Short 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
Long 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. Written by leading experts, the book examines all the major civilizations of the region, including the Sumerians, Hittites, Babylonians, Assyrians, Israelites, and Persians. The Companion provides a survey of both the history of the Ancient Near East and of the sources for studying the period. It places special emphasis on social and cultural history and also covers the legacy of the Ancient Near East in the medieval and modern worlds.
Review
"Many will find specific chapters of interest, both for insights into their own specialities and for challenging overviews of related fields. Students will find stimulating introductions to a wide range of subjects, not treated in encyclopaedias or dryer standard works ... on which to hone their own critical faculties." Bryn Mawr Classical Review "The chapters are written by some of the world's leading scholars, like the veterans Liverani and Limet ... Some of the articles are highly relevant, even dealing with contemporary issues such as the individual, ethnicity ... democracy, and freedom." Scholia "As is usual for the Blackwell Companions the essays making up this volume have all been written by leading experts and as such the coverage is inclusive... The introduction, written by the editor, is excellent and clearly explains what the book is setting out to achieve, aims which are met. A Companion to the Ancient Near East is an excellent book and is one that should, without doubt, be read by those with a keen interest in this historical period." Reference Reviews A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year
Table of contents
- ONTENTSAcknowledgmentsTable of ContentsList of FiguresContributorsIntroductionPart I The Shape of the Ancient Near East Historical Overview
- Mario Liverani (Centro de Estudias de Asia y Africa in the Colegio de Mexico) From Sedentism to States, , to bce
- Augusta McMahon (Newnham College, University of Cambridge) The Age of Empires,
- bce
- Mark Chavalas (University of Wisconsin at LaCrosse) World Hegemony,
- bce
- Paul
- Alain Beaulieu (Harvard University)Part II Discourses on Methods Methods and Limits in Archaeology
- Marie
- Henriette Gates (Bilkent University, Ankara) The Languages of the Ancient Near East
- Gonzalo Rubio (Pennsylvania State University) The Historian's Task
- Daniel C
- Snell (University of Oklahoma)Part III Economy and Society The Degradation of the Environment
- Carlos E
- Cordova (Oklahoma State University, Stillwater) Nomadism Through the Ages
- Jorge Silva Castillo (Centro de Estudias de Asia y Africa in the Colegio de Mexico) Mesopotamian Cities and Countryside
- Elizabeth Stone (State University of New York at Stoney Brook) Money and Trade
- Christopher M
- Monroe (Pierpont Morgan Library in New York City) Working
- David Warburton (Aarhus University, Denmark) Law and Practice
- Bruce Wells (Gustavus Adolphus College, St
- Peter, Minnesota) Social Tensions in the Ancient Near East
- John F
- Robertson (Central Michigan University, Mt
- Pleasant) Gender Roles in Ancient Egypt
- Ann Macy Roth (Howard University, Washington, DC) Royal Women and the Exercise of Power
- Sarah C
- Melville (Clarkson University) Warfare in Ancient Egypt
- Anthony J
- Spalinger (University of Auckland, New Zealand)Part IV Culture The Transmission of Knowledge
- Benjamin R
- Foster (Yale Babylonian Collection) Literature
- Tawny Holm (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) Ancient Near Eastern Architecture
- Sally Dunham (Yale University) Mesopotamian Art
- Marian Feldman (University of California at Berkeley) Mesopotamian Medicine
- Joann Scurlock (Elmhurst College) Mesopotamian Cosmology
- Francesca Rochberg (University of California at Riverside) Divine and Non
- Divine Kingship Philip Jones (Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary project)Part V
- Heritage of the Ancient Near East How Religion Was Done
- Gary Beckman (University of Michigan) The Invention of the Individual
- Daniel C
- Snell (University of Oklahoma) Ethnicity
- Henri Limet (University of Liege, Belgium) Public versus Private in the Ancient Near East
- Steven Garfinkle (Western Washington University) Democracy and Freedom
- Matthew Martin III and Daniel C
- Snell (University of Tulsa, Oklahoma
- University of Oklahoma) Monotheism and Ancient Israelite Religion
- S
- David Sperling (Hebrew Union College
- Jewish Institute of Religion, New York) The Decipherment of the Ancient Near East
- Peter Daniels (independent scholar in New York) Legacies of the Ancient Near East
- Daniel C
- Snell (University of Oklahoma)ReferencesIndices