Life at the bottom of Babylonian societ y servile laborers at Nippur in the 14th and 13th centuries, B.C. /
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Life at the Bottom of Babylonian Society is a study of the population dynamics, family structure, and legal status of publicly-controlled servile workers in Kassite Babylonia. It compares some of the demographic aspects proper to this group with other intensively studied past populations, such as Roman Egypt, Medieval Tuscany, and American slave plantations. It suggests that families, especially those headed by single mothers, acted as a counter measure against population reduction (flight and death) and as a means for the state to control this labor force. The work marks a step forward in the use of quantitative measures in conjunction with cuneiform sources to achieve a better understanding of the social and economic forces that affected ancient Near Eastern populations.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004207042 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Social stratification of the Jewish population of Roman Palestine in the period of the Mishnah, 70-250 CE /
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"This book analyzes Jewish society in Roman Palestine in the time of the Mishnah (70-250 CE) in a systematic way, carefully delineating the various economic groups living therein, from the destitute, to the poor, to the middling, to the rich, and to the superrich. It gleans the various socioeconomic strata from the terminology employed by contemporary literary sources via contextual, philological, and historical-critical analysis. It also takes a multidisciplinary approach to analyze and interpret relevant archeological and inscriptional evidence as well as numerous legal sources. The research presented herein shows that various expressions in the sources have latent meanings that indicate socioeconomic status. "Rich," for example, does not necessarily refer to the elite, and "poor" does not necessarily refer to the destitute. Jewish society consisted of groups on a continuum from extremely poor to extremely rich, and the various middling groups played a more important role in the economy than has hitherto been thought".
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9789004418936
Beyond perestroika : axiology and the new Russian entrepreneurs /
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This book investigates rapid societal change in Russia during the early 1990s. The story of the anthropologist (author) and the people he studied reveals cultural similarities and differences between them. Russians and Latvians taught the author about the Soviet Union, its people, and its cultures. Formal axiology provides a novel way to access their changing values.
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1 online resource (xvi, 361 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 333-339) and index. :
9789042027367 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Bible and poverty in Kenya : an empirical exploration /
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Many strategies have been formulated to reduce poverty, the most recent being the need to include the poor as co-agents in the development process. Culture, understood as commonly shared values, then becomes an important element in poverty alleviation. Likewise religion becomes an important element of culture when the values of that religion are considered as widespread in the society. Additionally, political and economic factors are equally important for poverty alleviation. This work is centered on a conceptual model postulating that cultural attitudes influence attitudes towards ends of poverty alleviation directly and indirectly through political and economic attitudes. The study maps out the paths of influence of cultural (religious values), political and economic attitudes on those towards ends of poverty alleviation.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [201]-208) and index. :
9789047432692 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Judeans in Babylonia : a study of deportees in the sixth and fifth centuries BCE /
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"In Judeans in Babylonia, Tero Alstola presents a comprehensive investigation of deportees in the sixth and fifth centuries BCE. By using cuneiform documents as his sources, he offers the first book-length social historical study of the Babylonian Exile, commonly regarded as a pivotal period in the development of Judaism. The results are considered in the light of the wider Babylonian society and contrasted against a comparison group of Neirabian deportees. Studying texts from the cities and countryside and tracking developments over time, Alstola shows that there was notable diversity in the Judeans' socio-economic status and integration into Babylonian society".
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9789004365421