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  • 1 - Orientation

  • Edited by Caroline Humfress, University of St Andrews, Scotland, David Ibbetson, University of Cambridge, Patrick Olivelle, University of Texas, Austin
  • Book:
    The Cambridge Comparative History of Ancient Law
    Published online:
    09 May 2024
    Print publication:
    30 May 2024, pp 1-19

  • Summary

    Chapter 1 provides essential orientation for the rest of the volume’s contents. It begins by introducing some key issues including recent attempts to define ‘law’ and the challenges of undertaking a comparative history of ancient law (past and present). The next section moves on to introducing the different types of source material covered in the volume, introducing seven ‘rough categories’ of evidence: normative texts; commentaries; documentary records; ‘reports’ or ‘records’ of ‘cases’; portrayals of legal processes, and model forensic speeches; ritual forms; and ‘law’ in other forms of text. The final part of the chapter gives an overview of the major features and specific historical contexts for the principal legal traditions, intended as both introduction and information to be referred back to when consulting the volume as a whole.