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Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary Paperback – 1992

by Jeremy Black (Author),
Anthony Green (Author)
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Anthony Green (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars 29 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 192 pages
  • Publisher: University of Texas Press; First Softcover edition (1992)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 9780292707948
  • ISBN-13: 978-0292707948
  • ASIN: 0292707940
  • Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 0.5 x 9.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #462,120 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsGood for the gods =-)
By M Manning on July 23, 2000
Format: Paperback
The book is setup just like a Dictionary with all the common Deities of Ancient(Sumer and Akkad only)Mesopotamia. All definitions have reference to other terms listed in bold letters somewhere in the defining paragraph. This makes cross referencing terms an easy goal to accomplish. The book does not include Egyptain, Canaanite, or Hittite Deities. However, there is a great companion volume to "Gods,Demon,and symbols in Ancient Mesopotamia" called "Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible" edited by Karel Van Der Toorn and for a complete book of all the Canaanite gods and stories that are availible try "Canaanite Myths and legends" by John Gibson. I have all three and they are a must for anyone doing research on the Ancient gods of The fertile Crescent.
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5.0 out of 5 starsA Must-Have for those Interested in Mesopotamia
By Shepen on August 8, 2003
Format: Paperback
This is an excellent resource for anyone interested in Mesopotamian daily life and religion. It provides a quick reference to not just myths and gods, but also religious rites and magical practices. For example, you can look up "sacrifice" if you want to see what information there is on how the Mesopotamians went about such things. I think this helps to flesh out how the religion affected the daily lives of the people. It has a wealth of illustrations and drawings, something that is rather lacking in many books about Sumer.
It also covers the evolution of the gods and cultures who worshipped them, instead of a simplistic "This was the god of X." It helps to know that some things were specific to Assyria or the early Sumerian Dynasties, which is important if you wish to avoid a homogenized 'Babylonianoid' stereotype of Mesopotamian history and religion.
Our copy is already looking shabby from being read so much.
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4.0 out of 5 starsHow did I get along without this Dictionary?
By F. Presson on August 7, 2004
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
I love books like this. Throughout the 190 pages of entries, covering everything from "animal sacrifice" to zodiac, cross-references are printed in bold text, prompting a butterfly style of reading that can be very illuminating (provided you do not lose track of your mental stack of things to look up). This "analog hypertext" presentation adds a new dimension of usefulness to the book.

This book is closer to a brief encyclopedia than just an illustrated dictionary, as many of the articles go into considerable depth and contain editorial remarks on the validity of certain interpretations, e.g., "Although the all-embracing 'fertility cult' aspects of Mesopotamian myth and religion have certainly been exaggerated as a result of the anthropological climate of the 1950s and 1960s ...", (from the entry on "fertility").

The authors are prominent working scholars in the field, and the quality of articles upholds a very high standard. The book can be used as an introduction to the subject, or even more productively in conjunction with any of the more detailed references available, a few of which are listed in a very abbreviated bibliography in the present book.

This brings me to my one disappointment with this book: the authors are not consistent in identifying sources. Scholars and religious reconstructors need to see things in context. As an amelioration, Dr. Black does run the online archive of Sumerian Literature ( [...] ), which provides a great and searchable source of original texts in both translation and phonetic original forms.

Still, this is a "grab with gusto" title. You might want to buy two, in case you wear one out.
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5.0 out of 5 starsAn excellent reference dictionary
By David Oldacre on April 13, 2006
Format: Paperback
Even though I have read a number of books about ancient Mesopotamia, many of which are focussed on political and economic history rather than on beliefs and religious practices, I am was still very confused about who were the principal gods and goddesses, during what period of time and where they became prominent, and why they were worshipped. The uniformly positive customer reviews of this 192 page book were what persuaded me to buy it , and I was not disappointed.

When I buy a book, however, I do prefer to read it from start to finish, so reading a dictionary in this way is somewhat difficult and it is probably not the best way to read this one. The "gods and goddesses " entry in this dictionary indicate that more than 3000 names have been recovered, and while the book doesn't attempt to describe all of these, it does provide a significant amount of interesting reference material about the beliefs and religious practices of the peoples of Ancient Mesopotamia. Perhaps it would be better to use the term "ruler" or "the elite" rather than the term "peoples" since it is clear that nearly all the available information about the gods, demons, and symbols comes from inscriptions which were either from the rulers or from the priests of the religious institutions.

At the beginning of the book there is a useful author's note on the variant spellings of ancient names which explains the scholarly consensus on the probable pronunciation of the Akkadian and Sumerian languages. This is followed, by a concise introduction which provides summaries on the places and peoples of Mesopotamia, their mythology and legends, their art and iconography and the periods of the various dynasties and a helpful one page chronological table.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsHighly Recommended... Depending on what you're looking for

I absolutely loved this book, but there are some major flaws that may be deemed insumountable by some readers. First, there's no index (enough said). Read more

Published 11 days ago by Digital Gal NB
5.0 out of 5 starsExcellent Book

This is quite a book. If, for whatever reason, you are interested in ancient Gods and Demons, then this book is a Must Read. Read more

Published 5 months ago by Demeter
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Excellent

Published 6 months ago by Tobin
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Arrived quickly, as described.

Published 8 months ago by anthony c tillman
1.0 out of 5 starsOne Star

Very conservative and traditional.
Changing name of anciant Persian Gulf to ;The Gulf in page 10. Why?

Published 10 months ago by morteza azad
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Useful reference I've used for teaching.

Published 10 months ago by Suzanne
5.0 out of 5 starsExcellent Encyclopedia of Mesopotamian Religion

Great resource book on Mesopotamian religion. It is user friendly, the articles are clear and concise and accessible. This a work that every budding Assyriologist should have. Read more

Published 15 months ago by McGuinnThompsonKaukonenVerlaineCarthyBassanaKaplanPenderStephensandSteveJones
3.0 out of 5 starsThree Stars

Just ok, I expected more.

Published 16 months ago by Nicholas Molinari
4.0 out of 5 starsVery nice book

I would rate this 5 stars if only it had just a little bit more of artwork and more elaborate explanations to the ones already in there. Read more

Published 22 months ago by maya
2.0 out of 5 starsincomplete, some sections improper, description and not a complete...

I'm studying ancient myths and been searching to learn more about some of symbols. This book appears to be more about Assyria than entire Mesopotamia therefore there is... Read more

Published on March 28, 2014 by Mehoss

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