Ancient Mesopotamia: An Enthralling Overview of Mesopotamian History, Starting from Eridu through the Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians, Hittites, and ... Alexander the Great (History of Mesopotamia)

“Ancient Mesopotamia lives on through us all.”This, the concluding sentence of the book, is so true. In culture, knowledge and economy this region of the world laid the basis, the foundation, of the subsequent civilizations and nations. A fascinating account makes clear these roots; an account that is well structured and illustrated.The story grabs the reader’s attention from the start with the description of “The Eridu Genesis” from a Sumerian cuneiform tablet, circa 1600 BCE. From then on it is difficult to put the book down as you discover the origins of the first cities and organized irrigated agriculture plus the beginnings of writing, bureaucracy and mathematics. The maps make clear the importance of the rivers and the Persian Gulf that facilitated trade and the interaction of ideas and cultures. Mythologies are not neglected such as the Sumerian creation myth called The Marriage of Martu, The structure of these early societies is explained and the major political changes are outlined without sinking into superfluous details.Even the importance of climate changes for these civilizations are touched upon: “Core samples taken from the Sea of Galilee in 2014 revealed a megadrought that lasted from 1250 to 1100 BCE. It would have killed off populations and encouraged mass migrations, perhaps even the mysterious Sea People. »Basically the book tells you all you needed and wanted to know about Mesopotamia. It is excellent for the general reader but also an asset for the inquisitive and intelligent youngster.

Plenty of detail - limited depth.Easy read

A must-read book full of useful information the Mesopotamian history, the invention of the wheel, and much more that laid down the foundations of civilization and shaped the world throughout the ages.Highly recommended

good

A fascinating overview of the ancient culture and civilizations of Mesopotamia. The writing is generalized and not specific to every day goings on, but it is an important book nonetheless…a very good book.

Ein sehr informatives und gut geschriebenes Buch.Es bleibt bei dieser Serie unklar wer das geschrieben hat aber das mindert nicht die hohe Qualität.

Overall, I liked this book. It was a good overview. Most of the time it read quite well.A lot of the information got repeated a lot ensuring the book would be a longer read than required.I had trouble with the dates and the "author" used too many date formats ranging from the concept of centuries to millennia and switching back to years BCE. One standard date format would have worked. I found what appeared to be date conflicts that got confusing due to the use of the 3 date formats and the jumping around when making comparative illustrations.This was particularly bad in Chapter 10-Innovations and Inventions. The introduce the wheel, first used for pottery. The then state that the Sumerians invented the transportation wheel in the 4th century BCE. So like 400 to 301 BCE. A few pages late we learn the Sumerians succeeded in basic cart technology and quick developed chariots. The 4 wheeled versions dating to 2600 BCE.Confused? 400-301 BCE is thousands of years AFTER 2600 BCE. Confused? Well a page or so later horses were domesticated in Turkey around that same 4th Century BCE but the Mesopotamians didn't start using them until about 2400 BCE. Again, the 4th Century is 400-301 BCE. Perhaps they mean 4th millennia?So, it gets confusing which could have been avoided by using consistent dates as years BCE.They also got compass directions wrong, in the Chapter on Alexander the Great. The talk about the Levant and WEST to Mesopotamia. Of course it is EAST.I found these stupid inconsistencies if not blatant errors annoying.

Very good product and very fast delivery