Mesopotamian Prison Blues

NOTICE: Admission to the ISAW Lecture Hall closes 10 minutes after the scheduled start time.

The study of prisons from an historical perspective is relatively recent. Although the effectiveness of prisons has long been debated, very little attention had been given in scholarship to prisons from an historical perspective until the 1970’s. This recent growth in scholarly output on the subject of prisons is providing an historical backdrop for the important social and political debates about the effectiveness of such institutions, as slavery studies and investigations into mass incarceration delve further into the ways in which various forms of caging have been used as tools for oppression and control until the present day. While the prisons of our day do not have direct contact or share in a linear evolutionary process with the prisons of ancient Mesopotamia, many of the issues and concepts of crime and punishment facing our world can be traced into the proto-historical and early historical record of ancient Mesopotamia, forming an important part of our shared humanity. Even ideas, such as reform through caging, that may have been considered relatively recent developments of Western thought were contemplated in ancient Mesopotamia.

--Reception to follow

Prior to receiving his DPhil in Oriental Studies (Cuneiform) from the University of Oxford, Nicholas Reid earned master's degrees in Divinity, Theology (Hebrew Bible/Old Testament), and Oriental Studies (Cuneiform) from Reformed Theological Seminary, University of Aberdeen, and University of Oxford. His main research interests relate to the social history of the ancient Near East and editing unpublished cuneiform tablets. His doctoral dissertation considers slavery in early Mesopotamia in the longue durée. At ISAW, Reid's primary research project relates to an history of prisons in the ancient Near East. He will also be completing an edition of Old Babylonian letters housed in the British Museum with his colleague Klaus Wagensonner, Research Associate, University of Oxford.