Mésopotamie : sources et genres

La Mésopotamie, berceau d’une brillante civilisation qui, au fil des millénaires, s’est étendue du golfe Arabo‑Persique à la mer Méditerranée, de la mer Noire au Nil, a sombré dans l’oubli durant plusieurs millénaires avant sa redécouverte progressive et relativement récente. Elle offre ainsi des sources directes, exceptionnelles par rapport à celle des mondes de l’Antiquité classique. Leur conservation a cependant été soumise aux conditions climatiques, aux matériaux utilisés ainsi qu’à leur condition de mise au jour. Elles offrent un panorama complet des connaissances littéraires et scientifiques, mais pas seulement. Grâce aux structures retrouvées (palais, temples, maisons, aqueducs…) et à leur iconographie, grâce aux textes de la pratique (lettres entre particuliers, contrats, jugements, comptes de distribution de rations …) qui font tant défaut ailleurs, elles permettent de retracer les éléments de la simple vie du quotidien.Mesopotamia is considered to be the cradle of a brilliant civilization that has spread over thousands of years from the Arabian Gulf region to the Mediterranean Sea, from the Black Sea to the Nile River, which had sunk into oblivion for several millennia before its quite recent and progressive rediscovery. It provides exceptional direct sources compared to Classical Antiquity. Their preservation nonetheless depended on climate conditions, the materials that were used and how they were excavated. Not only do they offer a thorough overview of literary and scientific knowledge but, thanks to the structures and visual representations that were found, (of palaces, temples, houses, aqueducts, etc.), written documents (e.g., personal letters, contracts, court judgements, precise accounts of rations distributed, etc.) that are often missing elsewhere, they enable us to understand what daily life was like.La Mesopotamia fu la culla di una brillante civilizzazione che, nel corso dei millenni, si è estesa dal golfo Arabo-Persico al mare Mediterraneo, dal mar Nero al Nilo; durante diversi millenni è sprofondata nell’oblio prima di venire progressivamente e recentemente riscoperta. Essa offre, innanzitutto, delle fonti dirette eccezionali rispetto a quelle dei mondi dell’Antichità classica. La conservazione di questi documenti è, tuttavia, dipesa dalle condizioni climatiche, dai materiali utilizzati, oltre che dalle condizioni di scoperta: essi offrono un panorama completo delle conoscenze letterarie e scientifiche, ma non soltanto. Grazie, infatti, alle strutture scoperte (palazzi, templi, case, acquedotti…) ed alla loro iconografia, grazie ai testi della prassi (lettere tra privati, contratti, sentenze giudiziarie, contabilità della distribuzione delle razioni di cibo…) che mancano presso altre civilizzazioni, è possibile risalire agli elementi della vita di ogni giorno

Encyclopédie des historiographies : Afriques, Amériques, Asies

Quels rapports les sociétés humaines entretiennent-elles avec leur passé et quels récits font-elles du temps révolu ? Pour ce premier volume de l’Encyclopédie des historiographies. Afriques, Amériques, Asies, 157 spécialistes représentant 88 institutions académiques en France et dans le monde explorent l’univers des productions humaines qui constituent des sources pour l’historien et déchiffrent les nombreuses modalités (« scientifiques », littéraires, artistiques, monumentales…) de l’écriture du passé. Évoquant tour à tour l’Afrique, l’Amérique latine, l’Asie, l’Océanie, les 216 notices de l’ouvrage présentent des matériaux historiques de toute nature, issus de toutes les époques, souvent méconnus, ainsi que l’histoire de leurs usages. L’entreprise collective qu’est l’Encyclopédie se veut novatrice : il s’agit de susciter une réflexion historiographique résolument non-occidentalo-centrée qui complète utilement les démarches épistémologiques traditionnelles. Nouvel outil de connaissance historique forgé à l’heure de la mondialisation, l’Encyclopédie des historiographies est aussi une véritable invitation au voyage.What are the different types of relations that non-Western societies upkeep with their past and how are narratives about the past produced by them? In this first volume of the Encyclopaedia of Historiography: Africa, America, Asia, 157 specialists from 88 international academic institutions explore the wealth of evidence that constitutes source material for historians. They also examine the immensely diverse modes or genres of narrated history: “scientific”, literary, artistic, architectural, etc. 216 entries dealing with Africa, Latin America, Oceania, and Asia, cover a large variety of sources, including many which are unfamiliar to the Western or non-Western reader, along with the history of how they have been exploited. By bringing together for the first time such an abundance of material the reader is offered the possibility of exploring continents and building meaningful connections across space and time. In addition to being a new tool for historical enquiry in an era of globalization, this encyclopaedia is also an invitation to travel the world