SIXTY YEARS AFTER: REVISITING
“THE INTELLECTUAL ADVENTURE OF ANCIENT MAN”
A CROSSDISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE
IN ANCIENT STUDIES AT BROWN UNIVERSITY:
ASIA, AFRICA, EUROPE, AND THE AMERICAS
MARCH 7-9, 2008
LOUNGE AT THE INN AT BROWN, 101 THAYER ST., PROVIDENCE
SPONSORED AND FUNDED BY:
THE PROGRAM IN ANCIENT STUDIES
THE PROGRAM IN JUDAIC STUDIES
THE DEPARTMENT OF EGYPTOLOGY AND ANCIENT WESTERN ASIAN STUDIES
FAITH AND FREDERICK SANDSTROM
THE C. V. STARR FOUNDATION LECTURESHIP FUND
THE DEPARTMENT OF CLASSICS
THE ROYCE FAMILY FUND FOR TEACHING EXCELLENCE
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Intellectual Adventure II: Conf. 2008
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, MARCH 7
4
4:15
4:35
5:25
6:20
7:30
Welcome: Sheila Bonde, Dean of the Graduate School
Introduction: Francesca Rochberg (Univ. of California, Berkeley)
Stephen Houston (Brown): “‘Chronosophy’ in Classic Maya Thought”
Guilhem Olivier (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico): “Words, Sacrifice, and
Divination: Aztec Man in the Realm of the Gods”
Reception
Dinner for speakers and guests (Faculty Club, 1 Magee St.)
SATURDAY, MARCH 8
9:30
10:20
10:40
11:30
12:30
2
2:50
3:40
4
5
5:50
6:30
Gary Urton (Harvard): “Views of the Cosmos from Cusco to Huarochirí:
Interpreting the Intellectual Traditions of Inkas and Other Andeans”
Coffee break
Peter Nabokov (UCLA): “Thinking Impossible Thoughts: Pursuing Wisdoms of
Forgotten Ancestors”
Jason Yaeger (Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison): Comments; discussion
Lunch
Kurt A. Raaflaub (Brown): “Ancient Greece: Man the Measure of All Things — Man the
Political Being”
Robert Kaster (Princeton): “The World of Ancient Roman Thought”
Coffee break
Robert W. Wallace (Northwestern): Comments; discussion
David Schoenbrun (Northwestern): “Violence as a Constituent of a Central
African Antiquity: Vengeance, Decorum, and the Shapes of Power between the Great
Lakes, ca. 1000-1500 CE”
End of session; brief business meeting for speakers
Dinner for speakers (Faculty Club, 1 Magee St.)
SUNDAY, MARCH 9
9
9:50
10:40
11:00
James P. Allen (Brown): “The World of Ancient Egyptian Thought”
Peter Machinist (Harvard): “Genesis, Perspectives, and the Mesopotamian Component”
Coffee break
Ryan Byrne (Rhodes College): “Intelligentsias of the West Semitic World: Israel among
the Nations”
11:50 Gary Rendsburg (Rutgers): Comments; discussion
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Lunch
2:30 Lisa Raphals (Univ. of California, Riverside): “Aspects of Self and Agency in Early
China”
3:20 Stephanie W. Jamison (UCLA): “Vedic India: Thinking and Doing”
4:10 Victor Mair (Univ. of Pennsylvania): Comments; discussion, conclusion
5
End of conference
6
Dinner for remaining speakers (Paragon Restaurant, 234 Thayer St. at Angell St.)
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Intellectual Adventure II: Conf. 2008
WELCOME
Dear colleagues, students, and friends of Ancient Studies at Brown:
Many of you have seen this conference announced, perhaps received the poster, and probably
wondered about the somewhat enigmatic title. What is it all about? What is the “intellectual
adventure of ancient man”? Let me explain and invite you most sincerely to join us for what
promises to be an exciting “intellectual adventure” in its own right.
In 1946, Henri Frankfort, John A. Wilson, Thorkild Jacobsen, and William A. Irwin, eminent
scholars at Chicago University’s renowned Oriental Institute, published lectures they had given in
the university’s Division of the Humanities, under the title The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient
Man: An Essay of Speculative Thought in the Ancient Near East. The book contains, apart from a
substantial introduction and conclusion, chapters on Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Hebrews. It was a
staple in Western Civilization and other introductory courses taken by generations of college
students, and is still in print. It thus has had an amazingly long and successful life. No wonder: it
represents a rare attempt in Near Eastern studies to step back and look at the big picture not in one
but three major civilizations. In this case, the big picture is nothing less than a world view,
reconstructed from the texts of literate complex societies, concerning the place of human beings in
society and state, in nature and cosmos, in space and time, in life and death, in relation to those in
power and the world of the divine. At least parts of this book are brilliant and useful as well, for
comparative purposes, to other disciplines (such as Classics). Unfortunately, by now it is badly
outdated in theoretical approach, use and interpretation of evidence, and geographical limitation.
But the idea that prompted the book in the first place is still valid and exciting. The purpose of our
project is to produce a new version, up-to-date in theoretical underpinning and approach, evidence
and scholarship, and much broader in scope. In her introduction at the conference, Francesca
Rochberg will discuss the theoretical aspects. Here I simply want to explain the scope we have
chosen. In the mid-20th century, a focus on three Near Eastern civilizations that were in close
cultural and political contact especially in the first millennium BCE, was perfectly justifiable. In the
meantime, regionalism has given way to globalism; scholars and teachers have become increasingly
interested in relations and interactions between civilizations; and comparative history, both ancient
and modern, has gained ground. Western civilization courses find strong competition in world
history courses that look at developments in all parts of the globe. Hence it makes sense to include in
a new Intellectual Adventure not only the civilizations that were in intense contact with the ancient
Near East throughout, that is, Greece and Rome, but also other highly developed ancient
civilizations: early China and India in the East, and the Maya, Aztecs, and Inca in the Americas. For
the sake of further comparison, we have included a couple of non-literate early societies whose
world of thought and concepts is accessible by other means: native North Americans and precolonial Africans.
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Intellectual Adventure II: Conf. 2008
In order to achieve a high level of coherence in the planned volume, the contributors will gather at
Brown for the conference announced above, offering drafts of their chapters for discussion. To the
extent possible, they will try to answer the following questions: How did individuals in ancient or
early societies think of their place in social structures and hierarchies? How did they relate to family,
clan, tribe, village, town, and state, to officials, leaders, and kings? What social and communal
values influenced their perceptions, behavior, and actions? How much freedom of action did the
individual have? To what extent was there a notion of “the individual” at all? How were values and
perceptions connected with economic and political conditions? Where were individuals and their
society placed in their geographical environment, in relation to other peoples, and to the world at
large? What was their place and function in the cosmic and divine order? How were perceptions of
divine and human order coordinated? How did the individual interact with the divine? How did
performance in life relate to life after death? Finally and fundamentally, what kinds of evidence
survive and what possibilities do these offer to answer questions such as those posed above? To what
extent do extant texts, which are often mythical or literary and were mostly composed by, or reflect
the perspectives of, elites and professional scribes/scholars working in their service, represent more
general attitudes? In other words, do extant sources permit generalizations?
The entire event is open to the public and free of charge. Please feel invited cordially to attend as
many papers as you can, and let others know of this event. Thank you.
Kurt Raaflaub
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Intellectual Adventure II: Conf. 2008