Dictionary of the Ancient Near East (Hardcover)

by Piotr Bienkowski (Editor), Alan Millard (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
The preface says that the purpose of this book, first published by the British Museum, is "to provide a handy one-volume reference work accessible to anyone with an interest in the ancient Near East, as well as students and specialists in different areas who require a wider view." The editors have done what they set out to do. The time period covered is from the Lower Paleolithic (around 1.5 million years ago) to the fall of Babylon to Cyrus the Great in 539 B.C. The geographic scope encompasses Mesopotamia, Iran, Anatolia, the Caucasus, the Levant, and Arabia. There are some entries on major archaeologists and explorers from modern times as well as on ancient cultures, historic and legendary figures, concepts, aspects of daily life, and individual archaeological sites.The 500 articles range from brief paragraphs to a few columns on double-columned pages, and almost all have short bibliographies, generally citing academic studies, not all of which are in English. There are many articles covering general themes like family, women, writing, and royal courts. Within articles, topics covered separately are identified with an asterisk at the first mention. There is an index for main topics and topics covered in several entries as well as for captions to illustrations. The illustrations are generally photographs of artifacts or simplified line drawings of archaeological sites or maps. The print is extremely small.The book's price makes it suitable for most academic and medium-sized to large public libraries that need a one-volume survey of the ancient Near East. REVWR
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Review
The volume's easy-to-follow format, very readable content and affordable price assure its use by general readers, students and scholars. -- Choice Magazine, October 2000

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press (March 2, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812235576
• ISBN-13: 978-0812235579
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #468,278 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great discovery!, August 2, 2000

By	Charles S. Houser (Binghamton, NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This new work put out under the auspices of the British Museum has what it takes to become THE standard desk reference on the Ancient Near East. Entries are clear and concise (the longest run to two and a half columns). Also, they are good about letting the reader know which archaeological and historical issues are still matters of dispute (in other words, there seems to be no faking of certainty). Although there are no color plates, almost every page has a well-chosen and informative photograph or illustration. Maps and charts are simple and easy to absorb. The editors and their staff get major points for the quality and extent of their cross-referencing and indexing. It's very easy to spend hours following all the interesting leads and connections from one article to another. Many alphabatized reference works don't even bother with an index ("The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization" is an example of a work that desperately needs one); but, as anyone who has to do quick look-ups on the fly knows, an index is a great asset in any single-volume desk reference work.

Information the publisher should have given to Amazon.com: (1) The definition of the Ancient Near East the editors follow is the one used by the British Museum: Mesopotamia, Iran, Anatola, the Caucasus, the Levant and Arabia; (2) The chronological range covered by the entries stretches from 1.5 million years ago to the fall of Babylon to the Persian Cyrus the Great in 539 B.C. [Yes, dates are identified as "B.C.", not "B.C.E."]; (3) Besides information about the ANE that you'd expect to find, this dictionary includes information on the discoverers as well--the people and institutions who made significant contributions to ANE studies. (Although I'm not qualified to judge, I suspect the Brits are over-represented.)

Things I would like to see added in subsequent editions: (1) A general introduction that give the reader some context and background; (2) A timeline that relates what was happening in the ANE to the growth of civilization in Egypt. (I accept the need to limit discussion of Egypt in the individual entries, but would have appreciated a schematic that gave me a workable overview. Don't the Assyriologists ever talk to the Egyptologists at the British Museum?)

Overall an excellent work! I'm glad to own a copy.