THE NATURE OF CONTINUITYby the developments in Iraq in Late Antiquity, where personality of
law developed on a religious basis, in a nontribal society, and before
Islam. Secondly, the natural assumptions about the historical devel-
opment of male dominance which relate it to warfare, violence, and
patrilineal tribal societies appear to be undermined by the change in
the social nature of religious authority associated with the formation
of religious communities. At least in Iraqi society, the male religious
leaders who created these communities used their monopoly of ritual
and their manipulation of law to exercise social control from Late
Antiquity onwards.
Third, these conclusions might be applicable to several generally
similar circumstances. One of them concerns the nature and exercise
of political, religious, and social authority. For instance, the examples
of late Sasanian and early Islamic absolutist political systems might
help in understanding the objectives and problems of such systems.
One of the most interesting and significant discoveries in this regard
is the tension between mechanistic and personalized solutions for mak-
ing the exercise of authority effective. One kind of solution lies in
constructing elaborate, automatic, administrative checking mecha-
nisms and overlapping devices. The alternative appears to be to rely
on trustworthy subordinates. In any case, no system is any better than
the people who run it.
A relationship and similarity between political and religious au-
thority had already been established by Late Antiquity. It is possible
to notice a general tendency for authority to be based on appeals to
Divine legitimation and destiny and to require the public observance
of ritual, communal solidarity, and social conformity as forms of
recognition. Escape from such authority, expressions of disapproval,
and active opposition tend to take the form of private piety and as-
ceticism. In this regard, it is worth suggesting that styles of piety can
have political and social significance as symbols of internal conflict
and that religious values and sacred texts may be applied selectively
in order to justify the interests of those who appeal to them.
Iraq also provides an important example of a premodern pluralistic
society. In this respect, it is obvious that ethnic and religious diversity
was no barrier to cultural integration or to significant innovation and
may have encouraged both because ethnic and religious identities did
not necessarily coincide. A common religious identity allowed a degree
of assimilation among people with different ethnic backgrounds, while
a common ethnic background allowed a degree of similarity to exist