Bücher der Reihe Studies in Egyptology & the Ancient Near East

The Middle Kingdom (c 1940-1640 BC) was a golden age of Ancient Egyptian writing. This book studies this literary legacy. It reassesses the Middle Kingdom poems' cultural role, drawing on studies of the individual texts. It explores literature's status as a differentiated form of discourse, suggesting what social practices made its role possible.

This book focuses on certain local powers in Old Babylonian Mesopotamia (ca. 2000 - 1595 B.C.), namely the chief of the city (rabianum), the elders, the "city," and the assembly. This is a novel approach to Old Babylonian history that allows us to understand the constituency, activities, and sphere of influence of local institutions of authority.

This novel work uses case studies of both familiar and unfamiliar materials, expanding consideration of ancient Egyptian elite culture to encompass lived experience and exploitation of the natural environment.