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cerandor's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
4.25
A city-hopping journey through ancient Mesopotamia, from Eridu to Babylon. It’s most fascinating in not just telling the stories of each of the ten cities it covers, but in how it shows how they each differed from one another, and how the role of the city changed over the almost four thousand-year span this book covers.
checkers09's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.75
A history of the ancient Mesopotamian cities with each chapter (of which there are ten) covering a different city.
When I read the first chapter I got the impression this was going to be a long, arduous, and unfulfilling use of my time. However for maybe the first time my enjoyment of the book greatly increased the more I read of it. To begin with I found the book quite confusing to read, it felt like every point was explained in a very convoluted manner, and lacked a lot of compelling descriptive writing. however, I began to understand as i read the book that this was just Lieck trying to write precisely on the topic and not make points using too many assumptions. Her style and approach to writing is essentially the opposite of a writer like Tom Holland who generally writes using more vivid descriptive writing which sometimes lacks historical accuracy. As the book went on I found her style of writing easier to read, although it was never exactly a pageturner. It also helped that the content of the book greatly improved later on, as she structured the book to go from the earliest settlements to the latest settlements. As a result of the massive period between the oldest city's abandonment like Eridu and Shurrupak, there is little historical records or archeological remains. it often felt like she was clutching at straws for the first few chapters and trying to write in an overly convoluted manner simply to fill out the chapter.
there are a few features of the book that I found to be extremely frustrating, for example, her unwillingness to use dates throughout the book. I understand that dating periods so long ago can be quite a challenge so using vague dating is the best way to establish a timeline but she could have simply given the rough date of events like saying the early second century BCE. instead, she refers to all dates using a vague period in Mesopotamian history like UR III or Early Dynastic II which even a reader with a modest understanding of the subject wouldn't be able to date. She does have (like so many writers who use this dating system) a chronological section in the book, which shows the exact dating of these periods, but almost no one who is in the flow of reading would stop flick back to the beginning of the book to search for the period so it feels like a complete waste.
I also felt she spoke too much about the archeological research behind the sites. I do think it's important to have context behind how we uncovered information about a civilization or city but I think this is more acceptable in an overarching book about a specific city. As when an already relatively short book discusses ten different cities it feels like an unnecessary addition, especially as most of the excavations are pretty cut and dry and not what I'm particularly interested in. Although I will say when discussing the excavation and survival of certain cities I like how she discusses the modern use of the sites for political purposes and the difficulties in accessing them. The book was published in 2001 when Iraq was ruled by Saddam Hussein and the country was in conflict with the US.
The book is well researched and Leick does have quite a few interesting points on the cities she discusses. She also makes good use of surviving archeological material which provides a clear factual basis for the points she conveys. I particularly liked her use of Cuneiform tablets to understand courtly life and the inner workings of the ruling elite, as well as the use of propaganda for public inscriptions.
my favorite chapters were towards the end of the book such as Assur and Nineveh in which she traces the history of the cities in relation to Assyrias empire. I found it interesting to read about the strategic importance of the city of Assur as a middle point between the Assyrian empire's Mesopotamian regions and its wider near Eastern, Egyptian territories a role which would make it become the defactor capital of the Empire. These are also some of the few cities where there is more knowledge of rulers and the key events that took place, such as the assassination of Sennacherib and the intrigue around his son Esarhaddon.
If you Like books from authors like Tom Holland, you probably won't enjoy this book but if you are someone who already has a decent knowledge of Mesopotamian history and likes more of an academic approach to writing this might be worth a read.
When I read the first chapter I got the impression this was going to be a long, arduous, and unfulfilling use of my time. However for maybe the first time my enjoyment of the book greatly increased the more I read of it. To begin with I found the book quite confusing to read, it felt like every point was explained in a very convoluted manner, and lacked a lot of compelling descriptive writing. however, I began to understand as i read the book that this was just Lieck trying to write precisely on the topic and not make points using too many assumptions. Her style and approach to writing is essentially the opposite of a writer like Tom Holland who generally writes using more vivid descriptive writing which sometimes lacks historical accuracy. As the book went on I found her style of writing easier to read, although it was never exactly a pageturner. It also helped that the content of the book greatly improved later on, as she structured the book to go from the earliest settlements to the latest settlements. As a result of the massive period between the oldest city's abandonment like Eridu and Shurrupak, there is little historical records or archeological remains. it often felt like she was clutching at straws for the first few chapters and trying to write in an overly convoluted manner simply to fill out the chapter.
there are a few features of the book that I found to be extremely frustrating, for example, her unwillingness to use dates throughout the book. I understand that dating periods so long ago can be quite a challenge so using vague dating is the best way to establish a timeline but she could have simply given the rough date of events like saying the early second century BCE. instead, she refers to all dates using a vague period in Mesopotamian history like UR III or Early Dynastic II which even a reader with a modest understanding of the subject wouldn't be able to date. She does have (like so many writers who use this dating system) a chronological section in the book, which shows the exact dating of these periods, but almost no one who is in the flow of reading would stop flick back to the beginning of the book to search for the period so it feels like a complete waste.
I also felt she spoke too much about the archeological research behind the sites. I do think it's important to have context behind how we uncovered information about a civilization or city but I think this is more acceptable in an overarching book about a specific city. As when an already relatively short book discusses ten different cities it feels like an unnecessary addition, especially as most of the excavations are pretty cut and dry and not what I'm particularly interested in. Although I will say when discussing the excavation and survival of certain cities I like how she discusses the modern use of the sites for political purposes and the difficulties in accessing them. The book was published in 2001 when Iraq was ruled by Saddam Hussein and the country was in conflict with the US.
The book is well researched and Leick does have quite a few interesting points on the cities she discusses. She also makes good use of surviving archeological material which provides a clear factual basis for the points she conveys. I particularly liked her use of Cuneiform tablets to understand courtly life and the inner workings of the ruling elite, as well as the use of propaganda for public inscriptions.
my favorite chapters were towards the end of the book such as Assur and Nineveh in which she traces the history of the cities in relation to Assyrias empire. I found it interesting to read about the strategic importance of the city of Assur as a middle point between the Assyrian empire's Mesopotamian regions and its wider near Eastern, Egyptian territories a role which would make it become the defactor capital of the Empire. These are also some of the few cities where there is more knowledge of rulers and the key events that took place, such as the assassination of Sennacherib and the intrigue around his son Esarhaddon.
If you Like books from authors like Tom Holland, you probably won't enjoy this book but if you are someone who already has a decent knowledge of Mesopotamian history and likes more of an academic approach to writing this might be worth a read.
spacestationtrustfund's review against another edition
3.0
Each chapter is its own city. An excellent academic resource, also accessible for laypersons.
readbyfred's review against another edition
3.0
Not my favorite of history books. I was expecting a more engaging narrative, but it felt a bit dry. The book did get much more riveting when the author described the last three cities Ashur, Nineveh and Babylon.
I did enjoy the author talking about the archeologists who excavated these sites - this was very informative.
I did enjoy the author talking about the archeologists who excavated these sites - this was very informative.
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