Customer Reviews

Mesopotamia: Assyrians, Sumerians, Babylonians (Dictionaries of Civilizations)

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This book is an introduction to ancient Mesopotamia with heavy emphasis on the art of the region. It is aimed for the armchair archaeologist and is not written for a professional in the field.

The book contains a variety of short (one or two page) topics with one or more relevent photographs on each page. The topics are to the point and give the reader the most important facts in a clear and highly readable manner. The photographs are well captioned, in fact most of the photos have several captions with a line extending from the caption to a specific detail in the picture that is being explained.

For example, the entry for Hammurabi is three pages long and has three color photos. One of the pictures has five captions which point out specific details about the crown, hair and beard styles and the finding of the statue in the picture. The text for this entry is one page long and tells the reader when Hammurabi ruled, what his major accomplishments were and what major ancient texts survive from his reign. Other entries in the book include brief biographies of other important kings, information about the major gods, and discussions about the legal system, religious festivals, jewelry, and art.

The photos in this book are in full color and are of high quality. There is also a collection of useful maps in the rear of the book and floor plans of the major buildings mentioned in the text.

My only complaint about the book is the fact that the binding does not allow the book to be opened flat. However, this book is still a very good survey of ancient Mesopotamia and is very reasoably priced.

This edition offers a well printed and well illustrated review (with a substantial bibliography) of the three great (yes!) civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia. Of special interest for Bible studies are the many reproductions of Assyrian and late Babylonian reliefs, statues, and paintings--some of them eerily redolant of contemporary Middle Eastern types ( a reminder of the shameful falsifications promulgated by Hollywood's biblical forays). Well translated from the Italian text with good color and full legend for each illustration (tho, alas, attribution for the superb Sumerian statue adorning the cover is tucked away in the text). Humbling in its reminder of the great achievements of these ancient civilizations (while Europe was doing what?...) that have so profoundly influenced Western culture, beliefs, science (flood stories and dear ol' Gilgamesh; astronomy; divisions by 60 of minutes, seconds, etc., etc.). The reader should bring a rudimentary knowledge of the time sequence of these civilizations. Father Abraham's splendid Ur of the Chaldeans receives a nicely illustrated discussion. A basic and valuable text, a labor of love and scholarship. By the way, a poignant entry describes the National Museum of Irag, in Baghdad, as "the leading museum in the Near East. Before it was damaged and sacked...."

This is an excellent visual introdution to the region. It isn't arrange chronologically, so I recommend that one reads an organized history first (Van Der Mieroop, Roux), and then 'reward' oneself with this great visual collection of artwork and architecture.

I loved every page of it.
Beautifully illustrated.
Tons of information.
Great chronological and social presentation of multiple civilizations.
Exciting and educational.
Informative and entertainming.
Simply perfect!

The beautiful photos of so many priceless artifacts and concise background explanations make this an excellent visual reference guide--especially for the superb books by Samuel Kramer and other Sumerian and Mesopotamian experts. This is definitely worth adding to your collection.

A really excellent book, a good "dictionary" which is the compendium of all recent knowledge about Mesopotamian civilizations.
D. E. Evangelidis - Author