Details

List of Illustrations viii <p>List of Charts xi</p> <p>List of Maps xii</p> <p>List of Debates xiv</p> <p>List of Boxes xv</p> <p>List of Documents xvi</p> <p>Preface xviii</p> <p>Author’s Note xxi</p> <p><b>1 Introductory Concerns 1</b></p> <p>1.1 What Is the Ancient Near East? 1</p> <p>1.2 The Sources 3</p> <p>1.3 Geography 6</p> <p>1.4 Prehistoric Developments 10</p> <p><b>Part I City-States 19</b></p> <p><b>2 Origins: The Uruk Phenomenon 21</b></p> <p>2.1 The Origins of Cities 23</p> <p>2.2 The Development of Writing and Administration 30</p> <p>2.3 The “Uruk Expansion” 37</p> <p>2.4 Uruk’s Aftermath 41</p> <p><b>3 Competing City-States: The Early Dynastic Period 44</b></p> <p>3.1 The Written Sources and Their Historical Uses 45</p> <p>3.2 Political Developments in Southern Mesopotamia 48</p> <p>3.3 The Wider Near East 56</p> <p>3.4 Early Dynastic Society 60</p> <p>3.5 Scribal Culture 63</p> <p><b>4 Political Centralization in the Late Third Millennium 67</b></p> <p>4.1 The Kings of Akkad 68</p> <p>4.2 The Third Dynasty of Ur 79</p> <p><b>5 The Near East in the Early Second Millennium 90</b></p> <p>5.1 Nomads and Sedentary People 92</p> <p>5.2 Babylonia 95</p> <p>5.3 Assyria and the East 100</p> <p>5.4 Mari and the West 107</p> <p><b>6 The Growth of Territorial States in the Early Second Millennium 113</b></p> <p>6.1 Shamshi-Adad and the Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia 115</p> <p>6.2 Hammurabi’s Babylon 118</p> <p>6.3 The Old Hittite Kingdom 127</p> <p>6.4 The “Dark Age” 131</p> <p><b>Part II Territorial States 135</b></p> <p><b>7 The Club of the Great Powers 137</b></p> <p>7.1 The Political System 138</p> <p>7.2 Political Interactions: Diplomacy and Trade 142</p> <p>7.3 Regional Competition: Warfare 151</p> <p>7.4 Shared Ideologies and Social Organizations 153</p> <p><b>8 The Western States of the Late Second Millennium 159</b></p> <p>8.1 Mittani 160</p> <p>8.2 The Hittite New Kingdom 165</p> <p>8.3 Syria-Palestine 174</p> <p><b>9 Kassites, Assyrians, and Elamites 182</b></p> <p>9.1 Babylonia 183</p> <p>9.2 Assyria 190</p> <p>9.3 The Middle Elamite Kingdom 195</p> <p><b>10 The Collapse of the Regional System and Its Aftermath 202</b></p> <p>10.1 The Events 203</p> <p>10.2 Interpretation 210</p> <p>10.3 The Aftermath 213</p> <p><b>Part III Empires 221</b></p> <p><b>11 The Near East at the Start of the First Millennium 223</b></p> <p>11.1 The Eastern States 224</p> <p>11.2 The West 232</p> <p><b>12 The Rise of Assyria 246</b></p> <p>12.1 Patterns of Assyrian Imperialism 247</p> <p>12.2 The Historical Record 253</p> <p>12.3 Ninth-Century Expansion 255</p> <p>12.4 Internal Assyrian Decline 261</p> <p><b>13 Assyria’s World Domination 265</b></p> <p>13.1 The Creation of an Imperial Structure 266</p> <p>13.2 The Defeat of the Great Rivals 270</p> <p>13.3 The Administration and Ideology of the Empire 277</p> <p>13.4 Assyrian Culture 279</p> <p>13.5 Assyria’s Fall 284</p> <p><b>14 The Medes and Babylonians 289</b></p> <p>14.1 The Medes and the Anatolian States 290</p> <p>14.2 The Neo-Babylonian Dynasty 294</p> <p><b>15 The Creation of a World Empire: Persia 308</b></p> <p>15.1 The Sources and Their Challenges 309</p> <p>15.2 The Rise of Persia and Its Expansion 310</p> <p>15.3 Governance of the Subject States 315</p> <p>15.4 The Creation of an Imperial Structure 319</p> <p><b>16 Governing a World Empire: Persia 327</b></p> <p>16.1 Political Developments 327</p> <p>16.2 Administration of the Empire 331</p> <p>16.3 Local Forms of Persian Administration 335</p> <p>16.4 The End of the Empire 342</p> <p>Epilogue 346</p> <p>King Lists 348</p> <p>Guide to Further Reading 364</p> <p>Bibliography 370</p> <p>Comprehensive Time Line 385</p> <p>Index 389</p>

<p>“This is the third edition of a classic made all the more popular as we try to understand the origins of today’s Middle East with its wars, hatreds, dictatorships, genocides and infamous new caliphates that hold nothing but terror for those who will not bow the knee to jihadi dogma.”  (<i>Unrv.com</i>, 1 January 2016)</p> <p>“For these reasons and for many more, this volume deserves considerable praise and lasting admiration.”  (<i>RBECS.org</i>, 27 December 2015)</p>

<b>Marc Van De Mieroop</b> is Professor of History at Columbia University. He is the author of many books on various aspects of the histories of the ancient Near East and Egypt, including <i>The Ancient Mesopotamian City </i>(1997, 1999)<i>, King Hammurabi of Babylon </i>(Blackwell, 2004)<i>, The Eastern Mediterranean in the Age of Ramesses II </i>(Wiley-Blackwell, 2009), and <i>A History of Ancient Egypt </i>(Wiley-Blackwell, 2010)<i>.</i>

Incorporating the latest scholarly research in this rapidly developing field, the third edition of <i>A History of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000–323 BC</i> presents a comprehensive overview of the extraordinary multicultural civilizations of the ancient Near East. Presenting the region’s complex history in a concise and accessible manner, chapters begin with the emergence of writing around 3000 BC, and proceed with the origins of the first cities in Mesopotamia and growth of the Babylonian and Hittite kingdoms up to the rise of the Assyrian and Persian empires. Concluding chapters address the transformation of the ancient Near East by the conquests of Alexander the Great—with a new chapter addressing governance and continuity in the region during the Persian Empire. Other updates include a comprehensive timeline of events, 30 new illustrations, and expanded coverage of the myriad political events, military campaigns, and social and cultural developments that emerged throughout the Near East over the course of more than three millennia<i>.</i> Another notable update is the inclusion of Key Debate boxes designed to illuminate differing perspectives on various critical issues after each chapter<i>. A History of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000-323 BC, Third Edition</i>, enhances its reputation as one of the most accessible introductions to the rich and complex history of ancient Near Eastern civilizations available today.

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