The so-called "Mesopotamian law codes". What's in a name?
It is a collective human endeavor, when studying something, to give the subject or object a name and therefore consciously and / or unconsciously attach a specific meaning to it. The generic classification of the so-called cuneiform collections of Mesopotamia as "law codes" encompasses a c...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2010
|
| In: |
Journal for semitics
Year: 2010, Volume: 19, Issue: 2, Pages: 481-498 |
| Further subjects: | B
University of South Africa
|
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | It is a collective human endeavor, when studying something, to give the subject or object a name and therefore consciously and / or unconsciously attach a specific meaning to it. The generic classification of the so-called cuneiform collections of Mesopotamia as "law codes" encompasses a certain meaning, which may obscure and confuse the recent debate concerning whether these collections are an authentic source of Mesopotamian law traditions regarding which different theories had already developed. The cuneiform collections of ancient Mesopotamia are not a singular body of authoritative law but consist of different meanings extended over long periods with social, political, economic and ethnic differences. The majority of scholars persist in the idea, established by Scheil, of naming the cuneiform collections a codex or law code, and of interpreting these cuneiform collections as a codex or law code in today's context and meaning. Until new interpretations of cuneiform texts and artefacts regarding daily and legal activities have been completed, which can prove that these cuneiform collections are an authentic legal source and a codex in terms of today's meaning, the interpretation of the collections on the legal issues of ancient Mesopotamians must be applied with caution and studied together with the greater corpus of cuneiform texts and artefacts, and the branding of the cuneiform collections as a codex reconsidered. |
|---|---|
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for semitics
|
| Persistent identifiers: | HDL: 10520/EJC101161 |