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Antico Oriente: Storia, società, economia
In queste pagine, divenute un classico della storiografia, il lettore troverà tre millenni di storia (3500-500 a.C.) ripercorsi in modo unitario. Utilizzando tutta la documentazione portata alla luce dalle ultime scoperte archeologiche (fra cui Ebla è solo la più nota), e grazie alle sue personali ricerche nell'arco di oltre venticinque anni, Mario Liverani ha potuto finalmente ricostruire, in chiave storica e non solo prevalentemente filologica, le vicende di popolazioni dai nomi altamente evocativi (Sumeri, Hittiti, Assiri, Babilonesi, ecc.). Il ricco e vario apparato illustrativo per ogni periodo storico propone il materiale più caratteristico e rappresentativo, documentando il livello tecnologico cui era giunta l'attività produttiva dei popoli dell'Antico Oriente. Questa nuova edizione, a vent'anni dalla prima, si è resa necessaria dal trascorrere di "un tempo pieno di scoperte nel campo dell'antico Oriente che si susseguono ad un ritmo molto più rapido che in altri settori della storia antica, nonostante gli ostacoli, per le vicende belliche e le condizioni politiche, frapposti all'attività archeologica in vari paesi. La grande innovazione dell'ultimo ventennio è l'adozione di un modo di ragionare e di analizzare i problemi di tipo 'sistemico', che dobbiamo alla diffusione dello strumentario elettronico anche in campo storico. Ma si tratta di un'innovazione che riguarda più la tecnica di lavoro che non la valutazione generale".
899 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
January 21, 2016
This is an acknowledged classic in the Italian that took a while to be translated; the English version has been updated, however.
I've read selections; from them, it's romped home to be my first consult on the societies covered. From prehistory to the advent of the Persians; but it's 600+ pages, large format (1000 in the Italian paperback) and Liverani has the skill to convey issues in this space -- in other words, it feels as if it has depth. Liverani, I understand, elsewhere, is not afraid of theory and its applications; but this is plainly written and enjoyable to read. If I taught I'd set it as the text.
Frequent boxes with primary sources add; pretty well illustrated too.
I've read selections; from them, it's romped home to be my first consult on the societies covered. From prehistory to the advent of the Persians; but it's 600+ pages, large format (1000 in the Italian paperback) and Liverani has the skill to convey issues in this space -- in other words, it feels as if it has depth. Liverani, I understand, elsewhere, is not afraid of theory and its applications; but this is plainly written and enjoyable to read. If I taught I'd set it as the text.
Frequent boxes with primary sources add; pretty well illustrated too.
December 1, 2015
Ancora non riesco a credere di averlo studiato tutto!
È un'opera universale! Tutto il Vicino Oriente antico analizzato per filo e per segno da Mario Liverani. È un testo di ampio respiro che riesce a sottolineare tutti gli aspetti più importanti (e non solo) dell'Antica Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Iran e quant'altro.
Davvero stupefacente.
Studiato tutto per un esame universitario, assolutamente attuale anche se è passato del tempo dalla sua prima stesura (anni '80 con revisione degli anni 2000).
Tutta la storia dal III millennio al VI secolo a.C.in un solo volume! :)
È un'opera universale! Tutto il Vicino Oriente antico analizzato per filo e per segno da Mario Liverani. È un testo di ampio respiro che riesce a sottolineare tutti gli aspetti più importanti (e non solo) dell'Antica Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Iran e quant'altro.
Davvero stupefacente.
Studiato tutto per un esame universitario, assolutamente attuale anche se è passato del tempo dalla sua prima stesura (anni '80 con revisione degli anni 2000).
Tutta la storia dal III millennio al VI secolo a.C.in un solo volume! :)
April 30, 2018
Well known as a classic of its field, Mario Liverani’s book was first published in 1988 in Italian, but proved to be so popular that it has been translated into several other languages for the use of students of the ancient near east, and an updated edition issued in 2013. I read the latest version, in English. I’m not sure you could ever call any book concerned with one particular region in history ‘definitive’ or ‘comprehensive’, since the scope is too impossibly vast to fit into one book. What I would call Liverani’s book, however, is thorough. By ‘near east’ it takes the eastern reaches of Mesopotamia to the western coastline of Anatolia, and from Urartu in the north to the Levant in the south, covering a time period from the nascent Bronze Age to the rise of the Persian empire across the entire region. Liverani begins each chapter by clearly explaining the historical events and engaging the reader, before going on to more complex concepts of the administrative, economic, and religious functioning of the state. In this way his writing style holds the attention as well as illuminating its particular subject. It is well worth the read for new students, and a re-read from experienced ancient near east historians too.
9 out of 10
February 13, 2019
Probably the most comprehensive account of the Ancient Middle East history fit into one book. Liverani, is a prolific author and a respected scholar coming from the Italian academia, long known for its contribution to AME studies. His opus magnum had waited 26 years for an English translation which it finally received in 2014.
Although admittedly a long one, the book compensates with an incomparably detailed and vivid account of several thousand years of history. Besides the obligatory kings and battles the author comprehensively explains the socio-political, religious and economic underpinnings of subsequent events. Liverani doesn’t just stop at picturing the usual key players such as Babylonians, Assyrians or Hittites. He gives equal attention to the states less frequently appearing in the popular discourse like Ebla or Mari as well as numerous marauding tribes which had repeatedly tipped the scales.
Liverani’s has been my first book on the subject and I probably missed a lot of important details back then. Nonetheless it’s given me a strong foundation to build upon and forever instilled interest in the Ancient Near East. I definitely plan on rereading it one day. Highly recommended.
Although admittedly a long one, the book compensates with an incomparably detailed and vivid account of several thousand years of history. Besides the obligatory kings and battles the author comprehensively explains the socio-political, religious and economic underpinnings of subsequent events. Liverani doesn’t just stop at picturing the usual key players such as Babylonians, Assyrians or Hittites. He gives equal attention to the states less frequently appearing in the popular discourse like Ebla or Mari as well as numerous marauding tribes which had repeatedly tipped the scales.
Liverani’s has been my first book on the subject and I probably missed a lot of important details back then. Nonetheless it’s given me a strong foundation to build upon and forever instilled interest in the Ancient Near East. I definitely plan on rereading it one day. Highly recommended.
February 22, 2017
«Hoy día no hay estudio sobre los grandes temas de la ciudad, el estado, el imperialismo, la comunicación, la escritura, la estratificación social, la economía productiva o el comercio (ya sea histórico-comparativo o fenomenológico) en el que el antiguo Oriente no goce de una posición privilegiada. Además de producir su documentación específica, como cualquier otro «tronco» histórico, puede incluir el origen de la ciudad, el estado, el imperialismo, la escritura, la administración, etc. Y si el término «origen» parece demasiado mitológico, por lo menos se puede decir que en el Oriente Próximo antiguo aparecen por primera vez las formas básicas de organización de las comunidades humanas (salvo algunos casos, en que aparecen más tarde y en otras áreas).»
Es complicado comentar un libro como éste, que abarca tanto, que dice tanto, que todo lo aborda de tan lúcida forma y que enseña mucho más que una particular visión de la historia, haciéndote ver y redescubrir y repensar y al cabo reestructurar tu misma concepción del quehacer histórico. Y no es casual.
El propio autor, en la parte introductoria, habla acerca de establecer o crear un paradigma para el antiguo Oriente Próximo, región que por sus peculiares características, tan dependientes de los constantes descubrimientos arqueológicos y enredadas en presupuestos mítico-religiosos, se ha estudiado desde mediados del siglo XIX y hasta bien reciente fecha como algo especial, suprahistórico, extrahistórico, metahistórico, y encaminado no tanto a desentrañar los hechos pasados sino a maravillar, deslumbrar, adoctrinar incluso, amoldando las informaciones obtenidas para justificar una idea ya hecha de lo que debió ser aquel o aquellos mundos desde hace tanto muertos.
También desde el inicio, el autor nos hace la advertencia de que la suya no es ni podría ser una historia narrativa, dado que los materiales a partir de los cuales se ha intentado reconstruir la historia del Oriente Próximo en realidad no lo permiten, son comparativamente más pobres, escuetos, dispersos con respecto a lo que podemos encontrar en la tradición grecorromana, por ejemplo, tan escuetos de hecho, que los populares intentos realizados hasta la fecha por armar esta narrativa se han basado sobre todo en simples e injustificadas especulaciones, lo que, tal vez, haya ayudado a la formación de toda clase de disparates pseudohistóricos y fantahistóricos, tan en boga hoy día, y que no hacen más que llevar al extremo del ridículo el inadecuado método historiográfico utilizado para el estudio de esta región durante tanto tiempo.
Probablemente, una de las principales lecciones que se pueden sacar de la lectura de este libro, es que necesitamos aprender a resignarnos a no saber, pues no es posible y con casi total seguridad no será posible tampoco en el futuro, armar una narrativa continua de las distintas regiones, culturas, pueblos y sociedades que conformaron lo que hoy conocemos como antiguo Oriente Próximo, siendo hora de enfocarnos en lo que sí es posible saber, en lo que sí es posible reconstruir y al final afirmar, pues si bien es cierto que jamás conseguiremos un cuadro completo, al menos lo que quede será un panorama seguro, honesto, dejando de lado las ensoñaciones y deseos de imponerle a esta región y a estos tiempos unas características que de seguro no tuvieron nunca.
Como ya lo menciona en su título, el libro se enfoca en tres aspectos: la historia, la sociedad y la economía de lo que, primero en los alrededores del Creciente Fértil, y poco después en el Creciente mismo y su inmediata periferia, derivó en la formación de los primeros asentamientos humanos, aldeas semipermanentes, los inicios de la agricultura, del pastoreo, la creciente complejidad de las estructuras sociales y económicas, la acumulación de conocimientos y el desarrollo cada vez mayor y dispersión de las técnicas, pero también los altibajos y crisis que durante siglos llegaron a estancar e incluso involucionar regiones enteras, pues, contrario también a lo que la historiografía clásica decimonónica pretendió establecer, la historia humana dista mucho de ser una línea congruente de desarrollo continuo, predeterminada casi a formar las sociedades hegemónicas actuales, sino, más bien, una serie de líneas paralelas, que un poco se entrecruzan, se distancian, que avanzan a distintos ritmos y a distintos ritmos se adelantan y se retrasan, pero que aquí, en la región de Mesopotamia, encontraron las condiciones necesarias en el momento adecuado para dar un paso adelante y crear algo mucho más complejo de todo lo antes visto, las primeras ciudades y estados organizados, la famosa Revolución urbana, tradicional punto de partida de toda la civilización humana.
A lo largo del libro, iremos adentrándonos en las variadas regiones que, con un nivel de organización y complejidad crecientes, conocemos como ciudades-estado (Ur, Uruk, Sippar, Umma, Lagash, etc.), los primeros regionalismos (Súmer, Acad, Elam), los primeros intentos de unificación (imperio de Akkad, primer reino asirio, la Babilonia de Hammurabi), la dispersión y creación de nuevos focos de civilización (Anatolia, Siria-Palestina, meseta irania), los conflictos por la supremacía y el enriquecimiento cultural mutuo por los contactos e intercambios, el esplendor de los grandes reinos (Mitanni, Hatti, Egipto, Asiria, Urartu), su decadencia, la primacía de la Asiria imperial y su posterior colapso ante el empuje de la periferia en ascenso (la Babilonia caldea, Media y al final Persia), hasta llegar a un punto o momento histórico en que ya no es posible hablar de la pequeña región mesopotámica y sus alrededores sin incluir al mundo en expansión que lo rodea (el Egeo, el Asia central, la India, África), y que da final al libro.
Pese a su volumen, El antiguo Oriente: historia, sociedad y economía se disfruta, la pericia y conocimientos sobre su área de estudio permiten a Mario Liverani armar un texto repleto de información, detalles y complejas explicaciones sin dejar que te pierdas, te ayuda a comprender la problemática y la forma de dar con las posibles respuestas, contagiándote con su entusiasmo y deseo de entender esta importantísima parte de la historia, a la que ha ayudado a poner en su debido sitio.
La lectura se ayuda de múltiples ilustraciones y documentos varios a manera de ejemplos, que el autor coloca de cuando en cuando para dar una mejor idea del tipo de materiales con los que el historiador de Oriente Próximo tiene que lidiar (tablillas incompletas y epigrafías tendenciosas), y gracias a las cuales, a lo largo de más ciento cincuenta años de estudio continuo, hemos llegado a recuperar buena parte de lo que fueron las primeras civilizaciones, foco primario de desarrollo que acabó iluminando el mundo que lo rodeaba, y al que debemos todos, así sea de forma indirecta, buena parte de lo que consideramos nuestra propia cultura.
Es complicado comentar un libro como éste, que abarca tanto, que dice tanto, que todo lo aborda de tan lúcida forma y que enseña mucho más que una particular visión de la historia, haciéndote ver y redescubrir y repensar y al cabo reestructurar tu misma concepción del quehacer histórico. Y no es casual.
El propio autor, en la parte introductoria, habla acerca de establecer o crear un paradigma para el antiguo Oriente Próximo, región que por sus peculiares características, tan dependientes de los constantes descubrimientos arqueológicos y enredadas en presupuestos mítico-religiosos, se ha estudiado desde mediados del siglo XIX y hasta bien reciente fecha como algo especial, suprahistórico, extrahistórico, metahistórico, y encaminado no tanto a desentrañar los hechos pasados sino a maravillar, deslumbrar, adoctrinar incluso, amoldando las informaciones obtenidas para justificar una idea ya hecha de lo que debió ser aquel o aquellos mundos desde hace tanto muertos.
También desde el inicio, el autor nos hace la advertencia de que la suya no es ni podría ser una historia narrativa, dado que los materiales a partir de los cuales se ha intentado reconstruir la historia del Oriente Próximo en realidad no lo permiten, son comparativamente más pobres, escuetos, dispersos con respecto a lo que podemos encontrar en la tradición grecorromana, por ejemplo, tan escuetos de hecho, que los populares intentos realizados hasta la fecha por armar esta narrativa se han basado sobre todo en simples e injustificadas especulaciones, lo que, tal vez, haya ayudado a la formación de toda clase de disparates pseudohistóricos y fantahistóricos, tan en boga hoy día, y que no hacen más que llevar al extremo del ridículo el inadecuado método historiográfico utilizado para el estudio de esta región durante tanto tiempo.
Probablemente, una de las principales lecciones que se pueden sacar de la lectura de este libro, es que necesitamos aprender a resignarnos a no saber, pues no es posible y con casi total seguridad no será posible tampoco en el futuro, armar una narrativa continua de las distintas regiones, culturas, pueblos y sociedades que conformaron lo que hoy conocemos como antiguo Oriente Próximo, siendo hora de enfocarnos en lo que sí es posible saber, en lo que sí es posible reconstruir y al final afirmar, pues si bien es cierto que jamás conseguiremos un cuadro completo, al menos lo que quede será un panorama seguro, honesto, dejando de lado las ensoñaciones y deseos de imponerle a esta región y a estos tiempos unas características que de seguro no tuvieron nunca.
Como ya lo menciona en su título, el libro se enfoca en tres aspectos: la historia, la sociedad y la economía de lo que, primero en los alrededores del Creciente Fértil, y poco después en el Creciente mismo y su inmediata periferia, derivó en la formación de los primeros asentamientos humanos, aldeas semipermanentes, los inicios de la agricultura, del pastoreo, la creciente complejidad de las estructuras sociales y económicas, la acumulación de conocimientos y el desarrollo cada vez mayor y dispersión de las técnicas, pero también los altibajos y crisis que durante siglos llegaron a estancar e incluso involucionar regiones enteras, pues, contrario también a lo que la historiografía clásica decimonónica pretendió establecer, la historia humana dista mucho de ser una línea congruente de desarrollo continuo, predeterminada casi a formar las sociedades hegemónicas actuales, sino, más bien, una serie de líneas paralelas, que un poco se entrecruzan, se distancian, que avanzan a distintos ritmos y a distintos ritmos se adelantan y se retrasan, pero que aquí, en la región de Mesopotamia, encontraron las condiciones necesarias en el momento adecuado para dar un paso adelante y crear algo mucho más complejo de todo lo antes visto, las primeras ciudades y estados organizados, la famosa Revolución urbana, tradicional punto de partida de toda la civilización humana.
A lo largo del libro, iremos adentrándonos en las variadas regiones que, con un nivel de organización y complejidad crecientes, conocemos como ciudades-estado (Ur, Uruk, Sippar, Umma, Lagash, etc.), los primeros regionalismos (Súmer, Acad, Elam), los primeros intentos de unificación (imperio de Akkad, primer reino asirio, la Babilonia de Hammurabi), la dispersión y creación de nuevos focos de civilización (Anatolia, Siria-Palestina, meseta irania), los conflictos por la supremacía y el enriquecimiento cultural mutuo por los contactos e intercambios, el esplendor de los grandes reinos (Mitanni, Hatti, Egipto, Asiria, Urartu), su decadencia, la primacía de la Asiria imperial y su posterior colapso ante el empuje de la periferia en ascenso (la Babilonia caldea, Media y al final Persia), hasta llegar a un punto o momento histórico en que ya no es posible hablar de la pequeña región mesopotámica y sus alrededores sin incluir al mundo en expansión que lo rodea (el Egeo, el Asia central, la India, África), y que da final al libro.
Pese a su volumen, El antiguo Oriente: historia, sociedad y economía se disfruta, la pericia y conocimientos sobre su área de estudio permiten a Mario Liverani armar un texto repleto de información, detalles y complejas explicaciones sin dejar que te pierdas, te ayuda a comprender la problemática y la forma de dar con las posibles respuestas, contagiándote con su entusiasmo y deseo de entender esta importantísima parte de la historia, a la que ha ayudado a poner en su debido sitio.
La lectura se ayuda de múltiples ilustraciones y documentos varios a manera de ejemplos, que el autor coloca de cuando en cuando para dar una mejor idea del tipo de materiales con los que el historiador de Oriente Próximo tiene que lidiar (tablillas incompletas y epigrafías tendenciosas), y gracias a las cuales, a lo largo de más ciento cincuenta años de estudio continuo, hemos llegado a recuperar buena parte de lo que fueron las primeras civilizaciones, foco primario de desarrollo que acabó iluminando el mundo que lo rodeaba, y al que debemos todos, así sea de forma indirecta, buena parte de lo que consideramos nuestra propia cultura.
January 24, 2022
The Master and His Masterpiece
Any ancient Near Eastern historian worth his/her salt is familiar with Liverani. As an indefatigable titan with the insight and erudition of a true master scholar, Liverani’s name is found within the bibliographies of most books on the ancient Near East – and for good reason. The man’s analysis of the ancient world is nearly unparalleled. In this book, Liverani gives an overview of ancient Near Eastern history from as far back as the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods, through the Bronze Age, and ends with the conquest of the Persians.
The real meat and potatoes of this book comes from Liverani’s insight into the root causes of societal change and political development. For instance, on page 382, Liverani provides an incredibly insightful and nuanced theory as to why the Near East experienced the Bronze Age collapse around 1200 BC. It turns out that increasing numbers of people were at this time forced to sell themselves into slavery in order to pay their taxes to their regional kings. This was a major problem all throughout the Near East. This societal scourge was prevalent in Hittite Anatolia, Assyrian and Babylonian Mesopotamia, and even in the Syro-Palestinian region and the neighboring Egyptian civilization. State officials exploited the people and made tax and corvee exemptions for themselves and raised taxes even as agricultural production declined. Many people tried to flee and many more became slack in their work as slaves. Rebel groups formed. Raids on caravans increased. After a while, this unsustainable economic and political model resulted in the political fragmentation of the entire Near East. Manmade famine occurred, cities on average in Mesopotamia lost half of their population, and the general welfare and prosperity of the entire region immensely suffered. Whereas other scholars sometimes give primitive and, at times, absurd explanations for the Bronze Age collapse such as earthquakes, Liverani provides a much more plausible explanation for the mayhem that occurred during this time. He points out that the regional political entities became overly centralized to the point where they began to dominate international trade, enslave their own populace, tax the people beyond their limits, and thereby sow the seeds of their own destruction. Entire societies were built upon the precarious edifice of a single governmental institution whose tendrils encompassed nearly every aspect of the international economy. When these overly-centralized political institutions began to falter, they brought down the entire civilization with them. It is this sort of analysis that places Liverani head and shoulders above many of his colleagues.
Overall, this book provides an excellent entry point for those beginning their study of the ancient Near East. Even for those more familiar with this topic, Liverani’s perspective on this time period is immensely beneficial.
Any ancient Near Eastern historian worth his/her salt is familiar with Liverani. As an indefatigable titan with the insight and erudition of a true master scholar, Liverani’s name is found within the bibliographies of most books on the ancient Near East – and for good reason. The man’s analysis of the ancient world is nearly unparalleled. In this book, Liverani gives an overview of ancient Near Eastern history from as far back as the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods, through the Bronze Age, and ends with the conquest of the Persians.
The real meat and potatoes of this book comes from Liverani’s insight into the root causes of societal change and political development. For instance, on page 382, Liverani provides an incredibly insightful and nuanced theory as to why the Near East experienced the Bronze Age collapse around 1200 BC. It turns out that increasing numbers of people were at this time forced to sell themselves into slavery in order to pay their taxes to their regional kings. This was a major problem all throughout the Near East. This societal scourge was prevalent in Hittite Anatolia, Assyrian and Babylonian Mesopotamia, and even in the Syro-Palestinian region and the neighboring Egyptian civilization. State officials exploited the people and made tax and corvee exemptions for themselves and raised taxes even as agricultural production declined. Many people tried to flee and many more became slack in their work as slaves. Rebel groups formed. Raids on caravans increased. After a while, this unsustainable economic and political model resulted in the political fragmentation of the entire Near East. Manmade famine occurred, cities on average in Mesopotamia lost half of their population, and the general welfare and prosperity of the entire region immensely suffered. Whereas other scholars sometimes give primitive and, at times, absurd explanations for the Bronze Age collapse such as earthquakes, Liverani provides a much more plausible explanation for the mayhem that occurred during this time. He points out that the regional political entities became overly centralized to the point where they began to dominate international trade, enslave their own populace, tax the people beyond their limits, and thereby sow the seeds of their own destruction. Entire societies were built upon the precarious edifice of a single governmental institution whose tendrils encompassed nearly every aspect of the international economy. When these overly-centralized political institutions began to falter, they brought down the entire civilization with them. It is this sort of analysis that places Liverani head and shoulders above many of his colleagues.
Overall, this book provides an excellent entry point for those beginning their study of the ancient Near East. Even for those more familiar with this topic, Liverani’s perspective on this time period is immensely beneficial.
September 18, 2020
El libro de Liverani es un excelente texto para iniciarse en el extenso y difícil camino de estudiar las culturas del Oriente Medio. Aunque al día de hoy hay textos muchos mas resumidos sobre el tema, la obra del italiano sigue siendo un clásico de la asiriología y egiptología.
December 17, 2014
Non ostante la mole si legge bene. Non proprio piacevole, ma ben documentato e scorrevole.
January 25, 2023
Liverani, a leading scholar in the field, wrote this book as a culmination of +25 years of experience researching and teaching in the field of Ancient Near East history. It was written decades ago, then updated and translated to English near 2010. It’s main purpose is to provide a history, or narrative summary, that synthesizes the acquired knowledge of many different specialists from the fields of archeology, anthropology, and others to gain new insights from a period of time that extends close to 10,000 years.
These insights are well constructed, rich, and illustrated with a beautiful series of drawings, pictures, and maps. Because they cover a period of time crucial to the development of civilization, these insights changed some of the ways I perceive the state, religion, interpersonal relations, propaganda, and so on even in today’s world.
Although the book is fairly long, the space is used well if you are interested in this subject. The biggest drawback in the book is that the translation does not do the work justice, and I felt the translation was completed in a rushed fashion. This is especially an issue because the subject material is abstract and can be dry to begin with. If this translation was honed and better edited with a next edition, this would be a 5 star read.
These insights are well constructed, rich, and illustrated with a beautiful series of drawings, pictures, and maps. Because they cover a period of time crucial to the development of civilization, these insights changed some of the ways I perceive the state, religion, interpersonal relations, propaganda, and so on even in today’s world.
Although the book is fairly long, the space is used well if you are interested in this subject. The biggest drawback in the book is that the translation does not do the work justice, and I felt the translation was completed in a rushed fashion. This is especially an issue because the subject material is abstract and can be dry to begin with. If this translation was honed and better edited with a next edition, this would be a 5 star read.
September 8, 2023
Some aspects of Liverani's analysis of ancient near Eastern societies seem a bit outdated (his portrayal of the temples of Uruk III as sweatshops for widows and orphans seems far more pessimistic than that of David Wengrow, from what little I have read of both authors) but this book still provides an interesting and methodical exploration of the history and society of ancient West Asia, and avoids the common tropes of the telling of this history (especially the Eurocentric ones); although it still falls for those tropes that one cannot help but follow (telling the stories from the perspective of the cities that had written records at the expense of the perspective of the nomads and semi-nomads who did not leave anything written down). I definitely recommend it.
December 30, 2024
Used this as a textbook whilst I was homeschooling myself through my final year of school. It is excellently written and structured with many details a conventional public-school textbook would have missed. Genuinely THE best book to read as a beginning look into the ancient Near East. It's certainly a dense read, but the volume is necessary for the richness of information you receive in reading it.
July 3, 2019
The author obviously knows what he is talking about, but there’s an utter lack of proper explanation about names of kings and background. The text is simply too dry, almost impenetrable. Unless you TRULY have already mastered the history of the ancient near east, you won’t be able to follow this book.
September 10, 2019
I translated into portoghese this monumental and comprehensive book of Liverani about the Ancient Near East.
April 14, 2020
History non-fiction doesn't get better than this.
May 12, 2020
Completo, esaustivo, ben articolato.
December 2, 2024
Lettura fatta per studio, volume molto approfondito. Scrittura molto accademica e non di veloce lettura.
June 20, 2025
Lots of good information. Very dense and textbook-y. Not fun to read lol. Good reference.
January 24, 2016
Un libro assolutamente traboccante di informazioni, tanto che è necessario fermarsi talvolta a riprendere fiato, e che abbraccia un periodo storico di tre millenni (dal neolitico alla formazione dell'impero persiano) e un'estensione geografica impressionante i cui confini sono il Mediterraneo e il Mar Nero a ovest, il Caucaso e le steppe centro-asiatiche a nord, l'altopiano iranico e il Golfo Persico a est e il Deserto Arabico a sud.
Non viene tralasciato nessun aspetto e nessuna nozione utile nella vicenda delle popolazioni mesoptamiche che le recenti scoperte archeologiche (una su tutte, Ebla) hanno permesso finalmente di ricostruire in chiave storica e non più esclusivamente filologica.
Il libro è corredato di cartine che illustrano le guerre e i movimenti di popoli più importanti, e che si rivelano estremamente utili ed esplicative.
Non viene tralasciato nessun aspetto e nessuna nozione utile nella vicenda delle popolazioni mesoptamiche che le recenti scoperte archeologiche (una su tutte, Ebla) hanno permesso finalmente di ricostruire in chiave storica e non più esclusivamente filologica.
Il libro è corredato di cartine che illustrano le guerre e i movimenti di popoli più importanti, e che si rivelano estremamente utili ed esplicative.
June 24, 2024
Comprehensive, deadening, scholarly, pedantic, detailed, verbose ... there is no way around the fact that, while this is a great book, it is almost unreadable. I understand this is one of the great works, but in retrospect I wish I had skipped it and moved straight to Amanda Podany's Weavers, Scribes & Kings.
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February 22, 2017creative
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