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Mesopotamia: Writing, Reasoning, and the Gods

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MESOPOTAMIA : Writing, Reasoning, and the Gods. By Jean Bottero. Translated by Zainab Bahrani and Marc Van De Mieroop. 311 pp. Chicago and London : The University of Chicago Press, 1992. ISBN 0-226-06727-0 (pbk.)

Jean Bottero is emeritus director of Assyriology at the Ecole pratique des hautes etudes, Paris. His book, which is a compilation of 15 of his earlier and reworked scholarly articles on various aspects of Assyriology, would require a specialist in the field to do it justice, though it contains much that the general reader and enthusiast can enjoy.

One of the things that greatly appealed to me about this book was the warm and human personality of its author. Anglo-Saxon scholars tend as a rule to be rather aloof, distant, and formal, but Continentals such as Jean Bottero and Jean Paulhan don't seem to have quite the same fear of appearing human, and the personal touch they bring to their work can be quite engaging. It's also nice, after having read US scholars such as Kramer, Oppenheim, and Jacobsen, to be allowed to see things from the rather different Continental perspective.

In his 10-page introductory essay on 'The Birth of the West, Professor Bottero writes: "... the plan that I am pursuing here [is] to discover step by step the ways of seeing, of sensing, and of living, and the unpredictable thoughts and hearts, of our oldest recognizable ancestors (page 3). Although the whole book can be read with pleasure, three articles in particular stood out for me. These were 'A Century of Assyriology,' 'Writing and Dialectics, or the Progress of Knowledge,' and '"Free Love" and its Disadvantages.'

The book also includes a brief Chronology and an excellent map, and is rounded out with a Glossary-Index, a List of References, and a 'Bibliographical Orientation' which describes some of the more important studies in the field and which serious students should find very useful. The book is beautifully printed in an exceptionally clear font on excellent paper, contains a number of interesting illustrations, and is bound in a sturdy plasticized wrapper. As such, it should stand up to the wear of the repeated readings it deserves to get.

Although I found much to agree with in Professor Bottero, I was a bit disturbed by what seemed to me to be his overvaluation of reason (predictable in a son of Descartes) and of writing, and by his worship of the 'scientific method.' Personally I'm not altogether convinced that the effect of the invention of writing on the human mind was an altogether good thing. How much true wisdom and culture is lost when we move from the pre-literate to the literate state? I also like to draw a distinction between a reasonable use of reason and that excessive use of reason which has led to the distortions of the present era. But perhaps I've misread him and should allow myself the pleasure of reading him again.

Professor Bottero's book should be of real value and interest to anyone with a serious interest in Ancient Mesopotamia, and I feel sure that the honest and unpretentious way he goes about presenting his ideas will prove as charming to other readers as it did to me.

"Mesopotamia" is not a history, but a foot in the door toward understanding the complex issues involved in the study of the West's remote, but culturally crucial ancestor. The author maintains a conversational, sometimes humorous, tone throughout the book, which helps in getting through some of the more tedious, but necessary, areas of Assyriology. Bottero divides this work into four sections: I.Assyriology, II.Writing, III.Reasoning-Institutions and Mentality, and IV.The Gods-Religion, containing a total of fifteen articles. These deal with the deveopment of cuneiform script, how it influenced and reflected thought, the beginnings of science, reason and law, divination, dreams, and the religious system and its literature.The writing is clear as the author moves smoothly through hundreds of years at a time. After a while I started thinking, "A millenium here, a millenium there, and pretty soon you're talking about some real time!" There are some typos in my edition (for shame, University of Chicago Press), but not enough to be more than a minor annoyance. In the Bibliographical Orientation at the end of the book, Bottero recommends a few other books "that are not pedantic, heavy or annoying, as is usually the case." This phrase can also speak for "Mesopotamia"

What I like about Bottero's work, this included, is his emphasis on the actual words of the ancient writers. My dissertation involves the literary influence of these ancient texts on biblical texts, but since I, as a math and English major, have not yet had the opportunity to take courses in ancient Sumerian or Akkadian, it means a great deal to me to have some basis on which to tell how good are the translations offered for such texts, and hence how good my intended comparisons. His emphasis on reason and on "religion/gods" adds further to understanding and recovering the ancient near eastern milieu of thought which was lost to us during the Hellenization process begun by Alexander the Great. To regain these pre-Platonic thought patterns is very difficult for us, but possible when offered, as here, material that emphasizes the very words used by the ancients.

This book was my inspiration for taking on Near Eastern studies as a second major. Bottero's style is light and at times humorous, always flowing smoothly and always captivating. Though it is about a culture that is thousands of years old in a part of the world very distant from me, I couldn't put it down. It was like reading a thrilling novel.

He has an impeccable sense of what information is interesting and necessary, and what will bore those who are not technical masters of Near Eastern studies. In my opinion, the book can be equally enjoyed by novices and more knowledgeable people alike. That is his purpose. Bottero wants to open the door of this seemingly esoteric discipline to all inquiring minds. At the same time, even though a novice can delight in this book, he never insults the intelligence of his readers.

The book not only offers the history of the development of writing, but puts it in the social and historical context of ancient Sumer. This gives the readers the facts (at least, those currently available to us), but also the ability to see what aspects of that culture at that time allowed for the concept of writing to surface in the first place.

I recently read the book for a second time, nearly two years after I decided to pursue Mesopotamian studies seriously. I found it just as fresh and provocative as I did in my beginner level class. I highly recommend this book. Bottero is a great scholar and a real asset to Assyriology.

If you're looking for information about Mesopotamia writing, religion and beliefs, this may NOT be the right book to read. While somehow interesting, it's far from being very informative. The author, Bottero, engages in a very non-scientific monologue about the Assyriology (very dull if you ask me) which occupies most of his book. This is more like an author's introspection trying to find a reason for dedicating his life to an "useless science" (one of the chapters is actually named "In Defense of a Useless Science").

The parts of the book that actually try to treat with writing, reasoning and the gods, give very little information, taking the reader as an already initiated person, not looking for more information about the subject, but rather looking for a discussion about it.

Further more, the book is really a collection of articles Bottero had published and thus it hasn't got the required consistence. Chapters don't link together and don't follow one or more main ideas.

Most of the times I was disappointed by French authors (in Ancient Near East history) because I'm usually looking for books with lots of information and well sustained theories rather that long and boring discussion on the margin of some subjects. I clearly prefer authors like Nissen or even the old Kramer that have real information to share and they leave the chit-chat for the Preface.

I think in terms of cheap hipster points, ancient Mesopotamia is under-developed. Who occupies the field? A couple of death metal bands and the Vice documentary film about contemporary heavy-metal Iraqi guys? It's fertile ground, simply because a) there is a lot of it b) it's really strange c) no one has heard of it. Meme gold.

However there are pot holes on the road to wisdom, and History Begins at Sumer, previously reviewed here, is one of them. What a boring book! I found it excruciating. History Begins at Sumer is the academic equivalent of a decades old Readers Digest: Dumbing it Down American Style. History Begins at Sumer is dated and not worth reading.

On the other hand, Bottero's Mesopotamia, published in 1995 by the University of Chicago, is literally a breath of fresh air, and is clearly aware of History Begins at Sumer's popularity, and basically mocks it, which is awesome, because he's right. Even though it is translated from the French, the simplicity and clarity of Bottero's argument is more akin to the Annalist movement of French history then the stinking wasteland of French cultural theory/philosophy.

Which all goes to say: READ BOTTERO'S BOOK AND NOT HISTORY BEGINS AT SUMER!!!