Amanda H. Podany > Quotes

“women had more prominence and power in society in the third millennium bce than they did 2,000 years later.”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“To the north of Sumer, in central Mesopotamia, the gods had different names but the same attributes.”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“Would his wife and children be evicted?”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“Between them, these two great rivers had laid down a vast landscape of silt.”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“By this time, humans had been living on the planet for millions of years,”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“The Amuq valley was an ideal place to settle and, unsurprisingly,”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“finally, no, Ea-nasir is not among the people featured in this book. He has had his moment in the sun”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“With Cyrus’s victory, the era of Mesopotamian independence was over. Local culture changed only slowly after the Persian conquest, but in time cuneiform writing and the Akkadian language fell out of use, and the temples to the great Mesopotamian gods were abandoned. Someone must have melted down the gold statues of the gods, no longer fearing their wrath. The evidence for the splendid ancient Near Eastern culture eroded gradually away, the rivers changed their courses, and dirt and sand blew over the ancient cities. Thousands of years passed before modern excavations began and the world once more became aware of its first civilization.”
― Amanda H. Podany, The Ancient Near East: A Very Short Introduction

“The people of the ancient Near East believed that the gods wanted them to be ruled by kings,”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“People bought and sold houses, fields, and orchards, or leased them out.”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“they couldn’t transport goods on the river, they might starve.”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“Once Hammurabi had defeated Rim-Sin and taken control of Larsa,”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“it is still spoken in some communities today.”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“But, starting in the Isin-Larsa period, something very different was happening”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“The ancient recipe reads as follows: “Leg meat (probably lamb or goat) is used. You prepare water. You add fat. You sear. You fold in salt, beer, onion, arugula, cilantro, Persian shallot, cumin, and red beet, and [you crush] leek and garlic. You sprinkle coriander on top. [You add] kurrat (a type of leek) and fresh cilantro.”24”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“Much later, the Greeks and Romans worshiped similar gods—anthropomorphic, related to one another in families,”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“Ashur-uballit had adopted the title “king of Assyria”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“and, in spite of the hot, dry climate, southern Mesopotamia was an excellent place to live.”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“Northern kings acknowledged the influence of the tribal leaders and worked with them.”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“Even those who were not professional textile workers spent many of their waking hours spinning thread for their families’ clothing.”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“The kings provide a fourth continuity across time.”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“simply because we know very little about it.”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“There he encountered a dazzling courtyard space gleaming with bright colors in regular geometric patterns.”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“Several people on the oil ration list were described as “Ya’uda,”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“kings of the Elamite dynasty were referred to as “great king” and “father” by kings in Syria and Mesopotamia and were the only kings that the Mesopotamian kings considered to be higher in status than themselves.”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“Rim-Sin was the only enemy king he referred to by name. Rim-Sin was a legend among kings,”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“Hattusili III was also concerned about the threat from Assyria”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“Farming and herding seem to have crept into the economy, only very gradually”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“no king since time immemorial had built on the bank of the Euphrates.”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

“I enhanced the well-being of the land. I made the people of all settlements lie in safe pastures.”
― Amanda H. Podany, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East