Month: August 2016

On February 9, 2016 Livius Onderwijs organized a lecture day on the history of monotheism. In ten short lectures lasting ten minutes each, Dutch historians Jona Lendering and Richard Kroes discussed various topics, including the origins of monotheistic thought, the birth of the various monotheistic religions, the reasons why they split up into different sects and the origin of fundamentalism. Of course it is quite a challenge to present such a complex theme in a series of ten mini-lectures. Nevertheless, Jona Lendering and Richard Kroes managed quite well. Their lectures went smooth (aside from a breakdown of the beamer during the second lecture and the fact that some lectures did surpass the ten minute limit) and they managed to introduce the audience to the basics, leaving the wanting for more. Now I am facing the challenge of summarizing these mini-lectures in even fewer words…

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In 1066 William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, invaded Britain and subdued the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The Anglo-Saxons, in turn, had invaded Britain during the fifth and sixth centuries. Before the Normans and Anglo-Saxons invasions, the original Celtic-speaking Britons had lived on the island for at least a thousand years, leaving a great cultural impact on the region. This indigenous British culture had been slowly dying out since the Anglo-Saxon invasions and was even further endangered by the Normans, who brought along a new wave of French culture. Only in Wales, where people cherished their ancient roots, language and oral traditions, did this original British culture survive. It was in the Welsh town of Monmouth that a certain Geoffrey was born. Geoffrey of Monmouth was a cleric and a prolific author who, at the instigation of Archdeacon Walter of Oxford, set out to write a history on the original British people: the Historia Regum Britanniae.

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The Incredible Human Journey (2009) is one of the most exciting and also one of the most comprehensive documentaries on prehistoric human migration out of Africa. In her quest to trace the human journey, anthropologist Alice Roberts travels around the world, visiting the most scenic environments across the five continents, meeting with rare tribes living traditional lifestyles, discussing important archaeological sites and talking to various specialists. No expenses are spared and the result is over four hours worth of great footage that will speak to anyone, regardless of their prior knowledge or even interest in this topic. Throughout the documentary, several mainstream theories on early human migration are discussed in an accessible way. Most of the information is accurate and up-to-date, although I do have some minor comments. In order to give you an idea of the contents of the documentary, I will discuss all five episodes below.
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The Sumerian King List is arguably the oldest historiographical document known to man. It lists all the kings who had ruled over Sumer from primordial times up to the dynasty of Isin (2017-1793 BC). The fact that the Sumerian King List ends with the dynasty of Isin implies that the standard version that we know today was completed during this period. Isin was an Akkadian city state that managed to bring much of Sumer and Akkad under it’s rule after the fall of the Sumerian Ur III dynasty (2112-2004 BC). The Ur III dynasty was the last native Sumerian dynasty and its rulers prouded themselves on being the heirs of former Sumerian dynasties, dating back all the way to Antediluvian (pre-Flood) times. Much of the Sumerian King List, safe from the addition of the kings of Isin, probably already existed during the Ur III period and gives an interesting insight in how the Sumerians in the third millennium BC constructed their past.

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It has long been known that the ancient Babylonians were great astronomers and mathematicians. Already in Hellenistic times Greek authors like Strabo credited the Babylonians with inventing mathematics and astronomy and the discovery of cuneiform clay tablets from the nineteenth century onward has confirmed this notion. Babylonian priests meticulously kept track of the movements of heavenly bodies, since they believed that the paths of the stars and planets had been established by the gods and thus influenced the events on earth. By using advanced mathematics they were able to calculate the paths of the planets and the stars across the night sky and predict lunar eclipses. Up until now it had been believed that these Babylonian astronomers only used simple arithmetics to calculate planetary movements, but a new discovery by Mathieu Ossendrijver, professor of history at Berlin’s Humboldt University, implies that they had knowledge of complex geometry that foreshadowed the development of calculus.

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The origins of Abrahamic monotheism are traditionally attributed to culture heroes such as Abraham and Moses. Secular scholars instead assign a later date to these development, during the period of the Babylonian Exile or even later. Despite this late date, however, tendencies towards monotheism must have been developing in the centuries prior to the Exile as well. Usually the focus is on the Southern Kingdom of Judah. This is mostly because after the fall of the Northern Kingdom we witness a sharp increase in prophetic activity in the south. However, when tracing back the lines it appears that this prophetic movement had northern origins, as can be deducted from the prophetic activities of Elijah and his followers. This Elijah and his movement were in turn inspired by the political developments that took place in the small but also young and dynamic Kingdom of Israel. Therefore, I have dedicated this post to this obscure but very interesting kingdom.

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History, to me, is a source of inspiration. My desire to learn more about ancient civilizations and all aspects of their cultures is driven by an inner passion that is hard to rationalize. I view people who try to make history relevant by drawing far-fetched and forced parallels between past and present or using it for political purposes with suspicion. It’s not that I think we cannot learn from the past, but the lessons that we draw from history are highly subjective and they will always be. Of course we as historians will always try to get as close as possible to objective truth about the past, but I am sure that all of us have chosen the field of history out of a love for the object of our study. Therefore, the best way to teach children – or anyone for that matter – about history is by inspiring an interest in them that will make them find out more. In order to illustrate this concept, I will discuss the book that inspired me, as a child, to learn more about ancient history: the Children’s Encyclopedia of History – First Civilisations to the Fall of Rome.

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In AD 94 Flavius Josephus, a romanized Jew, set out to write a history of the Jewish people aimed at an educated Graeco-Roman audience. Although he was an observant Jew who was born into a priestly family and even took part in the First Jewish Revolt against Rome (AD 66-73), Josephus soon came to recognize that resistance against the Roman Empire was futile and instead tried to reconciliate his Jewish faith with Graeco-Roman culture. In his Antiquities of the Jews Josephus seeks to present the history of his own people in a way to which this Graeco-Roman elite could relate, often going out of his way to emphasize similarities between Judaism and Graeco-Roman philosophy and to corroborate events mentioned in the Bible by referring to other Graeco-Roman historians. The Antiquities are interesting for many different reasons. This article will only scratch the surface.

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In the late 24th century BC Sargon of Akkad conquered all Sumerian city states and established his Semitic kinsmen as governors over them, thus creating the first multiethnic state. Sargon then set out on a series of conquest that would bring him to the edges of the known world and win him the reputation of an unrivaled world conquering hero. Although his empire was shortlived, Sargon established the Akkadian language and culture as a dominant presence in the Near East for millennia to come and Near Eastern kings up until the time of Alexander the Great tried to emulate his conquests. Although Sargon started a new imperial tradition, he did not exist in a vacuum. Therefore, let us look at the historical context and see which factors gave rise to the phenomenon known as the Akkadian Empire.

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The nomadic peoples of the Eurasian steppes have always fascinated me. Although these nomads have maintained a relatively primitive lifestyle up until the nineteenth century, they have also given rise to many of history’s largest land empires. Despite the fact that the Eurasian steppes were seen by many as the edge of the civilized world, many prominent peoples in history – most noticeable the Indo-Iranians and the Turks – have migrated from there. What exactly makes these ‘primitive’ peoples from these ‘desolate wastelands’ so successful? This question has consumed anthropologists for decades. The successes of these nomads seem to defy the notion that only economically complex societies can form states and empires. Luckily, there has been a movement among anthropologists dedicated to studying these nomadic societies, in order to find out in which ways these economically simple societies may evolve to a high level of political complexity. Their findings have been published in a bundle titled Nomadic Pathway in Social Evolution (2003).

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