HIST 4480 - 5480 - Ancient near East History - Dise

Ancient near East: The Basics surveys the history of the ancient Middle East from the invention of writing to Alexander the Great's conquest. The book introduces both the physical and intellectual environment of those times, the struggles of state-building and empire construction, and the dissent from those efforts. Topics covered include: What do we mean when we talk about the Ancient near East? The rise and fall of powerful states and monarchs Daily life both in the cities and out in the fields The legacy of the Ancient near East: religion, science and writing systems. Featuring a glossary, chronology and suggestions for further reading, this book has all the tools the reader needs to understand the history and study of the Ancient near East.

Exploring the military, legal, social and literary aspects of ancient warfare, this study examines the multifaceted nature of the siege phenomenon in the Ancient near East. The book is based on Akkadian and biblical (and, to lesser degree, Greek, Aramaic, Egyptian, Hittite and Ugaritic) sources as well as on the depictions on reliefs from Assyrian palaces and Egyptian temples. The analysis incorporates lexical study and military thinking and focuses on the technology of warfare and human behavior in a state of emergency. This volume is a co-publication between Brill and The Hebrew University Magnes Press.

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

This volume assembles more than 30 articles focusing on the visual, material, and environmental arts of the Ancient near East. Specific case studies range temporally from the fourth millennium up to the Hellenistic period and geographically from Iran to the eastern Mediterranean ... the volume captures a cross-section of the field of Ancient near Eastern art history as its stands in the second decade of the twenty-first century.

Fighting for the King and the Gods provides an introduction to the topic of war and the variety of texts concerning many aspects of warfare in the ancient near East. These texts illustrate various viewpoints of war and show how warfare was an integral part of life. Trimm examines not only the victors and the famous battles, but also the hardship that war brought to many. While several of these texts treated here are well known (i.e., Ramses II's battle against the Hittites at Qadesh), others are known only to specialists. This work will allow a broader audience to access and appreciate these important texts as they relate to the history and ideology of warfare.

"Gods in the Desert" explores the fascinating religious cultures of the Ancient near East. From the mysterious pyramids, tombs, and temples of Egypt to the powerful heroes, gods, and legends of Mesopotamia, Glenn Holland guides readers through the early religions of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Syria-Palestine.

Intended for readers seeking insight into the day-to-day life of some of the world's most ancient peoples, Life and Thought in the Ancient near East presents brief, fascinating explorations of key aspects of the civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Palestine, Asia Minor, and Iran. With vignettes on agriculture, architecture, crafts and industries, literature, religion, topography, and history.

In this sweeping overview of life in the ancient near East, Daniel Snell surveys the history of the region from the invention of writing five thousand years ago to Alexander the Great's conquest in 332 B.C.E. The book is the first comprehensive history of the social and economic conditions affecting ordinary people and of the relations between governments and peoples in ancient Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey. To set near East developments in a broader context, the author also provides brief contrasting views of India, China, Greece, and Etruscan Italy. Snell organizes his book chronologically in time spans of about five hundred years and considers broad continuities.

In this book, Lauren Ristvet rethinks the narratives of state formation by investigating the interconnections between ritual, performance, and politics in the Ancient near East. She draws on a wide range of archaeological, iconographic, and cuneiform sources to show how ritual performance was not set apart from the real practice of politics; it was politics. Rituals provided an opportunity for elites and ordinary people to negotiate political authority. Descriptions of rituals from three periods explore the networks of signification that informed different societies. From circa 2600 to 2200 BC, pilgrimage made kingdoms out of previously isolated villages. Similarly, from circa 1900 to 1700 BC, commemorative ceremonies legitimated new political dynasties by connecting them to a shared past. Finally, in the Hellenistic period, the traditional Babylonian Akitu festival was an occasion for Greek-speaking kings to show that they were Babylonian and for Babylonian priests to gain significant power.

Economic history is well documented in Assyriology, thanks to the preservation of dozens of thousands of clay tablets recording administrative operations, contracts and acts dealing with family law. Despite these voluminous sources, the topic of work and the contribution of women have rarely been addressed. This book examines occupations involving women over the course of three millennia of near Eastern history. It presents the various aspects of women as economic agents inside and outside of the family structure. Inside the family, women were the main actors in the production of goods necessary for everyday life. In some instances, their activities exceeded the simple needs of the household and were integrated within the production of large organizations or commercial channels.

Women in the Ancient near East offers a lucid account of the daily life of women in Mesopotamia from the third millennium BCE until the beginning of the Hellenistic period. The book systematically presents the lives of women emerging from the available cuneiform material and discusses modern scholarly opinion. Stol's book is the first full-scale treatment of the history of women in the Ancient near East.

The Ancient near East reveals three millennia of history (c. 3500-500 bc) in a single work. Liverani draws upon over 25 years-worth of experience and this personal odyssey has enabled him to retrace the history of the peoples of the Ancient near East. The history of the Sumerians, Hittites, Assyrians, Babylonians and more is meticulously detailed by one of the leading scholars of Assyriology. Utilizing research derived from the most recent archaeological finds, the text has been fully revised.

Mesopotamia and the Asiatic near East / William W. Hallo. The near East to the end of the Stone Age ; The Early Bronze Age, ca. 3100-2100 B.C. ; The Middle Bronze Age, ca. 2100-1600 B.C. ; From the sack of Babylon to the sack of Troy : the Late Bronze Age, ca. 1600-1200 B.C. ; The end of the Ancient near East : The Iron Age, ca. 1200-539 B.C. ; Mesopotamian culture : a survey -- Egypt / William Kelly Simpson. Introduction : the land and its prehistory; chronology and historiography ; The Early Dynastic period ; The Pyramid age : the Old Kingdom ; The development and disintegration of the Middle Kingdom ; The New Kingdom ; The Third Intermediate Period, the Saite dynasty, the Late Period, and the conquest of Alexander.

The Neolithic revolution in the near east -- The rise of the first cities: Sumerian civilization in Mesopotamia -- New rulers and peoples in Mesopotamia: Agade, Ur, Babylon, Assyria -- The Levant from c. 5000 BC until the end of the Bronze Age -- Anatolia until the end of the Bronze Age (c.1200 BC) and Contemporary cultures in Iran and Trans-Caucasia -- The near east in the period of the Assyrian empire and its neighbours -- The near east in a new era: from the last years of Assyria.

Based on the unrivaled collections of the British Museum, this extensively illustrated book is a superb introduction to the art of the ancient near East from the eighth millennium B.C. to Alexander the Great. Often described as the cradle of civilization, the ancient near East was the birthplace of writing, monumental sculpture, and wheel-made pottery. Dominique Collon provides a unique view into this ancient world, from village settlements to grand palaces to burial sites. Collon situates the Museum's most beautiful and interesting artifacts against their historical and cultural background. Among the works featured are painted pottery, figurines, cylinder seals, and stone amulets from the earliest village cultures before 3000 B.C. Also here are magnificent finds from graves at Alaca Huyuk in Turkey and the Royal Cemetery at Ur, including jewelry, musical instruments, and the famous Royal Standard. Sculpted reliefs from Assyrian palaces and Sasanian metalwork round out the collection.

Introduction: the Rediscovery of the Ancient near East -- The Prehistoric Foundations of Eastern Civilization. Neolithic Village: the Experiment of Agricultural and Pastoral Life. Experiment of Civilization -- Birth of Historical Civilizations. Sumarian Model. Urban Revolution in sumer and Elam -- Early Dynastic Period and the Beginnings of History. Beginnings of Writing and the Beginnings of Nations. Empire of Agade. Neo-sumerian Period -- Second Millennium: the Center Shifts. Amorites and Mitannians. Birth of Babylon. Amorite Syria. Colonization of Antolia. Mitannian World. Kassites in Babylon. Assyrian Awakening. Elam. First Iranians -- First Millennium: Toward the Universal Empire. Dark Centuries: the Arrival of the Aramaeans. Assyrian Art of the Ninth Century. East in the Eighth and Seventh Centuries: the Peak of Assyrian Power. Countries of the Levant. Phrygia and Urartu. Civilizations of Western Iran. Medes. Elamites and Persians. Apogee of Assyrian Art. Last Empire of Babylonia

Pushing back the frontiers -- City-states and kingdoms -- Pyramids and ziggurats -- Writing -- Education -- Living in cities -- Trade -- Law -- The brotherhood of nations -- Natural resources -- Mathematics and astronomy -- Medicine -- Ancient religion.
An introduction to the early civilizations of the ancient near East and eastern Mediterranean.

"Gods in the Desert" explores the fascinating religious cultures of the Ancient near East. From the mysterious pyramids, tombs, and temples of Egypt to the powerful heroes, gods, and legends of Mesopotamia, Glenn Holland guides readers through the early religions of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Syria-Palestine.

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.

Intended for readers seeking insight into the day-to-day life of some of the world's most ancient peoples, Life and Thought in the Ancient near East presents brief, fascinating explorations of key aspects of the civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Palestine, Asia Minor, and Iran. With vignettes on agriculture, architecture, crafts and industries, literature, religion, topography, and history,

Spanning more than 4,000 years, from the Early Bronze Age to 325 B.C.E., The Ancient Near East provides an overview of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Iran/Persia, the Arabian Peninsula and more. Fully illustrated, and including sidebars, marginal definitions, timelines and maps, this set provides an accurate, comprehensive and accessible research reference.

Vol. 1, pt. 1. Ancient near East in Western thought. pt. 2. The Environment. pt. 3. Population. pt. 4. Social institutions -- v. 2. pt. 5. History and culture -- v. 3. pt. 6. Economy and trade. pt. 7. Technology and artistic production. pt. 8. Religion and science -- v. 4. pt. 9 Language, writing, and literature. pt. 10. Visual and performing arts. pt. 11. Retrospective essays.

Relevant chapters include: Egypt. Ancient Egypt / Colin Walters -- The sea peoples / N.K. Sandars -- The religion of ancient Egypt / J.M. Plumley -- West Asia. Sumer / Thorkild Jacobsen -- Akkad / Thorkild Jacobsen -- Babylonia / A.K. Grayson -- Assyria / A.K. Grayson -- Mitanni / A.K. Grayson -- The Hittites / O.R. Gurney -- Urartu and Armenia / David M. Lang -- Syria / William Culican -- Phoenicia / William Culican -- Israel / Helmer Ringgren -- Troy / J.T. Hooker -- Phrygia and Lydia / T.R. Bryce -- Persia / T. Cuyler Young, Jr.

What do we know of the real Nebuchadnezzar? Was there an historical precedent for the mythical Gilgamesh? Who were the Hittites? When did Isaiah preach? How did Jezebel get her reputation? These and many more questions are answered in this fascinating survey of the people who inhabited the near East between the twenty-fifth and the second centuries BC. From Palestine to Iran and from Alexander the Great to Zechariah, Who's Who in the Ancient near East presents a unique and comprehensive reference guide for all those with an interest in the ancient history of the area. A comprehensive glossary, chronological charts, maps and bibliographical information complement the biographical entries.