Mesopotamia

DK Eyewitness Books

by Philip Steele

Discover the cradle of civilization - the birthplace of writing, religion, and the rule of law.

Travel back to the land where human history was first recorded - the land of kings, queens, gods, goddesses, nomads, and scribes. Be an eyewitness to the "land between the rivers," from the first Sumerian city-states to the mighty Babylonian empires. Featuring a pull-out wall chart and its own clip-art CD, Mesopotamia provides a detailed look at where the first cities, states, and empires rose. Richly detailed full-color images and photographs of ancient artifacts, architecture, and maps combine with a comprehensive overview of the Sumerian, Assyrian, and Babylonian civilizations. See incredible works of Mesopotamian art, meet the warriors and innovators living ahead of their time, learn how to read ancient inscriptions, and much, much more!

Includes CD with clip-art and wall chart-at the same price as the original editions
Includes spectacular full-color photographs and illustrations
72-page format includes 8 bonus pages full of amazing facts
Library-bound editions available without CDs for all titles

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Childrens, Ancient, Reference

72 pages, Hardcover

First published June 25, 2007

About the author

Philip Steele was born in Dorking, Surrey, England. He attended University College, Durham, where he studied modern languages. In the 1970s he worked as an editor for various publishers, including Hodder and Hamlyn. In 1980 he moved to the Isle of Anglesey, in North Wales, where he now lives. He has written on a wide range of topics, especially in the fields of history, junior biography, peoples, and cultures.

Reviews

[Dianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book. Looking through it feels like going to a museum full of amazing artifacts. I really enjoyed reading it!

The downside is that I feel that it doesn't give a good foundation for learning about Mesopotamia. So it's more of a supplement than a what-is-it book. It really does bring it to life, though, in a way textbooks don't. I wish someone would make a book that gives the core facts AND brings it to life!

[Little Timmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these eyewitness books. I know they are written for a younger audience but its just so cool to be able to see some of the history things I read about so much more clearly. Amazing pictures and I always learn something new. Highly recommended

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad book. Fantastic history about art and culture. I found it to be a little too mixed for my pleasure but I suppose that is the point so that you can get every aspect of the historical area.

[Linniegayl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, this is written for children. But it's a beautiful book with many wonderful photographs and illustrations, and just enough text to provide a nice introduction to some key facts about Mesopotamia. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Mansour S منصور السدحان · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve always wanted to learn a thing or two about Semitic civilizations (me being a Semitic) and Mesopotamians are on my high list. I’ve learned how to write my name in cuneiform! We in the Middle East tend to forget that Phoenicians, Mesopotamians and Persians and more are also part of our region, not just the Arabs, we’re a mixture of Semitic people Arab and more. Western civilization sprung from the Greeks, Middle Eastern civilization sprung from Mesopotamians. Anyway, look at me making an argument on a DK Eyewitness book 🤦🏻‍♂️

[Eswar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahead of our family trip to Jordan we wanted to introduce our daughter to history of the region. The book did more than expected by teaching us the parents a significant amount of the various human races that traversed the lands over more than 20 centuries. It enabled us to enjoy the sightseeing with a more historic context - especially given that recent funding into the area highlights more recent, modern religious discoveries in comparison to the older ruins.

[LeAnne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a kid's book, but I have often found kid's books are a good way to get an introduction to a subject. Beautifully illustrated. Lots of cultural material. A DVD accompanies the book although I was surprised at how much is missing from it--like maps have no words on them. Not very useful as maps.

[existential cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Covers a lot. Not a bad overview, although I'm certainly not an expert.

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to understand and packed with information, this is another one of the Eyewitness series that is terrific. The book is organized around two page spreads that give you a concise and power-packed introduction to something that is important to Mesopotamia.
I think the bling of this book is the way it mixes photographs of real life with pictures of things from the past (artifacts that I would see in a museum) with maps. Not too much and not so little that you don't know anything at the end. Because the facts are delivered in bitesize caption long pieces, you really don't realize how much you've learned in a short amount of time.
This is a terrific way for a 6th grader to learn about Mesopotamia.

[Brent Barnard · Rating 4 out of 5]

They say that Eyewitness Books are like passing through a museum. There's no strong, clear narrative exactly, but so many fascinating objects and chunks of knowledge. This book was no different. Recommended!

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun way to read history. Rather than long, boring pages of text, this is a book of pictures with detailed captions. It comes with a wall poster and even a clip art cd.

[Regina Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tutoring my sister..

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is a great history book showing young readers about Mesopotamia and all the finds and treasures that came from the development of agriculture and city life

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

great look for young readers into the history of Mesopotamia

[Deirdre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outstanding resource for the classroom

[Jose]

it was gay s