A Companion to the Ancient Near East

A Companion to the Ancient Near East offers students and general readers a comprehensive overview of Near Eastern civilization from the Bronze Age to the conquests of Alexander the Great. Covers the civilizations of the Sumerians, Hittites, Babylonians, Assyrians, Israelites and Persians Places particular emphasis on social and cultural history Covers the legacy of the Ancient Near East in the medieval and modern worlds Provides a useful bibliographical guide to this field of study

A Companion to the Ancient Near East offers students and general readers a comprehensive overview of Near Eastern civilization from the Bronze Age to the conquests of Alexander the Great.* Covers the civilizations of the Sumerians, Hittites, Babylonians, Assyrians, Israelites and Persians* Places particular emphasis on social and cultural history* Covers the legacy of the Ancient Near East in the medieval and modern worlds* Provides a useful bibliographical guide to this field of study

List of Figures viiiList of Maps ixNotes on Contributors xAcknowledgments xvIntroduction xviiiPart I The Shape of the Ancient Near East 11 Historical Overview 3Mario Liverani2 From Sedentism to States, 10,000-3000 BCE 20Augusta McMahon3 The Age of Empires, 3100-900 BCE 34Mark Chavalas4 World Hegemony, 900-300 BCE 48Paul-Alain BeaulieuPart II Discourses on Methods 635 Archaeology and the Ancient Near East: Methods and Limits 65Marie-Henriette Gates6 The Languages of the Ancient Near East 79Gonzalo Rubio7 The Historian's Task 110Daniel C. SnellPart III Economy and Society 1238 The Degradation of the Ancient Near Eastern Environment 125Carlos E. Cordova9 Nomadism Through the Ages 142Jorge Silva Castillo10 Mesopotamian Cities and Countryside 157Elizabeth C. Stone11 Money and Trade 171Christopher M. Monroe12 Working 185David A. Warburton13 Law and Practice 199Bruce Wells14 Social Tensions in the Ancient Near East 212John F. Robertson15 Gender Roles in Ancient Egypt 227Ann Macy Roth16 Royal Women and the Exercise of Power in the Ancient Near East 235Sarah C. Melville17 Warfare in Ancient Egypt 245Anthony J. SpalingerPart IV Culture 25918 Transmission of Knowledge 261Benjamin R. Foster19 Ancient Near Eastern Literature: Genres and Forms 269Tawny L. Holm20 Ancient Near Eastern Architecture 289Sally Dunham21 Mesopotamian Art 304Marian H. Feldman22 Ancient Mesopotamian Medicine 325JoAnn Scurlock23 Mesopotamian Cosmology 339Francesca Rochberg24 Divine and Non-Divine Kingship 353Philip Jones25 How Religion Was Done 366Gary BeckmanPart V Heritage of the Ancient Near East 37726 The Invention of the Individual 379Daniel C. Snell27 Ethnicity 392Henri Limet28 Public versus Private in the Ancient Near East 406Steven J. Garfinkle29 Democracy and Freedom 419Matthew Martin III and Daniel C. Snell30 Monotheism and Ancient Israelite Religion 430S. David Sperling31 The Decipherment of the Ancient Near East 443Peter T. Daniels32 Legacies of the Ancient Near East 454Daniel C. SnellReferences 458Index 527