Year: 2026
Type: book-chapter
Abstract: This chapter is an introduction to the terms and concepts of freedom and justice in ancient sources from Egypt, Mesopotamia, Israel, and Greece. It lays out the main aim and the two main theses of the book. This book provides a new history of ideas concerning freedom and justice by comparing undervalued sources from ancient Near Eastern cultures with well-known ancient Greek sources, from early Near Eastern civilizations to pre-Hellenistic times. Freedom and justice emerged as important ideas in ancient Near Eastern cultures, including ancient Israel and ancient Greece. In addition, freedom and justice were not totally different and did not come into deep conflict with each other. Instead, freedom and justice married, from very early on, and their marriage kept developing over time, especially in the form of liberation and equity. In this chapter, ancient terms pertaining to freedom and justice are discussed as well as modern concepts, on the individual and on the collective level.
Author: Jan Dietrich
Language: English
Topic: Ancient Near East History
Subfield: Archeology
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W7213548729