Cradle of Civilization

Great Ages of Man

by Samuel Noah Kramer

Maps, full-page color pictures, and chronologies tell the history and culture of the civilization of ancient Mesopotamia

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient, Cultural, World History, Ancient History

182 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Dr. Samuel Noah Kramer, Ph.D. (University of Pennsylvania, 1929; born Simcha Kramer), was a historian, philologist, and Assyriologist, particularly renowned as an expert in the language and history of Sumer. He was Clark Research Professor Emeritus of Assyriology at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was also Curator Emeritus of the Tablet Collections.

Dr. Kramer is often credited with the virtual creation of Sumerian cuneiform literature as an academic field, in which he wrote some 30 books for both academic and popular audiences. was a member of the American Oriental Society, Archeological Institute of America, Society of Biblical Literature and American Philosophical Society, which awarded him its John Frederick Lewis Prize.

Reviews

[Mike Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book series is rock-solid gold. For a brief, ephemeral moment in 1967 the editors of Time/Life turned to bright white light and burned out their whole legacy in this priceless little 25 book apotheosis. It's not for reading, per se - it's for experiencing.

This little gem will melt your tiny little mind without breaking a sweat.
The writing, whatever, it's Time/Life so it's obviously party-line. Get over it. This guy's the old guard of the old guard.
The cover is totally insanely intense. You can't understand it by a thumbnail on Amazon - but you can't understand it anyway once you see it in real life: whoever sculpted those icons: I N T E N S E motherfuckers. They piss on your art.
On the first page there's a map of "Ancient Mesopotamia" but, check this: it's not just a map, it's a full color ceramic tile relief of a map that some hippy made for Time/Life. Genius art direction.
Excerpt: in the 10th century Assyrian Emperor Assurnasirpal II took over everything. What kind of a man was this? He took a city, built a pillar over its city gate, flayed all the chiefs of the city and covered the pillar with their skins - then he did more really, really bad stuff. Dominated. Then what? What doeth a motherfucker after he conquers Mesopotamia? Motherfucker invites 69,574 people to his new capital and parties all expenses paid for TEN DAYS. THEY ATE 16,000 SHEEP. You know who parties too? Captives. Then what? He sends the captives home. Takes a big man.
Think about the sheep, the pillar, look at the book cover, and realize how weak tea and warm milk you really are.
I'm not going to even talk about the page where they compare cuneiform to that weird computer writing on the bottom of your bank checks.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Ukrainian-American Sumerologist Samuel Noah Kramer’s 1967 edition of the book, Cradle of Civilization, is about Ancient Mesopotamia, the book is for the series of Time-Life Books’ Great Ages of Man. As a Sumerologist, Kramer was one of the influential people in the field from 1929 until his death in 1990. Kramer translated many works of Sumerian literature. Kramer’s book is probably dated, but it is still worth reading if one is interested in the historiography of Assyriology, the study of Ancient Mesopotamia. To put the date of the book written in 1967 in perspective, this was before Saddam Hussein became the leader of Iraq in 1979 and Saddam would persecute the Marsh Arabs. One of the photo essays in Krammer’s book was called “A Timeless Life in the Marshes'' of colored photos of Marsh Arabs (Kramer 87-97). Assyriologists at the time of Kramer believed that some aspects of the culture of Marsh Arabs could be traced back to Ancient Mesopotamia. Cradle of Civilization is readable. The book has a beautiful layout. A photo essay follows each chapter. At the end of the book, there is a Timeline. Each chapter has images within the text. The section on Ancient Mesopotamia's influence on Judaism was especially interesting, Kramer happened to be Jewish (Kramer 158-159). Even though it was dated I did not regret spending time reading the book, Cradle of Civilization.

[Karen O · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know how I came across this book on Goodreads, but I was completely obsessed with this book when I was about 10 or 11 years old.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great introduction into the evolution of Mesopotamia as one of the great centers of human development, the first cities of Sumer, the Semitic Conquest of the Amorites over Sumer, the rise of city states of Ur, Erech, and Nippur, the code of Hammurabi, the rise of the Babylon, the invention of cuneiform writing, the writing and survival of the Epic of Gilgamesh, and a lot of other great stuff too. A great book from 1967 Time/Life series "Great Ages of Man", well worth your perusal if interested in the ancient history of the Middle East.

[Anne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow...this book was bad. I was hoping for an interesting overview of ancient civilizations like Sumeria and this book was just strange. The art/photography was blurred, and the information was so random and all over the place. It definitely wasn't an overview of the cultures.

[Julio César Hernández · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a work for understanding the world. It helps you put the passage of time into perspective and reflect on the things that have shaped civilization. Sometimes it seems like the past 100 years have been packed with events and that everything we know was defined during that time, but that’s not even a tenth of human history. The most fundamental characteristics of the civilized world as we know it were established thousands of years ago, and this book conveys that quite well.

[Matt Mayevsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Are you interested in antiquity? Start with this book.

[James Violand · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where did civilization begin? This book contains one position that it occurred in Mesopotamia. A good survey of the then current thought from archaeology (1967). Worth the read.

[WAIA · Rating 3 out of 5]

A "fine" primer. All the images provided are very helpful for beginners on the subject of Mesopotamia. There's also some cross referencing heading towards the end with later society which is nice and gives readers more handlebars. I can't consider it more than a primer though. A lot of facets of mesopotamian society get mentions but are not explored at any meaningful depth at all. So do not expect that. But I think the reader will be able to engage with the mesopotamians in a "light" and enjoyable manner.

For me personally, it doesn't bring very much new to the table. I loved seeing the photographs, drawings of structures and relation to more modern groups in the region of Iraq. I don't think i've heard any book mention the marsh people so far? It may have slipped my mind though.

Also it seems scholars can't agree who exactly the people before the sumerians were but the Ubadians have come up a few times. Whereas in other books nobody specifically is named. I'd imagine there's no clear consensus on the matter.

[Eli Hinze · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book on Mesopotamia. It’s informative, has little if any editorializing, has loads of rich imagery, and presents things in an easy-to-digest way.
I’ve read tons of books on Mesopotamia, and certain concepts, such as the Sumerian King’s List and the transition from marsh-dwelling to city-building, were covered much more coherently than in other material I’ve read. At the same time, it doesn’t cover as much of the erotic poetry or the gorier bits of the region’s military conquests, so it’s appropriate for most ages.
Highly recommended!

[Rob Markley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I still believe Kramer has written the best coverage of the Sumerians and this popular format has to slim things down but he still does better than many later full books

[Ravek Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource for my research. No one knew Sumer, the people, the religion and the culture better than Samuel Noah Kramer.

[Jonathan Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm glad I finally got around to reading this.
I can kind of see where Steven Erikson pulled a lot of inspiration for Malazan, which makes sense considering he's an archaeologist.

[Kili · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overview

[Jelly Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

so informative

[Tue Le · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely overview of ancient Mesopotamia with beautiful images and connections to our world today.

[Willow Redd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuing my course through World History, and specifically the Ancient World, this Read Your Library selection covers the "Cradle of Civilization," Mesopotamia.

Starting with nomads who settled the area and started farming, we find in Mesopotamia the first examples of modern civilization, along with a pre-Flood society that would make way for the next.

In Mesopotamia we see the earliest examples of art, architecture, writing, law, religion, mythology and folklore, and education. This society has influenced all that came after it, and is one of the most important archaeological finds ever. This book guides the reader through the story of how the sites were found, what was found, and what that tells us about early Mesopotamia and the way the people there lived. The written records they kept, once the cuneiform was deciphered, tells us a great deal about their religion, their mythology, their system of law, their system of monarchs, and even the goods and services available. We also find early examples of later-adapted Biblical stories such as the Flood, the Tower of Babel (Babylon), Job, the Song of Solomon, and even similar elements to the creation myth.

[Diego · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este tomo forma parte de una enciclopedia que editó Time Life hace años acerca de culturas y civilizaciones antiguas. Cada tomo está escrito por académicos de universidades estadounidenses e ilustrado con fotografías y grabados.
Este en particular, se trata de la historia de la antigua Sumeria, y los países posteriores, Babilonia y Asiria. Los primeros capítulos están dedicados a la historia de cómo los seres humanos pasaron de ser simples recolectores y cazadores a establecer ciudades, y luego cómo sus sucesores crearon religiones, reinos, escritos, leyes, grandes conjuntos arquitectónics, etc. Los griegos serán los padres de la civilización occidental, pero los antiguos habitantes de Mesopotamia, fueron los padres de la civilización.

[Leonard Pierce · Rating 3 out of 5]

They're often made the subject of fun, but the Time/Life collections are sometimes quite solid and worthwhile pieces of popular history (Bolitho's astonishingly great "Murder for Profit" was a Time/Life book). This is part of a series featuring the early history of human civilization, and it's not a bad start.

[Nancy Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

An in-depth, very readable survey of the beginning of civilization in Mesopotamia. We're taken from the beginnings in Sumer, through the Babylonians and Assyrians, with the building of cities leading to city-states leading to empire builders, but not neglecting the magnificent culture of all these people.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

That cover is looks like something from my nightmares. This book is basically an overview of what people from 1967 knew about the sumerian. Not as accurate as any book that came out now but still good overview.