Kish Excavations, 1923-1933

Kish Excavations, 1923-1933
Author: Field Museum-Oxford University Joint Expedition to Mesopotamia
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 280
Release: 1978
Genre: History
ISBN:

The Lives of Sumerian Sculpture

The Lives of Sumerian Sculpture
Author: Jean M. Evans
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 291
Release: 2012-10-08
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1107017394

This book examines the sculptures created during the Early Dynastic period (2900-2350 BC) of Sumer, a region corresponding to present-day southern Iraq. Featured almost exclusively in temple complexes, some 550 Early Dynastic stone statues of human figures carved in an abstract style have survived. Chronicling the intellectual history of ancient Near Eastern art history and archaeology at the intersection of sculpture and aesthetics, this book argues that the early modern reception of Sumer still influences ideas about these sculptures. Engaging also with the archaeology of the Early Dynastic temple, the book ultimately considers what a stone statue of a human figure has signified, both in modern times and in antiquity.

Ebla and its Landscape

Ebla and its Landscape
Author: Paolo Matthiae
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 564
Release: 2016-06-16
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1315429888

The discovery of 17,000 tablets at the mid-third millennium BC site of Ebla in Syria has revolutionized the study of the ancient Near East. This is the first major English-language volume describing the multidisciplinary archaeological research at Ebla. Using an innovative regional landscape approach, the 29 contributions to this expansive volume examine Ebla in its regional context through lenses of archaeological, textual, archaeobiological, archaeometric, geomorphological, and remote sensing analysis. In doing so, they are able to provide us with a detailed picture of the constituent elements and trajectories of early state development at Ebla, essential to those studying the ancient Near East and to other archaeologists, historians, anthropologists, and linguists. This work was made possible by an IDEAS grant from the European Research Council.

The Sumerian World

The Sumerian World
Author: Harriet Crawford
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 689
Release: 2013-08-29
Genre: History
ISBN: 1136219129

The Sumerian World explores the archaeology, history and art of southern Mesopotamia and its relationships with its neighbours from c.3,000 - 2,000BC. Including material hitherto unpublished from recent excavations, the articles are organised thematically using evidence from archaeology, texts and the natural sciences. This broad treatment will also make the volume of interest to students looking for comparative data in allied subjects such as ancient literature and early religions. Providing an authoritative, comprehensive and up to date overview of the Sumerian period written by some of the best qualified scholars in the field, The Sumerian World will satisfy students, researchers, academics, and the knowledgeable layperson wishing to understand the world of southern Mesopotamia in the third millennium.

The Early Glyptic of Tell Brak

The Early Glyptic of Tell Brak
Author: Donald M. Matthews
Publisher: Saint-Paul
Total Pages: 400
Release: 1997
Genre: History
ISBN: 9783525538968

This book is the most comprehensive treatment of the art of Syria in the third millennium B.C. It is a catalogue of nearly 600 seals from Tell Brak, combined with a general study of the comparative material. It is both a basic word of reference and a new synthesis of the Syrian Early Bronze Age. relate to taxation during the New Kingdom.

Sacred Killing

Sacred Killing
Author: Anne Porter
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2012-09-17
Genre: History
ISBN: 1575066769

What is sacrifice? How can we identify it in the archaeological record? And what does it tell us about the societies that practice it? Sacred Killing: The Archaeology of Sacrifice in the Ancient Near East investigates these and other questions through the evidence for human and animal sacrifice in the Near East from the Neolithic to the Hellenistic periods. Drawing on sociocultural anthropology and history in addition to archaeology, the book also includes evidence from ancient China and a riveting eyewitness account and analysis of sacrifice in contemporary India, which engage some of the key issues at stake. Sacred Killing vividly presents a variety of methods and theories in the study of one of the most profound and disturbing ritual activities humans have ever practiced.

Remembering the Dead in the Ancient Near East

Remembering the Dead in the Ancient Near East
Author: Benjamin W. Porter
Publisher: University Press of Colorado
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2014-10-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1607323257

Remembering the Dead in the Ancient Near East is among the first comprehensive treatments to present the diverse ways in which ancient Near Eastern civilizations memorialized and honored their dead, using mortuary rituals, human skeletal remains, and embodied identities as a window into the memory work of past societies. In six case studies teams of researchers with different skillsets—osteological analysis, faunal analysis, culture history and the analysis of written texts, and artifact analysis—integrate mortuary analysis with bioarchaeological techniques. Drawing upon different kinds of data, including human remains, ceramics, jewelry, spatial analysis, and faunal remains found in burial sites from across the region’s societies, the authors paint a robust and complex picture of death in the ancient Near East. Demonstrating the still underexplored potential of bioarchaeological analysis in ancient societies, Remembering the Dead in the Ancient Near East serves as a model for using multiple lines of evidence to reconstruct commemoration practices. It will be of great interest to students and scholars of ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian societies, the archaeology of death and burial, bioarchaeology, and human skeletal biology.

Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia

Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia
Author: Stephen Bertman
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 410
Release: 2005-07-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 0195183649

Modern-day archaeological discoveries in the Near East continue to illuminate man's understanding of the ancient world. This illustrated handbook describes the culture, history, and people of Mesopotamia, as well as their struggle for survival and happiness.

Ancient Mesopotamia

Ancient Mesopotamia
Author: Susan Pollock
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 276
Release: 1999-05-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780521575683

Innovative study of the early state and urban societies in Mesopotamia, c. 5000 to 2100 BC.

Historical Genesis

Historical Genesis
Author: Richard James Fischer
Publisher: University Press of America
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2008
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780761838067

The beginning chapters of Genesis come alive with characters, places, and events almost totally unknown outside of the Bible itself except when illuminated by the fascinating history of the ancient Near East. Did a man we call Adam actually exist? Was someone known to us as Noah warned of a cataclysmic flood and instructed to build an ark? Could the Tower of Babel incident actually have happened? The reader will gain a new appreciation for the historical integrity of Genesis 2-11, and marvel at the evidence that the persons, places, and events depicted, though long misunderstood, could be real.