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A History of the Babylonians and Assyrians
"Who were the people by whose energy this region was transformed into so fair and flourishing a land, at a time when elsewhere, with hardly an exception, the upward course of humanity did not yet reveal any trace of orderly and civilized conditions? What are their antecedents, and whence did they come to occupy the alluvial plain?" - George Stephen Goodspeed
"In these regions of Mesopotamia and Babylonia, so diversified in physical characteristics, the one essential unifying element was the rivers. To them a large section of the land owed its existence; the fertility and the prosperity of the whole was dependent upon them; they were the chief means of communication, the main channels of trade, the distributors of civilization. It was in recognition of this that the ancient inhabitants called the Euphrates 'the life of the land,' and the Tigris 'the bestower of blessing.'" - G.S.G.
Introduction - The Lands of the Euphrates and Tigris. The Excavations in Babylonia and Assyria. The Language and Literature. Chronology and History. The City States of Babylonia and Their Unification under Babylon to 2000 B.C. - The Dawn of History. Movements toward Expansion and Unification. Civilization of Old Political and Social Life. Civilization of Old Literature, Science, Art, and Religion. The Times of Khammurabi of Babylon. 2300-2100 B.C. The Rise of Assyria and its Struggles with Kassite Babylonia - The Kassite Conquest of Babylonia and the Appearance of Assyria. 2000-1500 B.C. The Early Conflicts of Babylonia and Assyria. 1500-1150 B.C. Civilization and Culture in the Kassite Period. The Times of Tiglathpileser I. 1100 B.C. The Ascendancy of Assyria - The Ancient World at the Beginning of the First Millennium. 1000 B.C. Ashurnacirpal III and the Conquest of Mesopotamia. 885-860 B.C. The Advance into Syria and the Rise of from Shalmaneser II to the Fall Of His House. 860-745 B.C. The Assyrian Revival. Tiglathpileser III and Shalmaneser IV. 745-722 B.C. The Assyrian Empire at Its Height. Sargon II. 722-705 B.C. The Struggle for Imperial Unity. Sennacherib. 705-681 B.C. Imperial Expansion and Division. Esarhaddon. 681-668 B.C. The Last Days of Splendor. Ashurbanipal 668-626 B.C. The Fall of Assyria. 626-606 B.C. The New Babylonian (or Kaldean) Empire - The Heirs of Assyria. Nebuchadrezzar and His Successors. Babylonia under the Kaldeans. The Fall of Babylon.
"In these regions of Mesopotamia and Babylonia, so diversified in physical characteristics, the one essential unifying element was the rivers. To them a large section of the land owed its existence; the fertility and the prosperity of the whole was dependent upon them; they were the chief means of communication, the main channels of trade, the distributors of civilization. It was in recognition of this that the ancient inhabitants called the Euphrates 'the life of the land,' and the Tigris 'the bestower of blessing.'" - G.S.G.
Introduction - The Lands of the Euphrates and Tigris. The Excavations in Babylonia and Assyria. The Language and Literature. Chronology and History. The City States of Babylonia and Their Unification under Babylon to 2000 B.C. - The Dawn of History. Movements toward Expansion and Unification. Civilization of Old Political and Social Life. Civilization of Old Literature, Science, Art, and Religion. The Times of Khammurabi of Babylon. 2300-2100 B.C. The Rise of Assyria and its Struggles with Kassite Babylonia - The Kassite Conquest of Babylonia and the Appearance of Assyria. 2000-1500 B.C. The Early Conflicts of Babylonia and Assyria. 1500-1150 B.C. Civilization and Culture in the Kassite Period. The Times of Tiglathpileser I. 1100 B.C. The Ascendancy of Assyria - The Ancient World at the Beginning of the First Millennium. 1000 B.C. Ashurnacirpal III and the Conquest of Mesopotamia. 885-860 B.C. The Advance into Syria and the Rise of from Shalmaneser II to the Fall Of His House. 860-745 B.C. The Assyrian Revival. Tiglathpileser III and Shalmaneser IV. 745-722 B.C. The Assyrian Empire at Its Height. Sargon II. 722-705 B.C. The Struggle for Imperial Unity. Sennacherib. 705-681 B.C. Imperial Expansion and Division. Esarhaddon. 681-668 B.C. The Last Days of Splendor. Ashurbanipal 668-626 B.C. The Fall of Assyria. 626-606 B.C. The New Babylonian (or Kaldean) Empire - The Heirs of Assyria. Nebuchadrezzar and His Successors. Babylonia under the Kaldeans. The Fall of Babylon.
295 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1902
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 12, 2014
I picked up this book for free in the Kindle edition some time ago. Published in 1902, it is long out of copyright, and offered by Lecturable, who seems to specialize in Kindle editions of older historical works.
It is one of the first overview histories of ancient Mesopotamia written after archaeology efforts started in the region in the 19th century. This makes the scholarship well out of date, but accounting for that problem, it is a well done, and readable introduction to the subject, and certainly well worth the $2 it normally costs if you want to get at the root of scholarship on the subject.
Or, it would be if the text was in better shape. It is, of course, an OCR scan of the book, but it seems to have gotten minimal, if any, editing. Words breaking with a space in the middle (artifact of a word broken between lines, with a space inserted in place of the hyphen?) are an endemic problem, and garbled words (caused by the OCR picking the wrong letter) are not uncommon. In fact, I’d say the book as a whole averaged better than one error per page, except for one section 75% of the way through which was much worse. Any sort of minimal editing with a human pair of eyes would have found the bulk of the problems I saw.
I can’t really complain for free, and the vast majority of the errors were such that the book was quite readable (there was only one case where I was truly uncertain what a word was supposed to be). But, it has made me quite leery of Lecturable’s products, if this is going to be the usual quality.
It is one of the first overview histories of ancient Mesopotamia written after archaeology efforts started in the region in the 19th century. This makes the scholarship well out of date, but accounting for that problem, it is a well done, and readable introduction to the subject, and certainly well worth the $2 it normally costs if you want to get at the root of scholarship on the subject.
Or, it would be if the text was in better shape. It is, of course, an OCR scan of the book, but it seems to have gotten minimal, if any, editing. Words breaking with a space in the middle (artifact of a word broken between lines, with a space inserted in place of the hyphen?) are an endemic problem, and garbled words (caused by the OCR picking the wrong letter) are not uncommon. In fact, I’d say the book as a whole averaged better than one error per page, except for one section 75% of the way through which was much worse. Any sort of minimal editing with a human pair of eyes would have found the bulk of the problems I saw.
I can’t really complain for free, and the vast majority of the errors were such that the book was quite readable (there was only one case where I was truly uncertain what a word was supposed to be). But, it has made me quite leery of Lecturable’s products, if this is going to be the usual quality.
July 3, 2017
A turn of the century (19th to 20th) history of the Mesopotamian world until the conquest of Cyrus.
The work is mostly a recapitulation of all available resources up to around 1899; these resources are more numerous than might be imagined. Subsequent research has led to a renumbering of some of the Assyrian rulers and alterations in the perceived chronology as well as, no doubt, reassessment of the primary source evidence.
Having said that, few similar resources have been published, which is why a work from over a century ago is in circulation. The author's insistence on keeping close to primary sources, and quoting them often, means that this work still has value after all these years.
The work is mostly a recapitulation of all available resources up to around 1899; these resources are more numerous than might be imagined. Subsequent research has led to a renumbering of some of the Assyrian rulers and alterations in the perceived chronology as well as, no doubt, reassessment of the primary source evidence.
Having said that, few similar resources have been published, which is why a work from over a century ago is in circulation. The author's insistence on keeping close to primary sources, and quoting them often, means that this work still has value after all these years.
February 8, 2020
Historical complete...but not a page turner for the lay
History is on the side of this author. He completely conquered every event of these empires of antiquity. For any historian an open source....for me who was looking for a storyline...well it was hard?
History is on the side of this author. He completely conquered every event of these empires of antiquity. For any historian an open source....for me who was looking for a storyline...well it was hard?
May 16, 2020
The edition was a Scholar Select condition new. Good enough quality to read without strain.
The book was written in 1902. I actually had to source that to find out as it is not annotated on the copy though Amazon did have that as part of it's description. I had already read multiple other books that went over this time period or parts of the time period but from different prospectives, both narrower and wider, from the 40's up to 2014 I believe. Essentially this book takes you through the Summer Akkad period where Goodspeed was still at a disadvantage as to personages and dates as the history of this period was still being sorted when he wrote, right up to arrival of Cyrus the Great. By the time he was up to Hammurabi, the timeline settles to what your familiar with and the book fares extremely well and only gets better in exactness for the next 1500 years or so.
Before I came upon the book it was noted from other sources that book would concentrate primarily on the history which it did. It was also noted that he was writing from a Christian prospective with the Christian bias's of his day. That did not bare out at all as he checked any bias at door and they don't show up in his writings as he gave fair treatment to all.
The book does center around Babylon and Assyria but you do get fair insight into Egypt, Syria, Anatolia, back around to Elam and all various other peoples between flowing into the fertile crescent during the this vast time period. He also provides great insight beyond just history, as he covers religion, the gods, art, architecture, education, literature and host of other topics as they come up and not in a dry style but a very strong and flowing style as he weaves their contributions and impact into the fabric of the times.
The book has no maps, only two illustrations but you don't have a need of either, to include maps, as his word descriptions are easy to visualize whether he's talking terrain, buildings, cities or even persons, peoples or rulers from big to small. He writes with a certitude and has a command of the history which though gathered in 1902 seems to have held up quite well despite over a hundred years of new discovery. And not just held up, but given with the level of detail that sets you in period and makes you feel as if you are part of it as offers up insights that your not going to get from many other recent sources.
Anyway, for the lay reader or more serious scholar this book is highly recommended for a commanding read on the history of the Babylonians and Assyrians.
The book was written in 1902. I actually had to source that to find out as it is not annotated on the copy though Amazon did have that as part of it's description. I had already read multiple other books that went over this time period or parts of the time period but from different prospectives, both narrower and wider, from the 40's up to 2014 I believe. Essentially this book takes you through the Summer Akkad period where Goodspeed was still at a disadvantage as to personages and dates as the history of this period was still being sorted when he wrote, right up to arrival of Cyrus the Great. By the time he was up to Hammurabi, the timeline settles to what your familiar with and the book fares extremely well and only gets better in exactness for the next 1500 years or so.
Before I came upon the book it was noted from other sources that book would concentrate primarily on the history which it did. It was also noted that he was writing from a Christian prospective with the Christian bias's of his day. That did not bare out at all as he checked any bias at door and they don't show up in his writings as he gave fair treatment to all.
The book does center around Babylon and Assyria but you do get fair insight into Egypt, Syria, Anatolia, back around to Elam and all various other peoples between flowing into the fertile crescent during the this vast time period. He also provides great insight beyond just history, as he covers religion, the gods, art, architecture, education, literature and host of other topics as they come up and not in a dry style but a very strong and flowing style as he weaves their contributions and impact into the fabric of the times.
The book has no maps, only two illustrations but you don't have a need of either, to include maps, as his word descriptions are easy to visualize whether he's talking terrain, buildings, cities or even persons, peoples or rulers from big to small. He writes with a certitude and has a command of the history which though gathered in 1902 seems to have held up quite well despite over a hundred years of new discovery. And not just held up, but given with the level of detail that sets you in period and makes you feel as if you are part of it as offers up insights that your not going to get from many other recent sources.
Anyway, for the lay reader or more serious scholar this book is highly recommended for a commanding read on the history of the Babylonians and Assyrians.
May 8, 2020
Babylon and Assyria in detail
A very detailed account of the Babylonian an world and the Assyrian empire as it was known at the beginning of the 20th century. A very informative read.
A very detailed account of the Babylonian an world and the Assyrian empire as it was known at the beginning of the 20th century. A very informative read.
July 12, 2022
3.5 Stars Dull Monotonous Ride
It felt like the author wrote the book on the fly.
The researcher the author tried to write the story by piecing together fragments of hundreds of tablets he examined. Some of the narrative works, the middle of the book was a tough read.
It felt like the author wrote the book on the fly.
The researcher the author tried to write the story by piecing together fragments of hundreds of tablets he examined. Some of the narrative works, the middle of the book was a tough read.
July 28, 2017
Did not realize the book was published in 1902 so while interesting, it kept referring to other work in progress leaving one wanting for a more complete picture which should now be available.
January 3, 2022
Great book on the history and back story of Sumer, Babylon, and the Assyrians. The cradle of the modern world.
May 1, 2022
Very informative
Was looking for a book to give me the overall history of Babylonian empire. This was good. I would recommend it if you are studying the history of the area.
Was looking for a book to give me the overall history of Babylonian empire. This was good. I would recommend it if you are studying the history of the area.
January 13, 2016
A History of The Babylonians and Assyrians
Es un libro interesante pero es un listado de gobernantes, difícil de seguir y disfrutar la lectura, ya que carece de los mapas que permitan ubicar los numerosos pueblos y localidades de esa época y así mismo, carece de un cuadro que en el tiempo se relacione a los diferentes Reyes, algunos se vuelven a mencionar en capítulos posteriores a su época.
Es un libro interesante pero es un listado de gobernantes, difícil de seguir y disfrutar la lectura, ya que carece de los mapas que permitan ubicar los numerosos pueblos y localidades de esa época y así mismo, carece de un cuadro que en el tiempo se relacione a los diferentes Reyes, algunos se vuelven a mencionar en capítulos posteriores a su época.
December 7, 2013
I learned some interesting tidbits from this book, but it was a dry read. It was written in the early 1900s, so most likely some of this is not the author's fault, it's just an old book.
It also annoyed me a bit that several of the dates are way off, like by a thousand years based on current scholarship.
It also annoyed me a bit that several of the dates are way off, like by a thousand years based on current scholarship.
June 15, 2013
great book. tough read
September 23, 2013
Tough to get through but a great old book with a good start to these ancient civilizations.
October 24, 2016
Extensive research
This is an extensive research about one of most mysterious periods of human history. It based on the fact with very fair position.
This is an extensive research about one of most mysterious periods of human history. It based on the fact with very fair position.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews