Myths of the Archaic State

Myths of the Archaic State PDF Author: Norman Yoffee
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521818370
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 293

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Book Description
In this ground-breaking work, Norman Yoffee shatters the prevailing myths underpinning our understanding of the evolution of early civilisations. He counters the emphasis in traditional scholarship on the rule of 'godly' and despotic male leaders and challenges the conventional view that early states were uniformly constituted bureaucratic and regional entities. Instead, by illuminating the role of slaves and soldiers, priests and priestesses, peasants and prostitutes, merchants and craftsmen, Yoffee depicts an evolutionary process centred on the concerns of everyday life. Drawing on evidence from ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and Mesoamerica, the author explores the variety of trajectories followed by ancient states, from birth to collapse, and explores the social processes that shape any account of the human past. This book offers a bold new interpretation of social evolutionary theory, and as such it is essential reading for any student or scholar with an interest in the emergence of complex society.

Myths of the Archaic State

Myths of the Archaic State PDF Author: Norman Yoffee
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521818370
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 293

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this ground-breaking work, Norman Yoffee shatters the prevailing myths underpinning our understanding of the evolution of early civilisations. He counters the emphasis in traditional scholarship on the rule of 'godly' and despotic male leaders and challenges the conventional view that early states were uniformly constituted bureaucratic and regional entities. Instead, by illuminating the role of slaves and soldiers, priests and priestesses, peasants and prostitutes, merchants and craftsmen, Yoffee depicts an evolutionary process centred on the concerns of everyday life. Drawing on evidence from ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and Mesoamerica, the author explores the variety of trajectories followed by ancient states, from birth to collapse, and explores the social processes that shape any account of the human past. This book offers a bold new interpretation of social evolutionary theory, and as such it is essential reading for any student or scholar with an interest in the emergence of complex society.

Myths and Realities of Caribbean History

Myths and Realities of Caribbean History PDF Author: Basil A. Reid
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
ISBN: 0817355340
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 170

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Book Description
This book seeks to debunk eleven popular and prevalent myths about Caribbean history. Using archaeological evidence, it corrects many previous misconceptions promulgated by history books and oral tradition as they specifically relate to the pre-Colonial and European-contact periods. It informs popular audiences, as well as scholars, about the current state of archaeological/historical research in the Caribbean Basin and asserts the value of that research in fostering a better understanding of the region’s past. Contrary to popular belief, the history of the Caribbean did not begin with the arrival of Europeans in 1492. It actually started 7,000 years ago with the infusion of Archaic groups from South America and the successive migrations of other peoples from Central America for about 2,000 years thereafter. In addition to discussing this rich cultural diversity of the Antillean past, Myths and Realities of Caribbean History debates the misuse of terms such as “Arawak” and “Ciboneys,” and the validity of Carib cannibalism allegations.

The Collapse of Ancient States and Civilizations

The Collapse of Ancient States and Civilizations PDF Author: Norman Yoffee
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 9780816512492
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
Publikacja prac seminarium "School of American Research" które odbyło się w Santa Fe, 22-26 marca 1982 r.

The Anatomy of Myth

The Anatomy of Myth PDF Author: Michael W. Herren
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019060669X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
The Anatomy of Myth is a comprehensive study of the methods of interpreting authoritative myths from the Presocratic philosophers to the Neoplatonists and their adoption by the Church Fathers.

Myths After Lincoln

Myths After Lincoln PDF Author: Lloyd Lewis
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description


Understanding Early Civilizations

Understanding Early Civilizations PDF Author: Bruce G. Trigger
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521822459
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 784

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Book Description
Sample Text

Myth and the Polis

Myth and the Polis PDF Author: Dora Carlisky Pozzi
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 9780801424731
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
This fresh and thought-provoking book deepens our understanding of the dynamic relationship between the creation of myth and the development of the ancient Greek polis, or city-state, during crucial periods in archaic and classical Greece. Examining the diverse texts which crystallized Greek oral tradition, nine chapters by a multidisciplinary group of scholars focus both on the role of the community as the shaper and transmitter of myth and on the function of myth and ritual in the development of political authority in Greek society. Myth and the Polis draws upon current research in such fields such as ancient history, philology, social anthropology, ethnomusicology, comparative literature, psychoanalysis, folklore, and political theory. Taken together, the essays highlight the continuos struggle of Greek archaic and classical communities to keep their myths "true" in spite of the pull of pan-Hellenism. Shedding new light on the beginnings of Western civilization, Myth and the Polis will be of interest to a wide range of readers, including scholars and students of classics, folklore, myth, and ancient religion, politics, and history.

Ancient Oaxaca

Ancient Oaxaca PDF Author: Richard E. Blanton
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521577878
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 168

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Book Description
This book investigates the emergence of social complexity and state formation in a New World region. Around 500 BC, the Valley of Oaxaca, in present-day Mexico, was the site of one of the earliest Native American states, when a new regional capital was established at Monte Alban. Today one of Mexico's most famous and spectacular archaeological sites, Monte Alban signalled an important series of changes in regional political structure in the direction of greater political complexity and integration within a larger domain. The four authors of this introductory text have over the years produced much of the most important primary information we have about developing complex societies in this region. Drawing on the abundance of excavated remains and a survey of regional archaeological settlement patterns, they provide a succinct account of the causes and consequences of political change in the region.

Virginia Woolf's Mythic Method

Virginia Woolf's Mythic Method PDF Author: Amy C Smith
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780814215135
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 174

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Book Description
Reinvigorates modernist analysis of myth in Virginia Woolf's fiction by illuminating Woolf's use of parataxis to engage both myth and contemporary social and political issues.

Myth and Politics in Ancient Near Eastern Historiography

Myth and Politics in Ancient Near Eastern Historiography PDF Author: Mario Liverani
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 9780801473586
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 234

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Book Description
The essays included in this volume analyze important historical texts from various regions of the Ancient Near East. The distinguished Italian historian Mario Liverani suggests that these historiographical texts were of a "true" historical nature and that their literary forms achieved their intended results. Liverani focuses on two central themes in these texts: myth and politics.There is a close connection, Liverani finds, between the writing of history and the validation of political order and political action. History defines the correct role and behavior of political leaders, especially when they do not possess the validation provided by tradition. Historical texts, he discovers, are more often the tools for supporting change than for supporting stability.Liverani demonstrates that history writing in the Ancient Near East made frequent use of mythical patterns, wisdom motifs, and literary themes in order to fulfill its audience's cultural expectations. The resulting nonhistorical literary forms can mislead interpretation, but an analysis of these forms allows the texts' sociopolitical and communicative frameworks to emerge.