Gorgias Studies in the Ancient Near East
Knowledge of the societies of ancient Nubia is regrettably narrow due to a variety of reasons. Ancient Egyptian royal propaganda expressed prejudices that held Nubia as “wretched Kush,” subsidiary to Egypt’s political power and cultural flourishing. Egyptologists tend to interpret ancient Nubian political and social achievements as derivative of Egypt as a result of this ancient bias and due to modern views of “Egyptian exceptionalism.” Finally, there is a structural absence of Kush from general spheres of knowledge transmission: university departments, academic and public libraries, and the wider discourse about the ancient world, render Nubia all but invisible. Located at the nexus of the Nile Valley and savannah corridors, ancient Nubian peoples traded east African goods to Egypt, the eastern Mediterranean, and the Near East. The powerful Kushite empire attained political hegemony over Egypt in its 25th Dynasty (ca. 760–656 BCE), which saw the Kushite pharaohs engaging in international displays of power in the Levant, bringing them into direct conflict with the Assyrian empire. Commentary on these clashes is recorded in the Hebrew Bible, while the Christian New Testament speaks of the conversion of a treasurer of the “Candace of the Aethiopians”. This volume seeks to present current research that centers Nubian history and archaeology and imparts this information from new, anti-racist perspectives. By publishing these studies in Gorgias Studies in the Ancient Near East series, we aim to bring research on Nubia to a wider scholarly audience, with the goals of broadening Nubiology’s impact on Egyptological, classical, and biblical scholarship, while challenging scholarly biases and disseminating knowledge of this ancient culture. By lifting up and centering the contributions of ancient Nubia, we expand our understanding of African achievements and influences on the ancient world.
Culture of Defeat is based on a 2017 conference focusing on the impact on, and responses by, the defeated parties in conflicts in the ancient Near East. Shifting the focus of analysis from the conqueror to the vanquished, the (re-)examination of written sources and the archaeological record sheds new light on the consequences and reactions after often traumatic defeats and allows to gain a more nuanced and complete picture of such events.
Drawn from Akkadian and Sumerian tablets in the Yale Babylonian Collection, many of them previously unpublished, this collection of readings brings to life the vibrancy of ancient Mesopotamian literature, beyond its better-known myths and epics. The book’s unique thematic structure presents a wide range of timeless subjects, while the individual selections open new perspectives, thanks to their vivid details. The texts include letters, poems, prayers, humorous sketches, dialogues, and proverbs. Each theme is introduced, followed by brief commentaries on the dozen or more illustrative texts. Suggestions for further reading are also provided, as well as a map, chronological outline, and general introduction.
