Hierarchy and Power in the History of Civilizations:

Hierarchy and Power in the History of Civilizations:

Ancient and Medieval Cultures

Moscow: KomKniga, 2008. - 254 p.
Edited by Leonid E. Grinin, Dmitri D. Beliaev and Andrey V. Korotayev
ISBN 978-5-484-01041-7
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The human history has evidenced various systems of hierarchy and power in different spheres of social life. The relations of hierarchy and power penetrate the whole of social life but naturally they are most visible in the political sphere. The careful study of each particular case of such relations is of great signifi-cance. In the meantime it is very important to see both the general features typi-cal for all or most of the hierarchy and power forms, and their variation. Among all the systems of power and submission the ancient and medieval systems are of special interest in certain respects, as they are characterized by tremendous variation, and also because among them one can find especially pure cases of natural evolution of power and hierarchy structures. In this volume the relations of hierarchy and power are studied with respect to representative samples of pre-modern states and societies. These interesting and revealing cases cover a wide range both in time and space, as well as different types of the relations of hierar-chy and power in the history of ancient and medieval civilizations.

The text and typesetting of this book have been supplied entirely by the authors.

Contents

Contents

Introduction

List of Contributors


Part I. Ancient States of the Old World
1 The Image of the King in Ancient Egyptian Literature: from Axial Background Functions to Fully-Engaged Object of Action 3
Anastasia А. Banschikova
2 The Power of Perceptions: the Ancient Near East as a Case in Point
Paul A. Kruger
3 Early State in the Classical World: Statehood and Ancient Democracy
Leonid E. Grinin

Part II. Medieval Eurasian States: The Cases of Chinggis-Khan Empire and Old Russia
4 The Impact of Prescriptive Marriage System on Medieval
Mongol State and Society
Valentin C. Golovachev
5 Structure of Power in Nomadic Empires of Inner Asia:
Anthropological Approach
Nikolay N. Kradin
6 Struggle for Power in the Mongol Ulus at the Turn of the 12th and 13th Centuries
Tatiana D. Skrynnikova
7 The Mechanisms of the Old Russian State Genesis
Evgeniy A. Shinakov

Part III. The New World States: The Maya Case
8 Calakmul, Campeche, Mexico: Development and Decline
in the Northern Peten: 1000 B.C. to A.D. 1600
William J. Folan, María del Rosario Domínguez Carrasco, Armando Anaya Hernández, Joel D. Gunn
9 King Rule! – Not: Changes in Ancient Maya Power and Ideology in the Cochuah Region
Dave Johnstone
10 Contribution of Stone Sculptures to the Understanding
of Power in the Puuc Region
Julie Patrois
11 Power and Ideology Evidenced in Settlement Pattern Shifts
in the Cochuah Region
Justine M. Shaw
12 Hierarchical Structure of the Settlement Pattern in the Ejido
of Sacalaca, Quintana Roo
Tatiana Zelenetskaya Young

Afterword


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