Life and thought in the ancient Near East / Louis L. Orlin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Orlin, Louis L. (Louis Lawrence)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Middle East--Civilization--To 622.

Middle East.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (284 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, c2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Intended for readers seeking insight into the day-to-day life of some of the world's most ancient peoples, Life and Thought in the Ancient Near East presents brief, fascinating explorations of key aspects of the civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Palestine, Asia Minor, and Iran. With vignettes on agriculture, architecture, crafts and industries, literature, religion, topography, and history, Orlin has created something refreshingly unique: a modern guidebook to an ancient world. The book also reaches out to students of the Ancient Near Eastern World with essays on decipherments, comparative cultural developments between Egypt and Mesopotamia, and language and literature. In addition to general readers, the book will be useful in the classroom as a text supplementing a more conventional introduction to Near Eastern Studies. Well-written and accessible, Life and Thought in the Ancient Near East deftly connects the past with present experience by drawing out the differences between, for instance, modern churches and ancient temples, and frequently employing biblical references. This simplicity together with connecting contemporary to ancient experience makes the text ideal for freshmen and general readers. ---Marc Cooper, Professor of History, Missouri State University Now Professor Emeritus, Louis L. Orlin taught in the department of Ancient Near Eastern History and Literature at the University of Michigan for more than thirty years. He is the author and editor of several books, including Assyrian Colonies in Cappadocia and Ancient Near Eastern Literature: A Bibliography of One Thousand Items on the Cuneiform Literatures of the Ancient World.

Contents:

Contents; List of Maps; List of Illustrations; List of Abbreviations; Preface; Acknowledgments; A Yardstick of Time; Introduction; Vignettes; Mesopotamia; In the Tablet Houses of Mesopotamia; New Year's Day in Babylon; Decoding the Hammurabi Law Code; On the Lighter Side of Mesopotamia: A Glimpse into Sumerian Palace and Temple Household Life; Wild Animals and Game Parks; Archaeology: The "Cold Case File" of the Historian; Egypt; Theme and Variations on Herodotus's Statement That "Egypt Is the Gift of the Nile""; On the Essential Cosmic Rhythms of Ancient Egyptian Life

The Palestinian CorridorThe Seagoing Phoenicians; From Tribal Coalition to Statehood in Ancient Israel; Ancient Persia and a Tale of Two Cities: Athens and Jerusalem in the Fifth Century; On Nomads and Nomadism; Anatolia; An Old Assyrian Trading Enterprise in Asia Minor; On Chariot Warfare; Some Observations on Ancient Near Eastern Treaties; When Princes Squabble: A Royal Dispute in Central Anatolia; Some Literary Observations; On the Greatness of Gilgamesh as an Ancient Near Eastern Epic; Reflections on Ancient Near Eastern Myth; Wisdom Literature

Translating an Old Babylonian Poem: "Prayer to the Gods of Night"Background; Physical Background: Landforms, Climate, and Hydrology of the Near East; Historical Background: The Setting of Prehistoric Cultural Development in Mesopotamia and Egypt; Civic Background: Cities and Gods in the Ancient Near East-Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Israel; Especially for Students; Languages and Literature; A Brief Note on Languages; A General View of Ancient Near Eastern Literature; Decipherments; The Decipherment of Cuneiform Writing; The Discovery of Hittite Civilization and the Decipherment of Hittite

Conclusion: Who Will Know about Us When We're Gone?A Summary of Culture Growth in Mesopotamia and Egypt; Methodological Fallacies in the Study of Ancient Near Eastern Religion; Chronology; Glossary; Notes; Bibliography; Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 223-227) and index.

ISBN:

1-282-59395-1

9786612593956

0-472-02589-9

OCLC:

824100714