Between Greece and Babylonia: Hellenistic Intellectual History in Cross-Cultural Perspective (Cambridge Classical Studies)

This Book Argues For A New Approach To The Intellectual History Of The Hellenistic World. Despite The Intense Cross-cultural Interactions Which Characterised The Period After Alexander, Studies Of 'hellenistic' Intellectual Life Have Tended To Focus On Greek Scholars And Institutions. Where Cross-cultural Connections Have Been Drawn, It Is Through Borrowing: The Greek Adoption Of Babylonian Astrology; The Egyptian Scholar Manetho Deploying Greek Historiographical Models. In This Book, However, Kathryn Stevens Advances A 'hellenistic Intellectual History' Which Is Cross-cultural In Scope And Goes Beyond Borrowing And Influence. Drawing On A Wide Range Of Greek And Akkadian Sources, She Argues That Intellectual Life In The Greek World And Babylonia Can Be Linked Not Just Through Occasional Contact And Influence, But Also By Deeper Parallels In Intellectual Culture That Reflect Their Integration Into The Same Overarching Imperial System. Tracing Such Parallels Yields Intellectual History Which Is Diverse, Multipolar And, Therefore, Truly 'hellenistic'-- In Search Of Hellenistic Intellectual History -- The Study Of The Heavens -- Berossus And The Gaeco-babyloniaca -- Alexandria : The Missing Link? -- Kings And Scholars -- New Horizons : Hellenistic Intellectual Geographies -- From Sulgi To Seleucus : Hellenistic Local Histories -- Epilogue: Towards A New Hellenistic Intellectual History. Kathryn Stevens. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover 1 Half-title page 3 Series page 4 Title page 5 Copyright page 6 Dedication 7 Contents 9 List of Figures 11 Acknowledgements 13 A Note on Transliteration, Transcription and Translation 16 List of Abbreviations 17 Chapter 1 In Search of Hellenistic Intellectual History 23 1.1 ‘Hellenistic Intellectual History’ 28 1.2 The Test Case: Greece and Mesopotamia 38 1.3 Sources and Scope 44 Chapter 2 The Study of the Heavens 55 2.1 A Note on Terminology: Astronomy, Astrology, Transmission 58 2.2 Pre-Hellenistic Contacts 61 2.3 The Hellenistic Period 63 2.4 Reciprocal Influence? 110 Chapter 3 Berossus and the Graeco-Babyloniaca 116 3.1 A Scholar between Two Worlds: Berossus and the Babyloniaca 117 3.2 Beyond Berossus 141 3.3 Bilingual Schooling in Babylon? The Graeco-Babyloniaca 142 Chapter 4 Alexandria: the Missing Link? 166 4.1 The Limits of Alexandrian Universalism 168 4.2 Foreigners in the Library? 175 4.3 From Aššurbanipal to Alexandria? The Case for Mesopotamian Influence 187 Chapter 5 Kings and Scholars 218 5.1 Conger Eels and Cuneiform 220 5.2 Philosophers and Philologoi: Greek Intellectuals and Hellenistic Kings 221 5.3 Priests and Pragmatists: Babylonian Scholars and the Hellenistic Kings 239 5.4 The View from Babylon: Greek Intellectual Patronage Revisited 259 Chapter 6 New Horizons: Hellenistic Intellectual Geographies 274 6.1 Intellectual Geographies in Hellenistic Greek and Akkadian Texts 276 6.2 Bridging the Gap 289 6.3 ‘Hellenistic’ Intellectual Change: Aristotle, Theophrastus and the Babylonian Astronomical Diaries 299 Appendix 1 References in Historia Animalium and Historia Plantarum to Places Discussed 331 Appendix 2 References in Diaries and Chronicles to Places Discussed 334 Chapter 7 From Šulgi to Seleucus: Hellenistic Local Histories 338 7.1 Local Intellectual Worlds 340 7.2 Hellenistic Local Histories in Greece and Babylonia 367 Chapter 8 Epilogue: towards a New Hellenistic Intellectual History 392 Glossary of Selected Places, Deities and Technical Terms 400 Bibliography 405 Index 454 "This book argues for a new approach to the intellectual history of the Hellenistic world. Despite the intense cross-cultural interactions which characterised the period after Alexander, studies of 'Hellenistic' intellectual life have tended to focus on Greek scholars and institutions. Where cross-cultural connections have been drawn, it is through borrowing: the Greek adoption of Babylonian astrology; the Egyptian scholar Manetho deploying Greek historiographical models. In this book, however, Kathryn Stevens advances a 'Hellenistic intellectual history' which is cross-cultural in scope and goes beyond borrowing and influence. Drawing on a wide range of Greek and Akkadian sources, she argues that intellectual life in the Greek world and Babylonia can be linked not just through occasional contact and influence, but also by deeper parallels in intellectual culture that reflect their integration into the same overarching imperial system. Tracing such parallels yields intellectual history which is diverse, multipolar and, therefore, truly 'Hellenistic'"-- Provided by publisher "This book argues for a new approach to the intellectual history of the Hellenistic world. Despite the intense cross-cultural interactions which characterised the period after Alexander, studies of 'Hellenistic' intellectual life have tended to focus on Greek scholars and institutions. Where cross-cultural connections have been drawn, it is through borrowing: the Greek adoption of Babylonian astrology; the Egyptian scholar Manetho deploying Greek historiographical models. In this book, however, Kathryn Stevens advances a 'Hellenistic intellectual history' which is cross-cultural in scope and goes beyond borrowing and influence. Drawing on a wide range of Greek and Akkadian sources, she argues that intellectual life in the Greek world and Babylonia can be linked not just through occasional contact and influence, but also by deeper parallels in intellectual culture that reflect their integration into the same overarching imperial system. Tracing such parallels yields intellectual history which is diverse, multipolar and, therefore, truly 'Hellenistic'."-- Font no determinada This books proposes a new, cross-cultural approach to Hellenistic intellectual history, focusing on Greece and Babylonia. Connecting intellectual life in the two regions through direct contact as well as parallel responses to Hellenistic imperialism, it argues that Hellenistic intellectual history can and should be written in cross-cultural perspective.