2026/2027
Введение в Право Древнего Ближнего Востока
Статус:
Дисциплина общефакультетского пула
Кто читает:
Институт классического Востока и античности
Где читается:
Факультет гуманитарных наук
Когда читается:
4 модуль
Охват аудитории:
для всех кампусов НИУ ВШЭ
Преподаватели:
Локтионов Александр Александрович
Язык:
английский
Кредиты:
3
Контактные часы:
36
Course Syllabus
Abstract
This course, delivered during module 4 to students in the second and third years of study, aims to equip participants with both a working knowledge of the key principles of Ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian justice, and a wider awareness of theoretical approaches to the historical study of law that may be applicable in this context. Students will be familiarised with the broad chronological scope of legal developments in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, as well as with the key legal texts of each tradition, including both well-known works such as the Egyptian Tomb Robbery Papyri and the famous Code of Hammurabi of Babylon, and lesser-known compositions dealing with the philosophical and theological underpinnings of the law. Alongside study of the texts (in translation), the course will also summarise key features of the institutions and officials responsible for bringing the law into action, highlighting legal pluralism as an especially significant theoretical tool for the study thereof.
Delivery of the course will consist of lectures and seminar classes in equal measure. Final assessment will be by means of an assessed presentation on a legal topic chosen by each student (50%), as well as a 2hr written exam consisting of short answer questions and an essay (50%).
Learning Objectives
- Recall the general chronology of key legal developments in Egypt and Mesopotamia
- Describe the content of foundational legal documents of Egypt and Mesopotamia, citing relevant examples
- Discuss various factors influencing law in Egypt and Mesopotamia, including individual rulers, religion, regionalism, and foreign influence
- Deploy legal pluralism theory as a tool for analysing legal structures in Egypt and Mesopotamia
- Assess the reasons for the marginalisation of Ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian law as a foundation for later legal systems (in contrast to Roman and Biblical law)
- Develop personal research interests in the legal history of Egypt and Mesopotamia
Expected Learning Outcomes
- Critically analyse the content of specific Ancient Egypt judicial texts
- Develop personal research interests in the field of Ancient Egyptian justice
- Integrate the study of Ancient Egyptian texts into questions of wider legal theory
- Critically analyse the content of specific Ancient Mesopotamian judicial texts
- Integrate the study of Ancient Mesopotamian texts into questions of wider legal theory
- Develop personal research interests in the field of Ancient Mesopotamian justice
Assessment Elements
- Assessed presentationStudents are asked to deliver a presentation of 15 minutes in length on a topic of Ancient Egyptian and/or Mesopotamian legal history of their choice.
- Open-book examThis exam is an open-book test. Participants will be required to answer a series of short-answer questions and compose an essay from a choice of three topics (one Egyptian, one Mesopotamian, and one comparative)
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- A history of social justice and political power in the Middle East : the Circle of justice from Mesopotamia to globalization, Darling, L. T., 2013
- Affairs and scandals in ancient Egypt, Vernus, P., 2003
- Early Mesopotamia : society and economy at the dawn of history, Postgate, J. N., 1994
- Mesopotamia : writing, reasoning, and the gods, Bottero, J., 1995
- Writing, law, and kingship in Old Babylonian Mesopotamia, Charpin, D., 2010
- Государство и право Древнего Египта, Томсинов, В. А., 2017
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- Ancient Egyptian administration, , 2013
- Ancient egyptian biographies : contexts, forms, functions, , 2020