The Ancient Near East, Volume 1: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures [Paperback]

James B. Pritchard (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1973 | ISBN-10: 0691002002 | ISBN-13: 978-0691002002

An anthology drawn from two magnificent and widely-praised volumes by the same author: "Ancient Near Eastern Texts, " and "The Ancient Near East in Pictures."

Editorial Reviews

Review

[A] splendid corpus. . . . It gives scholarly . . . translations of basic documents hitherto 'accessible only in obscure and highly technical journals.' -- The Times Literary Supplement

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (February 1, 1973)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691002002
• ISBN-13: 978-0691002002
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #266,700 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A useful compendium of original source material, September 30, 2004

By 

David Oldacre (Sutton, Quebec) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ancient Near East, Volume 1: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures (Paperback)

I bought this book along with its companion: Volume II - A New Anthology of Texts and Pictures, because it was time for me to see for myself what the the original sources had to say about the Ancient Near East.

This volume, which first was published in 1958 contains over 70 ancient texts and about 280 black and white photographs of artefacts from the Ancient Near East. The ancient documents include those from Mesoptamia, Egypt, Canaan, Israel, Assyria from the period about 2500BCE to about 500BCE. The editor states that the selection of texts was made from the point of view of relevance to the biblical Old Testament, having been taken from the original larger anthologies of texts (ANET) and pictures (ANEP) which were originally published in 1955 and 1954 respectively.

The texts themselves have cross references to the original text number, the relevant illustration number, and the specific biblical passages where there seems to be some point of contact, The translations were made by 11 eminent scholars, all of whom have provided an explanation of the content and meaning of the texts which they have translated, as well as providing useful notes on aspects of the text which might require clarification

I found the translations to be generally quite readable, but they definitely had to be read with full care and concentration to understand them. Some, being somewhat fragmentary, are rather more difficult to follow than others. In reading the texts, I was, of course completely dependent upon the translations and the interpretations of the scholars themselves, but at least I am now starting to have a fuller understanding of the cultures of the Ancient Near East.

3 of the 18 Egyptian texts in the book were included in Miriam Lichtheim's Ancient Egyptian Literature Volume 1: The Old and Middle Kingdoms, and I noticed that the translations in this book had been somewhat shortened. Except for a difference in style, however, I did not notice any significant differences and found it very interesting to compare the two translations.

All in all, I am very happy to have read this book, which will probably serve me as a useful reference from now on. As so much work has been done on ancient text translations in the 35 years since the two parent volumes were published, and the price of these full anthologies was in excess of US$250, I am glad I chose to buy the shortened versions. That is not to say that I won't buy them sometime in the future, but in the meantime, I want to be selective about the next set of texts to read, and have decided, as a next step, to read Volume II and III of Miriam Lichtheim's translations of Egyptian texts, and William L Moran's translations of the Amarna Letters

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensible Guide, April 8, 2002

By 

Neil "nwcs" (Tennessee) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ancient Near East, Volume 1: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures (Paperback)

Absolutely recommended for anyone who is interested in studying the culture and writings of the ancients in the near east. Many documents are translated and there is a gallery of photographs of items and what they are/signify. Some of the language used in translation is a tiny bit dated (the occassional thee and thou and so forth) but that doesn't diminish an excellent resource.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great collection of primary sources for understanding ancient NE, September 12, 2011

By 

Jaroslav Melgr "jaroski" (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ancient Near East, Volume 1: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures (Paperback)

For the study and understanding of ancient NE cultures, there is nothing like studying primary sources -- i.e. textual records written by the ancients themselves. And Pritchard's two volume collection is priceless in this regard. Both volumes contain English translations of each text with a brief background and historical context. The margins contain miscellaneous references and line numbers per the original. Both volumes also include a generous section of illustrations, consisting mostly of photographs of tablets, painting, engravings, maps, historical sites, etc. which is a nice addition to the work making the history more real.

This first volume includes a host of texts of all types -- Egyptian and Mesopotamian myths and legends; Hittite and Ugaritic myths and epics; legal texts; historical and royal texts from Egypt, Assyria and Babylon; letters, inscriptions; hymns and songs; and other prophetic and wisdom literature. Just to highlight a few texts, I'll mention the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Code of Hammurabi, the Lachish Letters, the Amarna Letters, and the Gezer calendar to name a few. There are nearly 200 pictures and illustrations in this volume.

In addition, here are a few examples for the reader interested in biblical connections. The Code of Hammurabi cross references some of its laws with the Law of Moses. The Amarna Letters mention the 'Apiru who were the tribes invading Palestine and are thought by some to be the Hebrews of the Exodus entering the Promised Land. The Assyrian chronicles of Sennacherib document the Assyrian king boasting of the destruction of Judah around 700 B.C. and the siege of Jerusalem during Hezekiah's rule (see 2. Kings 18:13). The Lachish Letters document the bleak situation in Judah during the Babylonian invasion just prior to the destruction of Jerusalem. Moreover the language and style of these texts is quite different from our contemporary communication, underscoring the need to study the style and forms of speech of the ancients in order to gain a better understanding of ancient scriptures.

In summary, Pritchard's anthology of ancient texts and pictures offers a unique window to the Ancient Near East. It's a rare collection and definitely worth the price.