1st Edition

Ancient Near East: The Basics

By Daniel C. Snell Copyright 2014
    176 Pages 15 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    176 Pages 15 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Ancient Near East: The Basics surveys the history of the ancient Middle East from the invention of writing to Alexander the Great’s conquest. The book introduces both the physical and intellectual environment of those times, the struggles of state-building and empire construction, and the dissent from those efforts. Topics covered include:

    • What do we mean when we talk about the Ancient Near East?
    • The rise and fall of powerful states and monarchs
    • Daily life both in the cities and out in the fields
    • The legacy of the Ancient Near East: religion, science and writing systems.

    Featuring a glossary, chronology and suggestions for further reading, this book has all the tools the reader needs to understand the history and study of the Ancient Near East.

    1. What We Mean When We Talk About the Ancient Near East  2. The Early Millennia  3. The Second Millennium  4. The First Millennium  5. Legacies  6. The Rediscovery of the Ancient Near East  7. Limits of the Future

    Biography

    Daniel Snell is the L. J. Semrod Presidential Professor of History at the University of Oklahoma.

    "A reader for whom this is new material might well find the chronological narrative compelling and be inspired to seek out more detailed books and articles. Snell manages to weave Egyptian and Mesopotamian history together and to provide a big picture of the whole area. Snell welcomes any interest in the ancient world among the wider public, even if it involves 'escape into imagined worlds, cloud-cuckoo-lands of imagination, informed by ancient artifacts nad stories.' "

    —Amanda H. Podany, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona