Letters of the Great Kings of the Ancient Near East: The Royal Correspondence of the Late Bronze Age Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)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.


Click Here to see more reviews about: Letters of the Great Kings of the Ancient Near East: The Royal Correspondence of the Late Bronze Age

Offering fascinating insights into the people and politics of the ancient near Eastern kingdoms, Trevor Bryce uses the letters of the five Great Kings of Egypt, Babylon, Hatti, Mitanni and Assyria as the focus of a fresh look at this turbulent and volatile region in the late Bronze Age. Numerous extracts from the letters are constantly interwoven into the fabric of narrative and discussion, and this lively approach allows us to witness history through the eyes of the people who lived it, revealing the personalities and reactions of kings, queens, princes, princesses and royal officials more than 3500 years ago to the current events of the day.

Get 12% OFF

Click here for more information about Letters of the Great Kings of the Ancient Near East: The Royal Correspondence of the Late Bronze Age

Read More...

The Old Testament World, Second Edition Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
I found this book to be hugely informative (deserving five stars for what it deals with), and hugely misleading (because of what it leaves out, and so deserving only one star, because overall it fails). I give it two reluctant stars.
The Product Description is very informative: "[T]his unique introduction ... seeks ... to illuminate the literature of the Old Testament by showing how it was shaped by the events, social structures, and religions and intellectual ideas of the ancient civilizations and cultures in which it was produced ... Rather than a conventional canonical-theological approach, it offers an approach for those interested in the Old Testament as a monumental cultural achievement ... and requires a minimum of prior knowledge or expertise." [The last clause doesn't seem accurate to me: considerable "prior knowledge and expertise" are required, since the book is seeking to replace the centuries-long paradigm of OT scholarship with a new one, beginning from the end of the eighteenth century but rapidly accelerating post-World-War-II and from the turn of the 20th/21st centuries.]
The first three chapters deal with the 'Geography and Ecology of Ancient Palestine', the 'Social Organisation', and 'The Peoples of the Old Testament World'. All very necessary, and well explained.
Part II, 'The History and Religion of Israel', begins to come to the nitty-gritty of what we are really studying: Israel itself, though always with the background acknowledgment of its being one among the nations. The chapters deal successively with 'Until the Time of Solomon' (ch 4); 'From the Death of Solomon to the Babylonian Deportation' (ch 5); 'Judah under the Persians and Ptolemies and the Judeans in Babylonia' (ch 6 - the most complicated and the most important period for the emergence of Judah/Israel with its own definite identity, and for the final redaction of many of the Old Testament books).
Part III, 'Literature and Life', does broad-brush exegesis of various OT tests. Successive chapters analyze the 'Creation and Origin Stories' in Genesis 1-11, compared with the Sumerian and Akkadian versions (ch 8), the nature of Narrative (ch 9), Legal Texts (10), Sacrifices and Psalms (ch 11); and then 'Prophetic, Wisdom and Apocalyptic Literature (chs 11, 12, 13 respectively).
These chapters (4-14) on the history, literature and life of Israel, and later ones too, convincingly build up the `new paradigm' of a continuous redaction of the sources of the OT text, so that, for example, even the `writing prophets' as we now have them are not the products of individuals sitting at their desks and writing scrolls of their prophecies from start to finish. The OT text is everywhere the eventual result of a long-evolving development, with additions, omissions, updatings, and rewritings of real (or even fictional) historical events in the light of contemporary events.
But with Chapter 15, `Beyond the Old Testament', I lost confidence in the authors. In spite of using the term `religion' in some chapter headings, and mentioning associated terms here and there, the Index of the book has no entries for `inspiration, religion, revelation, theology'. This simply will not do. The authors do not rigorously examine the theology of the Old Testament against the surrounding theologies. What is distinctive about the OT?This book misses altogether the point that it simply had to have, because it does not ask: when did the `the Old Testament World' end, and what must it include? There are various possible choices. From the literary point of view, one could argue for an end date set by the last OT writing, Daniel, about 165 BCE. Politically, the end might be seen as the Roman conquest in 63 BCE, or as the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE; or as the (uncertain) acceptance of an OT canon around 90 CE; or even, best of all, as the defeat of Bar Kochba and the final destruction of Jerusalem in 135 CE.
I maintain that EVERY discussion of `the Old Testament World', once it goes beyond Daniel's date, must go on to 70 CE or 135 CE. This means that the life, death, and claimed resurrection and ascension of Jesus of Nazareth, and the outpouring of the Spirit on the first Pentecost, and the founding and spread of the Christian Church (for me, as it developed, the Roman Catholic Church), and Paul, and the whole New Testament, must be included in a discussion of the `Old Testament World'. I see a straight-line continuation, from the history and prophecies of the Old Testament, to Christianity. If one leaves this out one leaves an unfinished `Old Testament' story.
I conclude by quoting the extraordinary words which the authors write in the paragraphs headed `Messianism' on page 222: "This unfortunate and inappropriate term [Messianism] is nevertheless commonly used to convey the widespread Jewish belief during this period that the course of history, which had recently turned against Jews in Palestine, would soon be brought to an end ... However important it has been in the past for Christians to imagine a Judaism waiting for a messiah, there was no `messianic Judaism' and no `messianic doctrine, but the notion of some kind of divinely appointed leader was common. Among Sadducees, of course, messianic ideas of any kind were rejected. And they reached diaspora Judaism only in the form of Christianity; for most of these the notion of a messiah was irrelevant (and politically unwise, anyway). This may be why Paul refers to Jesus as `Christ', literally a translation of `anointed' but in fact meaningless to most of his readers."
I cannot believe that the authors are serious.It seems incredible that I need to appeal to the immense literature on Messiahs and Messianism, against the authors' unbelievable one-page dismissal of it. See my own reviews of The First Messiah (Michael O Wise), The Messiah Before Jesus (Israel Knohl), The Jewish Messiah (Dan Cohn-Sherbok).
And the Dead Sea Scrolls? And John 20.31: "These things [signs] are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name".


Click Here to see more reviews about: The Old Testament World, Second Edition

Written by two leading Old Testament scholars and widely used throughout the world, Davies and Rogerson's The Old Testament World describes the historical, social, and cultural setting in which the Old Testament was written and examines the major genres of literature that it contains. Ideally suited for college-level introductory classes, it illuminates the literature of the Old Testament by showing how it was shaped by the events, social structures, and religious and intellectual ideas of the ancient civilizations and cultures in which it was produced.Unlike most introductions, it goes beyond traditional formats and reflects the vast and significant changes that our understanding of the Old Testament has undergone in recent decades. Rather than using a conventional canonical-theological approach, the book presents the Old Testament as a monumental cultural achievement. Now thoroughly revised and updated to reflect the many developments of recent years, it is arranged according to major topics for study, followed by sections that introduce the major divisions of the text. It is illustrated with pictures, maps, and charts.

Get 34% OFF

Click here for more information about The Old Testament World, Second Edition

Read More...

Noah's Ark and the Ziusudra Epic: Sumerian Origins of the Flood Myth Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This book examines six versions of an ancient flood legend (The Ziusudra Epic, The Atrahasis Epic, The Epic of Gilgamesh, Genesis 6-9, The Berossus History, and The Moses of Khoren. The author begins by listing phases and words common to each version, to demonstrate they are related and have a common origin. He then extracts the plausible and possible portions of each legend and removes the mythical (physically impossible or highly improble) elements. He draws upon archeological evidence of actual historical events, sites, and persons, examines early numbering systems, and the various meanings of key words in early written languages. The result: a very realistic, readable, and convincing reconstruction of the flood myth.
The author attributes the Noah story to a six day flood on the Euphrates River, around 2900BC. Noah (Ziusudra, a known king of the Sumerian city-state Shuruppak) and his family are swept down the river into the Persian Gulf on Noah's commercial river barge. They drift for nearly a year and eventually ground in an estuary near the mouth of the river.
This book is the most convincing and plausible account of the Noah legend I have read, or ever expect to read. The author examines every detail of the legend, and shows how mistranslations of key words and phrases led to faulty modern interpretations, such as the ark grounding on Mt. Ararat.
Also included is an analysis of the ages of Noah and the other antediluvians. Again, the author is totally convincing. This book is a scientific "tour de force". The author sifts through a mountain of information and extracts its essence ... what REALLY happened to Noah.
This book should be read by anyone interested in biblical history including (1) creationists, who may be disappointed, (2) those who are wasting their time searching for an ark on Mt. Aratat, (3) advocates of the Black Sea innundation theory, and even (4) biblical skeptics, who will discover the story is not so farfetched as it seems!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Noah's Ark and the Ziusudra Epic: Sumerian Origins of the Flood Myth

This is a reconstruction of a lost story about a Sumerianking named Ziusudra, later known as Noah, who was king of thecity-state Shuruppak about 2900 BC when a local river flood submergedhis city.This book combines six surviving ancient versions of theflood story, separates the myth from the legend, and determines whatthe ark was, where it grounded (not on Mt. Ararat), where the floodhero sacrificed to the gods, and what he did afterwards.

Click here for more information about Noah's Ark and the Ziusudra Epic: Sumerian Origins of the Flood Myth

Read More...

History Begins at Sumer: Thirty-Nine Firsts in Recorded History Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Although I've been known to grumble at Kramer's dullness, the present book, far from being dull, ought to be of real interest to many. Professor Samuel Noah Kramer was the world's leading Sumerologist, but in this book he seems to have risen above the dry academic persona we find in some of his other books and allowed his love and enthusiasm for things Sumerian to show.
Basically the book sets out to explain and describe, using extensive quotations from Sumerian Literature, what Kramer took to be thirty-nine civilizational firsts of the Sumerians. Many new archaeological discoveries have been made since the 3rd revised edition of 'History Begins at Sumer' was published in 1981, and current thinking seems to be leaning towards the view that, far from beginning in Sumer, civilization first arose further East in India.
But whether it first began in Sumer or in India, since the Indus script hasn't yet been deciphered, and the Indians didn't write on imperishable clay tablets anyway, we have as yet no thirty-nine Vedic Indian firsts, and perhaps should give Kramer the benefit of the doubt and enjoy his splendid book.
After a brief Introduction, the thirty-nine firsts follow. Mutterings have been heard about the 'pop' overtones of the term 'firsts,' but it seems to me an interesting way of treating Sumer's history, and the book, in my opinion, is far more successful at capturing and holding one's attention than Kramer's later and more conventional study, 'The Sumerians.'
Most of the chapters are centered on a Sumerian text, some quite brief and others fairly long, which Kramer envelopes with his full and interesting commentary. Often we are given a line drawing of the actual cuneiform tablet from which the text was taken, and these have a special fascination all of their own. Besides the 28 line drawings, the book is further enriched with 34 halftones - sculptures, cuneiform tablets, stelae, artefacts, archaeological sites - which greatly add to the interest of the book.
Among the firsts covered are such things as: The First Schools, The First Case of Juvenile Delinquency, The First "War of Nerves," The First Bicameral Congress, First Historian, The First Case of Tax Reduction, The First Legal Precedent, The First Pharmacopoeia, The First Moral Ideals, The First Animal Fables, The First Literary Debates, The First Love Song, The First Library Catalogue, The First "Sick" Society, The First Long-Distance Champion, The First Sex Symbolism, Labor's First Victory, and so on.
Many of these and other chapters are memorable, and once having read them you'll never forget them. You'll never forget them because, in fact, they are about yourself. What I mean is that one of the more important things we learn from Kramer's fascinating book is that, whether we realize it or not, we are all, in a sense, Sumerians.
The patterns that were perhaps first laid down in Sumer - urbanization, monumental architecture, kingship, writing system, distinct social classes, laws, lawyers, lawcourts, taxes, formal education, libraries, a regular army, organized warfare, labor disputes, etc. - are still very much with us today. We usually refer to the whole package as 'Civilization,' without realizing how indebted to the Sumerians we all are. But Sumer, sadly, after a relatively brief efflorescence, crashed in ruins. Here are a few lines from Kramer's 'Sumerian History, Culture and Literature' describing that crash:
"In the course of centuries Sumer became a "sick society" ... it yearned for peace and was constantly at war; it professed such ideals as justice, equity and compassion, but abounded in injustice, inequality and oppression; materialistic and shortsighted, it unbalanced the ecology essential to its economy.... And so Sumer came to a cruel, tragic end" (in Diane Wolkstein and S. N. Kramer, 'Inanna - Queen of Heaven and Earth,' page 126).
Why, after achieving such brilliance, did Sumer crash in ruins? And Egypt? And Athens? And Rome? And why does this pattern seem to be repeating itself today in the West? Is civilization inherently unworkable? Or is there another answer? Personally, I think there is another answer. But you won't find it in the works of Professor Samuel Noah Kramer.


Click Here to see more reviews about: History Begins at Sumer: Thirty-Nine Firsts in Recorded History


Which civilization had the first system of law? The first formal educational system? The first tax cut? The first love song? The answers were found in excavations of ancient Sumer, a society so developed, resourceful, and enterprising that it, in a sense, created history. The book presents a cross section of the Sumerian "firsts" in all the major fields of human endeavor, including government and politics, education and literature, philosophy and ethics, law and justice, agriculture and medicine, even love and family.History Begins at Sumer is the classic account of the achievements of the Sumerians, who lived in what is now southern Iraq during the third millennium B.C. They were the developers of the cuneiform system of writing, perhaps their greatest contribution to civilization, which allowed laws and literature to be recorded for the first time.

Get 34% OFF

Click here for more information about History Begins at Sumer: Thirty-Nine Firsts in Recorded History

Read More...

The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character (Phoenix Books) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This book was originally written as an addition to Kramer's previous work "History begins at Sumer". Eventually, however, a revised version of "History begins at Sumer" was published and incorporated a lot of material from "The Sumerians". Consequently, readers who have already become acquainted with "History begins at Sumer" may experience a bit of deja vu when reading the present book. For example, the chapters on Sumerian literature, education, and character contain extensive overlap with Kramer's other work. Despite this fact, Kramer's excellent discussion of Sumerian history, society and religion in "The Sumerians" still makes this book well-worth reading. As an added bonus, the appendix contains the Sumerian king list, the Code of Lipit-Ishtar (a forerunner of Hammurabi), and numerous other interesting translations.
I disagree with previous reviewers who claim that Kramer was prejudiced against the Sumerians and considered them to be inferior to their Semitic heirs. Indeed, if anything, I would say that Kramer emphasizes the legacy left by the Sumerians and the mark that they left behind on Semitic culture. The last chapter considers this subject in greater detail and also provides some interesting parallels between Sumerian culture and the Bible. Regardless of the negative criticism, "The Sumerians" is a great introduction to the history and culture of this ancient civilization and is worth checking out.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character (Phoenix Books)

The Sumerians, the pragmatic and gifted people who preceded the Semites in the land first known as Sumer and later as Babylonia, created what was probably the first high civilization in the history of man, spanning the fifth to the second millenniums B.C. This book is an unparalleled compendium of what is known about them.Professor Kramer communicates his enthusiasm for his subject as he outlines the history of the Sumerian civilization and describes their cities, religion, literature, education, scientific achievements, social structure, and psychology. Finally, he considers the legacy of Sumer to the ancient and modern world."There are few scholars in the world qualified to write such a book, and certainly Kramer is one of them. . . . One of the most valuable features of this book is the quantity of texts and fragments which are published for the first time in a form available to the general reader. For the layman the book provides a readable and up-to-date introduction to a most fascinating culture. For the specialist it presents a synthesis with which he may not agree but from which he will nonetheless derive stimulation."—American Journal of Archaeology"An uncontested authority on the civilization of Sumer, Professor Kramer writes with grace and urbanity."—Library Journal

Get 16% OFF

Click here for more information about The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character (Phoenix Books)

Read More...

Civilization Before Greece and Rome Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Saggs provides those "ancient civilization" classes with a fairly balanced account of pre-Greek civilization. However because of the wide scope of the book, it is nearly impossible to be thorough in any one culture. Thus it should be used to supplement the lecture and other research and not as the sole means of teaching about the ancient world.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Civilization Before Greece and Rome

Click here for more information about Civilization Before Greece and Rome

Read More...