia, Gandara, Scythia, Sattagydia, Arachosia and Maka
  • 10-12 • son of Cyrus, named Cambyses, had a brother, Smerdis, whom he secretly slew then went to Egypt. But then “The Lie multiplied in the land, even in Persia and Media, and in the other provinces.“ Then a certain magus, Gaumāta, started a rebllion against Cambyses in both Persia and Media, and other provinces. Afterwards, “Cambyses died of natural causes.”
  • 13-14 • Gaumāta, the magus, “slew many who had known the real Smerdis”; none dared to act against him before Darius; Ahuramazda brought him help and slew Gaumāta. “By the grace of Ahuramazda I became king; Ahuramazda granted me the kingdom.” restored the temples the pastures, herds, and houses; “I settled the people in their place”
  • 15-20 • then put down a revolt in Elam, killed rebel leader; put down a revolt in Babylonia of those who “lied to the people”; crossing to Babylonia on inflated skins, and defeated them in battle: “the enemy fled into the water; the water carried them away” killed rebel leader
  • 21-25 • Elam (again) and Persia revolt; rebel leaders seized and slewn; Media revolts
  • 26-30 • Armenia revolts, defeated multiple times; Assyria revolts
  • 31-32 • capture and disfigurement of Median rebel leader “I cut off his nose, his ears, and his tongue, and I put out one eye” then crucified him; then his followers, “I flayed and hung out their hides, stuffed with straw.”
  • 33-34 • Sagartia revolts; army defeated and reble leader disfigured, “I cut off both his nose and ears, and put out one eye” then crucified him
  • 35-37 • Parthia and Hyrcania revolt; defeated in battle, province recaptured
  • 40-44 • Persia again revolts (led by another false Smerdis); defeated in battle; leader crucified
  • 45-48 • Arachosia revolts, defeated in battle; seixed rebel leader and slew followers
  • 49-51 • Babylonia again revolts; leaders and followers crucified
  • 52-54 • slew nine kings and I made them captive:
    • Gaumāta the magus lied, saying “I am Smerdis, the son of Cyrus,” caused Persia to revolt
    • Āššina lied, saying: “I am king the king of Elam,” caused Elam to revolt
    • Nidintu-Bēl lied, saying: “I am Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabonidus,” caused Babylon to revolt
    • Martiya, the Persian lied, saying: “I am Ummanniš, the king of Elam,” caused Elam to revolt
    • Phraortes lied, saying: “I am Khshathrita, of the dynasty of Cyaxares,” caused Media to revolt
    • Tritantaechmes lied, saying: “I am king in Sagartia, of the dynasty of Cyaxares,” caused Sagartia to revolt
    • Frāda lied, saying: “I am king of Margiana,” caused Margiana revolt
    • Vahyazdāta lied, saying: “I am Smerdis, the son of Cyrus,” caused Persia to revolt
    • Armenian Arakha lied,saying: “I am Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabonidus,” caused Babylon to revolt
    In these provinces, the lies made them revolt, so that they deceived the people; “then Ahuramazda delivered them into my hand; and I did unto them according to my will”
  • 55-64 • Darius protects from the lies; punishes the liars; secures his country, all by the grace of Ahuramazda, and all the other gods; “Whosoever shall read this inscription hereafter, let that which I have done be believed,” with Ahuramazda as witness to what is “True and not the lies,” inscription should be published, not concealed; Darius acts justly, did no wrong to allies, weak or strong, destroyed the liar or the rebels
  • 65-67 • decree published in varied forms: “see this tablet, which I have written, or these sculptures, do not destroy them, but preserve them”
  • (68-69) allies who were with Darius when he slew Gaumata, the magus “Smerdis”:
    • Intaphrenes, son of Vayāspāra, a Persian
    • Otanes, son of Thukhra, a Persian
    • Gobryas, son of Mardonius, a Persian
    • Hydarnes, son of Bagābigna, a Persian
    • Megabyzus, son of Dātuvahya, a Persian
    • Ardumaniš, son of Vakauka, a Persian
    may future kings protect the family of these men
  • 70 • decree published in varied forms: “in Aryan script, on clay tablets and on parchment,” besides sculptured figures, with his lineage, inscribed and read off, then “sent off everywhere among the provinces.”
  • 71-73 • Later Elam revolts; army defeated, leader captured and killed, and “the province became mine” by the grace of Ahuramazda
  • 74-76 • Later Scythia (those with pointed caps) revolts; army defeated, leader captured and killed, and “the province became mine” by the grace of Ahuramazda

recordings

Up2DrG? E2 Raw & Uncooked (how to: ossenworst)

handouts

dialect map

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | REVIEW

GREEKS vs PERSIANS, I

secondary sources

R. W. Mathisen. 2014. Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations
    7. Sparta, Athens, and the Classical Age (500-387 BCE)
    9. Civilization beyond the Near East, Greece and Rome (2300-31 BCE)

ancient texts

• Herodotus History
  AUTHORS CONTEXT
  who: Herodotus of Halicarnassus
  when: ca.420 BCE
  where: Halicarnassus > Athens > Thurii
  context: Greek speaking elite, primarily in Athens
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: History (‘istoriē “inquiry”)
  who:
  when: ca.500-480 BCE, with earlier periods treated parenthetically
  where: Greek ecumene (oikoumenē, their known “inhabited world”)
  context: ethnic identity (Hellene vs barbaros; Ionian vs Dorian; Sparta vs Argos); folklore; narrative history
  
  — Hellenic Ethnic Identity
• • Hdt.III.11-12 • Greek and Carian mercenaries offer human sacrifice; Egyptians have thick skulls; Persians thin
  • III.17-26 • MAP
    ethnicity: Cambyses campaigns against Carthaginians (but Phoenicians will not fight against their daughter colonies); Ammonians (but they are swallowed by sand) and Long-lived Ethiopians (but as march they become cannibals), Fish-Eating E. describe how Long-Lived E. have abundant gold, eat meat and drink milk, do not know wine
  • III.98-116 • MAP
    ethnicity: Indians eat fish & (raw) meat; eat elders; black skin and black sperm; gold-digging ants; remote edges of ecumene have exotic things, but Greek climate is just right; Indian wool trees (i.e. cotton); Arabia has spices and incense, and flying snakes; fat-tailed sheep; Ethiopia has gold, ivory, and tallest-handsomest-longest-lived men; Westernmost Europe (Celts) have amber and tin; Easternmost Europe has one-eyed Arismaspians who fight griffins for gold
  • V.67-69 • tyrant Cleisthenes of Sicyon reorganizes tribes; his descendant introduces democracy and reorganized Athens
  • IV.59-80 • MAP
    ethnicity: Scythians
  • IV.175-176, 196-198 • MAP
    ethnicity: Libyans
• Herodotus History
  AUTHORS CONTEXT
  who: Herodotus of Halicarnassus
  when: ca.420 BCE
  where: Halicarnassus > Athens > Thurii
  context: Greek speaking elite
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: History
  who: Battos of Thera, Apollo at Delphi, Adicran of Libya, Apries
  when: ca.630
  where: Thera, Libya (Plataea, Aziris, Cyrene)
  context: motivations for colonization, heroic founder of humble origin, relations with indigenes…
  4.150-159
• • 147 • Theras (eponymous putative ancestor) leads out a colony from Lacedaemon (Sparta), by birth a Cadmeian (Phoenician founders of Thebes); maternal uncle and regent of Spartan kings; left city with his political faction to settle Thera, also inhabited by Phoenician Cadmeians
  • 148 • Theras took men from each of the tribes; regarded Cadmean inhabitants as close kin; brought some Minyan rebels from Mount Taygetum; sailed off in three triaconters
  • 149 • island called Thera after him; left a son behind in Sparta, “a sheep among wolves” named Oeolycus, father of Aegeus, eponymous putative ancestor of Aegidae tribe in Sparta
  • 150 • previous agreed to by both Theraeans and Spartans; Theraeans say that a certain Grinus went to Delphi to consult oracle and offer sacred hecatomb (100 oxen), accompanied by other citizens, among them Battus, descendant of the Minyans; priestessss answers, “found a city in Libya.” Grinus too old, points towards Battus; all were ignorant about Libya (i.e. Africa)
  • 151 • Seven years pass without rain, all (olive) trees but one die; Theraeans go to Delphi, reproached for never colonizing; send to Cretans and their xenoi about Libya; Corobius, a dealer in purple (Phoenician?), knows of island named Platea; hire him, go to island, abandon him, return home
  • 152 • During absence, Corobius runs out of food, saved by merchant Colaeus of Samos heading to Egypt, given provisions for a year; Colaeus blown off course past the Pillars of Hercules, reached Tartessus (like Sostratus of Aegina), tithe from their haul of metals pays for massive, beautiful bowl-dedication to Hera of Samos; rescue leads to friendship of Cyrenaeans and Theraeans with Samians
  • 153 • Theraeans back home report having colonised an island; men from every family picked by lot to join; Battus chosen as king and leader of the apoikia (“home-away,” i.e. colony), depart for Platea on two penteconters.
  • 154 • Theraeans and Cyrenaeans differ on origin of Battus; king Etearchus of Axus in Crete had a daughter named Phronima; step-mother turns him against daughter; Theraean merchant named Themison made his xenos on promise to do whatever king asks; told to throw Phronima into the sea; Themison dissolves xenia due to fraud, but dunks the girl to fulfill promise
  • 155 • Polymnestus, nobleman, takes Phronima as concubine; their child stammers, has a lisp, earns name Battus (“stammerer”); or earned name after arrival in Libya (Libyan for “king”); in this version, Battus went Delphi, to consult the oracle about his voice:
        Battus (“king”), thou camest to ask of thy voice; but Phoebus Apollo
        Bids thee establish a city in Libya, abounding in fleeces
    reply does not fit question; no other answer given
  • 156 • everything keeps going wrong for Battus and Theraeans; ignorant of the cause, send to Delphi about relief, priestess says that “if they and Battus would make a settlement at Cyrene in Libya, things would go better” Theraeans sent out Battus with two penteconters, but they have no clue, return home again; Theraeans, shower vessels with missiles, prevent landing, so they return to apoikia on Platea
  • 157 • bad luck continues, again leave island to the care of one guy; go back to Delphi to complain; priestess says, “That's not Libya!”; Battus and crew, sail back to Platea, get guy they left behind, settle on mainland opposite at Aziris
  • 158 • remaining there six years, Libyans induced them to move to “a better situation”; led by the Libyans, at night they pass best place, called Irasa; brought to a spring (Apollo's Fountain), where “the sky leaks”
  • 159 • During the reign of Battus the oikist (“home-maker” i.e. founder) and son Arcesilaus, Cyrene has stable population; during reign of grandson Battus (“Happy”), Delphi advises resettlement with “Greeks from every quarter” offering a share in their lands; with Libyans stripped of territory, their king Adicran allies with Apries of Egypt, who sends army against Cyrene; Cyrenaeans defeat them near Irasa, routed with such slaughter that few return home; loss incites subjects of Apries to revolt
• Cyrene Inscription
  AUTHORS CONTEXT
  who: Greek scribe
  when: 4^th BCE (citing inscription of ca.600 BCE)
  where: Thera/Cyrene
  context: Greek speaking elite
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Cyrene Inscription - IGCry011000, SEG IX.3.1-22, ML 5 (Meiggs & Lewis 1969: no.5)
  who: Battus of Cyrene
  when: ca.630 BCE
  where: Thera, Libya (Cyrene)
  context: motivations for colonization, curse for return…
• • SEG IX.3.1-22 • Decree of Damis (4th BCE)
    Therans who move to Cyrene have citizens rights (ius migrationis)
    Apollo Archēgetēs (“leader”) granted Battus (oikist) and the Therans good fortune if they abided by their oaths; decree written marble and placed in shrine of Apollo Pythius (“of the Delphic oracle”)
  • 3.23-40 • Oath of the Settlers (ca. 600 BCE)
    Apollo “spontaneously” ordered Battus and Therans to colonize Cyrene; Therans send Battus to Libya as leader (oikist) and as king, sailing on fair and equal terms; one son per household chosen “of those in the prime of life”; any who sail later to Libya will share in “citizenship and honor”
    if the expedition fails, after five years they can return “without fear”, recover property; those unwilling to sail get the death penalty, lose property; whoever aids and abets gets the same penalty; curse upon those who broke the agreement, made while burning wax images: “May he who...breaks [these oaths] melt away and dissolve like the images, himself and his offspring and his property”
• Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions
  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  who: scribes of Cyrus (C), Darius (D), Xerxes (X) and Artaxerxes II (A) of Persia
  when: ca.500-350 BCE
  where: Parsagadae (M), then Persepolis (P)
  summary: legitimize control over (sometimes rebellious) territories
  
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Royal InscriptionsCMac, DB, DNa, DSab, DSe, XPh, A³P
  who: every daiva and satrapy
  where: Pasargadae (M), Naqs-e Rustam (N), Persepolis (P), or Susa (S)
  when: ca.500-350 BCE
  summary: royal inscriptions emphasizing the loyalty and support of vassals listed by people (daiva) or province (satrapy)
  – Persian Empire
  • CMc – Pasargadae, Gate R
    inscription of Cyrus at Pasargadae (mod. Dasht-i Murghab); cf. winged genius
  • DH – Ecbatana Tablets
    trilingual inscription of Darius at Ecbatana (mod. Hamdan); imperial ideology
  • DNe – Tomb of Darius
    Old Persian and Elamite tomb inscription of Darius at Naqsh-i Rustam; satrapies and daiva
  • DPe – Terrace Inscription (Old Persian)
    Old Persian inscription of Darius at Persepolis; satrapies and daiva
  • DPg – Terrace inscription (Babylonian)
    Babylonian inscription of Darius at Persepolis; imperial diversity
  • DPh – Apadana Tablets
    trilingual inscription of Darius at Persepolis; imperial ideology
  • DSab – Statue of Darius (Egyptian)
    bilingual inscription of Darius at Susa; satrapies and daiva (in cartouches)
  • DSe – Satrapy List (Babylonian)
    trilingual inscription of Darius at Susa; satrapies and daiva
  • DZc – Suez Inscription
    trilingual inscription of Darius (Chalouf Stela) at Suez; control Egypt, canal built
  • XPh– Daiva Inscription
    trilingual inscription of Xerxes at Persepolis; imperial ideology; satrapies & daiva
  • A²P – Tomb of Artaxerxes
    trilingual inscription of Artaxerxes II (or III?) at Persepolis;
    facade of northern tomb; satrapies and daiva
• Statue Inscription of Udjaḥorresnet
  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  who: Egyptian scribe
  when: Late Period / XXVI-XXVII Dyn / ca.520 BCE
  where: Temple of Neith at Saïs (Vatican Museum 22690)
  context: Egyptian speaking elite in Persian occupied Delta; naophoros-statue of a man carrying (phoros) a small shrine (naos) containing an image of Osiris; brought to Italy by the Roman emperor Hadrian (ca.117-138 CE) to his villa in Tibur (mod. Tivoli)
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Statue Inscription of Udjahorresnet (alt. wḏꜣ ḥr rs n.t, Wedjahor-Resne)
  who: Udjahorresnet, Cambyses, Darius
  when: ca.520 BCE
  where: Saïs, Pelusium, Susa
  context: apologetic epitaph of a collaborator
  — Achaemenid Persian Egypt
  Vatican Naophorous (livius.org), collaborator's account of Cambyses' invasion
  • Vat.22690.1-6 • Udjahorresnet makes offerings to Osiris
  • 7-10 • honored by Neith; under Saite XXVI dynasty king, Amasis (Ahmose II, 570-26 BCE) served as court official (Prince, Count, Royal Seal-Bearer, Sole Companion, King's Friend), scribe (Inspector of the Council Scribes, Chief Scribe of the Great Outer Hall, Administrator of the Palace), and general (Commander of the Royal Navy)
  • under last Saite XXVI dynasty king, Psammeticus (Psamtik III, 526-25 BCE), served as general (Commander of the Royal Navy)
  • Udjahorresnet, son of Peftuaneith, Administrator of the Castles of the Red Crown; Chief-of-Pe Priest, mp-Priest, Priest of the Horus Eye, Prophet of Neith
  • 11-12 • when Persian XXVII dynasty king Cambyses (530-522 BCE) invaded, “the foreign peoples of every foreign land were with him,” became Chief Physician, Companion and Adminstrator of the Palace
  • 13-15 • protects sanctuaries
  • 16-23 • expels foreigners from sacred precincts of Neith, purifies them, restores festivals
  • 24-30 •convinces Cambyses to lead rituals at precinct of Neith
  • 31-36 • good to his town, “rescued its inhabitants from he very great turmoil when it happened in the whole land, the like of which had not happened in this land.”
  • 37-42 •did good deeds “when the turmoil happened in this nome, in the midst of the very great turmoil that happened in the whole land.”
  • 43-47 •under king Darius (Persian XXVII dynasty), became Prince, Count, Royal Seal-Bearer, Sole Companion, Prophet, and remained Chief Physician;
    foreigners “carried me from country to country,” suggestion of other wellborn officers/collaborators

recordings

How to Map

handouts

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | REVIEW

GREEKS vs PERSIANS, II

secondary sources

R. W. Mathisen. 2014. Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations
    7. Sparta, Athens, and the Classical Age (500-387 BCE)
    9. Civilization beyond the Near East, Greece and Rome (2300-31 BCE)

ancient texts

• Herodotus History
  AUTHORS CONTEXT
  who: Herodotus of Halicarnassus
  when: ca.420 BCE
  where: Halicarnassus > Athens > Thurii
  context: Greek speaking elite
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: History
  who:
  when:
  where:
  context:
  
• • Hdt V.39-48 • Dorieus of Sparta at River Cinyps (Libya) and Eryx (Sicily)
  • VI.34-45 • Miltiades of Athens in the Hellespont (or Dardanelles, mod. Gallipoli)
• Diodorus of Sicily Library
  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  who: Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily
  when: 1st BCE / 1st CE
  where: Agyrium (Sicily)
  context: Greek speaking Roman citizens
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: The Library (Bibliotheca), or Library of History
  who: Dorieus, Heracles
  when: ca.510 BCE
  where: Sicily (Drepanum)
  context: charter myth
  • Diod.IV.26 • Dorieus; charter myth of Heracles
• Herodotus History
  AUTHORS CONTEXT
  who: Herodotus of Halicarnassus
  when: ca.420 BCE
  where: Halicarnassus > Athens > Thurii
  context: Greek speaking elite
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: History
  who:
  when:
  where:
  context:
  
  — Ionian Revolt to Marathon
• • Hdt IV.136-143 • free Scythians vs servile Ionians
  • V.97-102 • Ionian Revolt, pt.1
  • VI.8-13 • Ionian Revolt, pt.2
  • VI.51-60 • Cleomenes
  • VI.94-119 • Marathon
• Herodotus History
  AUTHORS CONTEXT
  who: Herodotus of Halicarnassus
  when: ca.420 BCE
  where: Halicarnassus > Athens > Thurii
  context: Greek speaking elite
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: History (various - see walkthrough)
  who:
  when:
  where:
  context: various - see walkthrough
  
  — Invasion of Xerxes (and Carthage)
• • Hdt VII.1-19 • Persian imperialism
  • VII.20-99 • preparations / contingents (esp. 52, 70-71, 75)
  • VII.114 • human sacrifice
  • VII.138-144 • role of Athens
  • VII.145-172 • embassies to Syracuse, Corcyra, Argos, Crete
  • VII.173-181 • first sea battle at Artemesium
  • VII.189 • Boreas
  • VII.191 • magi, Thetis
  • VII.202-38 • Leonidas and the 300
  • VIII.26 • Olympics
  • VIII.30-39 • gods at Delphi
  • VIII.56-69 • Themistocles at Salamis
  • VIII.84-88 • Artemesia
  • VIII.100-104 • Artemesia
  • VIII.109-120 • retreat of Xerxes
  • VIII.121-125 • Themistocles
  • VIII.136-144 • Alexander of Macedon and ethnicity
  • IX.33-38 • divination
  • IX.43-45 • Alexander of Macedon
  • IX.82 • Persians vs Spartans
  • IX.90-95 • Mycale
  • IX.108-113 • Maisistes
  • IX.116 • Artayctes
  • IX.119-122 • departure of Persians
• Pindar Pythian Odes
  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  who: Pindar (and Scholia to Pindar)
  when: ca.500 BCE
  where: Boeotia (Thebes)
  context:
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Odes, Pythian 1 (and scholia in Pindarum (scholia vetera), P1.146a-b, 155)
  who: Hieron, Etruscans, Phoenicians
  when: ca. BCE
  where: Cumae
  context: Deinomenid saviors of Western Hellas
  • Pind.Pyth.1.72-75 - saviours of (Western) Greece
  • scholia in Pind.146a -
  • scholia in Pind.146b -
  • scholia in Pind.151 -
• Classical Inscriptions
  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  who:
  when: ca.475 BCE
  where: Panhellenic sanctuaries of Delphi and Olympia
  context:
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Meiggs & Lewis (1969) no.27-29
  who: Gelon vs Phoenicians; Hieron vs Etruscans & Phoenicians
  when:
  where:
  context: Deinomenid saviors of Western Hellas
  • ML 27 - Serpent Column (Delphi > Constantinople)
  • ML 28 - tripod base (Delphi)
  • ML 29 - Etruscan Helmet (Olympia)
• Phaenias On the Tyrants
  AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
  who: Phaenius of Eresus (quoted by Plutarch of Chaeronea)
  when: 4th BCE (quoted ca.100 CE)
  where: Lesbos > Athens
  context: philosopher from Lesbos, student of Aristotle, with Theophrastus, at the Lyceum in Athens
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: On the Tyrants (quoted in Plutarch of Chaeronaea Parallel Lives: Themistocles 13.2-5 [118F-119B])
  who: Themistocles
  when: ca.480 BCE
  where: Salamis
  context: human sacrifice
  • FGrHist 1012 F19 • sacrifice of first and finest prisoner (cf. Herod.VII.180)
• Jedaniah Archive
  AUTHORS CONTEXT
  who: Aramaic scribes
  when: 19/18–post-407 BCE
  where: Elephantine (mod: Aswan)
  summary: records of a Jewish mercenary community stationed at the Egyptian border during the Persian Empire
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Jedaniah Archive
  who: Jedaniah
  when: 419/18–post-407 BCE
  where: Elephantine
  summary: financial and legal records; religious (Yahwistic) community
  • CoS 3.46-53 • Persian era Jewish garrison records from Elephantine
• Mibtahiah Archive
  AUTHORS CONTEXT
  who: Aramaic scribes
  when: 471-410 BCE
  where: Elephantine (mod: Aswan)
  summary: records of a Jewish mercenary community stationed at the Egyptian border during the Persian Empire
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Mibtahiah Archive
  who: Mibtahiah
  when: 471-410 BCE
  where: Elephantine
  summary: financial and legal records; role of women; inheritance; religious (Yahwistic) community
  
  • CoS 3.59-68 • Persian era Jewish garrison records from Elephantine
    ethnicity: Temple of YHWH in Upper Egypt, paired with Khnum
    women: status of Mibtahiah (daughter, wife, marriage & divorce)
    
• Ananiah Archive
  strong>AUTHORS CONTEXT
  who: Aramaic scribes
  when: 456-402 BCE
  where: Elephantine (mod: Aswan)
  summary: records of a Jewish mercenary community stationed at the Egyptian border during the Persian Empire
  NARRATIVE CONTEXT
  title: Ananiah Archive
  who: Ananiah
  when: 456-402 BCE
  where: Elephantine
  summary: financial and legal records; religious (Yahwistic) community
  
  • CoS 3.69-81 • Persian era Jewish garrison records from Elephantine

essay

E02 guidelines

lectures

handouts

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | REVIEW

IONIANS vs DORIANS

secondary sources

R. W. Mathisen. 2014. Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations
    7. Sparta, Athens, and the Classical Age (500-387 BCE)

ancient texts<

Thucydides History

AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
who: Thucydides
when: ca.400 BCE
where: Athens, to the Peloponnesus
summary: general/statesman exiled after Amphipolis, wrote history in exile

NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: History (“inquiry”)who: Athenians, Corinthians, Corcyraeans; Spartans, Plataeans
where: Attica, Lacedaemonia, Aegean, Sicily
when: ca.450-410 BCE
summary: Peloponnesian Wars (Pelop. Wars) between Ionian Athens and Dorian Sparta

(of the Peloponnesian War)

• Thuc.I.1-17
  historiography: archaeologia ("study of ancient times"); introduction & background
• I.18-23
  historiography: origins of the first war; how to use speeches
  pretext (aitia) vs truest cause (prophasis)
• I.24-25
  colony (apoikia) and mother city (metropolis)
• I.31-45
  Corcyrean speeches
• I.56-66
  colony (apoikia) and mother city (metropolis)
• I.67-88
  First Conference at Sparta
  ethnicity: Corinthians contrast Dorian Sparta and Ionian Athens
• I.89-97
  historiography: pentecontaetia ("fifty years" between wars)
• I.104-110
  ethnicity: Egyptian revolt
• I.126-139
  historiography / politics: Curse of the Alcmaeonidae; Pausanias and Themistocles
• II.1-8
  ethnicity (Dorian vs Ionian): outbreak of the First War (at Plataea); chronology
• II.29
  ethnicity: Macedonia; ethnic description & customs
• Thuc.II.34-46 (cf II.65 hamartia)
  women: Pericles' funeral oration; best woman is one not talked about
• III.35-49
  politics: democracy and hybris; Mytilenean Revolt
• III.69-85
  ethnicity (Dorian vs Ionian): Corcyraean stasis (“civil war”); failed appeals to utility
• II.95-101 (also VII.29-30)
  ethnicity: Greek identity; Thracians and Macedonians
• IV.1-40
  ethnicity (Dorian vs Ionian): Demosthenes & Cleon at Sphacteria –Spartiates surrender!
• IV.102-108, V.2-19
  ethnicity (Dorian vs Ionian): Brasidas of Sparta vs Cleon of Athens; Amphipolis lost (Thucydides in command); Peace of Nicias
• III.94
  ethnicity: Greek identity; Aetolians
• V.84-116
  politics: democracy and hybris; Melian Dialogue

lectures

handouts

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | REVIEW

END OF CLASSICAL &; RISE OF MACEDONIA

secondary sources

• R. W. Mathisen. 2014. Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations
  8. Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age (387-331 BCE)

ancient texts

Thucydides History

AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
who: Thucydides
when: ca.400 BCE
where: Athens to the Peloponnesus
summary: general/statesman exiled after Amphipolis, wrote history in exile

NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: History (“inquiry”)
who: Athenians, Corinthians, Corcyraeans; Spartans, Plataeans
where: Attica, Lacedaemonia, Aegean, Sicily
when: ca.450-410 BCE
summary: Peloponnesian Wars (Pelop. Wars) between Ionian Athens and Dorian Sparta

(of the Peloponnesian War)

• Thuc.VI.1-7
  historiography: archaeology of Sicily; truest cause (profasis) of invasion
• VI.8-26
  politics: Sicilian question; speeches by Nicias & Alcibiades
• VI.27-31
  politics: preparations
• VI.53-61
  historiography: Alcibiades' impiety; Harmodius and Aristogeiton (cf. Hdt.V.55-61)
• IV.58-65
  ethnicity: Hermocrates of Syracuse at Camarina (Siceliote identity)
• VI.74-80
  ethnicity: Hermocrates of Syracuse (Siceliote identity)
• VII.44
  ethnicity (Dorian vs Ionian): Battle of Epipolae
• VII.56-59
  ethnicity (Dorian vs Ionian): Battle of Syracuse
• VII.80-87
  ethnicity (Dorian vs Ionian): Battle of Assinarus; hybris & tragedy
• VIII.29-60
  ethnicity: Tissaphernes (satrap of Lydia), Sparta and Ionia
• VIII.63-98
  stasis at Athens

Aristophanes Lysistrata

AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
who: Aristophanes
when: ca.411 BCE
where: Athens
summary: desire for peace following Sicilian disaster and second part of Pelop. Wars

NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: Lysistrata
who: Lyistrata, Myrrhine, etc.
where: Attica
when: ca.411 BCE
summary: sex strike for peace during Peloponnesian Wars (Pelop. Wars) between Ionian Athens and Dorian Sparta

• Aristoph.Lys.75-95
  ethnicity & women: stereotypes; objectification; denial of sex
• 385-430
  women: stereotypes
• 505-520, 565-590
  women: a woman's place; silence
• 835-950
  women: Myrhine & Kinesias; denial of sex
• 1110-1185
  women: Peace; objectification (“male gaze”)

Lysias Orations

AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
who: Lysias
when: ca.400 BCE
where: Syracuse > Thurii > Athens
summary: formerly wealthy resident-alien (metic), made a career writing forensic speeches after family lost everything during stasis
(The Thirty)
NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: Orations (On the Murder of Eratosthenes, Against the Grain Dealers)
who: Eratosthenes, etc.
where: Attica
when: ca.400 BCE
summary: court speeches written for litigants; negative impression of oligarchs despite amnesteia

— Forensic Oratory

• Lys.Or.1 (On the Murder of Eratosthenes)
  women: punisishment of adultery; gendered organization of household
• Or.22 (Against the Grain Dealers)
  limits of amnesteia
• Or.31 (Against Philo)
  limits of amnesteia

lectures

handouts

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | REVIEW

THE HELLENISTIC MEDITERRANEAN

secondary sources

• R. W. Mathisen. 2014. Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations
  8. Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age (387-331 BCE)
  10. The Rise of Rome and the Roman Republic (753-120 BCE)

ancient texts

Clitarchus History of Alexander

AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
who: Clitarchus of Alexandria
when: ca.300 BCE
where: Alexandria (Egypt)
summary: distinction between specialist (informative) and sensationalist (entertaining) history

NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: varied
who: Alexander and his generals (hetairoi “companions”)
where: the ecumene
when: ca.300 BCE
summary:

– Specialist / Sensationalist Historiography

• Clitarchus, in Just.Epit.11.10-11 & 12.7-9
  historiography: sensationalist excerpt from an epitome of Cn. Pompeius Trogus
  Philippics by M. Junius Justinus
• Clitarchus, in Diod.XIII.108
  historiography: sensationalist excerpt from Diodorus of Sicily Library of History
• Plut.Alex.45-48 [262B-275B]
  historiography: Amazon queeen in Plutarch of Chaeronea Life of Alexander

Aristotle of Stagira Politics

AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
who: Aristotle of Stagira (in Chalcidean League, near Macedonia)
when: ca.340 BCE
where: Athens
summary: philosopher, founder of the Lyceum

NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: Politics
who: citizen men; women, children, slaves; ideal onstitution (politeia)
where: examples of Sparta, Crete and Carthage
when: before 333 BCE
summary: status of citizens in relation to women, children and slave (and foreigners)

– Slaves & Women

• Arist.Pol.1252b27-1253a17 (1.1-2)
  the polis as culmination (telos) of human associations; man as political animal
• 1253b14-b22 (1.3-7)
  slavery: slaves by nature (physis); intelligence rules strength
• 1254a17-1254b26 (1.12-13)
  children, women & slavery: intelligence of women (defect) children (unformed) and slaves (absent)
• 1272b24-1273b24 (2.11)
  politics: constitution of Carthage
• 1278b6-b14, 1279a22-b10 (3.6-7)
  politics: ideal constitutions

Polybius of Megalopolis History

AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
who: Polybius of Megalopolis
when: ca.150 BCE
where: Rome
summary: general and statesman of the Achaean League; noble hostage in Rome; specialist history

NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: History
who: L. Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus; P. Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus Numantinus
where: the ecumene
when: ca.220-150 BCE
summary: sudden rise of Rome to Mediterranean superpower

– Rise of Rome

• Polyb.I.1-10
  historiography: introduction; chronology
• XII.2-28
  historiography: arm-chair historians (e.g. Timaeus of Taorminum)

Athenaeus of Naucratis Deipnosophistae

AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
who: Athenaeus of Naucratis (emporium of Saïs in Lower Egypt)
when: ca.175 CE
where: Alexandria
summary: grammarian at the Museum / Library of Alexandria

NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: Deipnosophistae (Scholars' Banquet)
who: fictional characters quoting classical authors
where: anywhere (likely Alexandria)
when: ca.450 BCE-CE 175
summary: status of, names of, characteristics of and treatment of slaves

(Professors' Banquet) – Slavery

• Ath.262C-D Antiphanes Hard-to-Sell Slave (F89), Epicrates Hard-to-Sell Slave (F5)
  children, women & slavery women and beardless children command "greedy" slaves
• 262E-263A Diuchidas History of Megara (FGrH 485 F7)
  slavery: household slaves serve guests, normally grind grain; slave/master inversion
• 263B Pherecrates The Savages (F10)
  slavery: before slavery, women did housework, grinding grain at dawn
• 263C Anaxandrides Anchises (F4)
  slavery: fortune alters bodies, transition from free to slave
• 263C-D Posidonius History (FGrH 87 F8)
  slavery: the less intelligent (poor) bind themselves to the more intelligent (rich) in order to get necessities; Mariandynians of Heraclea could not be sold abroad
• 263E Euphorion (F78)
  slavery: Mariandynians called “gift-bringers” quaking before their masters
• 263F Ephorus History (FGrH 70 F29)
  slavery: Cretan clarōtae (“chosen by lot”); inversion of servant/master roles
• 264A Sosicrates History of Crete (FGrH 461 F4)
  slavery: Cretan names for unfree labor
• 264A Theopompus (F78)
  slavery: Thessalians servile “impoverished” (penestēs)
• 264B Archemachus History of Euboea (FGrH 424 F1)
  slavery: Boeotians exiles in servitude to Thessalians; cannot be sold abroad or killed; could gain wealth even though penestae (“impoverished”)
• 264C Euripides Phrixus (F822a)
  slavery: servile called impoverished (penestēs) and hired hand (latris); attached to household
• 264D Timaeus History (FGrH 566 F11)
  slavery: criticizes Aristotle, whose friend Mnason had 1000 slaves; Locrians had only recently relied upon slaves, which took jobs away from (free citizen) youth
• 264E-265B Plato Laws (776b-778a)
  slavery: Spartan helots; Heraclean Mariandynians; Thessalian penestae; slave's soul is unsound and untrustworthy; avoid slaves from the same country or shared language; beat them as little as possible; speak to them only in commands (no jokes)
• Hom.Od.17.322-3
  misquote of Homer implying that slavery removes intelligence
• 265C Theopompus History (FGrH 115 F122)
  slavery: Chians purchase foreigners as chattle, Thessalians and Spartans enslaved Greeks (penestae and helots) who previously inhabited their territory
• 265D-266E Nymphodorus Voyage along the Coast of Asia (FGrH 572 F4)
  slavery: Chian runaway slaves formed gangs and roamed countryside, led by Drimacus; truce made; gained autonomy (own weights and measures); offered refuge to abused slaves; has lover decapitate him to win ransom; worshipped by both slaves and masters as hero
• 267A Hyperides Against Mantitheus for Assault (F120)
  slavery: some laws punish abuse of slaves as if they were free men
• 267B-D
  slavery: names for unfree labor
• 267C Ion of Chios Laertes (TrGF 19 F14), 267D Achaeus Omphalē (TrGF 20 F32)
  slavery: differences between slave (doulos) and house-slave (oiketes)
• 267E Cratinus Gods of Wealth (F176)
  slavery: golden age of Cronus had abundance, no need for slaves
• 267F Crates Wild Beasts (F16)
  slavery: robot furniture does the work of slaves
• 271C-F Theopompus History (FGrH 115 F171), Phylarchus History (FGrH 81 F43), Myron of Priene History of Messenia (FGrH 106 F1)
  slavery: categories Spartan helots manumitted as lesser-citizens
• 272B-E
  slavery: large numbers of slaves, by individual and by state

lectures

handouts

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | REVIEW

HELLENISTIC GREEKS vs JUDAEANS, CELTS, INDIANS & PARTHIANS

secondary sources

• R. W. Mathisen. 2014. Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations
      13. Crisis, Recovery and the Creation of the Late Roman Empire (192-337 CE)
      14. The Christian Empire and the Late Roman World (337-476 CE)
      15. The End of Antiquity (476-640 CE)

ancient texts

Maccabees

AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
who: Greek scribe
when: late 2nd BCE (ca.125 BCE)
where: Jerusalem
summary: lost Hebrew edition; Greek translation preserved in the Septuagint; canonical for Catholicism and Orthodox (save Tewahedo), but not for Protestantism and Judaism (not included in the Tanakh).

NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: Maccabees
where: Jerusalem
who: Judas Maccabaeus, Antiochus IV Epiphanes
when: ca.175 BCE
summary: account of the Maccabaean revolt and the establishment of Hashmonean kingdom; origin of Hannukah; Hellenization of Jewish communities; recognition by treaty as “friends and allies“ of Rome

– Judaeans

• I Macc.1
  ethnicity: Antiochus, Judas Maccabeus; Hellenization (e.g. reverse circumcison)
• I Macc.8
  ethnicity: recognition through "friendship" and alliance with Rome

Pausanias Description of Greece

AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
who: Pausanias Periegetes (from Lydia?)
when: ca.150 CE
where: Aegean
summary: local histories and descriptions of Greek monuments

NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: Descriptions of Greece
who: Brennus, Aetolians, Hellenistic kings
where: Thermopylae, Central Greece
when: ca.279 BCE
summary: invasion of chaotic savages from the edge of the ecumene

– Celts / Gauls

• Paus.X.19-23
  ethnicity: invasion of Brennus (Thermopylae); valor of Aetolians; Saviours of Hellas; savage and chaotic barbaroi from farthest Ocean (Celts / Gauls settle Galatia); atrocities at Callium

Hellenistic Inscriptions

AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
who: Greek scribes
when: ca.250 BCE
where: Hellenistic Bactria (mod. Afghanistan)
summary: Greek inscriptions

NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: Burstein (1985) no.49-50
who: Aśoka Maurya
where: Hellenistic Bactria
when: ca.250 BCE
summary: Hellenization after Alexander

– Bactrians

• Burstein 1985: no.49 (Alexandria Oxiana, mod. Ai Khanum)
  ethnicity: Hellenization, Delphi maxims
• Burstein 1985: no.50 (Alexandria in Arachosia, mod. Kandahar)
  ethnicity: Hellenization, Pillar of Aśoka (Greek & Aramaic)

Megasthenes Indica

AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
who: Megasthenes
when: ca.300 BCE
where: Hellenistic Babylonia
summary: Seleucid Embassador to Mauryan India (Chandragupta I); both specialist (informative) and sensationalist (entertaining)

NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: Indica (Indian Matters)
who: Chandragupta Maurya
where: India, court at Pataliputra
when: ca.300 BCE
summary: etnography of india

– Indians

• FGrHist 715 F1a (Diodorus of Sicily Library of History 2.35-42)
  ethnicity & slavery: customs of India; how to train your elephant; no slaves, but castes
• F2 (Flavius Arrianus Alexander 5.6.2-11)
  ethnicity: rivers of India
• F12 (Strabo Geography 15.1.37 [C703])
  ethnicity: ebony and ivory; tigers, lions and giant flying scorpions
• F13 (Claudius Aelianus On the Nature of Animals 17.39)
  ethnicity: apes of Praxi, with beards and long tails
• F14 (Claudius Aelianus On the Nature of Animals 16.41)
  ethnicity: flying scorpions; snakes whose urine burns the skin
• F15a (Strabo Geography 15.1.56)
  ethnicity: monkeys and unicorns
• F15b (Claudius Aelianus On the Nature of Animals 16.20-21, cf. Pliny HN 6.2.17)
  ethnicity: one-horned creature and mountain satyrs that throw stones
• F16 (C. Plinius Secundus Natural History 8.14.1, cf. Solinus Wonders 52.33)
  ethnicity: large snakes that eat bulls
• F17 (Claudius Aelianus On the Nature of Animals 8.7)
  ethnicity: poisonous dead-fish
• F18 (C. Plinius Secundus Natural History 6.24.1, cf. Solinus Wonders 52.2)
  ethnicity: marvellous gold and pearls from Taprobane (Sri Lanka)
• F20b (C. Plinius Secundus Natural History 6.21.9-22, cf. Solinus Wonders 52.6-7)
  ethnicity: descriptions of the Ganges River
• F22-23 (Anecdota Graeca 1:419; Strabo Geography 15.1.38 [C703])
  ethnicity: opposite India - things sink on rivers not float
• F25 (Strabo Geography 15.35-36 [C702])
  ethnicity: capital city of Palibothra the Ganges; things remote and marvelous, e.g. gold-digging ants, long-lived Seres (Chinese)
• F26 (L. Flavius Arrianus Indica 10)
  ethnicity:slavery: customs of India; river burial; no slaves
• F27 (Strabo Geography 15.1.53-56 [C702])
  ethnicity:women: Indian customs (e.g. marriage); diet (e.g rice); laws and penalties
• F29 (Geography 15.1.57 [C711])
  ethnicity: marvelous peoples (e.g. mouthless sustenance-breathers; the backward-feet)
• F30a (C. Plinius Secundus Natural History 6.2.14-22)
  ethnicity:women: marvelous peoples (e.g. mouthless sustenance breathers; backward-feet men, dog-headed men, pygmies, goat-haired men, women bear children at 6, etc)
• F36 (Strabo of Amaseia Geography 15.1.41-43 [C704-705])
  ethnicity: how to train your elephant
• F37b (Claudius Aelianus On the Nature of Animals 12.44)
  ethnicity: how to train your elephant (e.g. with music)
• F39 (Strabo of Amaseia Geography 15.1.44 [C706], cf. Hdt.3.102-104)
  ethnicity: fox-sized ants mine for gold
• F40b (Dio Chrysostom Orations 12.81)
  ethnicity: fox-sized ants mine for gold
• F41 (Strabo of Amaseia Geography 15.1.58-60)
  ethnicity & women: Brahman (Hindu) and Sraman (Jain, Buddhist) philosophy; female devotees
• F43 (Clemens of Alexandria Miscellany 1.15.71)
  ethnicity & women: Gymnosophists (“naked philosophers”); Brahman (Hindu) and Sraman (Jain, Buddhist) philosophy; ; female devotees
• F27 (Clemens of Alexandria Miscellany 1.15.71)
  ethnicity: senicide (self-immolation of elders); Alexander and Calanus
• F46 (Strabo of Amaseia Geography 15.1.6-8 1)
  ethnicity: invasions of India, historical (Nabuchanezzar)and mythical (Dionysius and Heracles)
• F48a (T. Flavius Josephus Against Apion 1.20)
  ethnicity: Babylonian invasions (Nabuchanezzar)
• F48b (T. Flavius Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 10.2.1)
  ethnicity: Babylonian invasions (Nabuchanezzar)
• F50b (P. Aelius Phlegon of Tralles On Marvels 33)
  ethnicity & women: bear children at age 6
• F50c (C. Plinius Secundus Natural History 6.21.4-5, cf. Solinus Wonders 52.5)
  ethnicity: mythical invasions (Dionysius)

Aristotle of Stagira Politics

AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
who: Aristotle of Stagira (in Chalcidean League, near Macedonia)
when: ca.340 BCE
where: Athens
summary: philosopher, founder of the Lyceum

NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: Politics
who: citizen men; women, children, slaves; ideal onstitution (politeia)
where: examples of Sparta, Crete and Carthage
when: before 333 BCE
summary: status of citizens in relation to women, children and slave (and foreigners)

– Political Constitutions

• Arist.Pol.1272b24-1273b24 (2.11)
  politics: constitution of Carthage
• 1278b6-b14, 1279a22-b10 (3.6-7)
  politics: ideal constitutions

Polybius of Megalopolis History

AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
who: Polybius of Megalopolis
when: ca.150 BCE
where: Rome
summary: general and statesman of the Achaean League; noble hostage in Rome; specialist history

NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: History
who: L. Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus; P. Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus Numantinus
where: the ecumene
when: ca.220-150 BCE
summary: sudden rise of Rome to Mediterranean superpower

– Rise of Rome

• Polyb.VI.1-10, 43-51
  ethnicity: political theory; politeia (“constitution”) of Rome; their customs (e.g. funeral)

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ROMAN GREEKS (BYZANTIUM-CONSTANTINOPLE) vs GERMANS & SASSANIANS

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ancient texts

Procopius of Caesarea History of the Wars, I-II: Persian Wars

AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
who: Procopius of Caesarea
when: ca.550 CE
where: Caesarea > Constantinople > Ravenna
summary: Greek speaking Roman audience

NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: Bellum Persicum Persian War
who: Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Justinianus Augustus
where: Constantinople
when: ca.541-42 CE
summary: description of the bubonic plague; symptoms; social consequences

• Procop.Pers.II.5-10
  ethnicity: Queen Zenobia of Palmyra; siege of Antioch by Chosroes (Khusrau I) with deportations, 540 CE
• Procop.Pers.II.22-24
  bubonic plague, 541-42 CE

Procopius of Caesarea History of the Wars, III-IV: Vandalic Wars

AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
who: Procopius of Caesarea
when: ca.550 CE
where: Caesarea > Constantinople > Ravenna
summary: Greek speaking Roman audience

NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: Bellum Persicum Persian War
who: Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Justinianus Augustus
where: Constantinople
when: ca.541-42 CE
summary: description of the bubonic plague; symptoms; social consequences

• Procop.Vand.III.5
  ethnicity: sack of Rome, 540 CE
• Procop.Vand.III.10-20
  ethnicity: fall of Vandals, general Bellisarius

Procopius of Caesarea History of the Wars, V-VI: Gothic Wars

AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
who: Procopius of Caesarea
when: ca.550 CE
where: Caesarea > Constantinople > Ravenna
summary: Greek speaking Roman audience

NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: Bellum Persicum Persian War
who: Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Justinianus Augustus
where: Constantinople
when: ca.541-42 CE
summary: description of the bubonic plague; symptoms; social consequences

• Procop.Goth.VI.14-15
  ethnicity: Erulians, Thulē

Great Inscription of Shapur

AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
who: Hormizd, scribe of Shapur I (signed Parthian version)
when: ca.250-70 (on fire altar built ca.600-550 BCE)
where: Naqš-i Rustam
summary: inscribed with trilingual inscription (Parthian, Middle Persian, Greek)

NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: ŠKZ Great Inscription of Šāpur on the Ka‘ba-ye Zartošt (“Ka‘ba of Zoroaster”), or Res gestae divi Saporis
who:
where:
when:
summary:

• ŠKZ (Šāpur Ka‘ba-ye Zartošt, or Kaaba of Zoroaster)
  East Rome vs Sassanian Persia
  cf. adjacent relief of Shapur capturing emperor Valerian and promoting Philip the Arab

Deeds of Ardashir

AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
who: scribe Rustam
when: ca. 600 CE | redaction 1322 CE (manuscript MK)
where: Cteisiphon | Gujarat
summary:

NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: Kār-nāmag ī Ardaxšīr ī Pābagān (“Book of the Deeds of Ardashir, Son of Papak”)
who: Ardashir
where: Cteisiphon
when: ca.250 CE
summary:

• Kar-namag
  East Rome vs Sassanian Persia

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