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.