Oldest use of the term "world order" ?

It appears to be initially connected with Mesopotamian/Babylonian conception of the so-called "mes". A "me" is defined, according to Wikipedia, as "one of the decrees of the gods foundational to those social institutions, religious practices, technologies, behaviors, mores, and human conditions that make civilization, as the Sumerians understood it, possible."

An ancient Babylonian poem titled Enki and the World Order describes how the higher god Enki parceled out "responsibility for various crafts and natural phenomena" to lesser gods. In short, it is one of humanity's first attempts to elucidate an organized hierarchy of power and responsibility.

It is quite interesting to me that the actual expression "World Order" so beloved of today's leaders is so ancient. I also find the fact that it seems to eminate from Babylon specifically to be rather significant.



[edit on 6/16/09 by silent thunder]