Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia (The Greenwood Press Daily Life Through History Series) [Hardcover]

Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0313294976 | ISBN-13: 978-0313294976

The ancient world of Mesopotamia (from Sumer to the subsequent division into Babylonia and Assyria) vividly comes alive in this portrayal of the time period from 3100 bce to the fall of Assyria (612 bce) and Babylon (539 bce). Readers will discover fascinating details about the lives of these people from the society where writing began--taken from the ancients' own quotations and descriptions. A wealth of information is provided on such varied topics as: education; literature; mathematics and science; city vs. country life; family life; and religion. Similarities between daily life in ancient Mesopotamia and modern-day Iraq are also discussed. Beautifully illustrated, this easy-to-use reference contains a timeline and an historical overview to aid student research.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“[a] readable and comprehensive overview of daily-life aspects of Mesopotamian civilization.”–Religious Studies Review

“Nemet-Nejat should be congratulated for her attempts to make ancient Mesopotamia civilization accessible to the public, an effort that has been accomplished without an excessive reliance on biblical parallels that appeal to religious sensibilities. Thus, her work will contribute to the establishment of the idea of Mesopotamia's cultural autonomy and its importance to the study of world history.”–Journal of Near Eastern Studies

“There is something to interest everyone in this book.”–The Historian

“Nemet-Nejat's lively account of daily life in ancient Mesopotamia fills an important gap in the literature....This is a fascinating and authortative synthesis of an extensive body of material pertaining to life in ancient Mesopotamia, and it will be a frequently consulted reference by those with an interest in this subject. This work is highly recommended.”–ARBA

“This volume is an important teaching tool for students of the ancient Near East, because it uses primary texts and artifacts to write about daily life in ancient Mesopotamia.”–Religious Studies Review

“The book is well illustrated by black-and-white photographs and drawings. It is written at a level that an educated layperson will find it accessible and fascinating, and scholars will find it a good textbook for classes in ancient Near Eastern civilization. Church, public, college and seminary libraries should have this volume on their shelves.”–Ashland Theological Journal

“A fascinating tour through the highways and byways of a lost world. Dr. Nemet-Nejat's survey covers every stratum of society, from courtier to slave, and every sphere of human activity, sacred and profane.”–Raymond Westbrook Professor of Near Eastern Studies Johns Hopkins University

“The excavation of the great cities of ancient Mesopotamia and the recovery of their cuneiform archives and libraries have combined to open a unique window on 'the first half of history.' The author has here distilled the essence of a vast number of studies and translations to craft a synthesis that is at once authoritative and eminently readable.”–William W. Hallo Professor of Assyriology and Babylonian Literature Yale University

“Utilizing a generation of new scholarship, Karen Nemet-Nejat has given us a lively, up-to-date account of daily life in ancient Mesopotamia--from the foods that were eaten, the games that were played, the gods who were served, to methods of surveying and fortune-telling--in short, the whole gamut of life over two thousand years in one of the great literate civilizations of the ancient world.”–Robert Biggs Professor of Assyriology, Oriental Institute University of Chicago

“This is an introduction, for the general reader and student, to the world of ancient Mesopotamia. It offers an unusually comprehensive survey of the range of Mesopotamian culture, society, and everyday activities, and does so in an easily accessible style.”–Peter Machinist Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages Harvard University

About the Author

KAREN RHEA NEMET-NEJAT was the first woman to receive her Ph.D. in Ancient Near Eastern/Eastern Languages, History and Cultures at Columbia University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Greenwood Press (September 30, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0313294976
• ISBN-13: 978-0313294976
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,280,492 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in Boston, Karen Nemet-Nejat is the first female to graduate with a PhD in Ancient Near Eastern Studies from Colombia University with Distinction. She has received multiple grants From Yale University and has done numerous research projects in affiliation with the institution.
Nemet-Nejat has published several books based on her research in various fields of cuneiform studies, including field plans, mathematical texts as well as in depth research on daily life and culture of Ancient Mesopotamia.
In addition she has published numerous articles including Religion of the Common People in Mesopotamia, Leisure, Recreation, and Daily Life, and the role of Women in Ancient Mesopotamia, to name only a few of the broad and various topics she has covered.
She has given several presentations on these and many other topics over the years earning her international prestige within the Ancient Near Eastern Studies community.
Her work experience ranges from visiting scholar at Yale University to visiting Professor at the Bosphorus University, Istanbul, Turkey, on Comparative Mythology, on Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek and Anatolian Mythology.
Amongst several awards she was granted the National Endowment for Humanities as part of the Yale team cataloging mathematical tablets in the Yale Babylonian Collection.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Overview of Ancient Mesopotamia, March 21, 2000

By 

Jared Edwards (Provo, UT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia (The Greenwood Press Daily Life Through History Series) (Hardcover)

Nemet-Nejat has compiled a great deal of information into this book. Although the historical overview was a little long and dry, most of the book was very interesting. Nemet-Nejat quotes from a number of original writings of the ancient Mesopotamians, giving a unique view into the thinking and culture of this ancient civilization.

The insights into education, religion, writing, and recreation were most interesting.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Helpful addition to general ANE studies, May 4, 2005

By 

Robert Spender (Lancaster, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia (The Greenwood Press Daily Life Through History Series) (Hardcover)

Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia is an excellent volume and highly recommended for the general audience, especially those who are interested in learning more about ancient Near Eastern backgrounds. Chapters center on major areas of life and society, for example, society, scholarship, recreation, religion, economy, and etc. Nemet-Nejat is sensitive to both the diachronic and synchronic development of topics so discussion is quite well developed in each chapter. With such an arrangement, however, there is some repetition, though minor, throughout the book. The beginning historical review is very helpful, even if most brief, and sets the stage for the development of topics in each chapter. The author's strength is in the area of mathematics and technology and they get emphasis in the book. Less discussion is found on integrated matters like environmental issues. There is a wealth of material in this book and so much is covered it is a bit encyclopedic at times but, nevertheless, well done. This book will be of interest to students of ancient history or any seeking a greater appreciation of biblical background material. There are very limited reference to the Bible and some strange. Saul's change of mind (literally heart) is take by the author as "he went off his rocker," 81, an older and limited perspective, indeed. Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat is conversant in many areas of ANE studies and balances her discussion with excerpts from ancient texts and relevant contemporary sources. The book would be enhanced by a better bibliography. The book is a welcome contribution to the field and will be a very informative to any who read it!

2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, readable, brilliant, comprehensive., February 20, 2006

By 

Alesia - See all my reviews

This review is from: Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia (Paperback)

Informative and engrossing. Well-organized and well-researched. The best book on Mesopotamia I've read! It definitely gets a lot more of the daily-life issues correct than others (which occasionally suggest citizens lived in large two-story houses--what a joke).

All books I've read, however, make the same error about the map pictured on the cover of an earlier version of this book--a circle with triangular shapes coming from it. This map is often mistakenly cited as partly being of Scandinavia, as it has been translated as "country where the sun has not been seen." An understandable mistake, but what it actually signifies is unknown country--no one has seen the sun there because no one from the known world at the time had explored it. A more comprehensive (intact) map would have shown that this symbol was only one part of the world, not the entire world.

I hope Ms. Nemet-Nejat accepts this bit of information in the spirit in which it is offered. :-)