Susanne Paulus | Debts, Crime, and Prison: Daily Life in Babylonia CA. 1200 BC

Presented by Susanne Paulus, Assistant Professor of Assyriology, University of Chicago
When history is considered, it is often restricted to the actions of outstanding individuals or entities: gods, kings, and heroes. The struggles of normal people are usually neglected. Using the rich document corpus of clay tablets found in the excavations of the Babylonian cities of Ur and Nippur, this talk allows a glimpse into the daily life of the middle and lower class around 1200 BC. Special focus on problems still well-known today include family trouble and indebtedness.
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[@nyar2352]

Napšīru may have acted 'stupid', but he stood up for his mate the brewer. Good man.

[@YawehthedragondogofEL]

I love this daily life stuff, and just how societies and economies functioned. I like to get to know the ancients. Great presentation.

[@ralphlubbe3689]

i agree, that Susanne Paulus is excellent in presenting this daily life in ancient times and is a specialist not only in Babylonia, but in all cuneiform cultures, since her former Münster times.

[@mpaulworkman]

Loved this, great to see this topic and hope more lectures from Professor Paulus are to come.

[@weilandiv8310]

Great talk and stuff. Human beings will always be: part sinner and part saint, with a sprinkling of depression and our extreme quest for drugs and alcohol.

[@hingginchu]

The work on these ancient cuneiform records and what they can tell us are truly incredible. Will be waiting for the next lecture.

[@CadaverSplatter]

Thank you guuys for helping inform the public about Assyriology.

[@pedroguilayn]

great lecture

[@sharonjanethague7181]

Great! So interesting.

[@ichi_san]

Thank you

[@msp133]

Is there somewhere we can hear the final story?

[@claytonwalter8700]

Nice lecture, in spite of the speech issues.

[@arastoomii4305]

Epic as usual

[@bibia666]

intertaining and informative :)

[@mliittsc63]

Great!

[@cathyfarcks1242]

I don't think I've seen any of these lectures end on a cliffhanger before 😀

[@Pillowcase]

Where is the story about the poor man!?

[@melinaz3385]

I like the comparisons, and to picture this, 1 liter of barley is about 1.3 pounds in weight, like about 3 cups of rice. But as in volume, 30 liters is almost 8 gallons, (milk jugs or four pails,) of grain, and 30 liters will trade for 1 pound of wool, was it washed and carded wool or just a pound of sheered wool? 30 liters is about an apple box size filled with grain, and does this grain come with everything on it or has the chaff been removed? Winnowed and polished to use for higher quality food? Grain is subject to mold if the weather's moist, even in the desert.

[@kaarlimakela3413]

This reminds me of many things about economies that would be well explained in a board game. Monopoly originally meant to make obvious the unbalanced property situation in Atlantic City of a century ago. Switch railroads and utilities with barley and cows, real estate and jail still involved ... interesting ... would work with many systems like the Victorian economy etc ...

[@Kevin-xx8xp]

Round & round we humans go. Same story... time & space.

[@vitoralmas129]

Great talk, and makes you wish that society still worked like that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@artistjoh]

A great way to live by only if you were an adult male owned your own house and was free of debt. Seems like a horrible system for everyone else.

[@stevehall729]

Cool lecture... I Was watching this with close captions and it took me 12 minutes to realize Bali = barley... shame on me =p

[@waqasusmans]

Lol I wouldn't blame you. I have been watching other videos about cuneiform so I knew about barley. Her accent made it slightly difficult for me too, even though English is my second language as a Pakistani American (the south Asian accent I can obviously understand easily).

[@JoseAngelFlores]

I guess not much has changed since the days of early civilization. Except today we cannot pawn our wives or children, we pawn ourselves for life with credit cards, mortgage and student loans. But the basic situation remains the same.

[@dalegamburg8995]

Talk about learning.This woman machine guns information., And is a virtual time machine.

[@samhouston1979]

i wonder who enforced this? Were there police?

[@daxx77m]

Very interesting subject but she’s so nervous that it’s hard to listen to her at times. Although I’m not surprised. I’d be nervous too.

[@sophitsa79]

She's not speaking in her first language either