Scrittura e mutamento delle leggi in quattro culture del mondo antico (Mesopotamia, Anatolia ittita, Israele biblico, Grecia)

Written laws feature more or less self-evident innovations and at least partly change any pre-existing state of affairs, oral common law in the first instance, since any new law integrates or modifies older ones. Society tends to change its laws in time, and present or future changes are only perceived in written texts. Conversely, changes are not apparent when law is managed orally – no addition or correction can be acknowledged without being written, since comparison between laws passed by one generation and those enacted by any later one becomes a well-nigh impossible task. What does the perception of changes introduced by written laws lead to? How to react to changes made obviously visible by a written text? What mechanisms are triggered off when a change to law has been perceived? The ancient cultures of Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Israel and Greece need exploring to reply to such questions.