Well-Read Babylonians

On Page 194 of The Age of Empires, Francis Joannés states that “Well-read Babylonians were therefore supposed to have an encyclopedic knowledge” (Joannés 194). However, it is very difficult to believe that statement because in our modern world, there is just so much information that it is almost impossible to be able to memorize it all. In addition, I don’t believe that encyclopedias actually existed back in ancient Babylonia, and so it would be erroneous to make those claims. Indeed, there were many works on a variety of topics, including hepatoscopy, astronomy, teratology (Joannés 193), but these topics seem limited and dealt primarily with omens and “spirits” of some sort.

In fact, below the quote mentioned above, Joannés talks about the Exorcist’s Manual, which “includes more than eighty works covering the entire field of diagnosis, conjuration, prayers and rituals in which an exorcist might have a hand, and which are listed according to an ordered plan: dealing with the official liturgy (fourteen works), dealing with protection against demons and maleficent forces (twenty titles), the abolition of evils and the search for good (thirty five works), and auxiliary knowledge (five titles)” (Joannés 194).

It is interesting to note that a great chunk of these works have to do with evils, demons, “forces”, and ideological information, and I would have to imagine that this is not the extent of their knowledge in ancient Babylonia. And, upon further reading and understanding of the quote, it appears that the “encyclopedic knowledge” probably is metaphorical, meaning that if the Babylonians were well-read, they probably knew a lot of information. However, I am still confused as to what the extent of their knowledge was, whether it was simply trying to “heal others” or was it in a vast assortment of subjects. It makes me wonder that these “well-read” Babylonians would be familiar then, to popular works such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, The Righteous Sufferer, the Theodicy, the Dialogue of the Pessimist, the Counsels of Wisdom, and others (Joannés 195).

From the basis of Chapter 7, it almost seems that Joannés is suggesting that a lot of knowledge and writing is very similar, albeit on different subject matter and in a different form. However, everything else seems to suggest similarity to modern culture, including commentary, astrological signs, beliefs, and religious literature. However, that is highly doubtful, as many were still illiterate, and the “well-read” Babylonians were too focused on the spirits and omens to be intellectually stimulating, and it is unclear from Joannés’s analysis to what extent were people well-read, had information, and were performing intellectually stimulating activities.

I don’t believe that the Babylonians were as knowledgeable and intellectually stimulating as modern society is today because the majority of civilization was still illiterate, and even if they were literate, the people there were focused too much of ideologies and spiritual postulates, and it is not as progressive as Joannés might have portrayed it to be.