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Ancient Near East: Historical Sources in Translation Ancient Near East: Historical Sources in Translation(Blackwell Sourcebooks in Ancient History)
Ancient Near East: Historical Sources in Translation(Blackwell Sourcebooks in Ancient History) Ancient Near East: Historical Sources in Translation

This book presents new translations of Mesopotamian and ancient Near Eastern historiographic texts, providing the reader with the primary sources for the history of the ancient Near East.

  • A primary source book presenting new translations of Mesopotamian and ancient Near Eastern historiographic texts, and other related materials.
  • Helps readers to understand the historical context of the Near East.
  • Covers the period from the earliest historical and literary texts (c.2700 B.C.) to the latest Hellenistic historians who comment on ancient Near Eastern history (c.250 B.C.)
  • Texts range from the code of Hammurabi to the Assyrian royal inscriptions.
  • A detailed commentary is provided on each text, placing it in its historical and cultural context.
  • Maps, illustrations and a chronological table help to orientate the reader.

From the Back Cover

This book provides the reader with the primary sources for the history of the ancient Near East. Covering the period from the earliest historical and literary texts (ca. 2700 BC) to the advent of Alexander the Great (331 BC), it presents new translations of Mesopotamian and ancient Near Eastern historiographic texts, and other related materials.

An opening chapter sets out the themes of the book and discusses the difficulties of translating cuneiform texts into English, as well as the difficulty of reconstructing ancient Near Eastern history from textual sources. Texts featured in the main body of the book range from the code of Hammurabi to the Assyrian royal inscriptions. For each text, a detailed commentary is provided, placing it in its historical and cultural context. A map helps to orient the reader.

Paperback: 468 pages
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell; 1 edition (July 21, 2006)

A History of Babylon, 2200 BC - AD 75 (Blackwell History of the Ancient World) A History of Babylon, 2200 BC - AD 75 (Blackwell History of the Ancient World)
A History of Babylon, 2200 BC - AD 75 (Blackwell History of the Ancient World) A History of Babylon, 2200 BC - AD 75

Provides a new narrative history of the ancient world, from the beginnings of civilization in the ancient Near East and Egypt to the fall of Constantinople

Written by an expert in the field, this book presents a narrative history of Babylon from the time of its First Dynasty (1880-1595) until the last centuries of the city’s existence during the Hellenistic and Parthian periods (ca. 331-75 AD). Unlike other texts on Ancient Near Eastern and Mesopotamian history, it offers a unique focus on Babylon and Babylonia, while still providing readers with an awareness of the interaction with other states and peoples. Organized chronologically, it places the various socio-economic and cultural developments and institutions in their historical context. The book also gives religious and intellectual developments more respectable coverage than books that have come before it.

A History of Babylon, 2200 BC – AD 75 teaches readers about the most important phase in the development of Mesopotamian culture. The book offers in-depth chapter coverage on the Sumero-Addadian Background, the rise of Babylon, the decline of the first dynasty, Kassite ascendancy, the second dynasty of Isin, Arameans and Chaldeans, the Assyrian century, the imperial heyday, and Babylon under foreign rule.

  • Focuses on Babylon and Babylonia
  • Written by a highly regarded Assyriologist
  • Part of the very successful Histories of the Ancient World series
  • An excellent resource for students, instructors, and scholars

A History of Babylon, 2200 BC - AD 75 is a profound text that will be ideal for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses on Ancient Near Eastern and Mesopotamian history and scholars of the subject.

About the Author

Paul-Alain Beaulieu, PhD, is Professor of Assyriology at the University of Toronto. He is the author of several articles and books on the history and culture of Babylonia, as well as the greater spectrum of Mesopotamian history. He has been teaching Assyriology and Ancient Near Eastern History for more than twenty years.

Paperback: 312 pages
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell; 1 edition (February 5, 2018)

Sumeria: The Eastern Source of Western Civilisation Sumeria: The Eastern Source of Western Civilisation

Sumeria: The Eastern Source of Western Civilisation Sumeria:The Eastern Source of Western Civilisation

Who were the Sumerians, where did they come from, in which language did they write and speak in Mesopotamia? Why is it that the city of Ur mentioned in the bible and from where Abraham came, was in fact pronounced like Rome and Abraham himself was a Sumerian of many generations, mistakenly believed to come from Semite origins? These questions form the basis of a fascinating and stimulating analysis by Tay Efti. In his book he refers to previous research in the study of Sumeria and the latest genetic research as well as an analysis of the available linguistic material in the field of Sumerology. His challenging discoveries have significant implications and call for a re examination of the origins of Western Culture and indeed the cultural origins of humanity as a whole. The core assertions and values of European civilisations are most probably based on the achievements of Sumerians and Etruscans who themselves are related ethnically and through language. After defeat at the hands of pagan tribes, the Sumerians migrated to various lands to the south, to Europe and Asia bringing with them their knowledge and beliefs and disseminating their culture and thought throughout the known world. Tay Efti maintains that the Sumerians did not disappear but moved to new lands and adapted their culture and knowledge to new circumstances, sustaining and transmitting their values into new environments which can be proved to form the basis of Western culture and civilisation.

Paperback: 226 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (February 18, 2016)

The Urantia Book The Urantia Book
The Urantia Book The Urantia Book

Love

Love is truly contagious and eternally creative. (p. 2018) “Devote your life to proving that love is the greatest thing in the world.” (p. 2047) “Love is the ancestor of all spiritual goodness, the essence of the true and the beautiful.” (p. 2047) The Father’s love can become real to mortal man only by passing through that man’s personality as he in turn bestows this love upon his fellows. (p. 1289) The secret of a better civilization is bound up in the Master’s teachings of the brotherhood of man, the good will of love and mutual trust. (p. 2065)

Prayer

Prayer is not a technique of escape from conflict but rather a stimulus to growth in the very face of conflict. (p. 1002) The sincerity of any prayer is the assurance of its being heard. … (p. 1639) God answers man’s prayer by giving him an increased revelation of truth, an enhanced appreciation of beauty, and an augmented concept of goodness. (p. 1002) …Never forget that the sincere prayer of faith is a mighty force for the promotion of personal happiness, individual self-control, social harmony, moral progress, and spiritual attainment. (p. 999)

Suffering

There is a great and glorious purpose in the march of the universes through space. All of your mortal struggling is not in vain. (p. 364) Mortals only learn wisdom by experiencing tribulation. (p. 556)

Angels

The angels of all orders are distinct personalities and are highly individualized. (p. 285) Angels....are fully cognizant of your moral struggles and spiritual difficulties. They love human beings, and only good can result from your efforts to understand and love them. (p. 419)

Our Divine Destiny

If you are a willing learner, if you want to attain spirit levels and reach divine heights, if you sincerely desire to reach the eternal goal, then the divine Spirit will gently and lovingly lead you along the pathway of sonship and spiritual progress. (p. 381) …They who know that God is enthroned in the human heart are destined to become like him—immortal. (p. 1449) God is not only the determiner of destiny; he is man’s eternal destination. (p. 67)

Family

Almost everything of lasting value in civilization has its roots in the family. (p. 765) The family is man’s greatest purely human achievement. ... (p. 939)

Faith

…Faith will expand the mind, ennoble the soul, reinforce the personality, augment the happiness, deepen the spirit perception, and enhance the power to love and be loved. (p. 1766) “Now, mistake not, my Father will ever respond to the faintest flicker of faith.” (p. 1733)

History/Science

The story of man’s ascent from seaweed to the lordship of earthly creation is indeed a romance of biologic struggle and mind survival. (p. 731) 2,500,000,000 years ago… Urantia was a well developed sphere about one tenth its present mass. … (p. 658) 1,000,000,000 years ago is the date of the actual beginning of Urantia [Earth] history. (p. 660) 450,000,000 years ago the transition from vegetable to animal life occurred. (p. 669) From the year A.D. 1934 back to the birth of the first two human beings is just 993,419 years. (p. 707) About five hundred thousand years ago…there were almost one-half billion primitive human beings on earth. … (p. 741) Adam and Eve arrived on Urantia, from the year A.D. 1934, 37,848 years ago. (p. 828)

From the Inside Flap

What’s Inside?

Parts I and II

God, the inhabited universes, life after death, angels and other beings, the war in heaven.

Part III

The history of the world, science and evolution, Adam and Eve, development of civilization, marriage and family, personal spiritual growth.

Part IV

The life and teachings of Jesus including the missing years. AND MUCH MORE…

Excerpts

God, …God is the source and destiny of all that is good and beautiful and true. (p. 1431) If you truly want to find God, that desire is in itself evidence that you have already found him. (p. 1440) When man goes in partnership with God, great things may, and do, happen. (p. 1467)

The Origin of Human Life, The universe is not an accident... (p. 53) The universe of universes is the work of God and the dwelling place of his diverse creatures. (p. 21) The evolutionary planets are the spheres of human origin…Urantia [Earth] is your starting point. … (p. 1225) In God, man lives, moves, and has his being. (p. 22)

The Purpose of Life, There is in the mind of God a plan which embraces every creature of all his vast domains, and this plan is an eternal purpose of boundless opportunity, unlimited progress, and endless life. (p. 365) This new gospel of the kingdom… presents a new and exalted goal of destiny, a supreme life purpose. (p. 1778)

Jesus, The religion of Jesus is the most dynamic influence ever to activate the human race. (p. 1091) What an awakening the world would experience if it could only see Jesus as he really lived on earth and know, firsthand, his life-giving teachings! (p. 2083)

Science, Science, guided by wisdom, may become man’s great social liberator. (p. 909) Mortal man is not an evolutionary accident. There is a precise system, a universal law, which determines the unfolding of the planetary life plan on the spheres of space. (p. 560)

Life after Death, God’s love is universal… He is “not willing that any should perish.” (p. 39) Your short sojourn on Urantia [Earth]…is only a single link, the very first in the long chain that is to stretch across universes and through the eternal ages. (p. 435) …Death is only the beginning of an endless career of adventure, an everlasting life of anticipation, an eternal voyage of discovery. (p. 159)

About the Author

The text of The Urantia Book was provided by one or more anonymous contributors working with a small staff which provided editorial and administrative support during the book's creation. The book bears no particular credentials (from a human viewpoint), relying instead on the power and beauty of the writing itself to persuade the reader of its authenticity.

Leather Bound: 2097 pages
Publisher: Urantia Foundation; Box Lea edition (August 25, 2015)

The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character (Phoenix Books) The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character (Phoenix Books)

The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character (Phoenix Books) The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character

The Sumerians, the pragmatic and gifted people who preceded the Semites in the land first known as Sumer and later as Babylonia, created what was probably the first high civilization in the history of man, spanning the fifth to the second millenniums B.C. This book is an unparalleled compendium of what is known about them.

Professor Kramer communicates his enthusiasm for his subject as he outlines the history of the Sumerian civilization and describes their cities, religion, literature, education, scientific achievements, social structure, and psychology. Finally, he considers the legacy of Sumer to the ancient and modern world.

"There are few scholars in the world qualified to write such a book, and certainly Kramer is one of them. . . . One of the most valuable features of this book is the quantity of texts and fragments which are published for the first time in a form available to the general reader. For the layman the book provides a readable and up-to-date introduction to a most fascinating culture. For the specialist it presents a synthesis with which he may not agree but from which he will nonetheless derive stimulation."—American Journal of Archaeology

"An uncontested authority on the civilization of Sumer, Professor Kramer writes with grace and urbanity."—Library Journal

Paperback: 372 pages
Publisher: University of Chicago Press; Revised ed. edition (February 15, 1971)

Sumeria: The Earliest Western Civilization Sumeria: The Earliest Western Civilization

Sumeria: The Earliest Western Civilization Sumeria: The Earliest Western Civilization

Sumer was the first ancient urban civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia, modern-day southern Iraq, during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze ages, and arguably the first civilization in the world. Proto-writing in the region dates back to c. 3500 BC. The earliest texts come from the cities of Uruk and Jemdet Nasr and date back to 3300 BC; early cuneiform writing emerged in 3000 BC. Modern historians have suggested that Sumer was first permanently settled between c. 5500 and 4000 BC by a West Asian people who spoke the Sumerian language (pointing to the names of cities, rivers, basic occupations, etc., as evidence), a language isolate. These conjectured, prehistoric people are now called "proto-Euphrateans" or "Ubaidians", and are theorized to have evolved from the Samarra culture of northern Mesopotamia (Assyria). The Ubaidians (though never mentioned by the Sumerians themselves) are assumed by modern-day scholars to have been the first civilizing force in Sumer, draining the marshes for agriculture, developing trade, and establishing industries, including weaving, leatherwork, metalwork, masonry, and pottery. However, some scholars contest the idea of a Proto-Euphratean language or one substrate language. It has been suggested by them and others, that the Sumerian language was originally that of the hunter and fisher peoples, who lived in the marshland and theEastern Arabia littoral region, and were part of the Arabian bifacial culture. Reliable historical records begin much later; there are none in Sumer of any kind that have been dated before Enmebaragesi (c. 26th century BC). Professor Juris Zarins believes the Sumerians were settled along the coast of Eastern Arabia, today's Persian Gulf region, before it flooded at the end of the Ice Age. Sumerian civilization took form in the Uruk period (4th millennium BC), continuing into the Jemdat Nasr and Early Dynastic periods. During the 3rd millennium BC, a close cultural symbiosis developed between the Sumerians, who spoke a language isolate, andAkkadian-speakers, which included widespread bilingualism. The Sumerian culture seems to have appeared as a fully formed civilization, with no pre-history. This book present a thorough history and background of the Sumerian civilization. This book is designed to be an overview of the topic and provide you with the structured knowledge to familiarize yourself with the topic at the most affordable price possible. The level of discussion is designed to be a more in-depth discussion than books such as “Computers for Dummies” but less technical than “The IEEE standards for the Core 2 Duo processor of the Intel Centrino chipset.” The accuracy and knowledge is of an international viewpoint as the edited articles represent the inputs of many knowledgeable individuals and some of the most currently available general knowledge on the topic based on the date of publication.

About the Author

The author has traveled extensively around the world studying world religions, cultural mythology and cultural anthropology. He has degrees from the University of Michigan and has worked in the corridors of power in Washington, DC and has informally studied the influence of belief systems on politics.

Paperback: 212 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1st Edition edition (May 30, 2016)

History Begins at Sumer History Begins at Sumer

History Begins at Sumer History Begins at Sumer

The very beginnings of man's history are recorded in the strange wedge-shaped marks inscribed upon the tablets of Sumer. Unearthed about at century ago from the mounds in Mesopotamia where they had lain for more than three thousand years, and deciphered only after decades of painstaking work, the tablets tell the story of civilization long forgotten, where culture as we know it was born. In this book, which won an award as the best foreign book of the year when it was published in France in 1957, Dr. Samuel Noah Kramer, America's foremost Sumerologist, describes twenty-seven "firsts" in human history and in this way constructs and intimate and vivid picture of everyday public and private life five thousand years ago.

Paperback: 247 pages
Publisher: Doubleday (1959)


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Code of Ur-Nammu


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Code of Ur-Nammu



khashkhamer Seal moon worship
Ur-Nammu (seated) bestows governorship on Ḫašḫamer, patesi (high priest) of Iškun-Sin
(cylinder seal impression, ca. 2100 BC). Ur-Nammu was the husband of Inanna.


Code of Ur-Nammu


The Code of  Ur-Nammu is the oldest known tablet containing a  law code surviving today. It was written in the  Sumerian language  circa  2100 BC- 2050 BC . Although the preface directly credits the laws to king Ur-Nammu of  Ur (2112-2095 BC), some historians think they should rather be ascribed to his son  Shulgi.

The first copy of the code, in two fragments found at  Nippur, was translated by  Samuel Kramer in  1952; owing to its partial preservation, only the prologue and 5 of the laws were discernible [1]. Further tablets were found in  Ur and translated in 1965, allowing some 40 of the 57 laws to be reconstructed. [2] Another copy found in  Sippar contains slight variants.

Although it is known that earlier law-codes existed, such as the Code of  Urukagina, this represents the earliest legal text that is extant. It predated the  Code of Hammurabi by some three centuries.

The laws are arranged in casuistic form of if-(crime), then-(punishment) — a pattern to be followed in nearly all subsequent codes. For the oldest extant law-code known to history, it is considered remarkably advanced, because it institutes fines of monetary compensation for bodily damage, as opposed to the later  lex talionis (‘eye for an eye’) principle of  Babylonian law; however,  murder,  robbery,  adultery and  rape were capital offenses.

The code reveals a glimpse at societal structure during the " Sumerian Renaissance". Beneath the lu-gal ("great man" or king), all members of society belonged to one of two basic strata: The "lu" or free person, and the slave (male, arad; female geme). The son of a lu was called a dumu-nita until he married, becoming a "young man" (gurus). A woman (munus) went from being a daughter (dumu-mi), to a wife (dam), then if she outlived her husband, a widow (nu-ma-su) who could remarry.

The prologue, typical of Mesopotamian law codes, invokes the deities for Ur-Nammu's kingship and decrees "equity in the land".

"…After  An and  Enlil had turned over the Kingship of Ur to  Nanna, at that time did Ur-Nammu, son born of  Ninsun, for his beloved mother who bore him, in accordance with his principles of equity and truth... Then did Ur-Nammu the mighty warrior, king of Ur, king of Sumer and Akkad, by the might of Nanna, lord of the city, and in accordance with the true word of  Utu, establish equity in the land; he banished malediction, violence and strife, and set the monthly Temple expenses at 90 gur of barley, 30 sheep, and 30 sila of butter. He fashioned the bronze sila-measure, standardized the one- mina weight, and standardized the stone weight of a  shekel of silver in relation to one mina... The orphan was not delivered up to the rich man; the widow was not delivered up to the mighty man; the man of one shekel was not delivered up to the man of one mina."

One  mina ( 1/60 of a  talent ) was made equal to 60  shekels ( 1 shekel = 11  grams ) . Among the surviving laws are the following:

  • 1. If a man commits a murder, that man must be killed.
  • 2. If a man commits a robbery, he will be killed.
  • 3. If a man commits a kidnapping, he is to be imprisoned and pay 15 shekels of silver.
  • 4. If a slave marries a slave, and that slave is set free, he does not leave the household.
  • 5. If a slave marries a native (i.e. free) person, he/she is to hand the firstborn son over to his owner.
  • 6. If a man violates the right of another and deflowers the virgin wife of a young man, they shall kill that male.
  • 7. If the wife of a man followed after another man and he slept with her, they shall slay that woman, but that male shall be set free. (§4 in some translations)
  • 8. If a man proceeded by force, and deflowered the virgin slavewoman of another man, that man must pay five shekels of silver. (5)
  • 9. If a man divorces his first-time wife, he shall pay her one mina of silver. (6)
  • 10. If it is a (former) widow whom he divorces, he shall pay her half a mina of silver. (7)
  • 11. If the man had slept with the widow without there having been any marriage contract, he need not pay any silver. (8)
  • 13. If a man is accused of  sorcery he must undergo  ordeal by water; if he is proven innocent, his accuser must pay 3 shekels. (10)
  • 14. If a man accused the wife of a man of adultery, and the river ordeal proved her innocent, then the man who had accused her must pay one-third of a mina of silver. (11)
  • 15. If a prospective son-in-law enters the house of his prospective father-in-law, but his father-in-law later gives his daughter to another man, the father-in-law shall return to the rejected son-in-law twofold the amount of bridal presents he had brought. (12)
  • 17. If a slave escapes from the city limits, and someone returns him, the owner shall pay two shekels to the one who returned him. (14)
  • 18. If a man knocks out the eye of another man, he shall weigh out ½ a mina of silver. (15)
  • 19. If a man has cut off another man’s foot, he is to pay ten shekels. (16)
  • 20. If a man, in the course of a scuffle, smashed the limb of another man with a club, he shall pay one mina of silver. (17)
  • 21. If someone severed the nose of another man with a copper knife, he must pay two-thirds of a mina of silver. (18)
  • 22. If a man knocks out a tooth of another man, he shall pay two shekels of silver. (19)
  • 24. [...] If he does not have a slave, he is to pay 10 shekels of silver. If he does not have silver, he is to give another thing that belongs to him. (21)
  • 25. If a man’s slave-woman, comparing herself to her mistress, speaks insolently to her, her mouth shall be scoured with 1 quart of salt. (22)
  • 28. If a man appeared as a witness, and was shown to be a perjurer, he must pay fifteen shekels of silver. (25)
  • 29. If a man appears as a witness, but withdraws his oath, he must make payment, to the extent of the value in litigation of the case. (26)
  • 30. If a man stealthily cultivates the field of another man and he raises a complaint, this is however to be rejected, and this man will lose his expenses. (27)
  • 31. If a man flooded the field of a man with water, he shall measure out three kur of barley per iku of field. (28)
  • 32. If a man had let an arable field to a(nother) man for cultivation, but he did not cultivate it, turning it into wasteland, he shall measure out three kur of barley per iku of field. (29)

[]References

  1. ^ Kramer, History begins at Sumer, pp. 52-55.
  2. ^ Gurney and Kramer, "Two Fragments of Sumerian Laws," 16 Assyriological Studies, pp. 13-19

[]Further reading

  • Claus Wilcke. "Der Kodex Urnamma (CU): Versuch einer Rekonstruktion." Riches hidden in secret places: ancient Near Eastern studies in memory of Thorkild Jacobson, edited by Zvi Abusch, 2002,  ISBN 1575060612
  • Martha T. Roth. "Law Collections from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor." Writings from the Ancient World, vol. 6. Society of Biblical Literature, 1995,  ISBN 0788501046

The death of Ur-Nammu

Feb 22, 2010 ... To Dumuzid, the beloved husband of Inana, in his palace, ..... Lugulbanda in the Cave The death of Ur-Nammu Praise poem of Ur-Nammu · A tigi ...
www.earth-history.com/Sumer/ur-nammu-death.htm

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Disclaimer

Disclaimer:
Some material presented will contain links, quotes, ideologies, etc., the contents of which should be understood to first, in their whole, reflect the views or opinions of their editors, and second, are used in my personal research as "fair use" sources only, and not espousement one way or the other. Researching for 'truth' leads one all over the place...a piece here, a piece there. As a researcher, I hunt, gather and disassemble resources, trying to put all the pieces into a coherent and logical whole. I encourage you to do the same. And please remember, these pages are only my effort to collect all the pieces I can find and see if they properly fit into the 'reality aggregate'.

Personal Position

Personal Position:
I've come to realize that 'truth' boils down to what we 'believe' the facts we've gathered point to. We only 'know' what we've 'experienced' firsthand. Everything else - what we read, what we watch, what we hear - is what someone else's gathered facts point to and 'they' 'believe' is 'truth', so that 'truth' seems to change in direct proportion to newly gathered facts divided by applied plausibility. Though I believe there is 'truth', until someone representing the celestial realm visibly appears and presents the heavenly records of Facts And Lies In The Order They Happened, I can't know for sure exactly what "the whole truth' on any given subject is, and what applies to me applies to everyone. Until then I'll continue to ask, "what does The Urantia Book say on the subject?"
~Gail Bird Allen

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social-bar-article-content
 

Ancient Near East: Historical Sources in Translation Ancient Near East: Historical Sources in Translation(Blackwell Sourcebooks in Ancient History)
Ancient Near East: Historical Sources in Translation(Blackwell Sourcebooks in Ancient History) Ancient Near East: Historical Sources in Translation

This book presents new translations of Mesopotamian and ancient Near Eastern historiographic texts, providing the reader with the primary sources for the history of the ancient Near East.

  • A primary source book presenting new translations of Mesopotamian and ancient Near Eastern historiographic texts, and other related materials.
  • Helps readers to understand the historical context of the Near East.
  • Covers the period from the earliest historical and literary texts (c.2700 B.C.) to the latest Hellenistic historians who comment on ancient Near Eastern history (c.250 B.C.)
  • Texts range from the code of Hammurabi to the Assyrian royal inscriptions.
  • A detailed commentary is provided on each text, placing it in its historical and cultural context.
  • Maps, illustrations and a chronological table help to orientate the reader.

From the Back Cover

This book provides the reader with the primary sources for the history of the ancient Near East. Covering the period from the earliest historical and literary texts (ca. 2700 BC) to the advent of Alexander the Great (331 BC), it presents new translations of Mesopotamian and ancient Near Eastern historiographic texts, and other related materials.

An opening chapter sets out the themes of the book and discusses the difficulties of translating cuneiform texts into English, as well as the difficulty of reconstructing ancient Near Eastern history from textual sources. Texts featured in the main body of the book range from the code of Hammurabi to the Assyrian royal inscriptions. For each text, a detailed commentary is provided, placing it in its historical and cultural context. A map helps to orient the reader.

Paperback: 468 pages
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell; 1 edition (July 21, 2006)

A History of Babylon, 2200 BC - AD 75 (Blackwell History of the Ancient World) A History of Babylon, 2200 BC - AD 75 (Blackwell History of the Ancient World)
A History of Babylon, 2200 BC - AD 75 (Blackwell History of the Ancient World) A History of Babylon, 2200 BC - AD 75

Provides a new narrative history of the ancient world, from the beginnings of civilization in the ancient Near East and Egypt to the fall of Constantinople

Written by an expert in the field, this book presents a narrative history of Babylon from the time of its First Dynasty (1880-1595) until the last centuries of the city’s existence during the Hellenistic and Parthian periods (ca. 331-75 AD). Unlike other texts on Ancient Near Eastern and Mesopotamian history, it offers a unique focus on Babylon and Babylonia, while still providing readers with an awareness of the interaction with other states and peoples. Organized chronologically, it places the various socio-economic and cultural developments and institutions in their historical context. The book also gives religious and intellectual developments more respectable coverage than books that have come before it.

A History of Babylon, 2200 BC – AD 75 teaches readers about the most important phase in the development of Mesopotamian culture. The book offers in-depth chapter coverage on the Sumero-Addadian Background, the rise of Babylon, the decline of the first dynasty, Kassite ascendancy, the second dynasty of Isin, Arameans and Chaldeans, the Assyrian century, the imperial heyday, and Babylon under foreign rule.

  • Focuses on Babylon and Babylonia
  • Written by a highly regarded Assyriologist
  • Part of the very successful Histories of the Ancient World series
  • An excellent resource for students, instructors, and scholars

A History of Babylon, 2200 BC - AD 75 is a profound text that will be ideal for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses on Ancient Near Eastern and Mesopotamian history and scholars of the subject.

About the Author

Paul-Alain Beaulieu, PhD, is Professor of Assyriology at the University of Toronto. He is the author of several articles and books on the history and culture of Babylonia, as well as the greater spectrum of Mesopotamian history. He has been teaching Assyriology and Ancient Near Eastern History for more than twenty years.

Paperback: 312 pages
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell; 1 edition (February 5, 2018)

Sumeria: The Eastern Source of Western Civilisation Sumeria: The Eastern Source of Western Civilisation

Sumeria: The Eastern Source of Western Civilisation Sumeria:The Eastern Source of Western Civilisation

Who were the Sumerians, where did they come from, in which language did they write and speak in Mesopotamia? Why is it that the city of Ur mentioned in the bible and from where Abraham came, was in fact pronounced like Rome and Abraham himself was a Sumerian of many generations, mistakenly believed to come from Semite origins? These questions form the basis of a fascinating and stimulating analysis by Tay Efti. In his book he refers to previous research in the study of Sumeria and the latest genetic research as well as an analysis of the available linguistic material in the field of Sumerology. His challenging discoveries have significant implications and call for a re examination of the origins of Western Culture and indeed the cultural origins of humanity as a whole. The core assertions and values of European civilisations are most probably based on the achievements of Sumerians and Etruscans who themselves are related ethnically and through language. After defeat at the hands of pagan tribes, the Sumerians migrated to various lands to the south, to Europe and Asia bringing with them their knowledge and beliefs and disseminating their culture and thought throughout the known world. Tay Efti maintains that the Sumerians did not disappear but moved to new lands and adapted their culture and knowledge to new circumstances, sustaining and transmitting their values into new environments which can be proved to form the basis of Western culture and civilisation.

Paperback: 226 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (February 18, 2016)

The Urantia Book The Urantia Book
The Urantia Book The Urantia Book

Love

Love is truly contagious and eternally creative. (p. 2018) “Devote your life to proving that love is the greatest thing in the world.” (p. 2047) “Love is the ancestor of all spiritual goodness, the essence of the true and the beautiful.” (p. 2047) The Father’s love can become real to mortal man only by passing through that man’s personality as he in turn bestows this love upon his fellows. (p. 1289) The secret of a better civilization is bound up in the Master’s teachings of the brotherhood of man, the good will of love and mutual trust. (p. 2065)

Prayer

Prayer is not a technique of escape from conflict but rather a stimulus to growth in the very face of conflict. (p. 1002) The sincerity of any prayer is the assurance of its being heard. … (p. 1639) God answers man’s prayer by giving him an increased revelation of truth, an enhanced appreciation of beauty, and an augmented concept of goodness. (p. 1002) …Never forget that the sincere prayer of faith is a mighty force for the promotion of personal happiness, individual self-control, social harmony, moral progress, and spiritual attainment. (p. 999)

Suffering

There is a great and glorious purpose in the march of the universes through space. All of your mortal struggling is not in vain. (p. 364) Mortals only learn wisdom by experiencing tribulation. (p. 556)

Angels

The angels of all orders are distinct personalities and are highly individualized. (p. 285) Angels....are fully cognizant of your moral struggles and spiritual difficulties. They love human beings, and only good can result from your efforts to understand and love them. (p. 419)

Our Divine Destiny

If you are a willing learner, if you want to attain spirit levels and reach divine heights, if you sincerely desire to reach the eternal goal, then the divine Spirit will gently and lovingly lead you along the pathway of sonship and spiritual progress. (p. 381) …They who know that God is enthroned in the human heart are destined to become like him—immortal. (p. 1449) God is not only the determiner of destiny; he is man’s eternal destination. (p. 67)

Family

Almost everything of lasting value in civilization has its roots in the family. (p. 765) The family is man’s greatest purely human achievement. ... (p. 939)

Faith

…Faith will expand the mind, ennoble the soul, reinforce the personality, augment the happiness, deepen the spirit perception, and enhance the power to love and be loved. (p. 1766) “Now, mistake not, my Father will ever respond to the faintest flicker of faith.” (p. 1733)

History/Science

The story of man’s ascent from seaweed to the lordship of earthly creation is indeed a romance of biologic struggle and mind survival. (p. 731) 2,500,000,000 years ago… Urantia was a well developed sphere about one tenth its present mass. … (p. 658) 1,000,000,000 years ago is the date of the actual beginning of Urantia [Earth] history. (p. 660) 450,000,000 years ago the transition from vegetable to animal life occurred. (p. 669) From the year A.D. 1934 back to the birth of the first two human beings is just 993,419 years. (p. 707) About five hundred thousand years ago…there were almost one-half billion primitive human beings on earth. … (p. 741) Adam and Eve arrived on Urantia, from the year A.D. 1934, 37,848 years ago. (p. 828)

From the Inside Flap

What’s Inside?

Parts I and II

God, the inhabited universes, life after death, angels and other beings, the war in heaven.

Part III

The history of the world, science and evolution, Adam and Eve, development of civilization, marriage and family, personal spiritual growth.

Part IV

The life and teachings of Jesus including the missing years. AND MUCH MORE…

Excerpts

God, …God is the source and destiny of all that is good and beautiful and true. (p. 1431) If you truly want to find God, that desire is in itself evidence that you have already found him. (p. 1440) When man goes in partnership with God, great things may, and do, happen. (p. 1467)

The Origin of Human Life, The universe is not an accident... (p. 53) The universe of universes is the work of God and the dwelling place of his diverse creatures. (p. 21) The evolutionary planets are the spheres of human origin…Urantia [Earth] is your starting point. … (p. 1225) In God, man lives, moves, and has his being. (p. 22)

The Purpose of Life, There is in the mind of God a plan which embraces every creature of all his vast domains, and this plan is an eternal purpose of boundless opportunity, unlimited progress, and endless life. (p. 365) This new gospel of the kingdom… presents a new and exalted goal of destiny, a supreme life purpose. (p. 1778)

Jesus, The religion of Jesus is the most dynamic influence ever to activate the human race. (p. 1091) What an awakening the world would experience if it could only see Jesus as he really lived on earth and know, firsthand, his life-giving teachings! (p. 2083)

Science, Science, guided by wisdom, may become man’s great social liberator. (p. 909) Mortal man is not an evolutionary accident. There is a precise system, a universal law, which determines the unfolding of the planetary life plan on the spheres of space. (p. 560)

Life after Death, God’s love is universal… He is “not willing that any should perish.” (p. 39) Your short sojourn on Urantia [Earth]…is only a single link, the very first in the long chain that is to stretch across universes and through the eternal ages. (p. 435) …Death is only the beginning of an endless career of adventure, an everlasting life of anticipation, an eternal voyage of discovery. (p. 159)

About the Author

The text of The Urantia Book was provided by one or more anonymous contributors working with a small staff which provided editorial and administrative support during the book's creation. The book bears no particular credentials (from a human viewpoint), relying instead on the power and beauty of the writing itself to persuade the reader of its authenticity.

Leather Bound: 2097 pages
Publisher: Urantia Foundation; Box Lea edition (August 25, 2015)

The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character (Phoenix Books) The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character (Phoenix Books)

The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character (Phoenix Books) The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character

The Sumerians, the pragmatic and gifted people who preceded the Semites in the land first known as Sumer and later as Babylonia, created what was probably the first high civilization in the history of man, spanning the fifth to the second millenniums B.C. This book is an unparalleled compendium of what is known about them.

Professor Kramer communicates his enthusiasm for his subject as he outlines the history of the Sumerian civilization and describes their cities, religion, literature, education, scientific achievements, social structure, and psychology. Finally, he considers the legacy of Sumer to the ancient and modern world.

"There are few scholars in the world qualified to write such a book, and certainly Kramer is one of them. . . . One of the most valuable features of this book is the quantity of texts and fragments which are published for the first time in a form available to the general reader. For the layman the book provides a readable and up-to-date introduction to a most fascinating culture. For the specialist it presents a synthesis with which he may not agree but from which he will nonetheless derive stimulation."—American Journal of Archaeology

"An uncontested authority on the civilization of Sumer, Professor Kramer writes with grace and urbanity."—Library Journal

Paperback: 372 pages
Publisher: University of Chicago Press; Revised ed. edition (February 15, 1971)

Sumeria: The Earliest Western Civilization Sumeria: The Earliest Western Civilization

Sumeria: The Earliest Western Civilization Sumeria: The Earliest Western Civilization

Sumer was the first ancient urban civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia, modern-day southern Iraq, during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze ages, and arguably the first civilization in the world. Proto-writing in the region dates back to c. 3500 BC. The earliest texts come from the cities of Uruk and Jemdet Nasr and date back to 3300 BC; early cuneiform writing emerged in 3000 BC. Modern historians have suggested that Sumer was first permanently settled between c. 5500 and 4000 BC by a West Asian people who spoke the Sumerian language (pointing to the names of cities, rivers, basic occupations, etc., as evidence), a language isolate. These conjectured, prehistoric people are now called "proto-Euphrateans" or "Ubaidians", and are theorized to have evolved from the Samarra culture of northern Mesopotamia (Assyria). The Ubaidians (though never mentioned by the Sumerians themselves) are assumed by modern-day scholars to have been the first civilizing force in Sumer, draining the marshes for agriculture, developing trade, and establishing industries, including weaving, leatherwork, metalwork, masonry, and pottery. However, some scholars contest the idea of a Proto-Euphratean language or one substrate language. It has been suggested by them and others, that the Sumerian language was originally that of the hunter and fisher peoples, who lived in the marshland and theEastern Arabia littoral region, and were part of the Arabian bifacial culture. Reliable historical records begin much later; there are none in Sumer of any kind that have been dated before Enmebaragesi (c. 26th century BC). Professor Juris Zarins believes the Sumerians were settled along the coast of Eastern Arabia, today's Persian Gulf region, before it flooded at the end of the Ice Age. Sumerian civilization took form in the Uruk period (4th millennium BC), continuing into the Jemdat Nasr and Early Dynastic periods. During the 3rd millennium BC, a close cultural symbiosis developed between the Sumerians, who spoke a language isolate, andAkkadian-speakers, which included widespread bilingualism. The Sumerian culture seems to have appeared as a fully formed civilization, with no pre-history. This book present a thorough history and background of the Sumerian civilization. This book is designed to be an overview of the topic and provide you with the structured knowledge to familiarize yourself with the topic at the most affordable price possible. The level of discussion is designed to be a more in-depth discussion than books such as “Computers for Dummies” but less technical than “The IEEE standards for the Core 2 Duo processor of the Intel Centrino chipset.” The accuracy and knowledge is of an international viewpoint as the edited articles represent the inputs of many knowledgeable individuals and some of the most currently available general knowledge on the topic based on the date of publication.

About the Author

The author has traveled extensively around the world studying world religions, cultural mythology and cultural anthropology. He has degrees from the University of Michigan and has worked in the corridors of power in Washington, DC and has informally studied the influence of belief systems on politics.

Paperback: 212 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1st Edition edition (May 30, 2016)

History Begins at Sumer History Begins at Sumer

History Begins at Sumer History Begins at Sumer

The very beginnings of man's history are recorded in the strange wedge-shaped marks inscribed upon the tablets of Sumer. Unearthed about at century ago from the mounds in Mesopotamia where they had lain for more than three thousand years, and deciphered only after decades of painstaking work, the tablets tell the story of civilization long forgotten, where culture as we know it was born. In this book, which won an award as the best foreign book of the year when it was published in France in 1957, Dr. Samuel Noah Kramer, America's foremost Sumerologist, describes twenty-seven "firsts" in human history and in this way constructs and intimate and vivid picture of everyday public and private life five thousand years ago.

Paperback: 247 pages
Publisher: Doubleday (1959)


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