Customer Reviews

The Early History of the Ancient Near East, 9000-2000 B.C.

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I bought this book along with two others because of a major gap in my knowledge in the period of Mesopotamia before the 1st Dynasty of Babylon, and because I wanted to have much better understanding of how the earliest civilizations developed from the simple humble settlements. This book provides and excellent and detailed review of the subject. The author, Hans J Nissen, describes the development of the early settlements in ancient Mesopotamia, and the reasons why it was here rather than elsewhere in the ancient Near East that these settlements first became City States, and then into the larger regional and national states of Sargon of Akkad and the 1st Babylonian dynasty of which Hammurabi is the best known ruler.

The reason, according to Nissen, is the dramatic effect of climate change in Mesopotamia during the second half of the third millennium BC, and the need for inter-community cooperation. As the effects became more threatening and pervasive, (along with a change in the course of the Euphrates River) increased competition between cities changed this from a voluntary co-operation to one which was compulsory. Hence the development of organised labour to build canals and other infrastructures in order to maintain the basic amenities for survival, as well as for ensuring the continuation of trade which was particularly important for the acquisition of natural resources which are generally not locally available in Mesopotamia.

There is very little speculative opinion in this book and Nissen is very careful to identify what are the limits of our knowledge, and what we can interpret from the archaeological record. His approach is to identify what has been found, what can be deduced from the findings. He is very firm in explaining what should not be deduced and the reasons why..

The time frame, as the title indicates, is for the period 9000-2000BC, with a focus on the earliest Mesopotamian states, and most specifically Babylonia which was the area most affected by the climate change. This includes a thorough description and analysis of their relationships with their immediate neighbours to the west and north in Syria, Anatolia, and Kurdistan, as well as those with the regions of Elam, and the Zagros Mountains of Iran to the east. Nissen uses the generally accepted chronology, which is no great relevance in view of the general theme of his book.

The book is well structured in six chapters:

1: Sources and Problems
2: The Time of Settlement c 9000-6000BC (Neololithic, Hassuna, Halaf periods)
3: From Isolated Settlement to Town c 6000-3200BC (Ubaid and early Uruk periods)
4: Early High civilization c 3200-2800BC (Late Uruk, Jamdet Nasr, Early Dynastic I periods)
5: Rival City States c 2800-2350BC (Historical - Early Dynastic 2, 3 periods)
6: First Territorial States c 2350-2000BC (Akkad & immediate post-Akkad period)

There are some 70 charts, diagrams, illustrations, photographs, and maps which are of great help to the understanding, and a 7 page bibliography organized on a chapter by chapter basis.

I have to admit that at times I found the book extremely difficult to read . I am not sure whether it was due to the translation from the German, or because of the particular emphasis in the book on the need to be careful about what can be deduced from the evidence. There were numerous instances where I found it necessary to read a particularly long sentence several times to ensure that I had properly understood what was being said. Apart from that slight difficulty I found this book to be extremely informative and balanced in its treatment of the subject.

In summary, the best part of the book for me are the first four chapters, primarily because it explained the development of the technical innovations in writing, pottery, buildings, and other artefacts which occurred during this early period. Although the book didn't explicitly say so, it seems that the earliest governments were originally created by the wealthy and powerful primarily to protect themselves against the loss of their wealth. Some things never seem to change.

You don't have to be in an Archeology class (like me) to appreciate this book. It is a quick-reader full of well flowing information. Its not too technical though, so its great for those with minor understandings of the period, or the field of study in general. So many people focus on Ancient Egypt or Babylon, but what about BEFORE then. Its an increadibley important time period, and what sorts of things happened may surprise you!!

This book, on one of the most seminal eras in human history, is an unforgivably poor read. Not only does it harp on obscure archeological controversies to the detriment of the big picture, but it is so badly written/translated that it is often impossible to understand or even remember what the author is referring to - I had to read innumerable paragraphs over and over to catch the gist.

I did get a good idea of the outlines of what was going on, after much struggle and needless effort with the awful text. The story begins with the neolithic era, when agriculture and animal husbandry are re-creating human possibility. For the first time, humans are becoming sedentary, developing ceramics for cooking and trade, and beginning to specialize in terms of occupation and political hierarchy. Once communities were established, they begin to spread into larger less inhabitable areas, with denser populations and entirely new ambitions of power. This is the time of city states and eventually proto-nation states, where administrative structures and systems had to be created to cope with water management issues, defense, and food stock management. The first writing systems were born, war became a science as did farming, and large-scale architecture was invented. This is extraordinary.

Nonetheless, though this is the time of the rise of Babylon and similar political entities, the reader gets very little flavor for what life was like and what issues people faced. Indeed, from the vaste amount of time covered, it seems astonishing to me: a social hierarchy arose with rigid caste roles that lasted 700 years in Susiana, for example. Unfortunately, we get little more than facts like that. While the author explains why we can't say much more from the archeological record even when written sources exist, it goes on and on and recounts which academic believes what, etc. While scientifically rigorous, it is a boring plod, demanding not because of any difficult reasoning, but merely because it is so poorly presented.

Furthermore, practically nothing is said about languages from the period, little regional overview is offered (i.e. what was given to and taken from ancient Egypt?), and the significance of what was invented in never put into context. These gaps - in a book already 20 years old, so surely out of date already - frustrated me on every page.

Not recommended. I am sure there are better books elsewhere. This is a book for undergraduate students, not the general reader.

I expected a little more of this book than what I got. Much of the archeological material leans on pot sherd findings and interpretations, something I am not too familiar with. I would think a people who possibly came from a more enlightened source would leave material that was further advanced in information than pottery shreds. It was very scientific with a few personal observations scattered through the rather brief book that was presented. It does help, even if in a small way, in defining this time line of life of late Atlantans and early Egyptians. I would like to know more about this time era from other sources. Can anyone point me in the proper direction wherein further material will pull my hair out??