The Ancient Near East: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures

by James B. Pritchard (Editor), Daniel E. Fleming (Foreword)

James Pritchard's classic anthologies of the ancient Near East have introduced generations of readers to texts essential for understanding the peoples and cultures of this important region. Now these two enduring works have been combined and integrated into one convenient and richly illustrated volume, with a new foreword that puts the translations in context.

With more than 130 reading selections and 300 photographs of ancient art, architecture, and artifacts, this volume provides a stimulating introduction to some of the most significant and widely studied texts of the ancient Near East, including the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Creation Epic (Enuma elish), the Code of Hammurabi, and the Baal Cycle. For students of history, religion, the Bible, archaeology, and anthropology, this anthology provides a wealth of material for understanding the ancient Near East.


Represents the diverse cultures and languages of the ancient Near East--Sumerian, Akkadian, Egyptian, Hittite, Ugaritic, Canaanite, and Aramaic--in a wide range of genres:

Historical texts
Legal texts and treaties
Inscriptions
Hymns
Didactic and wisdom literature
Oracles and prophecies
Love poetry and other literary texts
Letters


New foreword puts the classic translations in context
More than 300 photographs document ancient art, architecture, and artifacts related to the texts
Fully indexed

Genres: History, Ancient History, Mythology, Nonfiction, Religion, Archaeology, Academic

614 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1958

About the author

Pritchard's archaeological reputation began to be established by his excavations at a site called el- Jib (1956–1962). He identified it as Gibeon by inscriptions on the handles of wine jars. He cataloged these in Hebrew Inscriptions and Stamps From Gibeon (1959), which included the first in-depth discussion of concentric-circle incisions on jar handles associated with LMLK seals. He explained the significance of his finds for a general audience in Gibeon: Where the Sun Stood Still (1962).

He followed (1964–1967) with excavations at Tell es-Sa’idiyeh, on the east bank in the Jordan Valley, Jordan, which revealed itself as a meeting place for disparate cultures during the transition in the late Bronze Age to the use of iron, which he connected to the influence of the Sea Peoples ("New evidence on the role of the Sea Peoples in Canaan at the Beginning of the Iron Age"), in The Role of the Phoenicians, 1968. His work was cut short by the 1967 Six-Day War.

His third and last major excavation at Sarafand, Lebanon (1969–1974) revealed the ancient Phoenician city of Sarepta. It was the first time a major Phoenician city situated in the Phoenician heartland had been fully excavated. His first findings were published in 1975: he described pottery workshops and kilns, artifacts of daily use and religious figurines, a shrine, numerous inscriptions that included some in Ugaritic, and a seal with the city's name that made the identification secure. His article, "Sarepta in history and tradition" in Understanding the Sacred Texts (1972) displays his characteristic research. His book Recovering Sarepta, an Ancient Phoenician City (1978) was written for general readers.

Additional works included Archaeology and the Old Testament (1958), which traced the evolution of modern approaches to archaeology from the first excavations in the Holy Land; and Solomon and Sheba (1974), which separated fact from legend.

Prior to his tenured appointment to the University of Pennsylvania, Pritchard taught at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, 1942–1954, as the chair of Old Testament History and Exegesis. At Crozer, Martin Luther King became the most famous of Pritchard's students. He also taught at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California (1954–1962).

An appreciation of James B. Pritchard appeared in the American Journal of Archaeology, Volume 102, Number 1 (January 1998, pages 175-177).

Reviews

[Nate Bate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently read Prichard's Archaeology And The Old Testament, and I enjoyed that much better. There is nothing wrong with this book. It deserves all five starts I gave it. It just isn't as fun of a read. It is more of a textbook or reference book than one you would sit down and read. I did an overview read of the book in a little over an hour, and I look forward to taking advantage of it for reference in the future.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the most significant text I have read for understanding the Hebrew Bible. How I was not forced to read this in seminary is beyond me.

[sophia · Rating 5 out of 5]

read bits and pieces of this book for a class, but read the entirety just for fun. i am in love with the ancient near east, and the epic of gilgamesh will always have a special place in my heart. this is a must-have for classicists and classical archaeologists interested in this period of ancient history.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful anthology targeted towards ancient texts and pictures that connect in some way to the Hebrew Scriptures. The full version of ANET is listed at $180 on Amazon, so this smaller and cheaper edition is definitely helpful. One of my biggest issues with it was the sloppy footnoting and referencing (often listing biblical passages in the margins whose connection to the text was difficult to discern), and the variable nature of historical introductions and context for different parts of the book. Some were great, and quite helpful in contextualizing the writings; others were virtually nonexistent, or seemed to assume technical knowledge that might not be present. My version is the original 1958 publication, though, an old copy from the library, and I know that a new edition came out in 2010, so some of my complaints about all of that might now be irrelevant.

Aside from the genre of city-lament, which was absent, this collection is impressive in its comprehensiveness. It covers Egyptian, Sumerian, Akkadian, Hittite, and Ugaritic myths and legends; different legal texts from the ANE, particularly Hammurabi's Code; Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Palestinian, Cannanite, and Aramaic historical documents and inscriptions; Egyptian hymns and wisdom sayings; and historical letters, particularly the Amarna letters. I feel as though this should have been a text that was required reading during my time in seminary - not always the most thrilling, or one that is easy to just pick up and read, but really helpful in giving historical, literary, and cultural context to the Hebrew Scriptures.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an okay book; I would rate it maybe 2.7 - 2.8 stars. I read it for an online course; we did not finish the book as the class was only one semester long. It has a wealth of information in to; it is filled with translations of ancient documents that range from epic myths and tales from across the Middle East and Egypt to historical texts, legal documents, hymns, literature, poems, love poetry, and letters. It definitely has a 'biblical slant' to it, as the editor(s) and author(s) included references from the Bible (Old Testament) to show similarities or correlations between the ancient documents of other countries and the Old Testament books. Some of what I read was interesting; some of it was boring. I think a definite 'weakness' is that many of the documents translated are incomplete, so it is hard to get an idea of what is really, truly being said (as the translators have had to interpret what is available to come up with the 'conclusions' that are reached on how something should be translated).

I could maybe see myself going back and finishing the rest of the book, someday. Just not today. That being said, I am glad that we used it for the class, as I was exposed to ancient documents and texts I never knew existed, and it was an enlightening experience reading them.

[Bookreadingnarcissist · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is primarily a collection of ancient sources from the Ancient Near East. It covers the Uruk period up to the end of the early Babylonian period. The works range from Anatolia, to Assyria, to Syria, to Egypt, & Mesopotamia. My biggest problem with this is that there wasn't enough contextualization given to make sense of the sources. Pritchard didn't do a good job explaining much of the meaning or context of the sources, which is saying quite a bit considering how well-read I am on this topic. The pictures were neat though.
2/5

[Edgar Barrón · Rating 4 out of 5]

The information provided is vast and well presented, missing parts from texts are often omitted entirely and explained better in the author's own words. My only problem with the book would be that some texts lack a great deal of context and you are left wondering what the hell you just read. This is not a good book to begin learning about the ancient world, but rather to learn, more in detail, about their customs and traditions as well as their mytholgy.

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

little too abridged
i wanted to know what happened after the younger brother cut off his own dick and tossed it into the river
book said there was more and proceeded to have none of it

[Ron Me]

Even better than the original two-volume set. A must-read.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impressive historical and archaeological analysis, but not a very exciting read.

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have spent the last year reading about ancient civilizations with my youngest son and today he leaves his teens behind and begins his young adulthood, so I write this with him in mind. This summer we have been reading the original ancient texts, as translated , and I have really loved reading the original rather than a summary of it.


One of my favorites is the Code of Hammarabi. First of all, it reminds me of the Book of Leviticus, but much older (it is a Mesopotamian text, carved into a rock in cuneiform about 1700 BCE) and more broadly applicable to life as a whole. The rules about judges seem almost modern to me, although the laws they enforce are about what you would expect for the culture and the time. The Code also describes life at the time of Prince Hammarabi, which was a time when the Near East was a place where eeking out a living for those not in royalty was hard (the Babylonians did not enjoy the more luxurious life of the Egyptians--those stories are included here as well, and are equally interesting to read).


I thought that I had a liberal education, but in reading these texts I realize that there were many gaps that I have just now been able to start filling in. While this might sound like a chore to read, there are some very enjoyable and some remarkably accessible texts within.

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have spent the last year reading about ancient civilizations with my youngest son and today he leaves his teens behind and begins his young adulthood, so I write this with him in mind. This summer we have been reading the original ancient texts, as translated , and I have really loved reading the original rather than a summary of it.

One of my favorites is the Code of Hammarabi. First of all, it reminds me of the Book of Leviticus, but much older (it is a Mesopotamian text, carved into a rock in cuneiform about 1700 BCE) and more broadly applicable to life as a whole. The rules about judges seem almost modern to me, although the laws they enforce are about what you would expect for the culture and the time. The Code also describes life at the time of Prince Hammarabi, which was a time when the Near East was a place where eeking out a living for those not in royalty was hard (the Babylonians did not enjoy the more luxurious life of the Egyptians--those stories are included here as well, and are equally interesting to read).

I thought that I had a liberal education, but in reading these texts I realize that there were many gaps that I have just now been able to start filling in. While this might sound like a chore to read, there are some very enjoyable and some remarkably accessible texts within.

[C.H.E. Sadaphal · Rating 3 out of 5]

The bottom line: A pricey, sometimes hard-to-read anthology of Ancient Near East texts with a Biblical slant.

James Pritchard’s Ancient Near East introduces readers to classic works (e.g. legal texts, hymns, myths, treaties, poetry and letters) of the region—such as the Code of Hammurabi, the Enuma elish, and the Epic of Gilgamesh—and in turn provides a clearer understanding of the cultures that existed in the ancient era.

The problem is that many of the translations ... http://www.chesadaphal.com/ancient-ne...

[Peter Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Amazon review -

http://www.amazon.com/review/RSHI7EEI...