Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization

Publishers Weekly

Recent events in Iraq, Iran, and Turkey recall ancient and equally dramatic events in Babylon and Mesopotamia, whose lands these countries now occupy. A magnificent storyteller and a careful historian, Kriwaczek (Yiddish Civilization) brings to life the world of ancient Mesopotamia and the city of Babylon, tracing their rise from a loose federation to a monarchy to the rise of ancient Sumerian civilization, with its tales of the Great Flood and the epics of semidivine heroes such as Gilgamesh. Drawing on primary sources and guiding us through the many cultural, political, social, and religious changes of Mesopotamian history, Kriwaczek, head of central Asian affairs for the BBC World Service, demonstrates that over its 2,500-year existence (before its fall to Cyrus of Persia in 539 B.C.E.), Mesopotamia served as an “experimental laboratory for civilization” and preserved a single civilization using one form of writing, cuneiform, from beginning to end. This Mesopotamian culture discovered or invented almost everything we associate with civilized life: religions, including the first stirrings of monotheism; a wide variety of economic and production systems; an assortment of government systems, from primitive democracy to ruthless tyranny. Kriwaczek’s marvelous introduction offers a first-rate guide to a fascinating ancient civilization that continues to influence us today. 16 pages of b&w photos; maps. Agent: Mindy Little, Watson Little Ltd. (U.K.). (Apr.)

From the Publisher

Praise for Babylon

 

“The lively mixture of topicality, politics, history, myth and culture in this anecdote is typical of Babylon at its best.”

—The Independent (UK)

 

"Historical detail gives authority to this tale of human misery and military magnificence."

—The Times (UK)

 

"Eloquent and consistently thought-provoking account of ancient Mesopotamia."

—Scotland on Sunday

 

Praise for Yiddish Civilisation

 

"An outstanding survey of a civilization that endured against great odds but has now essentially vanished."

—Booklist (starred)

 

Praise for In Search of Zarathustra

 

"A landmark book."

—Library Journal

 

"Lively and fast-paced."

 —Publishers Weekly

Library Journal

Mesopotamian culture lasted for well over 3000 years, and Kriwaczek (BBC World Service; Yiddish Civilisation: The Rise and Fall of a Forgotten Nation), who died last year (this book was published in the UK in 2010), reminds us that we have much to learn from it. The concept of "Babylon" may represent a strange and alien world, but modern figures have drawn inspiration from it and made explicit comparisons. Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, for example, modeled his rule on ancient Babylonian and Sumerian kings, and parallels to their history can also be found in his downfall. Central planning and bureaucracy as practiced in the earliest days of Sumer continue to thrive and fail in much the same way they did then. Old Babylon developed medical procedures, lost during the subsequent ascendancy of Greek medicine, from which we may still learn. By understanding Mesopotamia, which predated modern national boundaries and the major monotheistic religions, Kriwaczek implies, historians may deepen their understanding of the region's present struggles. VERDICT While not a rigorous academic study, this vibrant and thought-provoking work succeeds in making ancient history relevant. Any reader interested in history, religion, or political science should enjoy it. [See Prepub Alert, 10/28/11.]—Margaret Heller, Dominican Univ. Lib., River Forest, IL

Kirkus Reviews

A sprightly overview of the rich, ancient civilizations that flourished in the land between the two rivers. The former head of Central Asian Affairs at the BBC's World Service, Kriwaczek (Yiddish Civilizations, 2005, etc.) brings a contemporary fire to his treatment of the age-old regional flux still demanding world attention, namely in headlines daily from Iraq, Iran and Syria. The ancient simmering conflict of the Fertile Crescent boils down to the question: "Should the Tigris-Euphrates Valley be mastered from the west or the east"? The emerging communities that sprang up from farming hamlets, a mix of Semitic and non-Semitic cultures, produced the civilized life we recognize today mainly through the use of cuneiform writing. The need to organize systems of irrigation in Eridu, the first southern settlement, spawned an "urban revolution," with the invention of cities and all that came with them: division of labor, social classes, engineering, the arts, education, numbers and law, to mention a few. Kriwaczek is constantly sifting through changing theories resulting from continuous excavations, such as what might have prompted the progression from godly worship to the establishment of kings, somewhere around 4,000 BCE, in the city of Uruk, Gilgamesh's legendary kingdom. The author keeps close to biblical readings for comparative accounts of the Flood and the succession of kings of the city-states to the founder of the first true empire, Sargon. With Terah the Amorite's move from Sumer to Babylon, a glorious kingdom developed, sowing seeds of science and music theory and offering a rich repository for the Jewish diaspora. Invasions by Hittites and Assyrians only spurred reinvention, and the civilization was rather more appropriated than eclipsed by Cyrus the Great of Persia in his invasion of 539 BCE. A pertinent, accessible study, more lively than scholarly.