Ancient Mesopotamia: Portrait of a Dead Civilization

by A. Leo Oppenheim, Erica Reiner (Editor)

"This splendid work of scholarship . . . sums up with economy and power all that the written record so far deciphered has to tell about the ancient and complementary civilizations of Babylon and Assyria."—Edward B. Garside, New York Times Book Review

Ancient Mesopotamia—the area now called Iraq—has received less attention than ancient Egypt and other long-extinct and more spectacular civilizations. But numerous small clay tablets buried in the desert soil for thousands of years make it possible for us to know more about the people of ancient Mesopotamia than any other land in the early Near East.

Professor Oppenheim, who studied these tablets for more than thirty years, used his intimate knowledge of long-dead languages to put together a distinctively personal picture of the Mesopotamians of some three thousand years ago. Following Oppenheim's death, Erica Reiner used the author's outline to complete the revisions he had begun.

"To any serious student of Mesopotamian civilization, this is one of the most valuable books ever written."—Leonard Cottrell, Book Week

"Leo Oppenheim has made a bold, brave, pioneering attempt to present a synthesis of the vast mass of philological and archaeological data that have accumulated over the past hundred years in the field of Assyriological research."—Samuel Noah Kramer, Archaeology

A. Leo Oppenheim, one of the most distinguished Assyriologists of our time, was editor in charge of the Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute and John A. Wilson Professor of Oriental Studies at the University of Chicago.

Genres: History, Ancient History, Nonfiction, Middle East, World History, Research, Archaeology

445 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1964

Reviews

[Bob Offer-Westort · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book such as this perhaps merits some discussion of qualifications. I am not the best reviewer for this volume. While I have studied Sumerian a little, I do not read Akkadian or any other Ancient Near Eastern language, nor do I have a background in Mesopotamian arts or the area's archaeology. I've also never before written a book review.

That said, my engagement in Sumerology is perhaps enough to justify my venturing a few thoughts for the general public, & for the beginning Assyriologist:

The book is nothing close to a history of ancient Mesopotamia, nor is it a general overview of the field of Assyriology. It is, instead, a reflection of the concerns, speculations, & questions of one man, & treats only one of the several ancient Mesopotamian civilisations (that of Akkadian-speaking Assyria & Babylon). For a general overview of the field, the usual reference is Jack Sasson's Civilizations of the Ancient Near East (which covers both Mesopotamia & Egypt), while I'm not aware of a more thorough general history than Marc Van De Mieroop's A History of the Ancient Near East.

But what it is is amazing: As editor of the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary—almost more of a cultural encyclopædia than a mere dictionary—Oppenheim had a stunning familiarity with Akkadian cuneiform tablets. The things he wonders about are lines of thought that merit full exploration for future generations of Assyriologists. Many of his questions are questions we still need to ask about Mesopotamian cultures. I likely would not have read this book on my own, but I am very grateful that my Sumerian professor recommended it to our class. I would, without hesitation, pass that recommendation on to any budding Assyriologist. My copy is thoroly marked up, & I'll be re-reading the book to try to absorb more of Oppenheim's thought.

That said, I do not think that it's a good general introduction to the field for the non-specialist. It might be a good second read, after one has a bit of grounding in the general history of Mesopotamia ca. 4,000–330.

[Alok Ghimire · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book. Out of date now of course but worth reading just for the author's style of presentation, which reads more like a personal account of a lover than a civilization. The sentence structure demands full concentration ( if one fails in this regard, a paragraph can be made to fit into some obscure aesthetic discussion) because many propositions, not all of them bold, fill the pages, without driving the portrait to any extreme end. This is the kind of reserved scholarly sincerity one respects- let the prophets splay their limbs while talking!

[vitoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

demorei bueda tempo pra ler isso? sim. tive que anotar metade do livro, ler as notas bibliográficas e pesquisar todas as bibliografias relevantes? sim. mas até que o livro foi slay

[James F · Rating 3 out of 5]

A. Leo Oppenheim was one of the most prominent Assyriologists of the twentieth century; this book, originally written in 1964, was being revised at the time of his death and the revision was completed from his notes by Erica Reiner. It is a very personal, not to say idiosyncratic, but quite interesting account of Mesopotamian (Akkadian) culture. It is not a history (there is just one chapter which gives brief schematic histories of Babylonia and Assyria from Sargon to Nabonidus), but written in his own words from the viewpoint of cultural anthropology; although he takes into account the development through time, the book is organized by topics rather than chronology. While there are occasional references to the Sumerians, the book essentially deals only with the Akkadian culture, from the time of Sargon on. Nearly everything is based on cuneiform texts, rather than archaeological evidence. Throughout the book there is a polemic against what he considered the shortcomings of the Assyriology of his day. Nevertheless, it was used as a beginning textbook for some twenty years (that is probably how it should be regarded, rather than as a popularization for the general reader) and despite being a half-century out of date it is still an important starting point for anyone who wants to know something about the Ancient Near East.

[Seph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ancient Mesopotamia: Portrait of a Dead Civilization presents a challenging read for anyone interested in the nations of Assyria and Babylonia, not because the information presented is erroneous or out-of-date, but because Oppenheim is brutally honest about the state of our knowledge on Mesopotamia, and the dangers of jumping to speculative conclusions. Oppenheim's work is not for those who are prone to flights of fancy. The writing is dry and scholarly; certainly intended for the serious student of anthropology or archaeology over that of comparative religion and mythology. You won't find any unsubstantiated claims in this book, nor will you find the author voicing his own personal pet-theories. From the opening chapter, to the short epilogue, Oppenheim practices a structured conservatism regarding the material.

[Paulina P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read. Published in 60's and re-edited in 70's but still worth recommending. It's good for Assyriologists-beginners but also a good book for more advanced ones - it reminds you about bigger picture of Mesopotamian culture and civilization. Of course some parts are out-of-date but they are pretty insiginficant or easy to spot.
For me this book was a nice break from my own research. Let me take a breath and reminded me to stay humble.
Also a great example of what happens when too well-educated Germans write in English from the scratch (so many sofisiticated words!).

[Peter Toth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is so hard to read. If you expect an interesting tale of Mesopotamian history, you will not find it here. The author is certainly a well-studied assyrologist, for me stands in the ivory tower of a historian, who uses long, convoluted arguments to describe everything that he believes is the truth about these old civilizations written in the 1960-70s. There is a lot of inherent guesswork in describing the various aspects of these societies, lingustics of the sumer and akkad languages. The author himself states that many of his views can be invalidated later by additional archeology finds (more clay tablets shedding new light on certain topics), which is a real chance and I assume has been happening since then.

[max momot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Хорошая книга. Автор проделал колоссальную работу по сбору самого разного материала по Дневней Месопотамии, но в основном про Аккад, хотя есть капелька и про Шумер. Читалась легко и интересно. Есть много информации о текстах и писцах, что редко увидишь в других книгах. Очень понравился подход автора. Он объясняет свои допущения и выводы, не утверждает и не навязывает свое мнение, как единственно верное, не додумывает и не придумывает всяких глупостей.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great summary of what we know of the ancient Mesopotamian civilizations from the archaeological record. Dense but quick moving text, could have used a few more illustrations to explain some of the more complex parts (structure of the languages in particular). Highly recommended starting point for those interested in the topic.

[Gavin White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although full of interesting information I didn't find this an easy read by any standards. There is loads of useful material on many aspects of Mesopotamian culture, the physical geography of the land, urbanism and the nature of writing and the scribal arts but without a reasonable grounding in the Ancient Near East I think many casual readers may be off put. However if you do have the background knowledge then this book will fill in many of the gaps and, more pertinently, it will explain why some answers are not forthcoming.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

...very readable for an ancient history book. Oppenheim was very frank about not knowing everything. He often ended a paragraph with, "But we're not sure." I liked how he used Bible quotes to corroborate other sources. Most people think of the Old Testament in terms of religion, but Oppenheim picked out facts about the culture and laws that existed in the areas he wrote about.

[jwberryhill · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a good introductory historical text. Lots of rambling speculation that never coheres into defensible conclusions about the subject. Indeed my interest in ancient Mesopotamia waned considerably upon reading this book, assuming this is the most we can conclude from existing evidence.