Customer Reviews

The Conquest of Assyria: Excavations in an Antique Land

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Larsen's "The Conquest of Assyria" is a handsome volume about the re-discovery and archaeology of ancient Assyria and deciphering the cuneiform script against the backdrop of both Ottoman-held Iraq and the high Victorian society.The book centers on the three giants of discovery-the romantic Austen Henry Layard,the melancholy Paul Emile Botta, and scholar-soldier Henry Rawlinson. Seperately Botta and Layard would un-earth huge palaces with giant winged human-headed bulls guarding the entrances, and friezes showing the king at war, hunting lions, and praying to his gods. These fantastic finds would bring back to life a dead civilization shrouded in myth and legend. Larsen weaves biographies, major political dilemmas and the impact the digs had on bible-conscious Europe through an exciting story of important excavations and adventure with warring and plundering bedouin tribes, cholera, and travels to regions yet to be mapped. Perhaps the greatest tale of archaeology. A true classic.

That's what I first thought but luckily was able to find a used copy for less, and well worth whatever price you pay. "Conquest of Syria" came highly recommended by David Damrosch in a footnote in "The Buried Book: The Loss and Rediscovery of the Great Epic of Gilgamesh", and with "a Reader"'s review below, I took the chance. What a discovery! This is a very readable and enjoyable narrative of one of the most romantic and picturesque stories in archeology. Perhaps partly justifying the steep price, the book is physically above average in terms of quality - it is large format, the binding is like a tank, the boards are heavy and solid, the paper is heavy gloss, there are full-color plates, maps and drawings throughout (at least every 3rd page). The writing is in a story-telling narrative covering the lives of about half a dozen gentleman (Layard is the central hero) with adventures and tales equal to anything in India Jones. If it was re-printed in paperback for a mass audience it would probably overshadow books like The Buried Book, but for whatever reason, it remains for a limited audience because of the high price. If you have any interest in learning more about the desert adventures of 19th C archaeologists, this is one book to get lost in, it was hard to put down.