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Subtitle: Life in the Cradle of Civilization, The Teaching Company,
Chantilly, VA. 2018, 524 pgs., illustrations, bibliography -also DVD of
lectures -
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Reviewer comments
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This is one of the best lectures in the Great Courses catalog by an outstanding
professor and practical archeologist. The author makes it fun to read or watch,
with many humorous examples of typical human foibles. It comprises 24 lectures
and the 24 chapter transcript. It is based on the most current results of
expanding knowledge about ancient Mesopotamia gleaned from many thousands of
cuneiform tablets and physical evidence from numerous sites, plus related
information from Ancient Egypt. The content includes all aspects of personal,
individual, family, and public life. Of special interest is the description of
economic activity, trade, gift giving, credit money, financing enterprises and
trade for many centuries before the invention of coinage.
However, the author only briefly mentions science, astronomy, medicine, and
mathematics. The listener (reader) realizes that in 24 short lectures the
professor can only discuss some of the more significant examples of the huge
body of knowledge already obtained from the cuneiform records and physical
evidence at sites. Among the recurrent themes is the endemic warfare (either
between small cities over adjacent farm land or massive campaigns to establish
wide empires. But also Dr. Podany describes elaborate, organized, structured
diplomacy conducted by professional diplomats.
Human action is based on decisions and decisions are based on beliefs. Thus to
understand the origins and motivations for the actions one sees in the
historical record one needs to understand the underlying beliefs. The key
topics that Dr. Podany presents focus on the people's beliefs. Two among them
are extremely significant. First, the people faced a chaotic natural world,
full of disasters such as climate change, floods, insects, droghts. They
believed the world was created by and basically governed by their gods. They
believed the gods created mankind to be servants. Hence efforts to influence
the gods were vital, which resulted in the temple (the physical home of the
city god) becoming the major land owner and center of economic activity.
Second, they believed the social conditions in their communities also would be
chaos unless supervised and controlled by a human leader. Early communities
addressed their leaders as governors, but later the rulers had the roles we
would designate for kings. A central responsibility of the king was to
intercede with the god. The Mesopotamians had no word for a concept of religion
- gods simply were. And they had no belief that society could function
successfully without a king - the political issue was only about who would be
the king.
Below, I list several references - either more comprehensive or more special
individual memoirs. Included are several works on ancient warfare, a relatively
little known aspect in its details despite it being well known as a near
endemic activity. And I have added a list of some important characters and
subjects with links to Wikipedia articles.
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Chapter 1 - Uncovering Near Eastern Civilization
In this introductory chapter Dr. Podany discuses enjoyment in the study of
Mesopotamia. She describes the cuneiform
 writing and how it was discovered and translated by teams of
experts. There are an amazing number of these clay tablets already found - many
thousands, and no doubt many more thousands still buried in ancient towns. Some
important ancient cities will never be explored because they lie directly
underneath major modern cities. She specifically notes some of the key experts
including Henry Rawlinson and Edward Hincks. The cuneiform tablets were
inscribed in the several languages spoken in the region and eventually Akkadian
became the standard language for written cuneiform even by peoples who spoke
their own languages - similar to medieval Europeans writing in Latin while
speaking Italian, French, German and English. But Sumerian
was written for literature and religious texts also long after
it ceased to be spoken. But lerning to write in cuneiform, let along in a
language foreign to the scribe, requited years of study, conducted for special
students in special schools. One result was that the majority of the kings and
officials from whom 'letters and treaties' were produced and to whom they were
addressed could not read these texts. They were routinely read to them.
However, it is obvious from the mass of commercial records, marriage documents,
mortgages, personal letters and poems that literacy was wider than that.
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Chapter 2 - Natufian Villagers and Early Settlements
The author here goes back to 14,000 years ago, before the development of
civilization, (and writing - history) to inform the audience about the
societies prior to the development of agriculture, which was the essential
change that made settled civilizations possible. She discusses the various
theories scholars have to explain the processes. One of the important
archeological sites is called Gobekli Tepe, now in Turkey. It was inhabited
already 12,000 years ago, long before organized agriculture was developed.
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Chapter 3 - Neolithic Farming, Trade, and Pottery
In this lecture and chapter Dr. Podany continues explaining the process that
took place in these Natufian villages as they gradually shifted from 'hunter-
gatherer' communities into agricultural ones during the period generally from
9000 to 5000 BC. Our understanding of these peoples is based on the physical
remains found in their (now buried) homes and other buildings. This means
mostly objects that do not decay over time, particularly pottery and stone
tools, and remains of seeds and bones and the like. During this 4000 years
several distinct cultures developed following each other. Several were the
Sumerian and the Halaf cultures.
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Chapter 4 - Eridu and Other Towns in the Ubaid Period
These towns were located in the southern part of modern Iraq along the Tigris
and Euphrates rivers close to the northern end of the Persian Gulf. Dr. Podany
describes the major changes that took place there from about 6000 to 3800 BC .
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Chapter 5 - Uruk, the World's Biggest City
and
Up to this time the human settlements could only be described as small villages
at best. But Dr. Podany tells us we now are witnessing the creation of a real
city which by 3500 BC was the largest in the world with a population of about
25,000 people. The society had technological inventions such as the wheel,
improved bronze casting, plows and other agricultural innovations. The city had
two major temples. They had invented writing and a central government. Both
were necessary to organize building and social activities on such a scale. With
the system of writing they could keep detailed ledgers of production,
distribution and consumption, taxes, credit, tribute, and money of account.
Scholars now consider that recording all this information with symbols
inscribed into clay most have required highly skilled scribes who had years of
training. The scribes naturally spoke the language of their city or tribe, but
they eventually wrote in Akkadian or Sumerian since those were the languages of
'international' usage, like Latin in medieval Europe.
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Chapter 6 - Mesopotamia's First Kings and the Military
Organization requires leadership and administration - the more the scale
increases the more elaborate the structure. Dr. Podany tells us it was at this
time, 3800 to 3100 BC that we find the first written records of social leaders
described in terms we would know as kings - in both Mesopotamia and Egypt. And
with the development of societies in towns or cities in close proximity to each
other comes competition over control of agricultural land and water. That means
warfare, which means leaders and leadership - that is, rulers more developed
than leaders of simple war bands. Dr. Podany tells us that such leadership in
warfare was an important duty of the king. And that no one doubted the social
necessity of having a king as leader. The alternative to such a king was chaos,
in their belief. But of course the question of 'who' would be the individual
recognized as the legitimate king was frequently in dispute. She describes the
process very well. And she identifies several specific individuals whose
records have been preserved so we can know they were indeed kings. One such
figure was Ur-Nanshe, who ruled Lagash around
2500 BC. And his record indicates he was leading Lagash in repeated skirmishes
and wars against Umma and UR. Moreover, he and his heirs were so successful
that his dynasty remained as kings for 9 generations over 200 years. But all
was not warfare, the relationships between these small cities developed a well
structured diplomacy with its own rules and protocols.
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Chapter 7 - Early Dynastic Workers and Worshipers
Dr. Podany discusses the social desire for established rules and regulations in
all other aspects of civil order besides diplomacy. Life was so much 'on edge'
with unexpected disasters and pervasive chaos that developing some form of
regulated civil society was essential. In this chapter she begins extensive
discussion of the role of what we term ' religion' although belief in gods and
goddesses and their control over humans was so deeply ingrained in the people's
thought that they didn't think of 'religion' as some kind of separate
conception (abstract concept). She also describes the essence of daily life -
namely work, mostly to provide food. With the organization of 'urban' society
with each city having one or more specific gods or goddesses - each with their
major temple, these temples came to occupy and control economic life. They
owned land and had workshops. Agricultural workers and skilled artisans worked
for the temple, or the ruler's palace. Production, distribution and consumption
were meticulously accounted for on the thousands of cuneiform tables. In other
words in a money that was an accounting and valuation standard - not a medium
of exchange. Warfare required soldiers which also meant keeping records. The
soldiers were part time troops (farmers mostly) who could conduct campaigns
during the periods outside the planting and harvesting seasons.
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Chapter 8 -Lugalzagesi
of
Umma and
Sargon of Akkad
In this chapter Dr. Podany focuses on two famous rulers, especially the
well-known Sargon. As she noted earlier, the rulers of Lagash had dominated for
200 or so years. Lugal-zage-si reversed the domination abruptly. His exploits
of destruction in Lagash were duly inscribed and credit was given to the king's
favor from the 13 gods who supported him. But Lagash was not the extent of his
conquest. He proceeded to attempt to conquer and unite as many other cities he
he could.
But Lugal-zage-si was a minor ruler in comparison with Sargon, king of Agade.
Unfortunately, his capital near the Tigris and Euphrates north of Sumer has
never been found. He spoke Akkadian and the region was Akkad
with a
language different from Sumerian. He claimed support from 3 gods. He was the
first real empire builder, as he managed to conquer and control a entire
crescent from the Persian Gulf up the two rivers and then across northern Syria
below the Turkish mountains and clear to the Mediterranian. Dr. Podany
describes his domain as the first real 'empire' because it was composed of many
different ethnic groups speaking different languages. And they all considered
themselves citizens of their specific city, not of some unified whole. Whereas
ancient Egypt, although extensive and wealthy was always one people speaking
and writing in one language.
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Chapter 9 - Akkadian Empire Arts and Gods
Dr. Podany times this period to 2350 - 2150 BC and considers it a period of
significant innovation in social life, art, and religion. The period takes its
name from the capital city - Agade, described in later texts as immensely
wealthy including international trade from as far away as Dilumn (modern
Bahrain) and even Magan (modern Oman). Increased contacts with people from
distant places brought diversity of thought, ideas, fashions, and languages.
One interesting aspect she describes is the practical view of worship of
'gods'. Actually, she notes, such worship was so much a fundamental
personal belief that the Mesopotamians had no separate term for a concept of
religion. And they believed that the people they met. wherever. all worshiped
as a matter of course their own equally valid gods. For instance, she notes,
there is but one sun, different people had different words in their languages
for this god, but it was obviously the same god. Another topic is art and
another is creation of objects using metals such as copper, tin, silver and
gold, none of which was found inside Mesopotamia, but imported from distant
locations.
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Chapter 10 - The Fall of Akkad and Gudea of
Lagash
Dr. Podany discusses the public awareness now of the Akkadian empire related to
our knowledge of the famous kings, Sargon and Naram-Sin. She describes
contemporary records and literature about these leaders.
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Chapter 11 - Ur III Households, Accounts, and Ziggurats
In this lecture Dr. Podany turns to the city of Ur, dated about 2112 - 2004 BC.
For this period she notes that the volume of cuneiform records increased
greatly. This enables scholars today to reconstruct details of the people's
daily lives as well as that of the kings, merchants, diplomats and common
citizens.
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Chapter 12 - Migrants and Old Assyrian Merchants
This lecture is about several quite different subjects. One is the interesting
existence of Assyrian merchants maintaining a trade colony far away, in
Anatolia. Another is the mix in the population of the small region along and
between the Tigris and Euphrates of so many different people's speaking
different languages but all using cuneiform. Of course most people could not
read, There were special schools at which selected students were taught the
difficult skill of writing.
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Chapter 13 - Royalty and Palace Intrigue at Mari
Mari was located in northern Mesopotamia and made wealthy from its critical
location on major trade routes. Dr. Podany focuses as the example of its king,
Shamshi-Adad I, who
expanded his domain into an empire (empire because it was over lord of many
other towns inhabited by different peoples). He was continually at war, but
still had time to devote to extensive correspondence. The key to his
significance to historians is not his relatively short reign but from its
disastrous ending. When the later king, Zimri-Lim, was
deposed by Hammurabi and
Mari was destroyed, the palace collapsed in fire, thus preserving tens of
thousands of cuneiform tablets and much artifacts in the buried ruin. The place
was only discovered and excavated beginning in 1933. It became a 'gold mine' of
a different sort.
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Chapter 14 - War and Society, in Hammurabi's Time
Thus we come to Hammurabi of Babylon, another ancient leader made famous
through archeology - namely the stone stelas (columns) on which he had a set of
"laws', actually basic rules, inscribed of which one is in the Louvre in
Paris. But he was a conqueror in grand style and recreated an empire . Dr.
Podany focuses on domestic affairs descriptive of Babylonians life.
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Chapter 15 - Justice in the Old Babylonia Period
From this Dr. Podany focuses on legal institutions and procedures.
Amazing is the elaborate official court systems and developed jurisprudence.
And more amazing is how much we now know about this and Babylonian's life. It
is also clear that European authors, political theorists and learned
philosophers in the 18th century who espoused theories about the subject didn't
know anything about it. (Not unusual of course) Like Adam Smith, for instance.
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Chapter 16 - The Hana Kingdom and Clues to a Dark Age
Dr. Podany jumps on to circa 1500 BC and the era of great turmoil and chaos.
She turns to the Kassites and
Hittites and Hurrians. There
are many books, theories by scholars, about what happened and what caused the
chaos and by whom. Among other epochal events was the Hittite invasion
(actually raid) from central Anatolia clear down the Euphrates to destroy
Babylon. But the Hittites didn't remain there, they took their booty home. A
new kingdom was founded between Babylon and Anatolia again in northern
Mesopotamia around 1500 BC and we name it Mittani. By
this time there were four 'great powers' in conflict - Mittanians, Hittites,
Egyptians, and Kassite Babylonians. Diplomacy was conducted according to well
established protocols with much gift-giving between kings, She devoted her
entire book, Brotherhood of Kings,
to this fascinating subject.
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Chapter 17 - Princess Tadu-Hepa, Diplomacy, and Marriage -
The chapter is fascinating not only for its subject content but also as an
example of the remarkable ability we have now to learn of that content via the
thousands of cuneiform tablets, in other words archeological methods. To do
this Dr. Podany will devote a lengthy, detailed discussion to a single example
necessary for the reader to savor its full meaning. Dr. Podany uses specific
examples for which extensive cuneiform documents exist that she can quote
extensively, one of these is the case of Princess Tadu-Hepa of Mittani. And
'international' diplomacy conducted at the summit level frequently involved a
ruler sending his daughters or sisters to be a bride of a desirable, hoped for
ally - thus we have in the title diplomacy and marriage joined. And all of this
is revealed to us by the incredible volume of personal letters transmitted by
couriers over thousands of miles between correspondents who would never see
each other.
Dr. Podany devotes a lengthy description in her book - Brotherhood -to the
negociations for her marriage to Amenhotep III
.
I can believe that 'feminists' today base much outrage from the world-wide fact
that girls and young women were treated as objects of diplomatic and other
exchange and exploitation from the earliest Neolithic eras and continuing with
primitive tribal groups today and on to the highest 'sophisticated' ,
'cultured' royalties into the 20th century. We cannot say that the practice
'began' in Mesopotamia, it was already operating in full swing as the 'natural'
thing to do. Even so, the letters reveal that these women did exert themselves
significantly. They were much more significant individuals than 'objects' of
diplomacy.
The Egyptian pharaohs were the only monarchs of the time able to exert their
total supremacy by simply refusing to send a daughter to be a foreign queen
while graciously accepting multiple girls from many allies into their bed
chambers. Dr. Podany gives us a fascinating detailed account of the
negotiations over such a diplomatic marriage between king Tushratta
of
Mittani and Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep III over the delayed dispatch of king
Tushratta's daughter, Tadu-Hepa, to Egypt. And Amenhotep III was already
married to one of Tushratta's sisters. (Amenhotep's obsession was in expanding
his harem with princesses from every place he could as evidence of his power).
A further remarkable aspect of this is that the diplomatic letters are written
in cuneiform in Akkadian, which neither Tushratta nor Amenhotep spoke or read,
and found in the Egyptian archives. Actually few rulers or even high officials
could read Akkadian, they dictated their messages to trained scribes. European
diplomacy in the 19th century (or before) could not top this . Yes, in due
course the princess went to Egypt and wealth measured in billions of dollars in
today's currency was also transferred.
Dr. Podany gives the listener (reader) another choice incident. It seems that
one of the Mesopotamia kings inquired of Pharaoh Amenhotep III about the
condition and status of his daughter in Memphis. The pharaoh was unable to give
information. He condensended to display all the wives in a group for the
inspection of the Babylonian envoy, who could not identify one from another
(apparently they were not allowed to speak). Finally the pharaoh blamed the
king for not sending an envoy who knew the girl personally so as to identify
her among the harem.
No further comment needed.
Other letters discuss political issues and diplomatic negotiations.
Others show that gold was so valuable for the prestige its display gave to its
owners (kings) that it was not used as 'money' in the common sense but sought
after avidly in the role of gift exchange between rulers. And gifts were really
gifts, not commercial trade, but were jealously evaluated by the monarch givers
and receivers as indications of one brother's love' of the other.
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Chapter 18 - Land Grants and Royal Favor in Mittani
This kingdom thrived around 1450 to 1350 BC in northern present day Syria -
Iraq. In this chapter Dr. Podany switches from domestic affairs to diplomacy
and political intrigue. She contrasts social conditions in towns in which there
was a major political power - evidenced by a sizable palace - and towns without
such. With the latter showing a much more egalitarian social community. In many
cities the king professed to own all the land in the name of the city god but
would then grant its use to favorites, royal officials and soldiers. Some times
these grants were extensive, including whole towns. All these transactions were
meticulously recorded on clay of which many have survived for our exploitation.
They were elaborate official contracts evidence in themselves of concepts of
law, property, hierarchy, tradition, propriety and other ideas. The volume of
legal contracts is amazing.
For evidence of this level of public affairs Dr. Podany refers again to the
extensive correspondence between King Tushratta and Egypt and many other equal
or subordinate kingdoms. The correspondence between Tushrattta and Egyptian
pharaohs turned out poorly from his point of view. Unfortunately Amenhotep III
died only 2 years after marrying Tadu-Hepa who then married his successor (the
infamous) Akhenaten. As we know from Egypt, Akhenaten was rather unusual. Among
many other transgressions he failed to send Tushratta the several gold statues
contracted for by Amenhotep. Tushratta's correspondence depicts his outrage
(more than disappointment.) The concern was not only about some gold statues,
although they were to be public evidence of the power of Tushratta and of
Egyptian favor. At the time the Hittites had their sights trained on Mittaini
so Tushratta needed all the allies he could find.
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Chapter 19 - The Late Bronze Age and the End of Peace
In this chapter Dr. Podany turns to marine archeology with the study of a
shipwreck found off the Turkish coast. It contained a remarkable heterogenous
mixture of artifacts originating in many places - a mix of the crew's own
possessions, the merchant trade goods (such as 10 tons of copper from Cypress)
and apparent gifts belonging to several ambassadors bound on diplomatic
missions. She notes the context. At the time very large shipments of gold,
copper, and luxury goods were exchanged as gifts between royal rulers and over
great distances.
Again she notes that 'international' correspondence was in Akkadian despite it
not being the native language of the writers or readers.
And she notes that Ugarit, a seaport on the Levantine coast, was a major entreport for this
exchange. She lists some of the major products and their origins: Glass and
copper from Cypress, Horses and chariots from Mittani, Textiles from Babylonia,
Olive oil and perfume from Greece, Ivory and ebony from Africa, Incense from
Arabia, Gold from Egypt. But conditions were about to change, and for the
worse. The Hittites became increasingly aggressive and destroyed some Mittatian
cities. Mittatni was divided west to east between Hatti and Assyria. Hittite
aggression turned against Egypt so in 1274 BC they clashed at the famous battle
of Qadesh (Kadesh ). This one Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II claimed as a great
victory, but the Hittite archives show that they also claimed victory. The two
rulers signed peace. But conditions soon changed with the wide spread
devastation from Mycenaean Greece to Assyria. The Hittite kingdom collapsed and
many towns, (including Ugarit), especially near the coast were destroyed.
This 'end of the Bronze Age' is described by several references listed below-
especially by Drews. The general scholarly opinion is that it was due to
attacks by a "Sea Peoples' coming from across the Mediterranean. Only
Egypt was able to withstand this, and that barely with significant fighting.
Dr. Podany wonders at the causation and proposes some conclusions, but for some
reason does not mention the basic name by which the era is given "the end
of the Bronze Age' - which relates to the development then by which iron
replaced bronze as the metal for weapons. But she well describes the results:
break up of empires, decline of commerce, destitution of populations, (dark age
in Greece) and more.
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Chapter 20 - Assyria Ascending
Dr. Podany notes that already in the last 200 years or so we have known much
more about Assyria than any other of the Mesopotamian societies thanks to
mention in the Bible and in Greek and Roman literature while the cuneiform
tablets were unknown. In a previous lecture she discusses the recent discovery
of the early existence of the Assyrian merchant community in Anatolia that
existed around 1974 - 1807 BC. This was centuries before the Assyrians became a
significant and then dominant political force. For centuries it was a part of
the Mittani kingdom and then when the Hittite empire took western Mittani by
1330 BC Assyria regained independence. In this chapter she focuses on this
latter period in which Assyria created an empire that became a 'model' for
later Persian and Roman empires. The original capital was Assur. It was moved
to a new city of Kalhu and finally a huge and wealthy new city was built -
Nineveh. The original core of Assyria lay in the open plain of the two rivers
with no natural boundaries. Defense meant conquest of adjacent territory,
continually expanding. She places the height of Assyrian glory in its Middle
Kingdom - 1365 - 1076 BC. But the famous Assyrian empire - Neo-Assyrian era was
911 - 610 BC at the end of which Assyria was wiped out by the Medes and
Babylonians and then supplanted by Persians.
With warfare and conquest so prominent an activity, Professor Podany describes
their army and strategy in more detail. Assyria suffered along with the other
kingdoms during the collapse from 1200 to 1100 BC. She devotes more attention,
then, to the Neo-Assyrian kingdom and mentions several of the most important
kings: beginning with Adad-nirari II, then Ashurnasirpal II, who built a
magnificent new capital, Kalhu. She provides a vivid description of the city
and palace and more. The decorations and inscriptions depicting warfare give us
information on this. It was during this period that the Israelites suffered
from Assyrian expansion.
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Chapter 21 - Ashurbanipal's
Library and Gilgamesh
In this chapter Dr. Podany moves on to 668 BC and discusses one of the most
famous Assyrian kings of all - Ashurbanipal - but not so much for his political
and military power but rather about his amazing 'library' or archive. She
describes this trove of tablets on many topics we would not believe were
Assyrian topics without seeing this evidence. She notes that the library was
not discovered until 1850 and then caused a sensation. The thousands of texts
have not yet been completely translated. She also mentions several
archeologists and translators responsible for retrieving this knowledge.
Then she describes in detail one of the most sensational discoveries in the
library - a text of the epic poem - Gilgamesh - and an account of a great flood
in the poem.
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Chapter 22 - Neo-Assyrian Empire, Warfare, and Collapse
Dr. Podany moves on to near final days of Assyria when it had expanded beyond
its capacity under the reign of another famous warrior king - Tiglath-Pileser
III. A century after him, during the reign of another well known ruler,
Sennacherib (704 - 681), the empire began to collapse. Probably his major error
was to conquer Babylon, the neighboring power to the south. This was biting
more than he could chew. Plus, he devoted much resources to expanding Nineveh.
His son, Esarhaddon, suffered the consequences. He gained the throne by a civil
war which depleted Assyrian resources. But he took on an even greater project -
conquering Egypt in 761 BC. He died on the way back and was succeeded by a son,
Ashurbanipal, another well known figure to the ancients - the creator of the
library. He again warred against the Elamites but disturbed the Babylonians in
the process by another civil was in which he regained the city in 630 BC. But
not for long. In 612 BC the end came when the Babylonians allied with the Medes
and destroyed Assyria.
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Chapter 23 - Babylon and the New Year's Festival
The scene shifts to Babylon- the home of the powerful god - Marduk
. Dr.
Podany uses the example of the god's relationship to the king to provide a
detailed description of Mesopotamian relations between a local god and king.
Her description of the annual Akitu festival in which the king renewed his
worship of Marduk is fascinating. Assyrian conqueror, Sennacherib, took Marduk
(he lived in his statue) to Assyria (causing great consternation) and 12 years
later Ashurbanipal returned him. But, nevertheless, the Babylonians never
forgot the previous outrage and credited Marduk with the revenge. Dr. Podany
also tells us about two other famous (Biblical) Babylonians - Nabopolassar and
Nebuchadnezzar II. They expanded and created a new Neo-Babylonian empire that
included and expanded the Assyrian territory. And Babylon city became even more
glorious than Nineveh. Among the many excellent illustrations in the book (and
lecture) is one of the famous Ishtar Gate.
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Chapter 24 - End of the Neo_Babylonian Empire
And thus we come to the end of Babylon as the center of Mesopotamian culture as
it is absorbed into the even greater and extensive Persian Empire. By then it
was a very large multiethnic and multi-religious empire, a model for Persia,
Greece and Rome. Dr. Podany ends her narrative and analysis with the reign of
Cyrus the Great and a summary of the contributions of Mesopotamia to subsequent
civilization clear to our own today.
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Some of the leading characters and subjects, the author mentions many
more:
Mesopotamian deities
plus many more google entries
Enlil, king of the Mesopotamian gods;
Inanna/Ishtar, Mesopotamian goddess of love;
Marduk, Mesopotamian god of Babylon;
Shamash, Mesopotamian sun god;
Teshup, Hurrian storm god;
Ahmose, king of Egypt 1550 - 1525 BC;
Akhenaten, king of Egypt 1425-1336 BC;
Amenhotep III, king of Egypt 1391 - 1353 BC;
Artatama I, king of Mittani 1400 - 1382 BC;
Burna-buriash II, king of Babylonia 1359 -1333 BC;
Hammurabi, king of Babylon 1792-1750 BC;
Hatshepsut, female king of Egypt 1479 - 1458 BC;
Hattusili I, king of Hatti 1650 - 1620 BC;
Keliya, ambassador from Mittani 14th century BC;
Kilu-Hepa, princess of Mittani wife of Amenhotep III, 14th century BC;
Naram-Sin, king of Akkad 2254 - 2218 BC;
Ramsses II, king of Egypt 1279 - 1213 BC;
Sargon, king of Akkad 2334 - 2279 BC;
Suppilulimua, king of Hatti 1344 - 1322 BC;
Tadu-Hepa, princess of Mittani, wife of Amenhotep III and king Akhenaten 14th
century BC;
Thutmose III king of Egypt 1479 - 1425 BC;
Tushratta, king of Mittani 1372 - 1326 BC.
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Further reading
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Podany, Amanda - Brotherhood of Kings -
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Landes, David, Joel Mokyr &William Baumol ed - The Invention of
Enterprise - In this comprehensive study of the role of enterprise and
entrepreneurs throughout history there are two essays that are especially
relevant to this book.
Chapter 1 - Michael Hudson. "Entrepreneurs: From the Near Eastern Takeoff
to the Roman Collapse" This essay describes the economic situation with
respect to money, credit, debt, public and private merchants and entrepreneurs
in Mesopotamia in broad terms and is especially interesting in the sections
that compare this with a general deterioration in classical Greek and Roman
societies.
Chapter 2 - Cornellia Wunsch, "Neo_Babylonian Entrepreneurs" is a
more detailed study of a period for which there is even more information than
in earlier millennia.
Both essays dispel the many myths and misunderstanding of overall economic
conditions and especially such topics and barter, money, credit, debt, private
and public property and business during the ancient Mesopotamia millennia.
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Roaf, Michael, Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East - The
Cultural Atlas of the World series, Stonehenge Press, Alexandria, 1994, 238
pgs., index, bibliography, gazetteer, many illustrations, maps, large format,
chronology, king lists, glossary, This book greatly supplements Dr. Podany's
lectures, especially with the excellent illustrations and maps.
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Roberts. J. M. - Prehistory and the First Civilizations, Oxford
Univ. Press, N.Y., 1998, 190 pgs., index, large format, many illustrations, The
text and illustrations supplement Dr. Podany's lectures
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Barbarian Tides: Timeframe 1500 - 600 BC., Time Life Books,
Alexandria VA., 171 pgs., chronology, index, bibliography, many illustrations.
A basic supplement that includes Egypt, India, China and Greece.
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Drews, Robert - The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and
the Catastrophe CA. 1200 B.C. , Princeton Univ. Press, 1993, 252 pgs.,
index, bibliography, notes. This book describes the disaster that struck the
Eastern Mediterranian region with the invasion of the Sea Peoples, which Dr.
Podany discusses in less detail.
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Saggs, H. W. F. - The Greatness that was Babylon: A sketch of
the ancient civilization of the Tigris-Euphrates valley, Hawthorn Books, NY.,
1962, 562 pgs., index, illustrations , bibliography, chronological tables,
index to words, king lists. This is an extensive study organized in part one
chronologically from prehistoric times to the Persian conquest, and in part two
by subject topics including many aspects of social, cultural, economic and
political life.
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Braidwood. Linda - Digging beyond the Tigris, Henry Schuman,
NY., 1953, 297 pgs., map, illustrations. - This is a personal narrative by an
archeologist about her experiences on site digging at Jarmo on the border
between Arab and Kurdish parts of Iraq. It is a valuable supplement to Dr.
Podany' book - lectures as it provides experiences she no doubt had but didn't
include in her lectures.
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Bibby, Geoffrey - Looking for Dilmun, Alfred Knopf, NY, 1969,
index, illustrations. This is the personal account of the archeologist who
conducted important site work in Bahrain connecting this transit market port
between India and Babylon.
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Macqueen, J. G. The Hittites and their Contemporaries in Asia
Minor, Westview Press, Boulder, CO., 206 pgs., maps, illustrations. index,
notes, The author includes Assyria, Mittani, Babylon and many other neighbors
that Dr. Podany discusses with connections to the Hittites.
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Wittfogel, Karl A. - Oriental Despotism: A Comparative Study of
Total Power, Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, 1957, 556 pgs., index,
bibliography, notes. The author is basically a Marxist but in this book he
challenges Marx's categorization of historical societies and draws attention to
an entirely different social/political organization, the hydraulic societies of
the ancient Near East and China. Mesopotamia and Egypt are prime examples of
his theories.
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Mumford, Lewis - The City in History: Its Origins, Its
Transformations, and Its Prospects, Harcourt, Brace & World, NY., 1961,
657 pgs., index, illustrations, bibliography. The author is a professional city
planner, thus he is a strong advocate for organized central government planning
of urban space and deplores anything having to do with laizzez- faire. He
repeatedly acknowledges that his discussion of prehistoric and even early
Mesopotamian society, villages and cities is his speculation based on scanty
evidence. He does not rely in the vast cuneiform documentary record. He is also
an environmentalist and castigates 'capitalism' for much destruction in pursuit
of greedy profits. He deplores much else in the historical record as well. But
some of his theories are worth considering.
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Cotterell, Arthur - Chariot: From Chariot to tank, The Astounding
Rise and Fall of the World's First War Machine, The Overlook Press, NY,
2005, 344 pgs., index, maps, illustrations, notes, bibliography. The title is
over blown but the author can focus on the details of the role of chariots in
Egyptian and Mesopotamian warfare. This provides more detail on the role of the
chariot to add to Drews' book.
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Anglim, Simon, & Phyllis Jestice - Fighting Techniques of the
Ancient World, 3000 BC. - 500 AD. Thomas Dunne Books, NY., 256 pgs., index,
many illustrations, glossary, bibliography. The first chapter includes a brief
description of infantry in Egyptian and Mesopotamian warfare. The second
chapter has more on the role of chariots and cavalry in those armies.
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de Souza, Philip, ed. The Ancient World at War, Thames &
Hudson, London, 2008, 320 pgs., index, sources, many illustrations. The first
three chapters, by specialist scholars, are relevant to the period in Dr.
Podany's lectures. They are excellent.
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Ferrill, Arther - The Origins of War: From Stone Age to Alexander
the Great, Thames & Hudson, London, 1985, 240 pgs., index,
illustrations, maps, battle plans, illustrations. The first 85 pages provide
excellent detail on the era.
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Hackett, Sir John, ed. - Warfare in the Ancient World, Facts on
File, NY., 1989, index, maps, illustrations, The chapters are written by
various specialist scholars. That on Mesopotamian warfare is very brief, but
the following chapter on the Assyrians is better.
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Stillman, Nigel & Nigel Tallis - Armies of the Ancient Near
East, 3000 BC - 539 BC, Wargames Research Group, London, 1984, 208 pgs.,
bibliography, many illustrations. The authors cite the same original sources as
does Dr. Podany. This is the most comprehensive reference book available. The
authors make it clear that original sources are lacking for detail during many
eras. The illustrations are drawings based on archeological evidence.
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Healy, Mark - The Ancient Assyrians, Osprey, London, 1991, 63
pgs, index, many illustrations, paperback. This is useful for the color
illustrations not usually found in academic studies of Assyria or the Middle
East.
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Graeber, David - Debt The First 5,000 Years Melvile House
Publishing, 2011, 534 pgs., index, bibliography. The author is an archeologist
and anthropoligist so discusses prehistoric - primitive - societies as well as
very early ones at more length than is typical of authors on the history of
money.
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Drews, Robert - The End of the Bronze Age, Princeton Univ.
Press, 1993, , 255 pgs., index, bibliography. Dr. Podany comments briefly on
the 'catastrophy' that happened about 1200 B.C. but with out deciding on its
cause. Dr. Drews devotes this book to answering that question and concludes
that it was largely due to the military superority of the invaders using iron
weapons.
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Woolley, Sir Leonard - A Forgotten Kingdom - Pelican Books,
Baltimore, 1953, 191 pgs., index, diagrams, paperback - - report on excavations
in Hatti with discussion of the Hittite campaigns into Mitannik Syria.
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Coulanges, Fustel De - The Ancient City - Doubleday Anchor
Books, N.Y., ND., 396 pgs., paperback - This is mostly about ancient Greece and
Rome, but also their ancient predecessors. The author is focused on the most
ancient beliefs of the peoples who first created cities, especially about
religion and family. His ideas are relevant to the first Mesopotamian cities.
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Hudson, Michael ... and forgive them their debts Subtitle:
Lending, Forclosure, and Redemption from Bronze Age Finance to the Jubilee
Year. ISIeT - Verlag, Dresden, 2018, 311 pgs., index, extensive bibliography,
foot notes, illustrations, paper back
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Hudson, Michael, The Archeology of Money - Subtitle: Debt versus Barter
Theories of Money's Origins chapter 5 in Credit and State Theories of Money
- Edward Elgar Pub. Cheltenham, U.K., 2004,
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