Origins of the Just War : Military Ethics and Culture in the Ancient near East / Rory Cox.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cox, Rory, 1982- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Military history, Ancient.

Just war doctrine--History.

War (International law)--History.

War--Moral and ethical aspects.

Middle East--History, Military.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (537 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2023]

Summary:

A groundbreaking history of the ethics of war in the ancient Near EastOrigins of the Just War reveals the incredible richness and complexity of ethical thought about war in the three millennia preceding the Greco-Roman period, establishing the extent to which ancient just war thought prefigured much of what we now consider to be the building blocks of the Western just war tradition.In this incisive and elegantly written book, Rory Cox traces the earliest ideas concerning the complex relationship between war, ethics and justice. Excavating the ethical thought of three ancient Near Eastern cultures-Egyptian, Hittite and Israelite-he demonstrates that the history of the just war is considerably more ancient and geographically diffuse than previously assumed. Cox shows how the emergence of just war thought was grounded in a desire to rationalise, sacralise and ultimately to legitimise the violence of war. Rather than restraining or condemning warfare, the earliest ethical thought about war reflected an urge to justify state violence. Cox terms this presumption in favour of war ius pro bello-the "right for war"-characterizing it as a meeting point of both abstract and pragmatic concerns.Drawing on a diverse range of ancient sources, Origins of the Just War argues that the same imperative still underlies many of the assumptions of contemporary just war thought and highlights the risks of applying moral absolutism to the fraught ethical arena of war.

Contents:

Cover

Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgements

List of Abbreviations

A Note on Names and Places

Maps

Introduction

Chapter 1. The Art of War in the Ancient Near East

Part I. Egypt, C. 3150-C. 1069 BCE

Chapter 2. Egypt: Historical Introduction

Chapter 3. Egypt: Ius ad bellum

Conceptualising Justice and War

Chapter 4. Egypt: Ius in bello

Concepts and Practices

Part II. Hatti, C. 1650-C. 1200 BCE

Chapter 5. The Hittites: Historical Introduction

Chapter 6. Hatti: Ius ad bellum

Conceptualising Justice and War

Chapter 7. Hatti: Ius in bello

Part III. The Israelites, C. 1000-C. 450 BCE

Chapter 8. The Israelites: Historical Introduction

Chapter 9. The Israelites: Ius ad bellum

Chapter 10. The Israelites: Ius in bello

Conclusion: The Characteristics of Ancient Just War Thought

Appendix 1: Periodic Chronology of Ancient Egypt with Primary Centres of Power

Appendix 2: Internal Narrative Chronology of the Tanakh

Reference Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780691253619

0691253617