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This is Course Number 3180 which contains 6 DVDs and Course Guidebook. Contains 36 lectures of 30 minutes each. Course Lecture Titles1. The Iraq Museum2. Geography and Environment3. Discovering Mesopotamia4. Archaeological Methods5. Farming and Early Settlements6. The Uruk Phenomenon7. Writing8. Temples9. Mesopotamian Deities10. Gilgamesh-Hero and King11. The Early Dynastic Period12. Warfare and Diplomacy13. The Royal Cemetery at Ur14. The Akkadians15. Ideology of Kingship-Naram-Sin and Gudea16. The Ur III Dynasty17. Life in a Mesopotamian City18. Food and Drink19. Assyrian Trade Networks20. Hammurabi of Babylon21. Zimri-Lim of Mari22. Laws23. Medicine, Science, and Math24. Poetry and Literature25. Internationalism26. Assyrian Expansion27. Sargon II28. Ideology of Empire29. Control and Revolt30. Medes and the Neo-Babylonian State31. The Rise of the Achaemenids32. Persians in Egypt and Greece33. Xerxes's Invasion of Greece34. Persian Art and Culture35. Alexander the Great36. After Alexander ... Read more

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Three part course. Each part consists of 12 30-minute lectures. A course guidebook is included with each part. ... Read more

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Chapters: Mesopotamia, Sumerian King List, Tell Abu Hureyra, Ancient University, Ancient Egypt, Pelasgians, Helvetii, Colchis, Roman-persian Wars, China, Cradle of Civilization, Ancient Near East, Gallic Wars, Chronology of the Ancient Near East, Timeline of Ancient History, Wonders of the World, Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Roman-parthian Wars, History of Mesopotamia, Canary Islands in Pre-Colonial Times, Ubaid Period, Ambiorix's Revolt, Ancient African History, Uí Fiachrach, Banu Hothail, Uí Maine, Uí Fiachrach Aidhne, Zafar, Yemen, Banu Kinanah, Clash of the Gods, Tell El Fakhariya, Soghain, Ancient Dog Breeds, Anfa, Neusis Construction, Celaenae, Iar Connacht, Mudhar, Cyrenaic Coins of Corvo, Muintir Murchada, Characene, Luristan Civilization, Cóiced Ol Nechmacht, Delbhna Tir Dha Locha, Conmhaícne Mara, Uruk Period, Prince of the Lilies, Abdi-Milkutti, Síol Anmchadha, Mattan I, Copper Hoard Culture, Cenél Áeda Na Hechtge, Senchineoil, Clann Taidg, Máenmaige, La Parisienne, Palaeolithic Era in Iran, Ancient Warfare, Uí Díarmata, Maigh Seóla, Clann Fhergail, Banu Jadhimah, Titulus, Masnaat Mariya, Amlah, Samad Al-Shan, Annales Maximi, Leath Cuinn, Azemilcus, King of Tyre, Fir Craibe, Tuatha Taiden, Fir Domnann, Spartocids, Anacleteria. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 503. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Ancient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history in the Old World to the Early Middle Ages in Europe. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, with Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of writing, from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC. This is the beginning of history, as opposed to prehistory, according to the definition used by most historians. The term classical antiquity is often used to refe...http://booksllc.net/?id=51320 ... Read more

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Three-book set, Lecture Transcript and course Guidebook to accompany the Great Courses: Between the Rivers: The History of Ancient Mesopotamia. ... Read more

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36 lectures, 30 minutes/lectureTaught by Alexis Q. CastorFranklin & Marshall CollegePh.D., Bryn Mawr College Do we see the temples known as ziggurats, thrust toward the sky by stepped platforms that would bring worshippers closer to the gods they honored? Entire populations paralyzed by fear before a dreaded invader, their dreams haunted by images of their own severed heads held aloft? Priests making sacrifices to the gods who ruled over and protected their city? Or the fabled Hanging Gardens of Babylon, their terraces as shadowed by mystery as they are set alight by color?Any of these, of course, may come to mind. Perhaps all of them. And with the exception of Babylon's fabled gardens, whose existence has never actually been confirmed, they are all trueeach a part of the legacy of a region from which our own culture has drawn so many essential aspects, including writing, the first code of law, the idea of cities, and even the first epic poem. All cultures lie in the shadow of Mesopotamia.A Visit to the Time of the First CitiesBetween the Rivers: A History of Ancient Mesopotamia will illuminate that shadow, taking you back to a time when the first cities arose in Mesopotamia and kings created complex bureaucracies to rule expanding territories, thus fostering the invention of writing and other technologies.It is truly a remarkable journey and adventure, through a land where the real history is even more astounding than its legends. Your guide, Dr. Alexis Q. Castor, has twice been named Most Influential Professor by Franklin & Marshall's senior class. Experienced both in the classroom and on archaeological digs, she plunges you into the daily life of cultures such as Sumer and Akkad and animates peoples such as the Assyrians and Medes, weaving together her own evocation of Persian culture with the works of the great Greek historians, Herodotus and Thucydides. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Great overview, reading of a complicated subject
Okay, I'll admit it... I'm totally charmed by Alexis Q. Castor's erudition and speaking voice; I'd marry her if she were available.But I have to respectfully disagree with the reviewer who describes Castor's lectures as inexperienced and interprets her pauses as glances at a teleprompter.

Although she may indeed be young and may be using a teleprompter (?), nothing I heard in this series convinced me that Castor is anything but totally immersed in this material, retains complete excitement for the topic, and has delivered these talks many, many times. Her diction and speaking voice are wonderful -- she could have been a broadcaster -- and she imparts both enthusiasm and an understated humor on occasion (I still laugh thinking about her request that her students greet her using the form of address from the Amarna letters). It is a very complicated course of material to deliver and she has made it accessible without dumbing it down -- a hard line to walk.

Some minor gripes: the classical music that introduces each lecture is supposed to impart an academic air to the goings on (as with Masterpiece Theatre), but come off as inflated, repetitive and silly over some 100 listens, especially when something appropriately Middle Eastern could have been chosen instead (the same classical music is also used for other courses from the company, so I guess it's boiler-plated for all the Teaching Company courses).

Other than that... these lectures kept me company for a week or two on my long drives to work; I learned a lot, and missed them when they were over; I now refer to them again and again for my own research. Both valuable and enjoyable as well.

Excellent introduction
As an ancient historian I can only recommend Dr. Castor's introduction to Ancient Mesopotamia. It is extremely well organized, well delivered and presented in a fashion that allows the viewer to remember the key names and points, which at times can be rather confusing.

She demonstrates the complicated methological issues involved with the topice without losing the thread of a highly interesting historial narrative. She is also not afraid of detailing controversies in regards the current state of historiographical and archaeological research. Anybody wanting to get introduced into this complex topic is well advised to obtain a copy of the series of lectures. Not only does it cover Sumer and Akkadia, but also Babylonia, Assyria, Persia and finally Hellenistic Greece. After watching the lectures, the viewer will get away with a knowledge that prepares him/her with the various books on this topic.

She does an excellent job at showing the various facets of the topic and gives a "big picture" overview that does not shy away from essential details. Dr. Alexis Q. Castor is poised to become one of the next generation experts in this area of research who will bridge the gap between historiography and archaeology in this important field of ancient civilization. I am looking forward to any books she might write on the topic. A big "thumbs up" and a big compliment from a colleague who so far has been more involved with Late Antiquity rather than the beginning of of civilization between the Tigris and the Euphrates!

Confused...
This course left me confused. I used it to refresh my memory about this period of history. Alexis Castor is very knowledgeable and might be a good scientist, but as lecturer she was not the best choice. Language she uses is extremely dry and makes you think that you are listening to calculus or differential equations lecture. History is not only about naming lots of facts and theories, it is also telling a story, bringing past back to life. On the other hand it does contain a lot of information. Once you get used to her way of conducting this course you can enjoy the journey. Actually second time I listened to this course I really liked it.
I wish I could change rating from two stars to four.

Starts slowly, finishes well
Alexis Castor is a young assistant professor at Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania. Because of her seeming lack of experience, I was surprised that the Teaching Company chose her for this series of lectures.

My doubts seemed well-founded during the first five or so lectures, but she steadily improves as she moves forward, and by the 35th lecture on Alexander the Great, she is excellent.

In her defense, 5,000 years of history, mostly unwritten, is a long period of time to cover. As she moves into the era of written history she becomes increasingly comfortable.

She chooses her words carefully, never relying on "uhm" or "like" or "you know" to fill a void. On the other hand, she does leave long periods of silence between sentences, and is constantly glancing at what I assume is a teleprompter.

I rank her two notches below Prof. Kenneth W. Harl of Tulane (See Great Ancient Civilizations of Asia Minor DVDs: The Teaching Company (The Great Courses)), a popular Teaching Company lecturer in Ancient History, famed for his information-dense lectures, but think it only a matter of time until she reaches his high level of competence as a speaker.
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Mesopotamia, the "land between the rivers," was the site of the world's first true cities, empires, large-scale engineering projects, and written literature.The history, culture, and contributions of the pivotal civilizations that inhabited the area are presented in vivid detail in this volume, which includes the rise and fall of Sumeria, Babylonia, Assyria, and Persia. (20030501) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Excellent Series on History of Slavery
These are well written books that give a solid introduction to the history of slavery around the world and in different time periods. Greene's contributions to the series are conscientiously crafted and presented in a way that is of interest and accessible to young minds. The books are popular in libraries and classrooms.

Could and should be improved.
As a resercher in the historical field (Egyptology), I have to admit a little bit of disappointment. A better historical background should have been necessary than the "dozen books" mentioned by the author, to address such a subtle problem as slavery in the ancient Near East with a young public in mind. Nothing to object to the first chapter, where the treatment of the presumed origin and developement of slavery is reliabile and objective, although an approach in term of "involuntary labour" would have been appropriate: the reality behind the generalizing term "slavery" is quite eterogeneous. Yet several more or less evident flaws lies scattered inside: no Egyptian king ever owned and decided the destiny of all the slaves; that slaves were employed in pyramid building is unsupported by evidence; never heard of acts of mass-enslavement of foreigner (1550 a.C.); no archaological or epigraphic evidence of the "exodus" exists at present outside the Bible (just to mention a few points I am more concerned with). More than that,criticable and potentially missleading in my opinion is the confidence with which the matter is considered in the yet bare lack of agreement or clear formalization of the problem even among the experts (diffrently from the Greek-Roman world). More caution, I would also dare to invoke, in educational contextes addressed to a younger public in using as sun-bright thruths biblical references or names to enrich an historical portrait to which their original pertinence is far from being demostrable or accepted.

Slightly better than her one on Greece & Rome
Studies into slavery at the earliest stages of human civilizations are tricky because we lack a lot of information we have later on in Greece, Rome, Hebrew society.Add into this the fact that the cultures being discussed here use languages which only a few scholars know and you are set for very limited information.Greene does a better job at finding useful information for the layperson in this book than in her other book on slavery in Greece and Rome.I was pleased to see the book laid-out according to culture and not just pushing all of the Mesopotamian world into one section.There are some things I'd disagree with but overall it seems like a very simple introduction for a younger junior high student.She needs better references on slavery itself to help such students further their independent interests. ... Read more

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Discover the world of the ancient Egyptians, sumeriand, Assyrians and Bablonians. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fascinating, a goldmine of information
This fascinating book was published in 1998, and reflects an up-to-date understanding on the watercourses of Babylonia. Like the Nile, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers were subject to a yearly flooding, which brought a great deal of rich silt, which helped to create the Mesopotamian riverine complex. However, as the rivers deposited this silt, they rose in level, until they exploded their banks and took up new courses. This book, examines the mechanics of this hydrology, and its effects.

Overall, I found this to be a fascinating book. The authors go a long way towards showing that any ancient map of Mesopotamia should not be drawn with the present courses of the rivers used, as the rivers have moved repeatedly throughout history, with cities actually changing which side of the river they were on! (Or, more truthfully changing which side of them the river flowed past.)

Now, my biggest complaint is that while the bulk of this book is in English, some of it is in French. But, that said, this is a goldmine of information about ancient Mesopotamia, and how the river courses (not to mention the Gulf shoreline) have changed. I highly recommend this book to any scholar of ancient Mesopotamia and it environment.
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