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Archibald Henry Sayce (1845-1933) became interested in Middle Eastern languages and scripts while still a teenager. Old Persian and Akkadian cuneiform had recently been deciphered, and popular enthusiasm for these discoveries was running high when Sayce began his academic career at Oxford in 1869. This work in 'The Semitic Series', intended to present 'a knowledge of the more important facts' in the history of the Near Eastern civilisations, was published in 1900. Sayce's account begins with the geographical and historical background, and then surveys life in the cities, from the family and its home to the government, the law and the army, economic issues such as slavery, prices and banking, the extent and relevance of literacy, and the importance of religion. Scholarly, but written for a popular audience, this work remains of relevance to anyone interested in studying the everyday lives of ordinary people in this ancient society.
List of contents
Preface; 1. Babylonia and its inhabitants; 2. The family; 3. Education and death; 4. Slavery and the free laborer; 5. Manners and customs; 6. Trades, houses, and land, wages and prices; 7. The money-lender and banker; 8. The government and the army; 9. The law; 10. Letter-writing; 11. Religion; Appendix; Index.
Summary
This 1900 work, in a series intended to present knowledge of the more important facts in the history of the Near Eastern civilisations, is scholarly, but written for a popular audience, and remains of relevance to anyone interested in studying the everyday lives of ordinary people in this ancient society.
