Listen free for 30 days
-
The Ancient Near East
- A Very Short Introduction
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi
- Length: 4 hrs and 2 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $14.47
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's Summary
The ancient Near East is known as the "cradle of civilization" - and for good reason. Mesopotamia, Syria, and Anatolia were home to an extraordinarily rich and successful culture. Indeed, it was a time and place of earth-shaking changes for humankind: the beginnings of writing and law, kingship and bureaucracy, diplomacy and state-sponsored warfare, mathematics and literature.
This Very Short Introduction audiobook offers a fascinating account of this momentous time in human history. The 3,000 years covered here - from around 3500 BCE, with the founding of the first Mesopotamian cities, to the conquest of the Near East by the Persian King Cyrus the Great in 539 BCE - represent a period of incredible innovation. As historian Amanda Podany explores this era, she overturns the popular image of the ancient world as a primitive, violent place. We discover that women had many freedoms: They could own property, run businesses, and represent themselves in court. Diplomats traveled between the capital cities of major powers ensuring peace between the kings. Scribes and scholars studied the stars and could predict eclipses and the movements of the planets.
Every chapter introduces the listener to a particular moment in ancient Near Eastern history, illuminating such aspects as trade, religion, diplomacy, law, warfare, kingship, and agriculture.