num_pages: 409
description: An Oriental institute essay. "Contains lectures given as a public course in the Division of the humanities of the University of Chicago."--Preface The people in ancient times the phenomenal world was teeming with life; the thunderclap, the sudden shadow, the unknown &amp; eerie clearing in the wood, all were living things. This unabridged edition traces the fascinating history of thought from the prescientific, personal concept of a "humanized" world to the achievement of detached intellectual reasoning. The authors describe &amp; analyze the spiritual life of three ancient civilizations: the Egyptians, whose thinking was profoundly influenced by the daily rebirth of the sun &amp; the annual rebirth of the Nile; the Mesopotamians, who believed the stars, moon &amp; stones were all citizens of a cosmic state; &amp; the Hebrews, who transcended prevailing mythopoeic thought with their cosmogony of the will of God. In the concluding chapter the Frankforts show that the Greeks, with their intellectual courage, were the first culture to discover a realm of speculative thought in which myth was overcome.PrefaceIntroduction: Myth &amp; reality, by H. &amp; H.A. FrankfortEgypt: The nature of the universe. The function of the state. The values of life. by J.A. WilsonMesopotamia: The cosmos as a state. The function of the state. The good life. by Thorkild JacobsenThe Hebrews: God. Man. Man in the world. Nation, society &amp; politics. by W.A. Irwin. Conclusion: The emancipation of thought from myth, by H. &amp; H.A. FrankfortIndex
language: English
title: The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man: An Essay on Speculative Thought in the Ancient Near East
titlecomplete: The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man: An Essay on Speculative Thought in the Ancient Near East
genres: Philosophy, Theology, History, Religion, Anthropology
ratings_count: 78
publisher: University of Chicago Press