First Civilizations: Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt

✍ Scribed by Robert Chadwick

• Publisher: Equinox Publishing
• Year: 2005
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 291
• Edition: 2nd
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

First Civilizations is the second edition of a popular student text first published in 1996 in Montreal by Les Editions Champ Fleury. This much updated and expanded edition provides an introductory overview of the civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt. It was conceived primarily for students who have little or no knowledge of ancient history or archaeology.

The book begins with the role of history and archaeology in understanding the past, and continues with the origins of agriculture and the formation of the Sumerian city-states in Mesopotamia. Three subsequent chapters concentrate on Assyrian and Babylonian history and culture. The second half of the book focuses on Egypt, begining with the physical environment of the Nile, the formation of the Egyptian state and the Old Kingdom. Subsequent chapters discuss the Middle Kingdom, the Hyksos period,and the 18th Dynasty, with space devoted to Hatshepsut, Akhenaten, the Ramesside period. The text ends with the Persian conquest of Mesopotamia and Egypt.

First Civilizations also contains sections on astronomy, medicine, architecture, eschatology, religion, burial practices and mummification, and discusses the myths of Gilgamesh, Isis and Osiris. Each chapter has a basic bibliography which emphasizes English language encyclopedias, books and journals specializing in the ancient Near East.

✦ Table of Contents

Prelims
Preface [+] viii
Acknowledgments [+] iv
List of Illustrations [+] x-xviii

Part I: Introduction
1 History and archaeology as tools for understanding the past [+] 1-19
2 Agriculture and the origins of civilization [+] 20-35

Part II: Mesopotamia
3 The Early Dynastic period and the formation of the first city-states [+] 37-49
4 The Akkadians and the Ur III Dynasty [+] 50-58
5 Mesopotamia in the second millennium BC: the Babylonians and the Kassites (2000–1600 BC) [+] 60-72
6 The Assyrians [+] 74-88
7 The Last Babylonian Dynasty [+] 90-98

Part III: Religion, science, and medicine
8 Mythology and religion in Mesopotamia: the story of Gilgamesh and Enkidu [+] 99-106
9 Science and technology: astronomy and medicine in Mesopotamia and Egypt [+] 108-125

Part IV: Egypt
10 Egypt: the Black Land [+] 204-215
11 The Old Kingdom or the Pyramid Age (2575–2134 BC) [+] 128-137
12 Funerary practices, rituals, and mummification [+] 138-154
13 The Hyksos period and the New Kingdom [+] 156-167
14 Akhenaten and the Amarna period [+] 168-178
15 The 19th Dynasty and the Ramesside kings [+] 180-192
16 Egypt in the late second and first millenniums BC [+] 194-202

Part V: Mesopotamia and Egypt under Persian rule
17 The Persians [+] 217-226
Epilogue: The twilight of the first civilizations [+] 228-231

Plate Section
Colour Plates [+]

End Matter
Notes [+] 232-248
Bibliography [+] 250-261
Index [+] 262-268

✦ Subjects

Assyria, Babylonia & Sumer;Ancient Civilizations;History;Egypt;Ancient Civilizations;History;Mesopotamia;Ancient Civilizations;History;Civilization & Culture;World;History;Geography;Historic;Information Systems;Regional;Earth Sciences;Science & Math;Archaeology;Politics & Social Sciences;Ancient;History;Humanities;New, Used & Rental Textbooks;Specialty Boutique;Archaeology;Social Sciences;New, Used & Rental Textbooks;Specialty Boutique