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bauke 's review for:
Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization
by Paul Kriwaczek
challenging
informative
medium-paced
Overall really enjoyed this. Very informative, not too difficult, good for someone who knows very little about the topic, and a nice jumoing off point into sonething more specific. Some thoughts:
-Sometimes the book seems to accept an unquestioned distinction between civilised and barbarian. Maybe the author didn't want to get into it but it was annoying.
-Overall the book presents a nice narrative history of ancient Mesopotamia, and explains well how various cultures morphed into one another or adapted eachothers customs etc, but at the end of the book we are meant to accept that Mesopotamian civilisation simply ended when the Greeks took over, and a new "alphabetic" rather than cuneiform civilisation began, which sounded extremely arbitrary and could have used a lot more nuance.
-There were more comparisons to communism and Soviet times than one might expect, but I liked the idea of seeing urban living as a kind of ideology.
-Throughout, the author chose some very interesting technological and cultural innovations to deep dive into, such as artificial lapis lazuli and mass-produced throw-away clay bowls.
-As many people note, the book mostly not about Babylon, it is about ancient Mesopotamia. Babylon does not exist during most of the books time frame, and first appears about 75% percent into the book. This is honestly misleading and perhaps plays into a misconception that the two are interchangeable. After reading the book you know that's not true, but its sad the title plays into it.
-Sometimes the book seems to accept an unquestioned distinction between civilised and barbarian. Maybe the author didn't want to get into it but it was annoying.
-Overall the book presents a nice narrative history of ancient Mesopotamia, and explains well how various cultures morphed into one another or adapted eachothers customs etc, but at the end of the book we are meant to accept that Mesopotamian civilisation simply ended when the Greeks took over, and a new "alphabetic" rather than cuneiform civilisation began, which sounded extremely arbitrary and could have used a lot more nuance.
-There were more comparisons to communism and Soviet times than one might expect, but I liked the idea of seeing urban living as a kind of ideology.
-Throughout, the author chose some very interesting technological and cultural innovations to deep dive into, such as artificial lapis lazuli and mass-produced throw-away clay bowls.
-As many people note, the book mostly not about Babylon, it is about ancient Mesopotamia. Babylon does not exist during most of the books time frame, and first appears about 75% percent into the book. This is honestly misleading and perhaps plays into a misconception that the two are interchangeable. After reading the book you know that's not true, but its sad the title plays into it.