Customer Reviews

Ancient Iraq

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

No one was more surprised than Georges Roux himself when people worldwide began demanding reprints from his articles in the now-defunct "Iraq Petroleum" magazine. But he shouldn't have been - the literature surrounding ancient Mesopotamia tends either to scholastic obscurity (and textbook expense) or to such a broad scope that oversimplification is necessary just to keep the story within two covers.

Not so Roux's wonderful overview. After his retirement from a leading British pharmaceutical company he found the necessary leisure, and access to Parisian university libraries, to compile this volume of history. The first edition was written in the 60's, the second in the 80's after some remarkable finds greatly expanded the continuity of the original, and the third, this volume, in the early 90's. In this, he states that the English version has actually leapfrogged the original version in his native French.

The book traces the civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia from the Paleolithic period through Sumer and Akkad, the Assyrian empire, Babylon, the glory of the Old Testament period, and to the final takeover by the Hellenistic Greeks. This sweep of history comprising some six-plus millennia cannot, of course, be dealt with comprehensively within the bounds of a single volume; nevertheless, Roux has managed to spotlight the extant periods without losing the story's overall continuity, a considerable achievement.

This is, in this reviewer's opinion, the best single-volume introduction to ancient Mesopotamian history on the market today.

Georges Roux stated that his goal in writing "Ancient Iraq" was to provide the layman reader with a cohesive introduction to the history of ancient Mesopotamia, incorporating archaeological and historical finds up to 1992. In this regard, I think Roux succeeded splendidly, and he did so by pointing out and explaining general patterns in Mesopotamian history. This book really breathes life into the ancients and allows the reader to see beyond the cold and lifeless sculptures and tablets.

Although the book is full of interesting topics, what really struck me was how long the Sumerian culture managed to exist in some form or another despite the successive waves of foreign invaders. To survive 3000 years in such unstable conditions really demonstrates how sophisticated and influential Sumero-Akkadian culture was at that time.

As the title suggests, "Ancient Iraq" deals primarily with ancient civilizations that resided within the confines of modern-day Iraq. As a result, the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians ae given center stage, while other cultures in the Near East, such as the Egyptians, Hittites, and Persians are only briefly reviewed, despite their interaction with the Mesopotamians.

Pictures, maps, and various timelines are also included in the book. Unfortunately, pictures of artifacts are either B&W photos or simple line drawings, and I felt this presentation really failed to bring forth the beauty inherent in such objects. Many of the same photos are presented in color in another book ("The Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia"), and the difference is like night and day. Nevertheless, I should say that Roux's narrative does not suffer at all from this slight shortcoming, and most readers probably will not care about the visual aids.

All in all, I found this book to be quite engaging and believe that anybody interested in ancient Mesopotamia should have this book in their personal library. It was a another reviewer's opinion that this was the best book of its kind available on the market today. I wholeheartedly agree.

Roux is the rarest of scholars and academes, he is one who can write. Ancient Iraq is extremely erudite and written clearly and lucidly. Reading it and getting involved in the text is not difficult. Ancient Iraq covers the full spectrum of Iraqi ancient history and prehistory, from the Paleolithic through the Neolithic, the Sumerian civilization, and on to the Assyrian and Persian empires. Despite the wide scope of this book, Roux manages to keep the narrative tightly contained and compact, avoiding digressions and wandering. Highly readable, this book deserves to be owned by anyone with an interest in the region. It is poorly illustrated, but this is a relatively minor flaw. This is a true classic of archaeological literature.

Now in its 3rd edition, Ancient Iraq remains the most complete and readable overview of the history of this cradle of civilization. Interestingly, the word Iraq comes from the name of the Sumerian city state Uruk. There is now a village called Warka near the ruins of the ancient city.

The introductory chapters explore the geographical setting, archaeological research and the paleo-, meso- and neolithic periods. Following on, the author discusses the Hassuna, Samarra, Halat, Ubaid, Uruk and Jemdat timeframes, and the ancient trade routes.

Next up is the Sumerian civilization, with a study of its origin, religion, history and mythology. The story of Gilgamesh is covered here. There was a Semitic interlude and a final Sumerian renaissance before the torch of history passed to the Semites in the form of the Akkadians and later the Assyrians and Babylonians. The statesman and lawgiver Hammurabbi is thoroughly dealt with.

But other peoples played a part too, like the Hurrians, Mitannians and Kassites. Insofar as they impacted upon the history of the area, empires like the Hittite and the Egyptian are also considered. There are detailed narratives on the Assyrian empire, the Chaldean kings and the fall of Nineveh and later of Babylon. After this event, Mesopotamia ceased to be a seat of empire and passed from the Persians to the Greeks, the Parthians, the Sassanids and ultimately to the Arabs.

In the Epilogue, we learn of the heritage of this civilization, such as enduring religious symbols like the Maltese cross, the tree of life an the crescent. Some words have come down to us, like "alcohol" (guhlu in Akkadian), "myrrh" (murru) and "naphta" (naptu), "abyss" (abzu in Sumerian). Some Sumerian words still live in Hebrew, like Egal (great house) = Heikal = Temple and the personal name Eitan (Etana).

The book contains plates with photographs and illustrations, and concludes with bibliographic notes, comparative history tables, various interesting maps and indices of names and subjects. For those interested in the paleolithic origins of civilization, I recommend Lost Civilizations Of The Stone Age by Richard Rudgley. If you have a taste for alternative history, the book Ramses II And His Time by Immanuel Velikovsky has much to say about Babylon and the Chaldeans. And finally, Empires Of The Word: A Language History Of The World by Nicholas Ostler, deals extensively with ancient Mesopotamia, its languages, culture and empires.

I was looking for a book which would provide the history of ancient Mesopotamia and bought this book after reading the reviews of other customers. It is a well written book and easy to read, covering the history of Mesopotamia from the earliest times up the end of the ancient world. Its main focus is from the early dynasties up to the conquest of Babylonia by Cyrus the Great, with the last chapter (out of 25) and a short Epilogue summarizing the events of the area after that.

Chapters 1 to 4 chapters survey the geography, and the prehistory of Mesopotamia. Chapters 5 to 24 details the known political, military, economic, and societal events of each of the main periods of Mesopotamian history, with separate chapters on the Gods of Sumer, and the Age of Heroes which discuss the stories of the Flood, Gilgamesh, and other heroes of that age.

The book provides extensive notes and bibliography for further reading on a chapter by chapter basis which I found most useful in helping my understanding. It also has a detailed chronology on all of the known major dynasties of the period which is about the most complete I have seen. There are 20 of plates (black and white) many of which I have seen in other books, and some 21 detailed illustrations , as well as several maps which I found to be quite helpful, but certainly not the best I have seen.

Up to now, the books I have read on this area were on rather more specific periods or topics, such as "Babylon" by Joan Oates;. "Treasures of Darkness" by Thorkild Jacobsen on Mesopotamian religion, and a number of books on the Hittites and the eastern Mediterranean. I was therefore looking for other books which would fill the gaps in my knowledge. I had ordered this book along with Wolfram von Soden's "The Ancient Orient", which describes itself as an introduction to the study of the Ancient Near East, which it certainly is. I found "Ancient Iraq" to be an excellent follow up book.

The most informative sections for me were the chapters on the Sumerians, the "Time of Confusion" (c 1300BC to 900BC), and those on the Assyrian Empire. These are all periods which I want to know more about; - the Sumerians for how their civilization developed from small settlements along the "Land of the Two Rivers" to the development of the city and national states of the second half of the 3rd millennium; - The Time of Confusion, because to the general lack of archaeological information about the Dark Age which seems to have occurred in most of the ancient Near East; - the Assyrians because I really didn't know very much about them except for some of their later kings from the references in the Bible.

I was happy to see that in general, the author does not attempt to take sides into the details of the various differences of scholarly opinion about what happened during this period, which suited me fine, since I was looking for a historical survey rather than a discussion of the competing theories. So as far as chronology is concerned, this book follows the generally accepted dating systems. I was also happy to see included a number of translations of the texts from the original sources as well as the inclusion of a large number of Sumerian and Akkadian words

In summary, the book is an excellent complement to my growing library of other books on the ancient Near East, and helpful in its descriptions of the relationships of the Mesopotamian states with the neighbouring states in Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, Israel, Egypt to the west, and Iran to the east. It therefore met my expectations, and I would recommend it to any student who is interested in developing a detailed knowledge about the history of ancient Mesopotamia.

I am a lay reader, with very little if any knowledge of ancient history. I stumbled upon this book quite by chance, and am proud to say that I am astounding my friends and acquaintances with all I know about it now.

After years of study, Roux is still clearly in love with his favorite subject, and it makes Ancient Iraq a fascinating and compelling read. I was absolutely stunned by what all the Sumerians, Assyrians, and Babylonians are responsible for when laying the foundations of our present civilization. The chapters on government and law are especially enlightening, when compared to present day domestic and foreign policy.

I learned so much from this book: it is an excellent summarization from what is years and years of study and research. Highly recommended.

Iraq is not a fashionable topic these days, but ancient Iraq is something else. This is one of the only books available in print describing ancient Mesopotamia in toto, including not only the southern region (Sumeria) and the middle regions (Babylonia), but also Assyria in the north. Information on Assyria is particularly hard to come by for the nonspecialist. The author is not a trained archeologist; as a physician he worked as a medical officer for the Iraq Petroleum Co. for nine years in the '50s, and his series of articles in the company publication "Iraq Petroleum" formed the basis for this book. He is now a respected scholar in this field. Distinct from the three dozen or so other works in ancient history I have read, this one takes pains to describe how various facts are gathered, and how their reliability may be assessed. The whole work has the flavor of someone who has taken trouble to learn something, and wants eagerly to share it with his readers. I strongly recommend this book.

For those who seek a broad view of the history of Mesopotamia, this book is a very good start. Mr. Roux has a deep knowledge of the region, having lived there for many years, and his descriptions of the past makes you desire to be there, walking among the "tells". The amount of literature he cites and the extensive notes are scholarly. I have read books on the subject by archeologists and assyriologists, and most have been disappointing. This is not the case with this book. I really learned a lot from it.

The book begins with an overview of the geography of the land and its climate. Then Mr. Roux describes pre-historical archeological sites, the ceramic styles that give name to the several periods, and successfully introduces the main hypothesis on the development of urban centers, the role of religion, commerce, and so on. The historical period is described with a balanced mix of archeology and text (this is no small feat: most scholars I've read either focus almost exclusively on archeology or on texts). There is a nice introduction to the myths, and Mr. Roux managed to make me want to read cuneiform translations and try to feel how the ancient Mesopotamians felt and lived.

Any general reader should also consider Michael Roaf's The Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East

Roux's work definitely has its strengths, which include 428 pages of detailed text, frequent citations and 66 pages of footnotes. Its weaknesses include that the last edition is now 17 years old (as of 2009) and the illustrations are very mediocre, but I think its greatest failing is its maps. Except for 1 or 2 small maps in the text, the only maps are 4 two page maps in the back following the footnotes. Roux constantly refers to cities, regions and geographical features throughout the book, so if one does not know the geography of Mesopotamia and the surrounding area extremely well, including both ancient and modern names, then a huge amount of time is spent searching the 4 maps, which are rather small in the paperback edition, or putting down the book to do an online search.

Michael Roaf's The Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East is naturally filled with maps specific to the topic being discussed, and has vastly better illustrations. Its text is as good as Roux's, if somewhat less detailed and without the citations. Most importantly, the maps and illustrations provide visual reference points which I found very helpful when reading about 3,000+ years of history. Roux's book is 99.9% text so that king after king, city after city and battle after battle can turn into quite a blur.

If I were in college writing a paper of the king by king and battle by battle sort, I would use Roux as a valuable resource and starting point for its thousands of citations. However, the general reader who wants to learn more than a Wikipedia article's worth about Sumer, Babylon and Assyria will likely do better with Michael Roaf's excellent work that strikes a great balance between the visual and the textual.

I appreciated Georges Roux's book on "Ancient Iraq" very much. At over 400 pages, it is hard to call the book a survey, but it is. The problem is that the topic itself is enormous, spanning over 3000 years and encompassing multiple, complex civilizations. Additionally, since the topic itself is so old, predating the rise of "classical" Greece, information upon which the book is based is almost always incomplete and frequently of questionable veracity. So when an author like Roux overcomes these problems and still manages to create a truly fun book to read, you can appreciate his accomplishment all the more.

The book starts off with a very nice and relatively thorough description of ancient Iraqi geography and Iraqi civilizations predating the Uruk period, which began roughly 3500 BC and is considered the first "historic" period--where a written language was used. After that, the book delves into the better-known Sumerian civilizations, Akkad, Third Dynasty Ur, Babylon, etc. I especially appreciated his sections on the Aramaens, Urartians, Kassites, and other less well-written-about civilizations. I'm sure Roux could have written entire books on "Neo-Assyria" or "Neo-Babylon", but the overview he provides did enough to get me interested.

I was occasionally concerned that the book was outdated because, in its origins, it started out as a compilation of essays Roux wrote between 1956 and 1960 for a now defunct magazine called Iraqi Petroleum. Admittedly, the book was re-edited in 1991 and is now in its third edition, but I just didn't get the feeling it was thoroughly updated except for one small section. On the other hand, the constant fighting in the country since the last edition has probably hindered and prevented much work on the topic, so you can make an argument that the state of the art hasn't advanced much since the book was written, except for scholarship taking place outside of current day Iraq.

Unfortunately, the book is also severely lacking in images. Roux offers only 15 black and white glossy pictures inserted in a bundle in the middle of the book. There are perhaps 10 basic drawing diagrams scattered throughout as well. Could have been better. You can try Googling for images.

Nevertheless and regardless of all the above, the book itself is very well written and scholarly. Roux has an enormous enthusiasm for the topic, and I had a hard time putting the book down. I wanted to give the book a 5-star rating, but after going over what I just wrote, it's got to be a 4.