Abstract

The Cambridge Comparative History of Ancient Law is the first of its kind in the field of comparative ancient legal history. Written collaboratively by a dedicated team of international experts, each chapter offers a new framing and understanding of key legal concepts, practices and historical contexts across five major legal traditions of the ancient world. Stretching chronologically across more than three and a half millennia, from the earliest, very fragmentary, proto-cuneiform tablets (3200–3000 BCE) to the Tang Code of 652 CE, the volume challenges earlier comparative histories of ancient law / societies, at the same time as opening up new areas for future scholarship across a wealth of surviving ancient Near Eastern, Indian, Chinese, Greek and Roman primary source evidence. Topics covered include 'law as text', legal science, inter-polity relations, law and the state, law and religion, legal procedure, personal status and the family, crime, property and contract.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationCambridge
PublisherCambridge University Press
Number of pages744
ISBN (Electronic)9781009452243
ISBN (Print)9781107035164
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2024

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  • Conclusion

    Humfress, C., May 2024, Cambridge comparative history of ancient law. Humfress, C., Ibbetson, D. & Olivelle, P. (eds.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 598-614 17 p.

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter (peer-reviewed)peer-review

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  • Law and religion

    Wells, B., Bickart, N., Davis, D., Harris, E., Humfress, C., MacCormack, G., Osborne, R. & Vandorpe, K., May 2024, Cambridge comparative history of ancient law. Humfress, C., Ibbetson, D. & Olivelle, P. (eds.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 231-302 72 p.

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter (peer-reviewed)peer-review

  • Legal procedure

    Olivelle, P., Gagarin, M., Humfress, C., MacCormack, G., Manning, J. G. & Wells, B., May 2024, Cambridge comparative history of ancient law. Humfress, C., Ibbetson, D. & Olivelle, P. (eds.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 303-375 73 p.

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter (peer-reviewed)peer-review

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