The Hittites: And Their Contemporaries in Asia Minor (Revised and Enlarged Edition) (Ancient Peoples and Places) [Paperback]

J. G. Macqueen (Author)

Book Description

Series: Ancient Peoples and Places | Publication Date: September 17, 1996

Appearing here in an updated paperback edition for the first time, J. G. Macqueen's study of the Hittites was hailed by reviewers in its original publication as "stimulating" and "outstanding."

The Hittites were an Indo-European speaking people who established a kingdom in Anatolia (modern Turkey) almost 4,000 years ago. They rose to become one of the greatest powers of the Ancient Middle Eastern world by conquering Babylon and challenging the power of the Egyptian Pharaoh Rameses II at the battle of Quadesh. They themselves were destroyed in the wake of movements of the enigmatic Sea peoples around 1180 BC. This study investigates the origins of the Hittites, the sources of the metals that were so vital to their success and their relationship with contemporaries in the Aegean world, the Trojans and the Mycenaean Greeks. It includes descriptions of excavations, particularly at the temples and great defensive ramparts of the Hittite capital at Hattusas. 149 illustrations

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This revised and expanded edition of Macqueen's 1975 original delves deeper into the history of the Hittites and provides information on recent excavations and a new preface.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

J. G. Macqueen is a former Scholar of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara, Turkey, and was until 1992 Reader in Classics and Ancient Middle Eastern Studies at Bristol University. He has excavated and done field survey-work in Turkey, and is the author of numerous articles in learned journals, as well as the books Babylon and The Hittites.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson; Revised and Enlarged Edition edition (September 17, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500278873
• ISBN-13: 978-0500278871
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #546,954 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Plenty of information for the serious layman..., October 16, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: The Hittites: And Their Contemporaries in Asia Minor (Revised and Enlarged Edition) (Ancient Peoples and Places) (Paperback)

This clasic summary of all that is known about the long-forgotten Hittites of Anatolia was written in 1975 and updated in 1986. The paperback edition includes a page of added prefatory material summarizing--too briefly--finds made and new theories proposed in the last 10 years, including the discovery at last of tin mines in central Anatolia. Despite being behind the times, however, this information-packed 176-page book is an excellent source of solid information. (Aramco World

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but there are better, November 29, 2004

By 

Suppiluliuma "Suppiluliuma" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hittites: And Their Contemporaries in Asia Minor (Revised and Enlarged Edition) (Ancient Peoples and Places) (Paperback)

Although it has been updated, this book retains the emphasis and approach of its predecessors. The author is a fine scholar. The strengths of the book lie in its archeological information. But even here there are other sources for non-technical readers that are more helpful, such as the guide to the ruins of Hattusa by Juergen Seeher. The information about history and culture, drawn principally from textual sources (i.e., Hittite clay tablets) are better summarized in the two books by Trevor Bryce: Kingdom of the Hittites, and Life and Society in the Hittite World (both published by Oxford Univ. Press).

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, September 22, 2002

By 

magellan (Santa Clara, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Hittites: And Their Contemporaries in Asia Minor (Revised and Enlarged Edition) (Ancient Peoples and Places) (Paperback)

My main historical interest is from man's earliest origins down to the formation of the first great city states in the third and second millenium B.C. in Mesopotamia and Old Kingdom Egypt. Since the Hittite empire can be traced back to at least 2000 B.C., they just barely make it into the period I'm interested in. As result, I was mainly interested in the first half of the book, discussing the earliest origins of the Hittites, so I can only comment on that. However, I found it to be a very readable history, as McQueen's writing flows well and doesn't get bogged down in trivial facts. There is a lot of good information here, and it was exactly what I needed to fill a gap in my knowledge of the earliest civilizations. This is the second updated edition, but I'd love to see an even more recent study on the subject, and as a result of reading McQueen's book, I may see if there are anymore out there. Overall, a readable and scholarly book on this important, ancient civilization.