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Praise for Paul Kriwaczek "Eloquent and consistently thought-provoking account of ancient Mesopotamia." --"Scotland on Sunday "on "Babylon" "Historical detail gives authority to this tale of human misery and military magnificence."--"The Times "(UK) on "Babylon""" "An outstanding survey of a civilization that endured against great odds but has now essentially vanished." --"Booklist "(starred) on "Yiddish Civilization"""
"A landmark book."
--"Library Journal "on "In Search of Zarathustra"
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Product Description
In Babylon, Paul Kriwaczek tells the story of ancient Mesopotamia from the earliest settlements around 5400 BC, to the eclipse of Babylon by the Persians in the sixth century BC. He chronicles the rise and fall of dynastic power during this period; he examines its numerous material, social and cultural innovations and inventions: The wheel, civil, engineering, building bricks, the centralized state, the division of labour, organised religion, sculpture, education, mathematics, law and monumental building. At the heart of Kriwaczek's magisterial account, though, is the glory of Babylon - 'gateway to the gods' - which rose to glorious prominence under the Amorite king Hammurabi, who unified Babylonia between 1800 and 1750 BC. While Babylonian power would rise and fall over the ensuing centuries, it retained its importance as a cultural, religious and political centre until its fall to Cyrus the Great of Persia in 539 BC.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
37 of 39 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
To start with - this was not at all the book I thought it was - I read the title "Babylon" and was expecting it to be all about the Ziggurat, the hanging gardens, the wealth, the power etc etc of the famous city. What the book is really about is (as so often these days - a real publishers' trick to get books off shelves) in the "sub-title": "Mesopotamia and the birth of civilisation". So it starts way, way, earlier than I had thought it would and there is less about Babylon itself.
But please don't think I am complaining, because it is a really terrific book, and far better for what I wanted (filling in my utter lack of knowledge about what goes "before" Philip/Alexander, the Persian Empire, Carthage etc). Kriwacek takes us back to the very start of civilisation in Mesopotamia and goes on from there. On the way he shakes very thoroughly any sense of Western superiority that readers may still have as he recounts how writing, science, art and architecture were forging ahead here when the inhabitants of Europe were clinging to a very marginal existence. The story of each of the major cities and its type of civilisation is told carefully by reference to excellent sources, and with scrupulously fair recognitiion of where the main areas of controversy lie. What is more it does all link into Babylon, bacuse he shows how each step in the development in Mesopotamia manifested itself within the Babylonian culture when it finally developed (an odd thought, given how early it was).
Kriwacek writes hugely well and engagingly - it appears that his route to writing the book was essentially the curiosity which brought me to reading it (what went before X and Y?) but from the point of view of someone who knows the area as it is now, well (though his BBC work). It may just be good writing but the book conveys a sense of enjoyment in the discoveries and enthusiasm which make you feel that he simply loved the research - jokes about textual infelicities, and asides about impressions which a text conveys mean that the stories leap from the page. I am generally very sniffy about modern parallels, but the ones he used were clever, well chosen and not over done - indeed given the gaps in material I found them positively helpful in assisting one to recreate the picture.
All in all, a wonderful book - definitely in my top 3 so far this year - and I shall be off to the British Museum this weekend to look at their Mesopotamian collection with new eyes!
But please don't think I am complaining, because it is a really terrific book, and far better for what I wanted (filling in my utter lack of knowledge about what goes "before" Philip/Alexander, the Persian Empire, Carthage etc). Kriwacek takes us back to the very start of civilisation in Mesopotamia and goes on from there. On the way he shakes very thoroughly any sense of Western superiority that readers may still have as he recounts how writing, science, art and architecture were forging ahead here when the inhabitants of Europe were clinging to a very marginal existence. The story of each of the major cities and its type of civilisation is told carefully by reference to excellent sources, and with scrupulously fair recognitiion of where the main areas of controversy lie. What is more it does all link into Babylon, bacuse he shows how each step in the development in Mesopotamia manifested itself within the Babylonian culture when it finally developed (an odd thought, given how early it was).
Kriwacek writes hugely well and engagingly - it appears that his route to writing the book was essentially the curiosity which brought me to reading it (what went before X and Y?) but from the point of view of someone who knows the area as it is now, well (though his BBC work). It may just be good writing but the book conveys a sense of enjoyment in the discoveries and enthusiasm which make you feel that he simply loved the research - jokes about textual infelicities, and asides about impressions which a text conveys mean that the stories leap from the page. I am generally very sniffy about modern parallels, but the ones he used were clever, well chosen and not over done - indeed given the gaps in material I found them positively helpful in assisting one to recreate the picture.
All in all, a wonderful book - definitely in my top 3 so far this year - and I shall be off to the British Museum this weekend to look at their Mesopotamian collection with new eyes!
47 of 53 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I bought this knowing that it was written by a non-specialist - a 'journalistic' approach to the ancient world of the Sumarians, Akkadians etc. That's OK. A journalistic style can be great for general introductions to a subject, making the material engaging and easy-to-read.
Alas, in this case getting a book by a non-specialist may have been a big mistake. This author appears to see historical connections where none really exist, and sometimes drifts off on tangents that have little or no direct relevance to the subject.
Just one example to show what I mean: In a discussion of the 'Warka Vase' (from ancient Mesopotamia) the author suddenly jumps to Plato (Greece, a few thousand years later), then spends a couple of pages discussing Johan Huizinga, a 20th century Dutch philosopher.
All very interesting, no doubt, but I wanted to learn about ancient Mesopotamia, not Johan Huizinga's philosophy. Huizinga's relevance to the ancient Near East (if any) could have been summed up in a sentence or two.
Frequently as I read this book I found myself thinking, 'PLEASE can we get back to the point?'
You'll have gathered by now that I didn't like it.
(BTW, anyone who bought the book expecting lots about the city of Babylon may be doubly-disappointed. While Babylon gets a reasonable mention later in the book, the book's title would have been more accurate if the word 'Babylon' had been omitted.)
Another annoyance was the way the author sometimes makes highly improbable links and connections, and does so in such an off-handed way. His tone implies that there's nothing controversial about these statements, and that no one could possibly doubt them.
Again, just one example: He mentions in passing that the Christmas story of the baby in the manger had its roots in ancient Mesopotamian myth. Really? Sorry, Mr Kriwaczek but I don't think so! I suspect most real historians don't think so either.
To be honest, by the time I'd reached about page 40 of this 300 page book, I was already regretting my purchase, and nothing that followed changed my opinion. I just didn't feel I was in a safe pair of hands.
In the 'further reading' section, the author recommends A History of the Ancient Near East: Ca. 3000-323 BC (Blackwell History of the Ancient World) by Marc van de Mieroop, Professor of Ancient Near Eastern History at Columbia. Personally, I now wish I'd bought that book and not this one!
Alas, in this case getting a book by a non-specialist may have been a big mistake. This author appears to see historical connections where none really exist, and sometimes drifts off on tangents that have little or no direct relevance to the subject.
Just one example to show what I mean: In a discussion of the 'Warka Vase' (from ancient Mesopotamia) the author suddenly jumps to Plato (Greece, a few thousand years later), then spends a couple of pages discussing Johan Huizinga, a 20th century Dutch philosopher.
All very interesting, no doubt, but I wanted to learn about ancient Mesopotamia, not Johan Huizinga's philosophy. Huizinga's relevance to the ancient Near East (if any) could have been summed up in a sentence or two.
Frequently as I read this book I found myself thinking, 'PLEASE can we get back to the point?'
You'll have gathered by now that I didn't like it.
(BTW, anyone who bought the book expecting lots about the city of Babylon may be doubly-disappointed. While Babylon gets a reasonable mention later in the book, the book's title would have been more accurate if the word 'Babylon' had been omitted.)
Another annoyance was the way the author sometimes makes highly improbable links and connections, and does so in such an off-handed way. His tone implies that there's nothing controversial about these statements, and that no one could possibly doubt them.
Again, just one example: He mentions in passing that the Christmas story of the baby in the manger had its roots in ancient Mesopotamian myth. Really? Sorry, Mr Kriwaczek but I don't think so! I suspect most real historians don't think so either.
To be honest, by the time I'd reached about page 40 of this 300 page book, I was already regretting my purchase, and nothing that followed changed my opinion. I just didn't feel I was in a safe pair of hands.
In the 'further reading' section, the author recommends A History of the Ancient Near East: Ca. 3000-323 BC (Blackwell History of the Ancient World) by Marc van de Mieroop, Professor of Ancient Near Eastern History at Columbia. Personally, I now wish I'd bought that book and not this one!
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I bought this one because I wanted to know more about Babylon. What I got was something slightly different but still a very good book. This story is about the whole of Mesopotamia and not just about Babylon. It tells the story from the first known city of man kind and to the fall of Babylon. In doing so in just less than 300 pages the author has to skip ahead a lot and if you are looking for a list of all the kings, all the wars etc that took place this is not the book. But if you are looking for a great introduction to the area and want to know what took place in general terms, this one is perfect. I read some books about this time in history but still learned a lot that would have been hidden well within a much longer and scientific work. Sometimes I even got this sense of wonder that is the good hallmark of a great science-fiction novel.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Excellent!
Wonderful Introduction to the history of Mesopotamia. Anyone interested in the workings of these ancient civilisations would do well to read this book.
Published 16 months ago by Sebastian Ward
Readable +++
I knew next to nothing about Babylon and no doubt strict historians will baulk at the journalistic approach taken with this book. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Bookworm
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