Geography and Ethnography
Perceptions of the World in Pre-Modern Societies
Ancient World: Comparative Histories
1. Edition January 2010
376 Pages, Hardcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
ISBN:
978-1-4051-9146-3
John Wiley & Sons
Further versions
This fascinating volume brings together leading specialists, who
have analyzed the thoughts and records documenting the worldviews
of a wide range of pre-modern societies.
* Presents evidence from across the ages; from antiquity through
to the Age of Discovery
* Provides cross-cultural comparison of ancient societies around
the globe, from the Chinese to the Incas and Aztecs, from the
Greeks and Romans to the peoples of ancient India
* Explores newly discovered medieval Islamic materials
List of Figures vii
Notes on Contributors xi
Series Editor's Preface xvii
1 Introduction 1
Richard J. A. Talbert and Kurt A. Raaflaub
2 Where the Black Antelope Roam: Dharma and Human Geography in
India 9
Christopher Minkowski
3 Humans, Demons, Gods and Their Worlds: The Sacred and
Scientific Cosmologies of India 32
Kim Plofker
4 Structured Perceptions of Real and Imagined Landscapes in
Early China 43
Hsin-Mei Agnes Hsu
5 Nonary Cosmography in Ancient China 64
John B. Henderson
6 Knowledge of Other Cultures in China's Early Empires
74
Michael Loewe
7 The Mississippian Peoples' Worldview 89
Kathleen DuVal
8 Aztec Geography and Spatial Imagination 108
Barbara E. Mundy
9 Inca Worldview 128
Catherine Julien
10 Masters of the Four Corners of the Heavens: Views of the
Universe in Early Mesopotamian Writings 147
Piotr Michalowski
11 The World and the Geography of Otherness in Pharaonic Egypt
169
Gerald Moers
12 On Earth as in Heaven: The Apocalyptic Vision of World
Geography from Urzeit to Endzeit according to the Book of Jubilees
182
James M. Scott
13 'I Know the Number of the Sand and the Measure of the Sea':
Geography and Difference in the Early Greek World 197
Susan Guettel Cole
14 Continents, Climates, and Cultures: Greek Theories of Global
Structure 215
James Romm
15 The Geographical Narrative of Strabo of Amasia 236
Daniela Dueck
16 The Roman Worldview: Beyond Recovery? 252
Richard J. A. Talbert
17 The Medieval Islamic Worldview: Arabic Geography in Its
Historical Context 273
Adam J. Silverstein
18 The Book of Curiosities: An Eleventh-Century Egyptian View of
the Lands of the Infidels 291
Emilie Savage-Smith
19 Geography and Ethnography in Medieval Europe: Classical
Traditions and Contemporary Concerns 311
Natalia Lozovsky
20 Europeans Plot the Wider World, 1500-1750 330
David Buisseret
Index 344
Notes on Contributors xi
Series Editor's Preface xvii
1 Introduction 1
Richard J. A. Talbert and Kurt A. Raaflaub
2 Where the Black Antelope Roam: Dharma and Human Geography in
India 9
Christopher Minkowski
3 Humans, Demons, Gods and Their Worlds: The Sacred and
Scientific Cosmologies of India 32
Kim Plofker
4 Structured Perceptions of Real and Imagined Landscapes in
Early China 43
Hsin-Mei Agnes Hsu
5 Nonary Cosmography in Ancient China 64
John B. Henderson
6 Knowledge of Other Cultures in China's Early Empires
74
Michael Loewe
7 The Mississippian Peoples' Worldview 89
Kathleen DuVal
8 Aztec Geography and Spatial Imagination 108
Barbara E. Mundy
9 Inca Worldview 128
Catherine Julien
10 Masters of the Four Corners of the Heavens: Views of the
Universe in Early Mesopotamian Writings 147
Piotr Michalowski
11 The World and the Geography of Otherness in Pharaonic Egypt
169
Gerald Moers
12 On Earth as in Heaven: The Apocalyptic Vision of World
Geography from Urzeit to Endzeit according to the Book of Jubilees
182
James M. Scott
13 'I Know the Number of the Sand and the Measure of the Sea':
Geography and Difference in the Early Greek World 197
Susan Guettel Cole
14 Continents, Climates, and Cultures: Greek Theories of Global
Structure 215
James Romm
15 The Geographical Narrative of Strabo of Amasia 236
Daniela Dueck
16 The Roman Worldview: Beyond Recovery? 252
Richard J. A. Talbert
17 The Medieval Islamic Worldview: Arabic Geography in Its
Historical Context 273
Adam J. Silverstein
18 The Book of Curiosities: An Eleventh-Century Egyptian View of
the Lands of the Infidels 291
Emilie Savage-Smith
19 Geography and Ethnography in Medieval Europe: Classical
Traditions and Contemporary Concerns 311
Natalia Lozovsky
20 Europeans Plot the Wider World, 1500-1750 330
David Buisseret
Index 344
"The basic premise, not to be dismissed, is that other
'ancient' or 'pre-modern' societies can inform us about the
Classical and Near Eastern progenitors of our own, if we are
prepared to look and learn." (Ancient West and East,
2014)
"In sum, the editors, and the publisher, are to be congratulated on
producing, a stimulating volume which provides expert guidance to
many aspects of the foreign country which is the past."
(Aestimatio: Critical Reviews in the History of Science, 2011)
"The 20 papers originated in a workshop held at Brown University
in March 2006 and fully reflect the series' world focus and broad
definition of ancient societies." (CHOICE, July 2010)
"Inspirational in conception, seamless in execution, and
exemplary in cohesion, this book of twenty well-written essays on
the diversity of world views from antiquity to the sixteenth
century has an important message for modern 'one world'
globalism."
Catherine Delano-Smith, Institute of Historical Research,
University of London
'ancient' or 'pre-modern' societies can inform us about the
Classical and Near Eastern progenitors of our own, if we are
prepared to look and learn." (Ancient West and East,
2014)
"In sum, the editors, and the publisher, are to be congratulated on
producing, a stimulating volume which provides expert guidance to
many aspects of the foreign country which is the past."
(Aestimatio: Critical Reviews in the History of Science, 2011)
"The 20 papers originated in a workshop held at Brown University
in March 2006 and fully reflect the series' world focus and broad
definition of ancient societies." (CHOICE, July 2010)
"Inspirational in conception, seamless in execution, and
exemplary in cohesion, this book of twenty well-written essays on
the diversity of world views from antiquity to the sixteenth
century has an important message for modern 'one world'
globalism."
Catherine Delano-Smith, Institute of Historical Research,
University of London
Kurt A. Raaflaub is David Herlihy University Professor, and
Professor of Classics and History, at Brown University. His
numerous publications include The Discovery of Freedom
(2004) and Origins of Democracy in Ancient Greece (2007,
co-authored with Josiah Ober and Robert Wallace). He is also the
editor of Social Struggles in Archaic Rome (Blackwell,
2005), and War and Peace in the Ancient World (Blackwell,
2007), and co-editor of A Companion to Archaic Greece
(Wiley-Blackwell, 2009).
Richard J.A. Talbert is William Rand Kenan, Jr, Professor
of History and Classics at The University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill. He is the editor of the Barrington Atlas of the
Greek and Roman World (2000), and co-editor of Space in the
Roman World: Its Perception and Presentation (2004), as well as
of Cartography in Antiquity and the Middle Ages: Fresh
Perspectives, New Methods (2008). His major study
Rome's World: The Peutinger Map Reconsidered will
appear in 2010.
Professor of Classics and History, at Brown University. His
numerous publications include The Discovery of Freedom
(2004) and Origins of Democracy in Ancient Greece (2007,
co-authored with Josiah Ober and Robert Wallace). He is also the
editor of Social Struggles in Archaic Rome (Blackwell,
2005), and War and Peace in the Ancient World (Blackwell,
2007), and co-editor of A Companion to Archaic Greece
(Wiley-Blackwell, 2009).
Richard J.A. Talbert is William Rand Kenan, Jr, Professor
of History and Classics at The University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill. He is the editor of the Barrington Atlas of the
Greek and Roman World (2000), and co-editor of Space in the
Roman World: Its Perception and Presentation (2004), as well as
of Cartography in Antiquity and the Middle Ages: Fresh
Perspectives, New Methods (2008). His major study
Rome's World: The Peutinger Map Reconsidered will
appear in 2010.
