Adventure of the Human Intellect

Kurt A. Raaflaub is the David Herlihy University Professor & Professor of Classics and History Emeritus at Brown University. His previous works include The Discovery of Freedom in Ancient Greece (2004), War and Peace in the Ancient World (Wiley-Blackwell, 2007), Origins of Democracy in Ancient Greece (with J. Ober and R. W. Wallace, 2007), Geography and Ethnography: Perceptions of the World in Pre-Modern Societies (with R. J. A. Talbert, Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), and The Greek Polis and the Invention of Democracy: A Politico-cultural Transformation and Its Interpretations (with J. Arnason and P. Wagner, Wiley-Blackwell, 2013). His numerous publications include authorship or editorship of 20 scholarly books, in addition to more than 120 articles in journals and essay collections.

• Notes on Contributors viiSeries Editor’s Preface xiPreface and Acknowledgments xiiiIntroduction 1Francesca Rochberg and Kurt A. Raaflaub1 A Critique of the Cognitive‐historical Thesis of The Intellectual Adventure 16Francesca Rochberg2 The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man: Revisiting a Classic 29Peter Machinist3 The World of Ancient Egyptian Thought 73James P. Allen4 On Speculative Thought in Ancient Mesopotamia 89Benjamin R. Foster5 Self, Substance, and Social Metaphysics: The Intellectual Adventures of Israel and Judah 105Ryan Byrne6 Ancient Greece: Man the Measure of All Things 127Kurt A. Raaflaub7 The Thought‐World of Ancient Rome: A Delicate Balancing Act 149Robert A. Kaster and David Konstan8 Self, Cosmos, and Agency in Early China 167Lisa Raphals9 Vedic India: Thinking and Doing 185Stephanie W. Jamison10 “Chronosophy” in Classic Maya Thought 198Stephen Houston11 The Word, Sacrifice, and Divination: Aztec Man in the Realm of the Gods 216Guilhem Olivier12 Night Thoughts and Spiritual Adventures: Native North America 239Peter NabokovIndex 000

"...a modern remake of the classic. ...Raaflaub has further raised the bar for the present volume, including chapters not just on ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Israel, but also on Greece, Rome, China, India, the Mayans, the Aztecs, and Native North Americans. ...A truly global work that will be a welcome addition to a range of intellectual history and World-Civ courses. ...an excellent resource, well put together and comprehensive in all the right ways." - Bryn Mawr Classical Review