Product Description
This book is aimed at those interested in archaeology and ancient history. It contains detailed information on the main sites to be read before visiting. The plans and photographs provide concise information concerning each site which can be read on the spot. It covers all civilizations and ruined sites from 7000 BC to the beginning of the 20th century. It would be difficult to think of any single volume that covers such a period of time in such a practical form. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

"The" handbook about Anatolian archaeology
If anyone likes a "different" kind of tourism, paying a visit to Turkey with the help of this magnificent manual, will be a surprise. Any place and monument of archaeological interest, no matter of how small it is, has its short (although complete) or very detailed description. The merit of Prof. Akurgal was to write a really academic book, that works like a classical "Baedeker" guide. Each chapter leaves to the reader the desire to know even more, and the monumental bibliography gives the best help.
One year ago, I've visited the region of Caria with some friends-archeologists and this book helped me to appreciate this part of the world even more.
Another surprise is that Prof. Akurgal's book is not too huge: actually it can find place in any traveller's bag.

Akurgal's Book on Ancient Civilizations and Ruins of Turkey
Is a must have. A very organized encyclopedia of almost all the ruins in Anatolia. Includingisolated altars and temples, small cities and of course the big capitals of the ancient anatolia.

If you have it with youand you are driving along the Aegean cost of Turkey with and if you loveancient settlements and constructions you will have a lot to see on theway! ... Read more

Product Description
Examines Assyria's growth from warlike city-state to huge empire, through its conquest of all of Mesopotamia and Egypt, and aspects of its culture. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

An interesting little book
This interesting little book is part of Millbrook Press's The Cradle of Civilization series, and covers the Assyrians. It covers the history of the Assyrians, and delves into such subjects as Assyrian law and religion. Now, this book is written as an introduction for young students, and it is quite short, so if you are looking for in-depth information then this is not the book for you.

However, what this book aims to be, it succeeds at admirably. Even as an adult armchair historian, I found things about the Assyrians that I never knew before. So, if you are looking for a short introduction to the Assyrians for a young student, then this is the book for you.

Assyrian Letdown
While there are not many books on Assyria for this age group, I found this one lacking. There are two other books by Elaine Landau in this series called The Sumerians and The Babylonians.

There are 17 illustrations including one map, photos of artifacts, photos of present day sites relatedto the Assyrians, and two colored drawings. Considering the age group thisis written for, there are not many illustrations.

There is otherinformation about their way of life that is interesting.Assyrian life,law and religion are discussed along with their military prowess.

Thetype is slightly larger with large space between lines and wide margins. Itis easy on the eyes for children to read.

The text on the first fivepages in the three Landau books is virtually the same. The only majordifference is the map is changed for whichever topic--Sumerians, Assyrians,or Babylonians--is being covered. The map is well done, however, not alllocations are shown. While Assyria conquered Babylon, and Babylon ismentioned in the text, it is not shown on the map in the Assyriansbook.

Paging starts on page 9, text through page 54, timeline text ofImportant Dates pp. 55-56 (not facing pages), Notes p. 57 (bibliography?),Glossary pp. 59-60 (no pronunciation information though), Further Readingpp. 61-62, and Index pp. 63-64 (nice touch). So for a 64-page book there isonly 45 pp. of text, and the format is smaller than usual, too.

Thismeans there is not a lot of detail in any of the information. The historynecessarily skips a lot.I find it strange that Ashurbanipal and hislibrary would be skipped.How did we learn about these cultures?This isnot discussed in any detail.Because these cultures do interact with eachother, I think it might have been better to publish a combined text.

Mychildren (ages 4-13) did listen to me read this to them, but it was notwritten in a very interesting style. Because of the lack of detail covered,I think this book would be better if read to the 6-9 age group. Or read bythem, if they can read well enough! ... Read more

Product Description
This book presents a clear, concise history of the extraordinary multicultural civilizations of the ancient Near East.

• Bestselling narrative of the complex history of the ancient Near East
• Addresses political, social, and cultural developments
• Contains in-depth discussion of key texts and sources, including the Bible and the Epic of Gilgamesh
• Includes numerous maps, illustrations, and a selection of Near Eastern texts in translation
• Integrates new research, and greatly expands the guides to further reading for this second edition

Customer Reviews (10)

Very good introduction to the subject
This was the first book that I have read on the subject of the ancient near east. I later read Georges Roux's "Ancient Iraq" and Foster & Foster's "Civilizations of Ancient Iraq." These books all cover the same subject, but in different style, depth, and breadth.

Van De Mieroop's work is more scholarly and impersonal in its tone than the other two books, like what one would expect from a textbook. While this book is perhaps less descriptive than Roux's, it is a more coherant work (while Roux's was based on a series of articles he had written). Also, it is vastly more complete in the time period covered than Foster & Foster's. (One should note that the back cover of Foster and Foster's book contains praise and recommendation from Marc Van De Mieroop.) However, Van De Mieroop's book ends with the Invasion of Alexander the Great, where the Fosters continue on through Rome's presence in Iraq. "History of the Ancient Near East" includes in-text maps and illustrations, as opposed to "Ancient Iraq," where maps are inserted at the back of the book, and illustrations are sparse, mostly limited to picture plates at the center of the book. For somebody not used to the textbook style of history, this work's fairly deep and well rounded discussion of the material may seem dry and uninteresting at first.

I would never suggest to a person to read only one book on any subject. I would recommend they read all the above mentioned books, as well. I would recommend (to a fellow layman) that the books be read in the following order; Foster & Foster, Van De Mieroop, Roux. But no matter what books you decide to read on the subject of the Ancient Near East, or in what order you chose to read them, Van De Mieroop's "History of the Ancient Near East" should be one of them.

a solid, if pedestrian, introduction
This is a freshman-college level survey of a seminal period of history:with Bronze Age technologies and refined agriculture, the first empires arose to establish patterns of urban civilization and king-centered governance that would last more or less to the industrial revolution.It is absolutely essential stuff and very fun to know.

In the beginning, there were innumerable competing city states in Mesopotamia, who jockeyed for advantage and tiny slices of territory.Each city state had an urban elite with the beginnings of written records (in syllabic cuneiform) to cover both administrative arrangements and early narrative literature and poetry.Much was recorded on Steles,in the form of propaganda regarding some leader's exploits. In time, the organization extended to larger regions that thrived on trade and a specialized work force, enabling elaborate religions with temples to arise as well as monumental architecture, particularly with ziggurats in Babylon.The king was often also the head priest, as in Egypt, but the functions were increasingly separated.Finally, empires (e.g. Assyrian and Persian) arose over huge territories that involved vast displacements of entire populations for purposes of slave labor and mercenary uses.This order ended only with the conquest by Alexander and his heirs, who divided his empire and were more or less absorbed into the local cultures.These peoples were predominantly semitic, at the time when Jews, Arabs, and others were forming into distinctive cultures.But there were also Indo-Europeans in the Hittites and then the Persians, both of whom established formidable empires.

There were several crucial turning points that are covered in outline.These include the emergence of exploitive international elites who had more in common with eachother than with their subjugated peoples, corresponding in highly developed rhetorical forms that required extremely refined classes of scribes to write in the somewhat awkward cuneiform syllabic script (it was only with the Phoenicians that alphabetic script developed, which was far easier to master). This order faced an unexplained catastrophic breakdown around 1200 BCE, at the time when bronze was replaced by iron.This wiped out the extensive trade networks and cultural exchanges that are portrayed as a kind of golden age.The author's treament of this mystery demonstrates the limits of this kind of survey:he mentions various interpretations but refrains for getting into more engaging detail and there is very little narrative flair to any of it.

The powers that arose from the ashes of the 1200 BCE catastrophe included 1) the Assyrians, who built a kind of totalitarian state that forced entire populations into slavery by forcible removal; 2) the Persians, who pioneered an empire based on cooperation between extraordinarily varied ethic and language groups, all while respecting and indeed fitting into the local cultures and religions, which leaders regarded as useful tools to manipulate rather than as threats to stamp out or crush into submission.This was a fundamental development that required administrative genius.

I am very glad I read this and learned an immense amount. Unfortunately, the style is textbook spare and rather dry, in essence not very fun to read.Moreover, the most serious deficiency in the book is that it does not attempt to cover archaeological evidence beyond an occasional mention; I think that 100 pages of info could have been added to fill this gap.Nonetheless, the author has many wonderful text boxes of literary translations that add flavor, there are excellent maps, and a sprinkling of images that whet the appetite for more.Recommended as the most basic of introductions.It is clearly written, broadly comprehensible, if somewhat unexciting.

Review of Van De Mieroop's History of the Near East
This is a very solid history of the ancient Near East. The author works from 3000 to Alexander, covering all of the various powers and dynasties that arise in an around the region. More than Mesopotamia is considered; indeed, everyone from the Hittites to the Persians has a place in this work. Lesser known kingdoms like the Elamites and the Ammorites are considered alongside the big players (Assyrians, Babylonians, etc.). The text is supplemented with primary sources, maps and images, many credit to other scholars, which I found very humble on the author's part. The writing itself is easily to follow, and the author carefully discusses historical sources. Overall, a well-paced, well-written work of history. One criticism: organization is not always clear; the chapters overlaps chronologically, and the author only sometimes explains his reasoning for the order of each narrative. Further, this ought to be supplemented with a text on Near Eastern culture; this is mostly a study of government, trade and empire (with occasional cultural information).

Very good history of a very long time frame
This is a very solid presentation of almost 3,000 years of history in 360 pages. Don't expect anything authoritative-- the author says that early on. So much of the information historians have to work with is archaeological, which means our field of knowledge and understanding of this period is subject to change. Furthermore, the incredible length of time covered means somethings have to be left out in order to make a coherent and readable book. Very nice maps and graphics. Clearly written for the most part. The sheer number of names, of people or groups, can be hard to keep straight at times, but again that's more a reflection of the history the author deals with than the writing itself. You can tell the author's frustration with some of the archaeological work that's been done-- too much focus on palaces and forts and not enough on the vast majority of the people. It would be nice to have a history that showcased these varied societies and their economic structures and social organization. For all we know, our history of the period over-emphasizes the role of militarism and kings and under-emphasizes the role of peasants in maintaining the cultural patterns that changed only very gradually over the 3,000 year time frame.
I definitely recommend this book. It seems to be the latest scholarship, well written, and thoughtfully educates the reader on the issues facing the study of the period. It is important, afterall, to know how we know things. A great companion back good would be Wolfram Von Soden's The Ancient Orient: An Introduction to the Study of the Ancient Near East, which has a thematic rather than chronological lay-out.

enjoyable and informative
This clear, concise, informative and interesting book was a true pleasure to read.I highly recommend it to anyone that wants a fairly detailed overview of the history of this fascinatig cradle of civilization. I'm reading it again! ... Read more

Product Description
A Companion to the Ancient Near East offers students and general readers a comprehensive overview of Near Eastern civilization from the Bronze Age to the conquests of Alexander the Great.

• Covers the civilizations of the Sumerians, Hittites, Babylonians, Assyrians, Israelites and Persians
  
• Places particular emphasis on social and cultural history
  
• Covers the legacy of the Ancient Near East in the medieval and modern worlds
  
• Provides a useful bibliographical guide to this field of study

Customer Reviews (1)

A peek into the roots of Western Civilization
Ancient Israel by Harry Orlinsky is the first book in the Development of Western Civilization series from Cornell University Press. In it, Dr. Orlinsky traces the steps of the Jewish people from their early origins in the Fertile Crescent, through Egyptian captivity, the Exodus, the period of the Judges, the Kingdom, the Babylonian exile and eventually to the Restoration.

Like many scholars, Dr. Orlinsky dismisses the historical credibility of the supernatural events recorded in the Bible and doubts the direct, personal interaction between God and people. Even so, he affirms the Bible as "constituting unusually reliable historical documents of antiquity." This good little book is an easy to read, relatively short survey of the Old Testament. He intertwines the historical record with the prophetic message to form a clear picture of the ancient Jewish life.

As good as this book is, Dr. Orlinsky, I'm quite sure, would recommend that you just go straight to the source. Want to know the history of ancient Israel? Just read the Bible. ... Read more

Product Description
The Evolution of the Ancient City is an interdisciplinary look at how cities developed from Hunter-Gatherer societies to centers of vast empires in the Fertile Crescent between 21,500 BCE and 1,200 BCE. The reader is guided through each stage of social evolution and its consequences for our understanding of modern cities. As a result, urban theory must adapt to this long-range view of the city. ... Read more

Product Description
This beautifully designed pocket reference--more a compact encyclopedia than a dictionary--presents ancient Egypt in stunningly-produced photographs and concise textual descriptions of Egyptian art, culture, and government. Not merely a travel guide, this handy and easy-to-use guide provides an overall view of the civilization as a whole, including a fascinating section on the history of Egyptology, the invasions and excavations, and a section on where the artifacts can be seen today. This is a must-have addition to the library of anyone interested in ancient Egypt, and a necessary companion for the traveler. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Review of DOC's Egypt
This is a great collection of visual material on ancient Egypt. I'm impressed with the entire Dictionary of Civilization series. Each book takes a large collection of photographs and covers them in historical footnotes. It's a great way to greet people through their visual culture. The book is also thorough going--more than 350 pages of material. A great introduction to ancient Egyptian culture and history. ... Read more

Product Description
From the 17th to the 12th centuries BCE, the five Great Kings of Egypt, Babylon, Hatti (the kingdom of the Hittites), Mitanni and Assyria ruled over vast, complex territories. One of the secrets to their control was frequent communication by letter. Many of these letters survive to the present day, offering fascinating insights into the people and politics of the ancient near Eastern kingdoms. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Ancient correspondence revealed
This is a book that should appeal to many readers not just those with an interest in ancient history. Although many might think this a niche book it has great anthropological and sociological implications and the author makes the correspondence between these great civilizations quite readable. The introduction which gives the reader historical background will put the general reader well at ease. Incredibly fascinating and recommended.

One of the best popular historians writing today
Bryce is a writer who brings history excitingly to life.This book covers the last 500 years of the bronze age, which separates the era of the city states on one hand and - after an interim "dark age" - the great empires of the first millenium on the other.

Bryce explores this world through the medium of the written archives of the 5 great states that dominated this world over the bulk of this period. It is an exciting and readable story, which I completed over the course of a single weekend. Bryce does not pretend that this tells the complete picture of these societies - it is the picture of an elite at work, rest and play - but it is a wonderful overview that is well worthy of the tradition of Herodotus.

I docked one star because there were occasional signs of hasty writing / proofediting that marred my reading enjoyment.I made some notes from one single page near the end of the book, page 228.
para 4, first sentence "But it may not have failed entirely."It's not immediately obvious what the subject "it" refers to, and might be better phrased "But the viceroy's rebuke may not have been entirely without effect."
On the next line, "cap-ability" the hyphen is missing (I was left wondering for a few seconds what a "defence cap ability" was!)
And finally the penultimate paragraph, first sentence "The letter was found in the house of Rapanu."Who or what is Rapanu - i had to refer to the index to be reminded he had cropped up in a previous chapter.The sentence would be better formulated for the reader, "This letter, found in the house of a senior citizen of Ugarit named Rapanu, shows that it was clearly..."

Having written this much, one final comment - in the historical overview at the beginning, a bit more scaffolding for the reader might be helpful.I can find immediately one example of what I mean: on page 16, when hammurabi comes to power, it could be mentioned that this was towards the end of the reign of Shamshi-Adad - this both provides a useful reference point and brackets nicely the text to the point where the Assyrian kingdom finally falls under his sway.

But to sum up: I can promise that no-one with any interest in ancient history will fail to be enthralled by this book.

... Read more

Product Description
This fascinating insight into ancient Asian and Oriental culture is packed with information and projects. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

One of our Favorite History Books So far!
I purchased this book as part of the Tapestry of Grace curriculum, and am saddened to see the used price skyrocket as it has, limiting the availability to so so few.I use this book with my 5th grader and it is so detailed and has wonderful pictures. The crafts and hands-on activities are beautiful. This week we are doing India and are doing fabric block painting and making laquered boxes.It is by far our favorite history book, and my daughter likes to look at it "for fun". It is a big fat book just crammed with wonderful photos and ideas.I wish they would reprint this and make it available to more people. It is almost worth the price at 60$.
... Read more

Product Description
This book presents a clear, concise history of the extraordinarily multicultural civilizations of the Ancient Near East. Beginning with the emergence of writing around 3000 BC, the narrative ranges from the origins of the first cities in Mesopotamia, through the growth of the Babylonian and Hittite kingdoms, to the Assyrian and Persian empires. It ends with the transformation of the Ancient Near East by the conquests of Alexander the Great.

• A straightforward and concise narrative of the complex history of the ancient Near East.
  
• Addresses political, social, and cultural developments.
  
• Contains in-depth discussion of key texts and sources, including the Bible and the Epic of Gilgamesh.
  
• Includes a selection of Near Eastern texts in translation.
  
• Accompanied by plentiful maps and illustrations.

Customer Reviews (7)

essential and useful, if often rather dull
This is a freshman-college level survey of a seminal period of history: with Bronze Age technologies and refined agriculture, the first empires arose to establish patterns of urban civilization and king-centered governance that would last more or less to the industrial revolution. It is absolutely essential stuff and very fun to know.

In the beginning, there were innumerable competing city states in Mesopotamia, who jockeyed for advantage and tiny slices of territory. Each city state had an urban elite with the beginnings of written records (in syllabic cuneiform) to cover both administrative arrangements and early narrative literature and poetry. Much was recorded on Steles, in the form of propaganda regarding some leader's exploits. In time, the organization extended to larger regions that thrived on trade and a specialized work force, enabling elaborate religions with temples to arise as well as monumental architecture, particularly with ziggurats in Babylon. The king was often also the head priest, as in Egypt, but the functions were increasingly separated. Finally, empires (e.g. Assyrian and Persian) arose over huge territories that involved vast displacements of entire populations for purposes of slave labor and mercenary uses. This order ended only with the conquest by Alexander and his heirs, who divided his empire and were more or less absorbed into the local cultures. These peoples were predominantly semitic, at the time when Jews, Arabs, and others were forming into distinctive cultures. But there were also Indo-Europeans in the Hittites and then the Persians, both of whom established formidable empires.

There were several crucial turning points that are covered in outline. These include the emergence of exploitive international elites who had more in common with eachother than with their subjugated peoples, corresponding in highly developed rhetorical forms that required extremely refined classes of scribes to write in the somewhat awkward cuneiform syllabic script (it was only with the Phoenicians that alphabetic script developed, which was far easier to master). This order faced an unexplained catastrophic breakdown around 1200 BCE, at the time when bronze was replaced by iron. This wiped out the extensive trade networks and cultural exchanges that are portrayed as a kind of golden age. The author's treament of this mystery demonstrates the limits of this kind of survey: he mentions various interpretations but refrains for getting into more engaging detail and there is very little narrative flair to any of it.

The powers that arose from the ashes of the 1200 BCE catastrophe included 1) the Assyrians, who built a kind of totalitarian state that forced entire populations into slavery by forcible removal; 2) the Persians, who pioneered an empire based on cooperation between extraordinarily varied ethic and language groups, all while respecting and indeed fitting into the local cultures and religions, which leaders regarded as useful tools to manipulate rather than as threats to stamp out or crush into submission. This was a fundamental development that required administrative genius.

I am very glad I read this and learned an immense amount. Unfortunately, the style is textbook spare and rather dry, in essence not very fun to read. Moreover, the most serious deficiency in the book is that it does not attempt to cover archaeological evidence beyond an occasional mention; I think that 100 pages of info could have been added to fill this gap. Nonetheless, the author has many wonderful text boxes of literary translations that add flavor, there are excellent maps, and a sprinkling of images that whet the appetite for more. Recommended as the most basic of introductions. It is clearly written, broadly comprehensible, if somewhat unexciting.

Good Book...but...
This is a good book for everyone interested in Near East History.I enjoyed the author's well reserched account which is also very easy to follow.I also liked the maps that present where every city and region are located.However,the book has several things that didnt let me give it a 5 star rating.Number one, the author spends way too much time in discussingtopics that are not that interesting.For example,he uses way too many words and too much time explaining the economics of everyday life.I found myself reading faster because it was a little bit boring.Also,i belive that he doesnt treat the veracity of the Bible with respect.On several occasions he mentions that the Bible,either took its history from somebody else or its not very reliable.Some of the best historians in the world have confirmed that the Bible is a must for Near East History, so i believe the author dropped the ball on this one.The other problem that i had with this book is that it gets interesting around pages 180 and 181 where the author starts to study in detail the political situation of the area and goes into detail regarding battles and kings and their importance in history.Again its a good book with great knowledge but with some negative things too.

Nice Book!
It's a great book! It gives you a good amount of information and breaks everything down in a timeline fashion...the maps of the evolving ancient world really helped. If you are writing a paper or just really interested in the Near East, this book is a keeper. Two years after reading it and I still pick it back up for referrances.

Used it for history
I had to buy this book as the textbook for my History of the Ancient Near East class, and it ended up being fairly good.Textbook reading is never the most exciting, but it was decently well-written and easy to understand.The timelines at the beginning of each chapter definitely helped.It's not exactly and exciting topic, but for what it is I think that this was a helpful book.

Detailed and straightforward
The author here manages to write a chronological account from the dawn of civilization in Mesopotamia to the coming of Alexander the Great without getting boring.While it is pretty detailed, it could use a bit more fleshing out in my opinion.In terms of history and political developments, the author obviously knows what he's talking about, although I do think his statement about the spread of Indo-European languages from the Eurasian steppes being an "outdated nineteenth century concept" is a bit ignorant as to the state of that field.Other than that, the book is well-written and makes ample use of primary sources. ... Read more

Product Description
The Middle Kingdom (c.1940-1640 BC) was a golden age of Ancient Egyptian writing. This pioneering book is the first comprehensive study of this literary legacy. The status of literature is controversial in many ancient civilizations, and Middle Kingdom poems have often been regarded as propaganda for the ruling dynasty. This study radically reassesses their cultural role, drawing on recent studies of the individual texts, some by the author, and on general developments in literary criticism, to argue that they were entertainments that voiced potentially dissident views while also being integral to elite culture. The book explores literature's status as a differentiated form of discourse, suggesting what social practices made its role possible and offering an innovative model for the reader's engagement with these subtle and complex ancient works. The book also surveys the social and ideological context of literature and proposes readings of the main tales, discourses, and teachings. The conclusion sets the readings in a broad context, while an appendix surveys the entire range of surviving texts. ... Read more

Product Description
This book explores the dynamics of small-scale societies in the ancient Near East by examining the ways in which particular communities functioned and interacted and by moving beyond the broad neo-evolutionary models of social change which have characterised many earlier approaches. By focusing on issues of diversity, scale, and context, it considers: the ways in which economy, crafts, technology, and ritual were organised; the roles played by mortuary practices and households in the structure and development of ancient societies; the importance of agency, identity, ethnicity, gender, community and cultural interaction for the rise of socio-economic complexity. The contributors to this volume are well-known archaeologists in the field of Near Eastern studies; all are currently engaged in fieldwork or research in Cyprus, the Levant, or Turkey. The variety and depth of the research they present here reflect the richness of the archaeological record in the 'cradle of civilisation' and convey the vibrancy of current interpretive approaches within the field of Near Eastern prehistory today. ... Read more

Product Description
This book represents the first comprehensive, interdisciplinary presentation of ancient Near Eastern civilization. The author's study includes treatments of the history of language and systems of writing, the state and society, nutrition and agriculture, artisanry, economics, law, science, religion and magic, art, music, and more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

An excellent survey of current knowledge
Over the past few years I have been very interested in the history of the Ancient Near East and have read a number ofscholarly books on the subject of ancient Canaan & Israel, Egypt of the Pharaohs, Cyprus, Ebla, the Hittites, Babylonians, Assyrians, and the Sumerians. But many of these are at least 25 years old, and I thought it was time to bring myself up-to-date with the latest developments, as well as reading modern translations of the important ancient documents.To that end, I recently purchased this book, plus "Ancient Iraq" by Georges Roux, and the two volumes of "The Ancient Near East - An Anthology of Text and Pictures" by James B Pritchard.

Fortunately, I read this book first!It was originally published in 1985, and the English translation by Donald G Schley was published in 1994. In the translator's words, Wolfram von Soden(who was born in 1908) was a master in the field of Assyriology, and the intention of the book,as the title states, is "an Introduction to the Study of the Ancient Near East". In making the text available in English, Professor Schley's aim is to provide a concise, yet comprehensive text for his classes in the ancient Near East, and one which could also serve as a background text for classes in biblical studies

For Professor von Soden the term "Ancient Orient" denotes ancient Western Asia without Asia Minor, but with Western Iran.That is to say the focus of the book is on the Sumerian, Babylonian, and Assyrian empires for the period from 3000BC to about 500BC with some coverage of the Mittanians,Hurrians, Uruartians, Elamites, and Hittites where they impinge on these empires. There are separate chapters on each of the following topics, and his aim is to show what was has been accomplished in each of these selected themes:
Peoples and Cultures of the Ancient Orient
Writing and Systems of Writing,
The History of Ancient Western Asia - The Historicalsources,
State & Society,
Nutrition & Agriculture
Artisanry
Trade and Commerce
Law
Sumerian and Babylonian Science
Religion and Magic
Literature
Building, Art, & Music

Did the book meet my expectations?Frankly, no! since I already have some familiarity with the topics covered - but that's not to criticise the quality or the content of the book, or that I don't need a periodic review of the subject. And from that point of view this book serves an admirable purpose.In addition, while it gives a clear indication as to how much is known on these themes, it is also very clear on the limits of that knowledge.It has, therefore, innumerable suggestions for further specialist studies which can be of great help in pointing the determined student to focus his study on areas where there is still much uncertainty.But it is not (nor is it intended to be) a comprehensive treatment of the political history of these particular civilisations.

I found the book generally easy to read, and the single map at the back of the book sufficient for my understanding of the location of the various cities and archaeological sites. The book required a lot of concentration though, and to that end I had to develop a list of places, words, gods and goddesses to ensure that I could keep track of everything in my mind

Since the book only provides an overview of the history of the period, it would have been much more useful to me if I could havestudied a book like this when I first started reading about these civilisations some 30 years ago.Therefore, there are no king lists or charts of historical timelines, but that's because the focus of the book is more on the way people lived rather than on political history as to who did what to whom.

It is not a heavily illustrated book, and the few pictures which do exist (mainly of the most significant artifacts) are scattered throughout the book, but, again, this does not detract from the quality of the book.Finally, there are about 75 books cited in the selected bibliography most of which were published in the period 1970 to 1990.Since I am familiar with only a handful of the authors so cited, I have innumerable possibilities for further study on this subject.

In summary I think this is a very good book for students who are starting out on their studies of the ancient Near East, and a good review book for those whose knowledge of the subject has primarily been gained by self study.

Consise history of the "middle east"
Very, very interesting.Though hard to read if one is not familiar with the local wording/jargon.

A superb review of the entire field of ancient near eastern
This text is an incisive overview of the entire sweep of ancient NearEastern studies. Particularly valuable is the section on philology and theextent to which various available texts have or have not yet beentranslated. It is directly useful as a core text for coursework in anyaspect of Mesopotamian civilizations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A valuable dictionary for students
The "Historical Dictionary of Ancient Southeast Asia" by associate professor John Miksic appears to offer a "comprehensive picture of the region" combining many data with great scholarship and clarity of presentation. If you want to know immediately something about a construction or a ruler of ancient Southeast Asia, this beautiful monograph certainly will help you. The dictionary also contains a bibliography so a reader can find further references to the relevant literature. The dictionary covers many data including Vietnamese history that distinguishes it from the famous monograph of Georges Coedes "The Indianized States of Southeast Asia".
A great merit of Miksic's dictionary lies in its great objectivity as the author gives to his reader in the majority of cases well-established facts and tells about discussions between scholars.
Miksic's theory of ancient Southeast Asian history can be characterized as hermeneutic in some degree as he, following Oliver Wolters, uses the term mandala to conceptualize particular features of regional political and social structures. In fact, both scholars aim to describe the societies by their own terms.
But Miksic's theory differs from Wolters' as the former believes that the concept of Indianization is still useful for scholars because the process of Indianization was a common theme in regional developments like Christianization, Renaissance, and Enlightenment in Europe. Another theme was sea.
The dictionary has some drawbacks. First, glossary on pp. 447-450 is misleading as the reader doesn't know where s/he should find the entry: it may be found in the dictionary or the glossary. Second, sometimes you can find factual inaccuracies. Miksic writes on p. 239: "Srivijaya... referred to itself in its inscriptions as a mandala". But this Old Malay polity never did it. The term Srivijaya can be found only with the words kadatuan and wanua ("the place of a ruler" and "an inhabited land, a community" respectively) in the relevant inscriptions. The records from Kalasan and Kelurak were carved by pre-Nagari script, not by Devanagari (p. 108, 181{182, 190). The term Taruma has a Proto-Austronesian origin whereas the dictionary gives the Sanskrit one (p. 383).
Despite these observations I think any student can find much useful information about ancient Southeast Asia.
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