Originally published: 2005

Includes bibliographical references and index

List of figures -- List of maps -- Notes on contributors - - Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Part 1: Shape Of The Ancient Near East -- 1: Historical overview / Mario Liverani -- 2: From sedentism to states, 10,000-3000 BCE / Augusta McMahon -- 3: Age of empires, 3100-900 BCE / Mark Chavalas -- 4: World hegemony, 900-300 BCE / Paul-Alain Beaulieu -- Part 2: Discourses On Methods -- 5: Archaeology and the Ancient Near East: methods and limits / Marie-Henriette Gates -- 6: Languages of the Ancient Near East / Gonzalo Rubio -- 7: Historian's task / Daniel C Snell -- Part 3: Economy And Society -- 8: Degradation of the Ancient Near Eastern environment / Carlos E Cordova -- 9: Nomadism through the ages / Jorge Silva Castillo -- 10: Mesopotamian cities and countryside / Elizabeth C Stone -- 11: Money and trade / Christopher M Monroe -- 12: Working / David A Warburton -- 13: Law and practice / Bruce Wells -- 14: Social tensions in the Ancient Near East / John F Robertson -- 15: Gender roles in ancient Egypt / Ann Macy Roth -- 16: Royal women and the exercise of power in the Ancient Near East / Sarah C Melville -- 17 : Warfare in ancient Egypt / Anthony J Spalinger -- Part 4 : Culture -- 18: Transmission of knowledge / Benjamin R Foster -- 19: Ancient Near Eastern literature: genres and forms / Tawny L Holm -- 20: Ancient Near Eastern architecture / Sally Dunham -- 21: Mesopotamian art / Marian H Feldman -- 22: Ancient Mesopotamian medicine / Joann Scurlock -- 23: Mesopotamian cosmology / Francesca Rochberg -- 24: Divine and non-divine kingship / Philip Jones -- 25: How religion was done / Gary Beckman -- Part 5: Heritage Of The Ancient Near East -- 26: Invention of the individual / Daniel C Snell -- 27: Ethnicity / Henri Limet -- 28: Public versus private in the Ancient Near East / Steven J Garfinkle -- 29: Democracy and freedom / Matthew Martin III and Daniel C Snell -- 30: Monotheism and ancient Israelite religion / S David Sperling -- 31: Decipherment of the Ancient Near East / Peter T Daniels -- 32: Legacies of the Ancient Near East / Daniel C Snell -- References -- Index

Synopsis: A Companion to the Ancient Near East offers students and general readers a comprehensive overview of Near Eastern civilization from the Bronze Age to the conquests of Alexander the Great. Covers the civilizations of the Sumerians, Hittites, Babylonians, Assyrians, Israelites, and Persians. Places particular emphasis on social and cultural history. Covers the legacy of the Ancient Near East in the medieval and modern worlds. Provides a useful bibliographical guide to this field of study