Fictional Akkadian Autobiography

Fictional Akkadian Autobiography
Author: Tremper Longman
Publisher: Eisenbrauns
Total Pages: 292
Release: 1991
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780931464416

That autobiography in ancient literature is fictional has long been recognized. The purpose of Longman's study is to delineate the genre of fictional autobiography in Akkadian texts with similar texts from other ancient Near Eastern cultures. Included are the texts of all relevant fictional Akkadian autobiographies, as well as an appendix containing English translations of them. The results of the study are of interest to Assyriologists, but also have implications for students of comparative literature and the Bible.

Ancient Near Eastern Art

Ancient Near Eastern Art
Author: Dominique Collon
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 254
Release: 1995-01-01
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9780520203075

Based on the unrivaled collections of the British Museum, this extensively illustrated book is a superb introduction to the art of the ancient Near East from the eighth millennium B.C. to Alexander the Great. Often described as the cradle of civilization, the ancient Near East was the birthplace of writing, monumental sculpture, and wheel-made pottery. Dominique Collon provides a unique view into this ancient world, from village settlements to grand palaces to burial sites. Collon situates the Museum's most beautiful and interesting artifacts against their historical and cultural background. Among the works featured are painted pottery, figurines, cylinder seals, and stone amulets from the earliest village cultures before 3000 B.C. Also here are magnificent finds from graves at Alaca Huyuk in Turkey and the Royal Cemetery at Ur, including jewelry, musical instruments, and the famous Royal Standard. Sculpted reliefs from Assyrian palaces and Sasanian metalwork round out the collection. In her final chapter, Collon shows how art from the ancient Near East resonates in our own world today. A welcome addition is a Mesopotamian chronology summarizing recent astronomical and textual data, compiled by C.B.F. Walker especially for this book. Based on the unrivaled collections of the British Museum, this extensively illustrated book is a superb introduction to the art of the ancient Near East from the eighth millennium B.C. to Alexander the Great. Often described as the cradle of civilization, the ancient Near East was the birthplace of writing, monumental sculpture, and wheel-made pottery. Dominique Collon provides a unique view into this ancient world, from village settlements to grand palaces to burial sites. Collon situates the Museum's most beautiful and interesting artifacts against their historical and cultural background. Among the works featured are painted pottery, figurines, cylinder seals, and stone amulets from the earliest village cultures before 3000 B.C. Also here are magnificent finds from graves at Alaca Huyuk in Turkey and the Royal Cemetery at Ur, including jewelry, musical instruments, and the famous Royal Standard. Sculpted reliefs from Assyrian palaces and Sasanian metalwork round out the collection. In her final chapter, Collon shows how art from the ancient Near East resonates in our own world today. A welcome addition is a Mesopotamian chronology summarizing recent astronomical and textual data, compiled by C.B.F. Walker especially for this book.

Mesopotamian Sculpture in Colour

Mesopotamian Sculpture in Colour
Author: Astrid Nunn
Publisher: PeWe-Verlag
Total Pages: 279
Release: 2020-12-31
Genre: Art
ISBN: 3689850193

We can now be sure that Mesopotamian sculpture of the human form was typically coloured. Our project, which set out to reconstruct the polychromy of Mesopotamian stone statues dating from the fourth to the first millennium BCE, is a part of a slow shift to incorporate more visual evidence in research about colour and perception in the ancient world that has long been dominated by ethno-linguistic studies. Our scientifically grounded reconstructions serve as a prelude to a more comprehensive exploration of the materiality and aesthetics of Mesopotamian sculpture, which open many windows onto historical, cultural, and symbolic issues. In this study, we trace the chronological development of the use of colours and consider why they changed over time. The manner in which colours served as social markers - of gender, ethnicity and class for example - are explored from the material culture and textual perspectives. When used to describe hair, skin, and garments, Sumerian and Akkadian words for colour denote more than just physical properties. They also evoke qualities such as lightness or darkness, dullness or glossiness, and encode specific symbolic values that impinge on many aspects of society. In all cultures, the notion of skin colour is subject to social concepts, prejudices, and ideals, and is thus a matter of convention. Our discovery that the face and body in particular were so vibrantly coloured provides an entirely new and unexpected view of ancient Near Eastern effigies. Through such luminous, radiant and lucid colours, we are now able to recognise the true faces of the statues, and to visualise what was considered beautiful and acceptable to the gods.

In Search of History

In Search of History
Author: John Van Seters
Publisher: Eisenbrauns
Total Pages: 424
Release: 1997
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781575060132

The primary concern of the book is to understand the origins and nature of history-writing in ancient Israel. The investigation is undertaken against the background of history-writing in the Near Eastern and classical worlds. Professor Van Seters begins with a broad survey of all the historiographic material relevant for the study of Israel's own writing of history. He then turns his attention to the question of Israel's historiography by focusing particularly on the Deuteronomistic Historian, the first Israelite historian.

Aryavarta Empire

Aryavarta Empire
Author: Sukumar Das
Publisher: Blue Rose Publishers
Total Pages: 520
Release: 2024-07-15
Genre: History
ISBN:

"This Book has done the first-time discovery of a totally forgotten empire, ARYAVARTA EMPIRE, the biggest empire of the World till the 15th Century BC, and unsurpassed in size only by the Persian Empire of 550 BC, fully recorded in more than 400 hymns of Rig-Veda written of 15th Century BC, with indicative information relating to the empire-boulder's Mesopotamian origin, original name “ Idrimi”, his career as a Vassal king of Mitanni Kingdom [1448 BC-1433 BC], proven by his own Statue-Inscription and Clay-tablets and his killing of Assyrian King Ashur-Nadin-Ahhi-I in 1433 BC, deified as “ Indra” by Rig-Veda, Indo-Aryan’s biggest empire-builder from India to Iran and Sistan to Central Asia. This book also reveal the co-relation of Mesopotamia History, Egyptian History to the so far un-written pre-historic period of 15th and 14th Century’s political upheaval of Asia.”

The Ancient Near East, C. 3000-330 BC

The Ancient Near East, C. 3000-330 BC
Author: Amélie Kuhrt
Publisher: Psychology Press
Total Pages: 422
Release: 1995
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780415167635

A single-authored two-volume work which makes no claims to comprehensiveness, but selectively treats periods and areas usually studied in universities (treatment of Egypt is brief because of the availability of studies of Egyptian history at all levels). It is intended as an introduction to ancient Near Eastern history, to the main sources used for reconstructing societies and political systems, and to some historical problems and scholarly debates. The area discussed extends from Turkey (Anatolia) and Egypt in the west through the Levant (which includes Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria west of the Euphrates) to Mesopotamia into Iran. Volume I covers c.3000 BC to c.1200 BC; volume II, 1200 BC to 330 BC. The author is a Reader in Ancient History at University College London. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.

Critical Approaches to Ancient Near Eastern Art

Critical Approaches to Ancient Near Eastern Art
Author: Brian A. Brown
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Total Pages: 842
Release: 2013-12-13
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1614510350

This volume assembles more than 30 articles focusing on the visual, material, and environmental arts of the Ancient Near East. Specific case studies range temporally from the fourth millennium up to the Hellenistic period and geographically from Iran to the eastern Mediterranean. Contributions apply innovative theoretical and methodological approaches to archaeological evidence and critically examine the historiography of the discipline itself. Not intended to be comprehensive, the volume instead captures a cross-section of the field of Ancient Near Eastern art history as its stands in the second decade of the twenty-first century. The volume will be of value to scholars working in the Ancient Near East as well as others interested in newer art historical and anthropological approaches to visual culture.

Royal Motifs in the Pentateuchal Portrayal of Moses

Royal Motifs in the Pentateuchal Portrayal of Moses
Author: Danny Mathews
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 186
Release: 2012-05-24
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 056711614X

Moses is portrayed through the use of royal motifs: his abandonment at birth, flight from Pharaoh, portrayal as shepherd, temple builder, military general, and lawgiver.

The Messiah Myth

The Messiah Myth
Author: Thomas L. Thompson
Publisher:
Total Pages: 433
Release: 2009-04-20
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0786739118

Since the eighteenth century, scholars and historians studying the texts of the Bible have attempted to distill historical facts and biography from the mythology and miracles described there. That trend continues into the present day, as scholars such as those of the "Jesus Seminar" dissect the Gospels and other early Christian writings to separate the "Jesus of history" from the "Christ of faith." But with The Messiah Myth, noted Biblical scholar Thomas L. Thompson argues that the quest for the historical Jesus is beside the point, since the Jesus of the Gospels never existed.Like King David before him, says Thompson, the Jesus of the Bible is an amalgamation of themes from Near Eastern mythology and traditions of kingship and divinity. The theme of a messiah-a divinely appointed king who restores the world to perfection-is typical of Egyptian and Babylonian royal ideology dating back to the Bronze Age. In Thompson's view, the contemporary audience for whom the Old and New Testament were written would naturally have interpreted David and Jesus not as historical figures, but as metaphors embodying long-established messianic traditions. Challenging widely held assumptions about the sources of the Bible and the quest for the historical Jesus, The Messiah Myth is sure to spark interest and heated debate.

Dictionary of the Ancient Near East

Dictionary of the Ancient Near East
Author: Piotr Bienkowski
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Total Pages: 364
Release: 2010-03-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780812221152

An authoritative guide to the whole of the cradle of civilization.