Sign-In
Cart
Temples of Enterprise: Creating Economic Order in the Bronze Age Near East
Paperback
EconomicsAncient History GeneralGeneral Political Science
ISBN13: 9783949546181
Publisher: Islet
Published: Mar 12 2024
Pages: 344
Weight: 1.21
Height: 0.72 Width: 6.69 Depth: 9.61
Language: English
The twelve articles collected in this volume describe how the most basic features of Western economic organization - money, markets, land tenure and enterprise - were created in the temples and palaces of the ancient Near East. The perspective on these topics originated in the five international colloquia organized by the Institute for the Study of Long-term Economic Trends (ISLET) with Harvard University's Peabody Museum from 1994 to 2015. When these meetings began, most Assyriology, Egyptology and classical studies tended to accept the views of modern economic orthodoxy. Archaic social values were so different from today's views that there was resistance to recognizing the extent to which the Bronze Age economic takeoff, 3500-1200 BC, followed policies radically unlike our own.
Endorsements
Michael Hudson is the foremost expert on the financial and monetary systems of the antiquarian Western/Near Eastern World, from Mesopotamia to the Fall of the Roman Empire. In this work he totally demolishes the myth that money developed from a need to simplify barter transactions. Instead, money developed as a complement to credit/debt relationships, initially mainly between Temples and Kings as creditors and merchants and small farmers as debtors.
A second main theme is that many small farmers borrowed out of desperation, e.g. after bad harvests, so that the only way to prevent growing inequality was to introduce occasional debtor holidays via Jubilees or clean slates. But rich creditors, outside the ruling family, did not like to do this, and, whenever they controlled policy, land holding became centralized, and tax revenue declined, leading to collapse. Hudson's analysis poses the issue of whether debt forgiveness is feasible and/or desirable in the modern world.
-Charles Goodhart, author of Goodhart's Law and initial external member of Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee
While David Graeber's Debt: The First 5000 Years exposed the myth of barter, Michael Hudson's brilliant book demonstrates that money's origins can be found in the temples and palaces of the Ancient Near East. Money was created to denominate debts to authorities incurred as rents and fees, and for the advance of land, seeds, animals and beer. As debts tended to grow faster than ability to pay, periodic debt cancellations restored liberty and the ability of communities to support themselves. Hudson warns that the rise of Western civilization's doctrine of the inviolability of debt drowns the majority of the world's population in unpayable debts and servitude to oligarchies. Social balance, growth, liberty, and resilience can only be restored with debt cancellations and Clean Slates.
-L. Randall Wray, Professor of Economics, Levy Economics Institute of Bard College
Michael Hudson's research was a major influence on my husband David Graeber's anthropology of debt. David considered Michael the most innovative and important economic historian of the last half century. In this volume he describes how the most basic features of Western economic organization - money, markets, land tenure and enterprise - were created in the temples and palaces of the ancient Near East, not by individuals transacting on their own account.
-Nika Dubrovsky, David Graeber's partner and founder of the David Graeber Institute
Also from
Hudson, Michael
The Destiny of Civilization: Finance Capitalism, Industrial Capitalism or Socialism
Hudson, Michael
Paperback
...and forgive them their debts: Lending, Foreclosure and Redemption From Bronze Age Finance to the Jubilee Year
Hudson, Michael
Paperback
...and Forgive Them Their Debts: Lending, Foreclosure and Redemption from Bronze Age Finance to the Jubilee Year
Hudson, Michael
Hardcover
The Destiny of Civilization: Finance Capitalism, Industrial Capitalism or Socialism
Hudson, Michael
Hardcover
Wall Street's White House: How Gary Cohn Wrecked The Global Economy And Parlayed It Into A White House Job
Hudson, Michael
Rivlin, Gary
Paperback
Also in
Ancient History General
The Power of Place: Rulers and Their Palaces, Landscapes, Cities, and Holy Places
Rollason, David
Hardcover
The Golden Thread: A History of the Western Tradition, Volume I: The Ancient World and Christendom
Hankins, James
Guelzo, Allen C.
Hardcover
Story of the World, Vol. 1: History for the Classical Child: Ancient Times
Bauer, Susan Wise
Paperback
The Fall of Republics: A History from Ancient Carthage to the American Constitution
Madden, Thomas F.
Hardcover
The Far Edges of the Known World: Life Beyond the Borders of Ancient Civilization
Rees, Owen
Hardcover
The Mesopotamian Riddle: An Archaeologist, a Soldier, a Clergyman, and the Race to Decipher the World's Oldest Writing
Hammer, Joshua
Paperback
The Great Remembering: Powerful Ancient Practices--And the New Science Bringing Them Back
Cohen, June
Hardcover
A Brief History of Japan: Samurai, Shogun and Zen: The Extraordinary Story of the Land of the Rising Sun
Clements, Jonathan
Paperback
Fiber Craft Heritage: Easy-To-Learn Textile Techniques from the Stone Age to Today, with 52 Try-It Projects
Fischer, Doris
Hardcover
The Shortest History of the Dinosaurs: The 230-Million-Year Story of Their Time on Earth
Black, Riley
Paperback
Big Dinosaur Coloring Book: Dinosaur Gifts for 3 Year Olds - Paperback Coloring to
Coloring Funny, Family
Paperback
The Political and Strategic History of the World, Vol I: From Antiquity to the Caesars, 14 A.D.
Black, Conrad
Hardcover
The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome
Bauer, Susan Wise
Hardcover
The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of the Modern World
Wisnom, Selena
Hardcover
Death by Astonishment: Confronting the Mystery of the World's Strangest Drug (the Dmt Book)
Gallimore, Andrew R.
Hardcover
Stone Lands: A Journey of Darkness and Light Through Britain's Ancient Places
Robertson, Fiona
Hardcover
Stories of the Stones: Imagining Prehistory in Britain, Ireland and Brittany
Robichaud, Paul
Hardcover
Mothers of Invention: A History of Creativity from the Greek Muses (Large Print Edition)
McTier, Moiya
Paperback
The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World
Anthony, David W.
Paperback
Ancient and Medieval Siege Weapons: A Fully Illustrated Guide To Siege Weapons And Tactics
Nossov, Konstantin
Paperback
The Secret World of Denisovans: The Epic Story of the Ancient Cousins to Sapiens and Neanderthals
Condemi, Silvana
Savatier, François
Hardcover
The Political and Strategic History of the World, Vol I: From Antiquity to the Caesars, 14 A.D.
Black, Conrad
Paperback
The Mesopotamian Riddle: An Archaeologist, a Soldier, a Clergyman, and the Race to Decipher the World's Oldest Writing
Hammer, Joshua
Hardcover
The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World
Anthony, David W.
Paperback
Slaving States: From West Africa to the Ancient Mediterranean
Fentress, Elizabeth
Rabinowitz, Adam
Hardcover
Magicians of the Gods: Updated and Expanded Edition - Sequel to the International Bestseller Fingerprints of the Gods
Hancock, Graham
Paperback
The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of the Modern World
Wisnom, Selena
Paperback
Impossible Monsters: Dinosaurs, Darwin, and the Battle Between Science and Religion
Taylor, Michael
Paperback
World History: A Visual Journey From The Dawn Of Civilization To The 21st Century
Alive, History Brought
Paperback
The Secret World of Denisovans: The Epic Story of the Ancient Cousins to Sapiens and Neanderthals
Savatier, François
Condemi, Silvana
Paperback
The First Fossil Hunters: Dinosaurs, Mammoths, and Myth in Greek and Roman Times
Mayor, Adrienne
Paperback
Japanese Legends: Samurai, Spirits, Myths & the Sacred Stories of Japan
Alive, History Brought
Hardcover
Road to Valor: A True Story of WWII Italy, the Nazis, and the Cyclist Who Inspired a Nation
McConnon, Andres
McConnon, Aili
Paperback
Popol Vuh: The Sacred Book of the Ancient Quiche Maya Volume 29
Goetz, Delia
Morley, Sylvanus G.
Paperback
The Codes of Hammurabi and Moses with Copious Comments, Index, and Bible References
W. W. Davies Ph. D., Ph. D.
W. W. Davies Ph. D.
Paperback
Mythology of Mesopotamia: Fascinating Insights, Myths, Stories & History From The World's Most Ancient Civilization. Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, P
Brought Alive, History
Hardcover
In Search of Ancient Ireland: The Origins of the Irish from Neolithic Times to the Coming of the English
McCaffrey, Carmel
Eaton, Leo
Paperback
Celtic History and Mythology Explained: Ancient Legends, Heroic Tales, and the Battles that Forged a People
Torbert, Sidney K.
Paperback
Mesoamerican History: A Captivating Guide to Four Ancient Civilizations that Existed in Mexico - The Olmec, Zapotec, Maya and Aztec Civilization
History, Captivating
Hardcover
An Illustrated Guide to Samurai History and Culture: From the Age of Musashi to Contemporary Pop Culture
Blair, Gavin
Hardcover
Christians Reading Classics: An Introduction to Greco-Roman Classics from Homer to Boethius
Williams, Nadya
Paperback
Mythology of Mesopotamia: Fascinating Insights, Myths, Stories & History From The World's Most Ancient Civilization. Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, P
Brought Alive, History
Paperback
The Lost World of Adam and Eve: Genesis 2-3 and the Human Origins Debate Volume 1
Walton, John H.
Paperback
Nineveh and Its Remains: With an account of a visit to the Chaldæan Christians of Kurdistan, and the Yezidis, or devil-worshippers; and an enqu
Layard, Austen Henry
Paperback
The Ethiopian Bible History: oldest and most complete known book in the world (Canons and Books)
Benedict, Beauty
Paperback
...and forgive them their debts: Lending, Foreclosure and Redemption From Bronze Age Finance to the Jubilee Year
Hudson, Michael
Paperback
The Stoicism Book of Quotes: Over 200 Inspirational Quotations from the Greatest Stoic Philosophers
Yasenka, Kortney
Benas, Nick
Hardcover
1st Century Radical: The Shadowy Origins of the Man who Became Known as Jesus Christ
Jacques, Michael Calum
Paperback
Battles of the Bible Illustrated Atlas
Dougherty, Martin J.
Haskew, Michael E.
Jestice, Phyllis G.
Hardcover
...and Forgive Them Their Debts: Lending, Foreclosure and Redemption from Bronze Age Finance to the Jubilee Year
Hudson, Michael
Hardcover
The Aztec Empire: An Enthralling Overview of the History of the Aztecs, Starting with the Settlement in the Valley of Mexico
History, Enthralling
Hardcover
Celtic Mythology: A Complete Guide to Celtic Mythology, Celtic Gods, and Celtic Folklore
Walsh, Andrew
Hardcover
Return of the Fallen Ones: Nephilim Histories, the Antediluvian World, Anunnaki Chronology and the Coming Cataclysm
Breshears, Jason M.
Paperback
When God Had a Wife: The Fall and Rise of the Sacred Feminine in the Judeo-Christian Tradition
Picknett, Lynn
Prince, Clive
Paperback
The Scythian Empire: Central Eurasia and the Birth of the Classical Age from Persia to China
Beckwith, Christopher I.
Paperback