No description available.

Under the Umayyads, Muslims came into direct contact with Turks in their homeland which lay east of Khurasän and Transoxania. However, after the Turks had submitted to the Islamic state, the Caliphs, in particular the Abbasid Caliphs, began to employ them in various roles such as guards and soldiers. They served alongside the veteran Arabs and Iranians, because the Turks, unlike these others, did not so pride themselves on their nationality that they behaved exclusively. The Turks were valued for their bravery and fidelity. The Caliph Mu'tasim, in fact, increased their number, and his reliance on them was a result of his needs and of certain other circumstances. After the death of Mu'tasim, the Turks rose to positions of considerable importance in all the affairs of state. They had an even greater influence on the running of the Caliphate when they began to interfere in the appointing of the Caliph, which they did for the first time in the case of Mutawakkil. Nevertheless, none of the Abbasid Caliphs from Mutawakkil onwards seemed to acquiesce readily in Turkish control, and indeed they resisted the Turks vigorously. They tried to eliminate them and their power entirely, and to restore the dignity of the Abbasid Caliphate. As the first step in escaping the interference of the Turks, the Caliphs decided to move the state capital. But when the Turks realized the Caliphs' intentions, they began to plot against them and to assassinate them. In the course of this struggle between the Turks and the Caliphate the civil war of 251 H occurred. As a result, government authority weakened, particularly in those outlying regions furthest from its power and influence. Therefore, popular movements and attempts to gain independence emerged in many provinces, such as Hijaz, Armenia, Syria and Iran. In fact, most of these movements were not aimed against the Caliphate itself, but against the Turks who dominated affairs of state. At the same time the power of the (Wazir) minister of state began to diminish, and his remaining in office was closely linked with the desires of the Turks. In addition, the Turks attempted to take over the Vizirate itself. Therefore, some of them, such as Waif and Autamish, occupied this office although they were quite unqualified for it. In consequence, the Vizirate deteriorated and became powerless, just as the Caliphate had done.

This thesis examines the use of archaeology in the development of national identity in Iraq from the period before the establishment of the Hashimite monarchy in 1921 to the present Ba'th regime and S&dotbelow;addam H&dotbelow;usayn. During King Faysal I's period (1921--1933), archaeology was used to highlight the 'Arabness' of the ancient Mesopotamians so as to keep the nation on a pan-Arabist course and steer away from developing a regional identity. Iraq's pre-Islamic heritage was approached with much reserve since the government feared alienating the majority Muslim population by glorifying the country's achievements before the advent of Islam. In contrast, 'Abd al-Karim Qasim's regime (1958--1963) focused unbridled attention to the Mesopotamian heritage in an effort to distance the newly established republic from the pan-Arabists' call to join with the United Arab Republic. Between the two poles of identifying the national identity with either the Arab or Mesopotamian character, the Ba'th regime embarked on a cultural campaign that used both identities in defining the modern Iraqi man and woman. While the campaign was relegated strictly to the cultural sphere of the nation, the intent was political in that the regime shifted to stressing the Muslim-Arab identity of Iraq when appealing to support from other Arab nations; and to the pre-Islamic Mesopotamian identity when dealing with the religious and ethnic cleavages in Iraqi society.

No description available.

This dissertation considered trade and trade finance in Mesopotamia over a period of 2000 years commencing with Sumeria and ending with Achaemenid Persia, taking in Ur III and Assyria. A range of financial instruments was selected together with important business transactions, for instance, agricultural finance, specifically the brewing industry and the working capital requirements of merchants and money lenders. The role of women in private enterprise was examined, including their role in retail finance. The great estates of temple and palace had a substantial impact on finance and trade throughout the periods. Their interaction with merchants and money lenders was important to the study. I used reductionism to facilitate analysis of complex products highlighting the essentials of finance namely, borrowing, lending and return. The study concludes that, during the era under consideration, the evolution and enhancement of the financial instruments and products developed in self-generated, incremental and progressive steps. / Biblical & Ancient Studies / M.A. (Ancient Near East Studies)

In most cases in a deceased person’s estate, there are problems with co-ownership where more than one family member inherits the deceased family estate assets. To escape the perils of co-ownership the beneficiaries consensually agree to divide the inherited communallyshared asset/s. This agreement can take place immediately after the death of the family estate owner or some time later regarding some or all of the said assets. On the conclusion of the division agreement, the contractual party who receives the awarded assets enjoys sole ownership and the other contractual parties by agreement retract their ownership. In a jurisprudential content analysis of forty-six recorded family deceased division agreements from Old Babylonian Larsa and Nippur, essential elements are identified which are the framework and qualification requirements for a family deceased division agreement. Within this framework the concepts, terms and elements of the agreement are categorised as natural and incidental elements, which reflect the specific law traditions and choices of contractual parties and show the unique scribal traditions in the different Old Babylonian city-states of Larsa, Nippur and Sippar. The aim of the study is to shed a more focused light on the interpretation of recorded Old Babylonian division agreements and to show that the division agreement was a successful, timeless, estate administration mechanism and tool to obviate any undesirable consequences of co-ownership of the bequeathed property. / Old Testament & Ancient Near Eastern Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Ancient Near Eastern Studies)

This dissertation considered trade and trade finance in Mesopotamia over a period of 2000 years commencing with Sumeria and ending with Achaemenid Persia, taking in Ur III and Assyria. A range of financial instruments was selected together with important business transactions, for instance, agricultural finance, specifically the brewing industry and the working capital requirements of merchants and money lenders. The role of women in private enterprise was examined, including their role in retail finance. The great estates of temple and palace had a substantial impact on finance and trade throughout the periods. Their interaction with merchants and money lenders was important to the study. I used reductionism to facilitate analysis of complex products highlighting the essentials of finance namely, borrowing, lending and return. The study concludes that, during the era under consideration, the evolution and enhancement of the financial instruments and products developed in self-generated, incremental and progressive steps. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / M.A. (Ancient Near East Studies)

In most cases in a deceased person’s estate, there are problems with co-ownership where more than one family member inherits the deceased family estate assets. To escape the perils of co-ownership the beneficiaries consensually agree to divide the inherited communallyshared asset/s. This agreement can take place immediately after the death of the family estate owner or some time later regarding some or all of the said assets. On the conclusion of the division agreement, the contractual party who receives the awarded assets enjoys sole ownership and the other contractual parties by agreement retract their ownership. In a jurisprudential content analysis of forty-six recorded family deceased division agreements from Old Babylonian Larsa and Nippur, essential elements are identified which are the framework and qualification requirements for a family deceased division agreement. Within this framework the concepts, terms and elements of the agreement are categorised as natural and incidental elements, which reflect the specific law traditions and choices of contractual parties and show the unique scribal traditions in the different Old Babylonian city-states of Larsa, Nippur and Sippar. The aim of the study is to shed a more focused light on the interpretation of recorded Old Babylonian division agreements and to show that the division agreement was a successful, timeless, estate administration mechanism and tool to obviate any undesirable consequences of co-ownership of the bequeathed property. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Ancient Near Eastern Studies)