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The Ancient Near East
A Very Short Introduction
Amanda H. Podany
Series : Very Short Introductions
$11.95
Paperback 144 pp.
10 b/w illustrations, 4.375" x 6.875"
ISBN-10: 0195377990
ISBN-13: 9780195377996
The ancient Near East is defined, for the purposes of this book, as
the "cuneiform lands," the regions of the ancient world where the
cuneiform script, written on clay tablets, was used as the most common
medium for written communication. These lands comprise Mesopotamia
(with its variously named regions: Sumer, Akkad, Babylonia, and
Assyria); Syria, Elam (later known as Persia), and Anatolia. The three
thousand years to be covered by this book - from around 3500 BCE, with
the founding of the first Mesopotamian cities (which coincide with the
invention of writing) to the conquest of the Near East by the Persian
king Cyrus the Great in 539 BCE - encompass an era of remarkable
innovation and achievement. Many of the creations of the people of the
ancient Near East are still with us, from fundamental inventions such
as the wheel and the plow to intellectual feats such as the inventions
of astronomy, law, and diplomacy.
The region is known as the "cradle of civilization" for good reason.
Here, men and women first tried to live peacefully together in densely
urban cities, and found ways, through law and custom, to thrive and
prosper. The popular image of history as a story of progress from
primitive barbarism to modern sophistication is completely belied by
the study of the ancient Near East. For example, women had many rights
and freedoms; they could own property, run businesses, and represent
themselves in court. Diplomats traveled between the capital cities of
major powers ensuring peace and friendship between the kings. Scribes
and scholars studied the stars and could predict eclipses and the
movements of the planets. These achievements were lost in subsequent
centuries, only to be reborn in more modern times. Perhaps the most
obvious legacy from the ancient Near East is seen in some of our units
of measurement. The Mesopotamians invented a mathematical system based
on the number 60, and all the 60-based units in our modern world
(including seconds, minutes, and degrees) have come down, unaltered,
directly from Mesopotamia.
Taking a chronological view, the book will include what we know, ideas
about what we don't yet know (but perhaps will in the future),
evidence used for discerning the history of the region, and approaches
taken to the evidence by scholars of the ancient Near East. Each
chapter will focus on one or two archaeological sites that have
contributed extensive evidence (both textual and archaeological) to
our understanding of an era and expanding from that evidence to a
broader view of the era as a whole.
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