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A review by ergative
Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization by Paul Kriwaczek
4.25
I really, really enjoyed reading this book. It style of narrative was very congenial to me, with more of a focus on the cultural innovations (lots about the language situation and the writing systems, and even a section on mathematics!) than the tedious back and forths of battles and rulers. Indeed,, not to at one point Kriwaczek says, 'The details of the unending conflict between [Assyria and Babylon], not to mention the constant warfare with the surrounding powers, great and small, recorded later in interminable epics and annals ful of boasts and dubious claims of victory, quickly become hard to follow and wearisome to relate. It is a relief when one of those powers leaves the stage . . . thus simplifying the picture. Enough to say that Assyria grew in territory . . .'
I also really enjoyed Kriwaczek's freewheeling associations and speculations. He's never shy about linking some particular phenomenon to a modern-day equivalent, whether it be the impossibility of preventing migrations of people (with some pointed remarks about US attempts at keeping out immigrants), or an association between diverse societies and a more authoritarian government style (with some pointed comparison between capital punishment and limited social safety measures in the US, a nation of immgirants, compared with more progressive European governments in nations that until recently have been much more culturally homogenious). To be sure, some of these speculations seem a bit cherry-picked; and others are just buck-wild and silly. His remarks about why the rise of bronze weaponry coincides with an age of heroes due to new fighting styles seems fun but probably unfounded; while his remarks about why a religious shift from immanent gods as part of nature to transcendent gods outside of nature coincides with an increase of societal misogyny is . . . kooky. (The logic goes that women's menstrual cycles and reproductive capacity tie them to nature in a way that men are not, so men can be seen as an image of a transcendent god, while women remain linked with animals. I myself think that piss and shit are pretty dang natural and link men to animals pretty hard, so probably the rise of misogyny is not the result of some shift in woo woo mysticism, but, hey, whatever floats your boat, Paul).
But despite my disagreement with certain perspectives, I really enjoyed reading them! Kriwaczek published this book the year before he died, so it's not surprising that he was unbothered about proposing unorthodox ideas. He already had established his name; why not have some fun? It was like having a drunken conversation with a slightly-high college friend who had just had their mind opened by some particularly lively Intro-to-Western-Civ class discussion. It was fun!
I also really enjoyed Kriwaczek's freewheeling associations and speculations. He's never shy about linking some particular phenomenon to a modern-day equivalent, whether it be the impossibility of preventing migrations of people (with some pointed remarks about US attempts at keeping out immigrants), or an association between diverse societies and a more authoritarian government style (with some pointed comparison between capital punishment and limited social safety measures in the US, a nation of immgirants, compared with more progressive European governments in nations that until recently have been much more culturally homogenious). To be sure, some of these speculations seem a bit cherry-picked; and others are just buck-wild and silly. His remarks about why the rise of bronze weaponry coincides with an age of heroes due to new fighting styles seems fun but probably unfounded; while his remarks about why a religious shift from immanent gods as part of nature to transcendent gods outside of nature coincides with an increase of societal misogyny is . . . kooky. (The logic goes that women's menstrual cycles and reproductive capacity tie them to nature in a way that men are not, so men can be seen as an image of a transcendent god, while women remain linked with animals. I myself think that piss and shit are pretty dang natural and link men to animals pretty hard, so probably the rise of misogyny is not the result of some shift in woo woo mysticism, but, hey, whatever floats your boat, Paul).
But despite my disagreement with certain perspectives, I really enjoyed reading them! Kriwaczek published this book the year before he died, so it's not surprising that he was unbothered about proposing unorthodox ideas. He already had established his name; why not have some fun? It was like having a drunken conversation with a slightly-high college friend who had just had their mind opened by some particularly lively Intro-to-Western-Civ class discussion. It was fun!