Ancient Near Eastern History and Culture

List of Tables.


List of Documents.


List of Maps.


List of Figures.


Preface.


Acknowledgments.


1. Introduction.


Studying the Ancient Near East.



What is the “Near East”?



The Nature of Historical Study.



The Ancient Historian's “Clues”.



Creating a Chronology for the Ancient Near East.



Relative and Absolute Dating.



Sources for Ancient Near Eastern Chronology.



A Note on Terminology: BCE/CE vs. BC/AD.



Prelude: Near Eastern Prehistory.



The Origins of Sedentary Life (c. 10,500-8300 BCE).



Early Agricultural Communities in Southwest Asia (c. 8300-6000 BCE).



The Development of Complex Societies in Southwest Asia (c. 6000-3700 BCE).



Early Cultures of the Nile Valley (c. 8000-3500 BCE).



Major Social, Economic and Political Developments of the Neolithic Age.



General Works on the Ancient Near East.



Works on Topics Discussed in the Introduction.



2. The Dawn of Civilization in Western Asia.


The Emergence of Civilization in Mesopotamia (c. 3700-3000 BCE).



The Urban Revolution.



The Development of Writing.



The People of Mesopotamia.



The Origins of Elam .



The Mesopotamian Early Dynastic Period (c. 3000-2330 BCE).



An Era of Independent City States.



The “Royal Tombs” of Ur.



Early Dynastic (“Sumerian”) Culture.



Religion and World View.



The Development of Kingship.



Economy and Society.



Education, Literature and the Arts.



Science, Technology and Warfare.



Urbanization in Other Areas of Western Asia, c. 3300-2300 BCE.



Early Bronze Age Syria and Palestine.



The Early Bronze Age in Anatolia and Iran.



General Works on Ancient Mesopotamia and Elam.



Works on Early Western Asia, c. 4000-2300 BCE.



3. The First Mesopotamian Empires.


The Akkadian Empire (c. 2334-2193 BCE).



Sargon of Agade (c. 2334-2279 BCE).



Divine Kingship.



The Administration of the Empire.



The Collapse of the Empire.



The Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2112-2004 BCE).



Ur's Rise to Power.



Shulgi's Reforms.



The Fall of Ur.



Persian Gulf and Central Asian Civilizations.



Dilmun, Magan, and Meluhha.



The Oxus Civilization.



The Old Babylonian Period (c. 2000-1595 BCE).



The “Interregnum” after the Fall of Ur.



Hammurabi and His Rivals.



Old Babylonian Cultural Developments.



The End of Hammurabi's Dynasty and the Rise of the Hittites.



The Emergence of New Peoples.



Indo-Europeans.



Hurrians and the Mitanni.



Kassites.



4. Egypt to the End of the Old Kingdom.


The Late Predynastic Era.



Basics: The Geography of Egypt and Nubia.



Prelude to Civilization: The Naqada II Period (c. 3500-3050 BCE).



The Formation of the Egyptian State.



Unification of the Two Lands.



The Development of Hieroglyphic Writing.



The Early Dynastic Period (Dynasties 1 and 2, c. 3050-2686 BCE).



Major Elements of Egyptian Culture.



Ma'at.



Divine Kingship.



Burial and the Afterlife.



Religion and Ritual.



The Old Kingdom (Dynasties 3-6, c. 2686-2180 BCE).



Djoser and the First Pyramid.



The Zenith of Royal Power (The Fourth Dynasty, c. 2613-2498 BCE).



The Slow Decline of Royal Power (Dynasties 5 and 6, c. 2498-2180 BCE).



Early Egyptian Society and Culture.



General Works on Egypt and/or Nubia.



Early Egypt through the Old Kingdom.



5. The Rise and Fall of the Egyptian Middle Kingdom.


The First Intermediate Period (Dynasties 7-11a, c. 2180-2040 BCE).



Where is Ma'at?



The Intermediate Period's Effects.



The Middle Kingdom (Dynasties 11b-13a, c. 2040-1720 BCE).



The Establishment of the Middle Kingdom.



The Impressive Twelfth Dynasty.



Cultural Developments during the Middle Kingdom.



The Second Intermediate Period (Dynasties 13b-17, c. 1720-1540 BCE).



The Onset of the Second Intermediate Period.



The Kingdom of Kush (Nubia).



Hyksos Rule and the Kings of Thebes (Dynasties 15 and 17, c. 1650-1540 BCE).



Hyksos Relations with the Levant.



Egyptian and Levantine Contacts with the Minoan Culture of Crete.



6. The Era of Egyptian Greatness.


The Beginning of the Egyptian New Kingdom.



The Early Eighteenth Dynasty (c. 1550-1479 BCE).



The “Royal Heiress” Theory.



Hatshepsut and Thutmose III (c. 1479-1425 BCE).



Hatshepsut's Seizure of Power.



The Sole Rule of Thutmose III.



The Era of Egyptian Supremacy (c. 1425-1350 BCE).



The Reigns of Amenhotep II and Thutmose IV.



Amenhotep III, the Magnificent.



The New Egyptian Army.



Late Bronze Age Canaan (Palestine and Coastal Syria).



Relations with the Aegean Kingdoms.



Akhenaton and the Amarna Revolution (c. 1350-1334 BCE).



Controversies of the Amarna Age.



Did Akhenaton Have a Co-regency with His Father?



The Beginning of Amenhotep IV's Reign.



Akhenaton's Religion.



The Revolution's Denouement.



The End of the Eighteenth Dynasty (c. 1334-1293 BCE).



Tutankhamun and the Restoration of Amun.



The Reigns of Ay and Horemheb.



7. The End of the Bronze Age.


The Zenith of Hittite Power (c. 1344-1180 BCE).



Revival and Extension of the Hittite Empire.



Hatti's Showdown With Egypt.



Achaeans and Trojans in Hittite Texts?



Hittite Culture.



Economy, Society and Government.



Religion.



Languages and Literature.



The Twilight of the Egyptian Empire (Dynasties 19-20, c.1293-1150 BCE).



The Empire's Final Flash of Greatness.



Invasions of the Sea Peoples.



The Collapse of Bronze Age Societies in the Eastern Mediterranean.



The Mycenaean Kingdoms.



The Demise of the Hittite Empire.



The End of Egyptian Power.



The Decline of Assyria and Babylonia.



The Cause of the Collapse.



8. Recovery and Transformation (c. 1150-750 BCE).


Mesopotamia and Egypt.



Assyria and Babylonia.



Egypt.



Anatolia.



The Kingdom of Urartu.



The Phrygian and Neo-Hittite Kingdoms.



Syria.



The Aramaeans.



The Phoenicians.



Early Israel.



The Emergence of Israel.



Israel's United Monarchy.



The Kingdoms of Israel and Judah.



Other Small States of the Southern Levant.



The Philistines.



Ammon, Moab and Edom.



9. Mesopotamian Supremacy.


The Height of Assyrian Dominion (744-627 BCE).



Reestablishment and Expansion of Assyrian Power (744-681 BCE).



The Empire at its Zenith (680-627 BCE).



Neo-Assyrian Society and Culture.



The King, Crown Prince and Queen.



Non-Royal Social Classes.



The Army.



Administration of the Empire.



Art, Literature and Science.



The Neo-Babylonian Empire (625-560 BCE).



Destruction of Assyria (627-605 BCE).



Formation of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.



Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon.



The End of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.



The Emergence of Biblical Monotheism.



The Triumph of the Reform Movement.



The Babylonian Exile.



10. The Persian Empire.


The Origins and Growth of the Achaemenid Empire.



The Brief Fluorescence of the Lydian Kingdom (c. 685-547 BCE).



The Creation of the Persian Empire.



The Persian Empire at Its Height (522-425 BCE).



Crisis and Recovery.



Reorganization of the Empire.



Wars With the Greeks.



Persian Culture.



The King and Court.



The Persian Army.



The Religion of Zoroaster.



Persian Art and Architecture.



Judah During the Persian Period.



The Restoration of Judah.



Religious Developments During the Persian Era.



The End of the Persian Empire.



Decline of the Empire (425-330 BCE).



Conquest by Alexander the Great.



11. The Legacy of the Ancient Near East.


Food, Drink and Animals.



Mathematics and Science.



Language and Literature.



Music, Art and Architecture.



Religion and Speculative Thought.



Glossary.


Chronological Chart.


Index.