Slavery 1.0: the Concept of the Ancient Oriental Slave-Owning Societies in the Works by Vassiliy Struve of 1933—1934 and Its Perspective

The article presents a detailed analysis of arguments forwarded by a leading Soviet Orientalist Vassiliy Struwe (1889—1965) for his thesis about the existence of the slave-owning mode of production at the Ancient Orient. This thesis was formulated in his lecture at the State Academy for the History of Material Culture (GAIMK) on 4 June 1933 and in a number of publications of 1934. Backing this thesis with the Ancient Near Eastern evidence and building around it a rather vast scheme positioned as an alternative to the cyclist theory of Eduard Meyer was a realization of tasks put before Struwe at his job at GAIMK, as can be seen from the preserved plan of his work there for the year 1933. According to Struwe’s scheme, the evolution of slavery in the earliest irrigation societies of Egypt and Mesopotamia started with the collective property of rural communities on slaves employed in the build-up of the irrigation systems (canals, dams etc.). There eventually developed the individual property on slaves and the vast slave-owning latifundia, which have already existed in Mesopotamia under Ur-III and in the New Kingdom Egypt. In the 1st Millennium B. C. the development of slavery in Mesopotamia and Egypt was comparable with that in the societies of Classical Antiquity. Struwe pointed out a number of slaves’ uprisings at the Ancient Near East starting from the 2nd Millennium B. C. and explained the downfall of ancient societies at the East with the “slave revolution”, like at the West. Struwe’s scheme revealed an emphasis on a rather high development of slavery at the Ancient Orient and parallels between its social phenomena and those of Ancient Greece and Rome. However, this emphasis vanished from his later texts, probably, due to a demand to show the Ancient Oriental societies as a phase preceding the Classical Antiquity, in compliance with the general trend of the world historiography.

Keywords

Vassiliy Struwe, Ancient Orient, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Classical Antiquity, slavery, Ed. Meyer

Received

17.12.2022

Publication date

15.03.2023

Number of characters

57999

Cite

GOST	Ladynin I. “Slavery 1.0”: the Concept of the Ancient Oriental Slave-Owning Societies in the Works by Vassiliy Struve of 1933—1934 and Its Perspective // ISTORIYA – 2023. – V. 14. – Issue 2 (124) [Electronic resource]. URL: https://history.jes.su/S207987840024494-2-1 (circulation date: 19.05.2024). DOI: 10.18254/S207987840024494-2
MLA	Ladynin, Ivan "“Slavery 1.0”: the Concept of the Ancient Oriental Slave-Owning Societies in the Works by Vassiliy Struve of 1933—1934 and Its Perspective." ISTORIYA 14.2 (124) (2023) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840024494-2
APA	Ladynin I. (2023). “Slavery 1.0”: the Concept of the Ancient Oriental Slave-Owning Societies in the Works by Vassiliy Struve of 1933—1934 and Its Perspective. ISTORIYA 14(2 (124)) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840024494-2

100 rub.

When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register.

Number of purchasers: 0, views: 227

Readers community rating: votes 0

1. Akademicheskoe delo, 1929—1931 gg.: dokumenty i materialy sledstvennogo dela, sfabrikovannogo OGPU / red. Leonov V. P. SPb.: Biblioteka Rossijskoj akademii nauk, 1993—2015. Vyp. 1—9.

2. Alipov P. Emergence of the Iconographical Method in the Early Works by Mikhail Rostovtzeff // ISTORIYA. 2021. Vol. 12. Is. 4 (102). URL: https://history.jes.su/s207987840002343-6-1/ DOI: 10.18254/S207987840002343-6

3. Belyavskij V. A. Vavilon legendarnyj i Vavilon istoricheskij. M.: Mysl', 1971.

4. Bukharin M. Science and Ideology at the Turn of the 1930—1940s: towards the Reconstruction of the Scientific Biography of Vasily Struve // ISTORIYA. 2022. Vol. 13. Is. 4 (114). URL: https://history.jes.su/s207987840021203-2-1/ DOI: 10.18254/S207987840021203-2

5. Veber M. Agrarnaya istoriya drevnego mira. M.: Sabashnikovy, 1925.

6. Demidchik A. E. Bezymyannaya piramida: Gosudarstvennaya doktrina drevneegipetskoj Gerakleopol'skoj monarkhii. SPb.: Aletejya, 2005.

7. Diskussiya ob aziatskom sposobe proizvodstva. Po dokladu M. S. Godesa. M.: URSS, 2009.

8. D'yakonov I. M. Vozniknovenie zemledeliya, skotovodstva i remesla. Obschie cherty pervogo perioda istorii drevnego mira i problema putej razvitiya // Istoriya drevnego mira. T. 1: Rannyaya drevnost'. M., 1989. S. 31—57.

9. D'yakonov I. M. Kniga vospominanij. SPb.: Evropejskij dom, 1995.

10. D'yakonov I. M., Yakobson V. A., Yankovskaya N. B. Obschie cherty vtorogo perioda drevnej istorii // Istoriya drevnego mira / red. D'yakonov I. M., Neronova V. D., Sventsitskaya I. S. T. 2. Rastsvet drevnikh obschestv. M., 1989. S. 5—26.

11. Ivanova A., Karpyuk S. Doomed Project: the Institute of History of the Communist Academy and Its Legacy // ISTORIYA. 2020. Vol. 11. Is. 1 (87). URL: https://history.jes.su/s207987840008183-0-1/ DOI: 10.18254/S207987840008183-0

12. Il'in-Tomich A. A. Sotsial'nyj perevorot v Egipte v trudakh V. V. Struve // Vestnik Universiteta Dmitriya Pozharskogo. 2016. № 2 (4). S. 35—46.

13. Istoriografiya istorii drevnego Vostoka. Uchebnik dlya vuzov / red. Kuzischin V. I. Ch. 1. M.: Vysshaya shkola, 2008.

14. Istoriya drevnego Vostoka. Zarozhdenie drevnejshikh klassovykh obschestv i pervye ochagi rabovladel'cheskoj tsivilizatsii. Ch. 1: Mesopotamiya. M.: Nauka, 1983. S. 374—379.

15. Istoriya drevnego mira. T. 1: Drevnij Vostok. M.: Sotsehkgiz, 1937.

16. Kim O. V. Problema aziatskogo sposoba proizvodstva v sovetskoj istoriografii (1920-e gg. — nachalo 1990-kh gg.). Dissertatsiya k. i. n. Kemerovo, 2001.

17. Kirillova M. “I’m a Factlover”: Segey Zhebelyov and Soviet Ancient History in the Early 1930s // ISTORIYA. 2020. Vol. 11. Is. 1 (87). URL: https://history.jes.su/s207987840008205-4-1/ DOI: 10.18254/S207987840008205-4

18. Kovalev S. I. Problema sotsial'noj revolyutsii v antichnom obschestve // Izvestiya Gosudarstvennoj akademii istorii material'noj kul'tury. Vyp. 76. M.; L.: Sotsehkgiz, 1934. S. 27—61.

19. Koshelenko G. A. Drevnegrecheskij polis // Antichnaya Gretsiya. Problemy razvitiya polisa. T. 1. M., 1983. S. 9—37.

20. Krikh S. B. I. M. D'yakonov protiv V. V. Struve: polemika na polyakh Shumera // Vestnik drevnej istorii. 2016. T. 76. № 4. S. 1011—1029.

21. Krikh S. B. Kak ne napisat' glavnyj trud vsej zhizni: sluchaj akademika V. V. Struve // Mir istorika. Istoriograficheskij sbornik / red. Korzun V. P. i dr. Vyp. 10. Omsk: Izdatel'stvo Omskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, 2015. S. 241—273.

22. Krikh S. B. Obraz drevnosti v sovetskoj istoriografii. M.: KRASAND, 2013. Razmyshlyaya o marksizme.

23. Krikh S. B. Planovaya ehkonomika ot Shumera do Sovetskogo Soyuza: sud'ba drevnej imperii glazami sovremennykh istorikov // Ab imperio. 2015. № 3. S. 255—291.

24. Krikh S. B. Struvianskaya teoriya o rabovladenii na Drevnem Vostoke // Sotsial'nye instituty v istorii: retrospektsiya i real'nost': materialy XII mezhvuzovskoj regional'noj nauchnoj konferentsii. Omsk: Izdatel'stvo Omskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, 2012. S. 153—170.

25. Krikh S. Drugaya istoriya. «Periferijnaya» sovetskaya nauka o drevnosti. M.: NLO, 2020.

26. Kryuger O. O. Rabskie vosstaniya II—I vv. do n. eh. kak nachal'nyj ehtap revolyutsii rabov // Izvestiya Gosudarstvennoj akademii istorii material'noj kul'tury. Vyp. 76. M.; L.: Sotsehkgiz, 1934. S. 111—131.

27. Kuzischin V. I. Rimskoe rabovladel'cheskoe pomest'e II v. do n. eh. — I v. n. eh. M.: Izdatel'stvo Moskovskogo universiteta, 1973.

28. Ladynin I. A. «Mirovye derzhavy» Blizhnego i Srednego Vostoka I tysyacheletiya do n. eh. v teoreticheskikh skhemakh sovetskoj i postsovetskoj istoriografii drevnosti // Vestnik Permskogo universiteta. Istoriya. 2021. № 1 (52). S. 118—128.

29. Ladynin I. A. «Proverka osnovnykh tezisov, na kotorykh pokoitsya tsiklicheskaya kontseptsiya Ehd. Mejera»: Plan raboty V. V. Struve v GAIMK v 1933 g. i ego obsuzhdenie // Vestnik Omskogo universiteta. Seriya «Istoricheskie nauki». 2022. T. 9. № 3 (35). S. 291—304.

30. Ladynin I. A. «Svoevremennyj feodalizm»: obraz drevnego Egipta v rabotakh D. A. Ol'derogge 1920-kh gg. // Scripta antiqua. Voprosy drevnej istorii, filologii, iskusstva i material'noj kul'tury. T. 7. M.: Sobranie, 2019. S. 433—446.

31. Ladynin I. A. «Sotsial'naya revolyutsiya» v drevnem Egipte: polemika i konflikt mezhdu V. V. Struve i S. Ya. Lur'e v 1920-e gg. // Uchenye zapiski Kazanskogo universiteta. Seriya «Gumanitarnye nauki». 2021. T. 163. № 6. S. 127—143.

32. Ladynin I. A. V nachale puti: pis'mo V. V. Struve M. I. Rostovtsevu ot 25 maya 1914 g. // Vestnik arkhivista. 2020. № 4. S. 1119—1130.

33. Ladynin I. A. V. V. Struve i Gosudarstvennaya akademiya istorii material'noj kul'tury v 1932—1933 gg. (po materialam Rukopisnogo otdela Nauchnogo arkhiva IIMK RAN) // Vestnik drevnej istorii. 2022. T. 82. № 3. S. 715—735.

34. Ladynin I. A. Kontseptsiya feodalizma na drevnem Vostoke i raboty V. V. Struve 1910-kh gg. — nachala 1930-kh gg // Dialog so vremenem. 2019. № 69. S. 250—267.

35. Ladynin I. Towards the Concept of the Slave-Owning Society at the Ancient Orient: the Manuscript Elements of the Ancient Oriental Society by Vsevolod Avdiev (1933) // ISTORIYA. 2020. Vol. 11. Is. 1 (87). URL: https://history.jes.su/s207987840008294-2-1/ DOI: 10.18254/S207987840008294-2

36. Ladynin I. A. Ob odnoj zabytoj «revolyutsii rabov» v nauchnom tvorchestve V. V. Struve 1930—1940-kh gg. // Vestnik Omskogo universiteta. Seriya «Istoricheskie nauki». 2021. T. 8. № 4 (32). S. 183—193.

37. Lenin V. I. O gosudarstve // Lenin V. I. Polnoe sobranie sochinenij. T. 39. S. 64—84.

38. Marks K. Vvedenie (Iz ehkonomicheskikh rukopisej 1857—1858 gg.) // Marks K., Ehngel's F. Sobranie sochinenij. T. 12. S. 709—738.

39. Marks K. K kritike politicheskoj ehkonomii // Marks K., Ehngel's F. Sobranie sochinenij. T. 13. S. 1—167.

40. Marks K. Formy, predshestvuyuschie kapitalisticheskomu proizvodstvu // Proletarskaya revolyutsiya. 1939. № 3. S. 149—186.

41. Marks K. Formy, predshestvuyuschie kapitalisticheskomu proizvodstvu // Marks K. , Ehngel's F. Sobranie sochinenij. T. 46. Ch. 1. S. 461—508.

42. Marks K. Formy, predshestvuyuschie kapitalisticheskomu proizvodstvu. M.: Politizdat, 1940.

43. Mejer Ehd. Rabstvo v drevnosti. Petrograd: Priboj, 1923.

44. Mejer Ehd. Ehkonomicheskoe razvitie drevnego mira. M.: Mir, 1910.

45. Mil'skaya L. T. Aleksandr Iosifovich Neusykhin // Portrety istorikov: Vremya i sud'by. T. 2: Vseobschaya istoriya / otv. red. Sevost'yanov G. N. M.; Ierusalim: Universitetskaya kniga; Gesharim, 2000. S. 207—216.

46. Mil'skaya L. T. Dmitrij Moiseevich Petrushevskij // Portrety istorikov: Vremya i sud'by. T. 2: Vseobschaya istoriya / otv. red. Sevost'yanov G. N. M.; Ierusalim: Universitetskaya kniga; Gesharim, 2000. S. 133—142.

47. Musto M. Rasprostranenie i izuchenie «Grundrisse» v mire // Rossijskij ehkonomicheskij zhurnal. 2008. № 11. S. 17—24.

48. Neronova V. D. Formy ehkspluatatsii v drevnem mire v zerkale otechestvennoj istoriografii. M.: Izdatel'stvo Permskogo universiteta, 1992.

49. Nikiforov V. N. Vostok i vsemirnaya istoriya. M.: Nauka, 1977.

50. Struve V. V. Egipet. Drevnyaya istoriya (do arabskogo zavoevaniya) // Bol'shaya sovetskaya ehntsiklopediya. T. 24. M.: Sovetskaya ehntsiklopediya, 1932. S. 356—371.

51. Struve V. V. Istoriya drevnego Vostoka. Kratkij kurs. M.: Sotsehkgiz, 1934.

52. Struve V. V. Istoriya drevnego Vostoka. L.: OGIZ; Gospolitizdat, 1941.

53. Struve V. V. Ocherki sotsial'no-ehkonomicheskoj istorii drevnego Vostoka // Izvestiya Gosudarstvennoj akademii istorii material'noj kul'tury. M.; L.: Sotsehkgiz, 1934. Vyp. 97.

54. Struve V. V. Problema zarozhdeniya, razvitiya i upadka rabovladel'cheskikh obschestv Drevnego Vostoka // Izvestiya Gosudarstvennoj akademii istorii material'noj kul'tury. M.: Sotsehkgiz, 1934. Vyp. 77.

55. Formozov A. A. GAIMK kak tsentr sovetskoj istoricheskoj mysli v 1932—1934 gg. // Formozov A. A. Russkie arkheologi v period totalitarizma. Istoriograficheskie ocherki. M.: Znak, 2006. S. 162—184.

56. Frolov Eh. D. Russkaya nauka ob antichnosti. Istoriograficheskie ocherki. SPb.: Izdatel'stvo Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta, 1999.

57. Ehngel's F. Bruno Bauehr i pervonachal'noe khristianstvo // Marks K. , Ehngel's F. Sobranie sochinenij. T. 19. S. 306—314.

58. Deimel A. Sumerische Tempelwirtschaft zur Zeit Urukaginas und seiner Vorgänger Abschluss der Einzelstudien und Zusammenfassung der Hauptresultate. Roma: Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 1931.

59. Deimel A. Wirtschaftstexte aus Fara. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrich, 1924 (Wissenschaftliche Veröffentlichungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft; 45).

60. Meissner B. Babylonien und Assyrien. Heidelberg: Winter, 1920—1925. Bd. I—II.

61. Schneider A. Die Anfänge der Kulturwirtschaft: die sumerische Tempelstadt. Essen: Baedeker, 1920.