This book draws on ancient Egyptian inscriptions in order to theorize the relationship between accounting and order. It focuses especially on the performative power of accounting in producing and sustaining order in society. It explores how accounting intervened in various domains of the ancient Egyptian world: the cosmos; life on earth (offerings to the gods; taxation; transportation; redistribution for palace dependants; mining activities; work organization; baking and brewing; private e...

Taking ancient records as the starting point for analysis, this book theorises the state, administration and economy of ancient Egypt. The Egyptian state is theorised as an administrative field of material and symbolic powers with emphasis upon the latter because it has received scant attention in Egyptology. Maat (truth, fairness, connective justice) is theorised as symbolic power discursively authored, disseminated and monitored by senior administrators who redefined its meaning...

Situated in an area roughly corresponding to present-day Iraq, Mesopotamia is one of the great, ancient civilizations, though it is still relatively unknown. Yet, over 7,000 years ago in Mesopotamia, the very first cities were created. This is the first book to reveal how life was lived in ten Mesopotamian cities: from Eridu, the Mesopotamian Eden, to that potent symbol of decadence, Babylon - the first true metropolis: multicultural, multi-ethnic, the last centre of a dying civilization.

Greater Ethiopia combines history, anthropology, and sociology to answer two major questions. Why did Ethiopia remain independent under the onslaught of European expansionism while other African political entities were colonized? And why must Ethiopia be considered a single cultural region despite its political, religious, and linguistic diversity?Donald Levine's interdisciplinary study makes a substantial contribution both to Ethiopian interpretive history and to sociologi...

This fully revised and updated third edition of the bestselling Ancient Egypt seeks to identify what gave ancient Egypt its distinctive and enduring characteristics, ranging across material culture, the mindset of its people, and social and economic factors.In this volume, Barry J. Kemp identifies the ideas by which the Egyptians organized their experience of the world and explains how they maintained a uniform style in their art and architecture across three thousand year...

For three thousand years a dominant force, Ancient Egypt is arguably the most successful and longest lasting human civilization yet. In this pacy guide, world renowned Egyptologist Professor Barry Kemp seeks to explain why Ancient Egypt was able to thrive with such stability for such a long time. The answers may be surprising - Kemp shows that human rights and career progression played an important role, as well as the traditional forces of slave labour and religion. Taking a thematic appr...

Authoritative and up-to-date, this key single-volume work is a thematic exploration of ancient Egyptian civilization and culture as it was expressed down the centuries.Including topics rarely covered elsewhere as well as new perspectives, this work comprises thirty-two original chapters written by international experts. Each chapter gives an overvi

The Ancient Near East reveals three millennia of history (c. 3500–500 bc) in a single work. Liverani draws upon over 25 years’ worth of experience and this personal odyssey has enabled him to retrace the history of the peoples of the Ancient Near East. The history of the Sumerians, Hittites, Assyrians, Babylonians and more is meticulously detailed by one of the leading scholars of Assyriology.Utilizing research derived from the most recent archaeological finds, the text ha...

The only critical guide to the theory and method of Mesopotamian archaeology, this innovative volume evaluates the theories, methods, approaches and history of Mesopotamian archaeology from its origins in the nineteenth century up to the present day.Ancient Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), was the original site of many of the major developments in human history, such as farming, the rise of urban literate societies and the first great empires of Akkad, Babylonia and Assyria.Dr. M...

This book explores the development of tombs as a cultural phenomenon in ancient Egypt and examines what tombs reveal about ancient Egyptian culture and Egyptians' belief in the afterlife.Investigates the roles of tombs in the development of funerary practicesDraws on a range of data, including architecture, artifacts and textsDiscusses tombs within the context of everyday life in Ancient EgyptStresses the importance of the tomb as an eternal expr...

This summary is an invaluable reference for anyone who wishes to acquire a good basic knowledge of the customary laws of Southern Sudan. It provides, in an easily understandable form, a simplified explanation of the customary laws of the Dinka and Nuer peoples and their tradition-based background

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.