A distillation of the thought and research to which Herbert Butterfield devoted the last twenty years of his life to, this book, originally published in 1981, traces how differently people understood the relevance of their past and its connection with their religion. It examines ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia; the political perceptiveness of the Hittites; the Jewish sense of God in history, of promise and fulfilment; the classical achievement of scientific history; and the unique Chinese tradition of historical writing. The author explains the problems of the early Christians in relating their traditions of Jesus to their life and faith and the emergence, when Christianity became the religion of the Roman Empire, of a new historical understanding. The book then charts the gradual growth of a sceptical approach to recorded authority in Islam and Western Europe, the reconstruction of the past by deductive analysis of the surviving evidence and the secularisation of the eighteenth century.
- 250 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
The Origins of History
About this book
Trusted by 375,005 students
Access to over 1.5 million titles for a fair monthly price.
Study more efficiently using our study tools.
Information
Index
Abraham, 84, 85, 89, 90, 93, 94, 170,175
Absalom, 99, 100, 101
Academic history, 195
Académie des Inscriptions, 191
Achaeans, 60, 126, 127
Acts of the Apostles, 172
Adad-Nirâri, 72, 73, 75
Adam, 111
Adonijah, 99
Aeolians, 129
Aeschylus, 119, 205, 206
Ahab, 107
Ahitophel, 99
Akkad, 115
Aleppo, 57
Alexander the Great, 161
Alexandria, school of, 172
Amenemhet, 48, 50
Amon, god, 54, 56, 57, 59
Amorites, 83
Anatolia, 34, 36
Ancients and Moderns, 213
Annals of the Bamboo Books, 150
Antioch, school of, 172
Antiochus IV Epiphanes, 114
'Apology' of Hattushilish III, 67
Arattu, 34
Arik-dîn-ilu, 72
Aristotle, 119,124, 209
Arnabani, 75
Asa, 112
Assur, 74
Assurbanipal, 74, 77, 78, 115, 116
Assurnâsirpal, 76
Assuwa, 126
Assyria, Assyrians, 28, 41, 44, 61, 62, 64, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 76, 78, 81, 87, 102, 107, 115, 159, 216
Assyrian annals, climax of, 73 ff., 116
Astruc, Jean, 194, 195
Athens, 130 ff, 206
Atum, 116
Augustus, 178
Awan, 26
Babylon, Babylonians, 27, 32, 40, 41, 43, 44, 53, 60, 64, 70, 71, 75, 81, 89, 96, 97, 107, 110, 115, 116, 119, ...
Table of contents
- Cover
- Half Title
- Title
- Copyright
- Original Title
- Original Copyright
- Contents
- Introduction
- Preface
- I The Origins of Historical Writing
- II The Annals of the Pre-classical Empires
- III The Originality of the Hebrew Scriptures
- IV The Rise of Classical Historiography
- V The Chinese Tradition of Historical Writing
- VI The Establishment of a Christian Historiography
- VII The Development of Historical Criticism
- VIII The Great Secularisation
- Appendix: A Chinese Historian – Ssŭ-ma Ch'ien
- Bibliography
- Index
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription
No, books cannot be downloaded as external files, such as PDFs, for use outside of Perlego. However, you can download books within the Perlego app for offline reading on mobile or tablet. Learn how to download books offline
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
- Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
- Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.5M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1.5 million books across 990+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn about our mission
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more about Read Aloud
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS and Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app
Yes, you can access The Origins of History by Herbert Butterfield, J H Adam Watson in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Historiography. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.