Babylonian Knowledge: The Mesopotamian Way of Thought

How did ancient Mesopotamians understand their world? In this course we will read through the major categories of knowledge created and employed in ancient Assyria and Babylonia, their “core curriculum.” We will read this corpus of primary texts (in translation) that had to be mastered by scribes working in cuneiform languages, including proverbs, lists, omens, geographies, medicine, magic, law, mathematics, and accounting. We will also examine the epistemological precepts on which Babylonian knowledge was constructed. What was held to be knowable? How was valid or authentic knowledge identified? What roles did copying, editing, authorship, and literacy play in the production of knowledge?