War and ethics in the ancient Near East : military violence in light of cosmology and history / C. L. Crouch.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Crouch, Carly L. (Carly Lorraine), 1982-

Series:

Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fur die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft ; 407.

Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fur die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 0934-2575 ; Bd. 407

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Military art and science--Middle East--History.

Military art and science.

Violence--Religious aspects--Judaism.

Violence.

War--Biblical teaching.

War.

War--Religious aspects--Judaism.

Military art and science--Moral and ethical aspects.

Bible. Old Testament--Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bible.

Bible. Old Testament--Ethics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (260 p.)

Place of Publication:

Berlin ; New York : Walter de Gruyter, c2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The monograph considers the relationships of ethical systems in the ancient Near East through a study of warfare in Judah, Israel and Assyria in the eighth and seventh centuries BCE. It argues that a common cosmological and ideological outlook generated similarities in ethical thinking. In all three societies, the mythological traditions surrounding creation reflect a strong connection between war, kingship and the establishment of order. Human kings' military activities are legitimated through their identification with this cosmic struggle against chaos, begun by the divine king at creation. Military violence is thereby cast not only as morally tolerable but as morally imperative. Deviations from this point of view reflect two phenomena: the preservation of variable social perspectives and the impact of historical changes on ethical thinking.The research begins the discussion of ancient Near Eastern ethics outside of Israel and Judah and fills a scholarly void by placing Israelite and Judahite ethics within this context, as well as contributing methodologically to future research in historical and comparative ethics.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

1. Introduction

Part I Ideology, cosmology and ethics

2. Ideology and the confrontation of cultures

3. Assyrian cosmology

4. Judahite and Israelite cosmology

Part II Ethics and society

5. Ethics of the Assyrian élite

6. Ethics of the Judahite and Israelite élite

7. Ethics of the non-élite

Part III Ethics and history

8. Developments in Assyrian ethics

9. Developments in Judahite and Israelite ethics I

10. Developments in Judahite and Israelite ethics II

11. Conclusions

Backmatter

Notes:

Revision of the author's thesis (D.Phil.)--University of Oxford, 2009.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [203]-231) and indexes.

ISBN:

9786612715037

9781282715035

1282715038

9783110223521

311022352X

OCLC:

644252180