jjares reviewed Ancient Middle East: A Captivating Guide to Civilizations and Empires of the Ancient Near East and Ancient Anatolia on + 3278 more book reviews
These two books chart the incredible story of the beginnings of civilization in the ancient world. Captivating History reveals the truth behind the hidden stories of our beginnings in the Fertile Crescent.
ANCIENT NEAR EAST --
The Sumerians, as the first documented civilization, excelled at creating architecture, encouraging literacy, and providing a military system. Hammurabi, leader of Babylon, wrote a new code of law. He initiated the idea that an accused person was innocent until proven guilty.
It is hard to imagine that one pharaoh would go against centuries of tradition, but Akhenaten decided to form a monotheistic religion, to the god Aten. He must have been extremely egotistical to have tried that. He also created a new capital. However, one of the sons of Akhenaten, King Tutankhamun, returned the country to the old deities and rebuilt the old temples. Obviously, the people were unhappy with the new religion because eventually all of Akhenaten's statues were defaced or removed.
Frankly, I enjoyed the later chapters more than the first. Because so much of the ancient history of the Near East is conjecture, ongoing archaeology, or best guesses, a long narration of one (probable) king after another is of limited interest to me. However, when the work talks about the lives of the people (including those of various classes) and their religions, I find that more interesting.
ANCIENT ANATOLIA --
Anatolia, also known as Asia Minor, the Anatolian peninsula, or the Anatolian plateau, takes up most of modern-day Turkey. This story generally starts with the Hittites (an ancient group of Indo-Europeans) of the Late Bronze Age moving into the Anatolian area. They formed an empire in about 1600 BCE. Much of their wealth was tied up in the trade routes, so they had to protect them at all costs.
The Hittites were pagan, with a pantheon of storm-gods where they offered their fealty. Because their succeeding kings had more-or-less skills than the one before, the Hittites were expanding and contracting over the centuries. Finally, the Hittites were conquered by the Assyrians, who assimilated them by 705 BCE.
The next major group is the Aramean Confederation, a Semitic people (from Syria), organized in small, independent, nomadic kingdoms spread out over much of the Middle East and south-central Turkey. The Arameans (as well as the Hittites) are mentioned in the Bible. The Assyrians often fought against the Arameans, finally conquering Aramean lands and deporting Arameans to Babylonia and Assyria.
The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the largest empire in the world for 300 years of the Iron Age. Aramaic was the official language because of the Assyrian's habit of moving newly conquered peoples to the nucleus of the empire. The Assyrians were important because they conquered much of the Middle East and Egypt. The Assyrians were brought down in 612 BCE by the Babylonians.
It is believed that the Scythians are of Iranian stock because their language is a branch of the Iranian language. From the harsh environment of the Steppes, Scythians were wonderful horsemen and were the bane of infantry enemies. Women fought beside men in the Scythian armies.
The ancient Persians were nomads of Iranian heritage. The Achaemenid Empire was founded by Cyrus the Great. At its apex, this empire spanned three continents. The Persian Empire lasted about 200 years until Darius III was defeated by Alexander the Great.
When Alexander died, his kingdom wallowed in indecision for 40 years. Alexander's empire was cut into four parts and the Seleucid Empire was founded in 312 BCE. The Armenian king Tigranes the Great invaded the Seleucid Empire in 83 BC, but they were ultimately overthrown by the Roman general Pompey in 63BCE.
This book shows how there was a constant flow of people (usually in conflict with each other) in Anatolia. The land was routinely overrun with differing religions, languages, and ethnic groups. I think it will be fascinating when DNA testing can be routinely done in archeology sites, to provide more insight into the origins of some of these little-known ethnic groups. Overall score = 4.5 stars
ANCIENT NEAR EAST --
The Sumerians, as the first documented civilization, excelled at creating architecture, encouraging literacy, and providing a military system. Hammurabi, leader of Babylon, wrote a new code of law. He initiated the idea that an accused person was innocent until proven guilty.
It is hard to imagine that one pharaoh would go against centuries of tradition, but Akhenaten decided to form a monotheistic religion, to the god Aten. He must have been extremely egotistical to have tried that. He also created a new capital. However, one of the sons of Akhenaten, King Tutankhamun, returned the country to the old deities and rebuilt the old temples. Obviously, the people were unhappy with the new religion because eventually all of Akhenaten's statues were defaced or removed.
Frankly, I enjoyed the later chapters more than the first. Because so much of the ancient history of the Near East is conjecture, ongoing archaeology, or best guesses, a long narration of one (probable) king after another is of limited interest to me. However, when the work talks about the lives of the people (including those of various classes) and their religions, I find that more interesting.
ANCIENT ANATOLIA --
Anatolia, also known as Asia Minor, the Anatolian peninsula, or the Anatolian plateau, takes up most of modern-day Turkey. This story generally starts with the Hittites (an ancient group of Indo-Europeans) of the Late Bronze Age moving into the Anatolian area. They formed an empire in about 1600 BCE. Much of their wealth was tied up in the trade routes, so they had to protect them at all costs.
The Hittites were pagan, with a pantheon of storm-gods where they offered their fealty. Because their succeeding kings had more-or-less skills than the one before, the Hittites were expanding and contracting over the centuries. Finally, the Hittites were conquered by the Assyrians, who assimilated them by 705 BCE.
The next major group is the Aramean Confederation, a Semitic people (from Syria), organized in small, independent, nomadic kingdoms spread out over much of the Middle East and south-central Turkey. The Arameans (as well as the Hittites) are mentioned in the Bible. The Assyrians often fought against the Arameans, finally conquering Aramean lands and deporting Arameans to Babylonia and Assyria.
The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the largest empire in the world for 300 years of the Iron Age. Aramaic was the official language because of the Assyrian's habit of moving newly conquered peoples to the nucleus of the empire. The Assyrians were important because they conquered much of the Middle East and Egypt. The Assyrians were brought down in 612 BCE by the Babylonians.
It is believed that the Scythians are of Iranian stock because their language is a branch of the Iranian language. From the harsh environment of the Steppes, Scythians were wonderful horsemen and were the bane of infantry enemies. Women fought beside men in the Scythian armies.
The ancient Persians were nomads of Iranian heritage. The Achaemenid Empire was founded by Cyrus the Great. At its apex, this empire spanned three continents. The Persian Empire lasted about 200 years until Darius III was defeated by Alexander the Great.
When Alexander died, his kingdom wallowed in indecision for 40 years. Alexander's empire was cut into four parts and the Seleucid Empire was founded in 312 BCE. The Armenian king Tigranes the Great invaded the Seleucid Empire in 83 BC, but they were ultimately overthrown by the Roman general Pompey in 63BCE.
This book shows how there was a constant flow of people (usually in conflict with each other) in Anatolia. The land was routinely overrun with differing religions, languages, and ethnic groups. I think it will be fascinating when DNA testing can be routinely done in archeology sites, to provide more insight into the origins of some of these little-known ethnic groups. Overall score = 4.5 stars
