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Everyday Life in Ancient Mesopotamia
The civilization of Ancient Mesopotamia flourished between 3300 BC and 2000 BC in the southern half of the lands between and to either side of the Tigris and Euphrates, where a vast grain harvest (about equal to Canada’s today) supported a large and well-ordered population. The early development of cuneiform writing, the world’s first phonetic script, means that for the first time in the history of humanity it is possible to learn something of how people thought and felt. This book aims to do just that and, as the reader soon finds out, succeeds triumphantly.Jean Bottéro and his colleagues take the reader on a voyage of discovery into the public and private realms of the lives of our first civilized ancestors – their cooking and eating, feasts and festivals, wine and drinking, love and sex, what women could do and what they couldn’t, magic and medicine, trial by ordeal, life in a palace above and below stairs, astrology and divination, gods and religion, and literature and myth.
288 pages, Paperback
First published September 5, 2001
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268 people want to read
About the author
Jean Bottéro
42 books31 followersJean Bottéro (30 August 1914 – 15 December 2007) was a French historian born in Vallauris. He was a major Assyriologist and a renowned expert on the Ancient Near East.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 12, 2016
Интересна и много полезна, тъй като история се учи най-добре, когато познаваш всекидневието и мисленето на древните. Изключително полезен е екскурсът към Стария завет. Би било хубаво да бъде придружена с повече изображения, за да допълнят картината на всекидневието.
P.S. Според К.М. това е най-доброто излизало на български след Хари Сагс.
P.P.S. А в последствие установих, че картата в началото е абсолютно сгрешена. Единствената ми забележка.
P.S. Според К.М. това е най-доброто излизало на български след Хари Сагс.
P.P.S. А в последствие установих, че картата в началото е абсолютно сгрешена. Единствената ми забележка.
April 10, 2022
This is a collection of fifteen articles about ancient Mesopotamia which were originally published in the French popular history magazine L'Histoire, probably during the 1980's. Nine are written by Jean Bottero, who also edited the collection, three by George Roux, two by Bertrand Lafont and one by André Finet. The title is totally inaccurate, as only four or five articles could be considered as being about everyday life.
The first article by Roux deals with the theories about the origins of the Sumerians, whose language seems to be unrelated to any other known language living or extinct, whether they came from Anatolia or from Bahrain or elsewhere in the Gulf or from somewhere in Central Asia, whether by land or by sea, or even from somewhere now under the water of the Gulf (which was much lower at an earlier date, although perhaps too much earlier). His own opinion is that they arrived in the late Paleolithic or early Neolithic and the migrations of that early date are impossible to determine. The second article, also by Roux, deals with the enigma of the so-called "Royal Cemetery" at Ur, which has evidence of mass suicides to accompany the main burial; he explains there is actually no evidence that any kings were buried there, and the few graves which can be tenuously attributed to individuals (by the presence of cylinder seals, which may or may not belong to the main burial) are mostly to persons called nin, which can mean either "queen" or "priestess". He reviews all the theories and concludes that there is no real evidence for any of them.
Then there are the articles that could actually be considered as about daily life: one by Bottero on cuisine (although it is obviously about the cuisine of the ruling elite, not the everyday food of the majority of the population), one on banquets (ditto), one on wine by Finet, one on "Love and Sex" and one on the legal position of women in Mesopotamian society (probably better under the Sumerians than the later Semites, but not great in either case) both by Bottero.
There is then an article by Lafont on the Palace Women at Mari, one by Roux on the legend of Queen Semiramis (his opinion is that it originated in Persia and conflates the two historical queens Sammuramat and Naqia/Zakutu and the goddess Inanna), two more by Bottero on "Magic and Medicine" and "The Birth of Astrology", and one by Lafont on trials by ordeal.
The last three articles, all by Bottero, are on the myth of the Flood (the Book of Atrahasis), the Epic of Gilgamesh, and "How Sin was Born", the last a rather annoying article by Bottero which quickly moves from Mesopotamia to "Israel" and interprets Hebrew religion through the rise of modern Judaism on the basis of the Old Testament used totally uncritically (the religion was imposed as a whole entity by a historical individual named Moses, the Hebrew tribes were united from the beginning by the exclusive worship of Yahweh, there was a united monarchy under Saul, David and Solomon (all just taken for granted), and above all the Hebrew concept of "sin" was radically different from that of the other Semitic cultures, etc.) To be honest, all of Bottero's articles were somewhat annoying in their overgeneralizations and personal opinions presented as fact; the articles by the other contributors were better, especially those by George Roux.
The first article by Roux deals with the theories about the origins of the Sumerians, whose language seems to be unrelated to any other known language living or extinct, whether they came from Anatolia or from Bahrain or elsewhere in the Gulf or from somewhere in Central Asia, whether by land or by sea, or even from somewhere now under the water of the Gulf (which was much lower at an earlier date, although perhaps too much earlier). His own opinion is that they arrived in the late Paleolithic or early Neolithic and the migrations of that early date are impossible to determine. The second article, also by Roux, deals with the enigma of the so-called "Royal Cemetery" at Ur, which has evidence of mass suicides to accompany the main burial; he explains there is actually no evidence that any kings were buried there, and the few graves which can be tenuously attributed to individuals (by the presence of cylinder seals, which may or may not belong to the main burial) are mostly to persons called nin, which can mean either "queen" or "priestess". He reviews all the theories and concludes that there is no real evidence for any of them.
Then there are the articles that could actually be considered as about daily life: one by Bottero on cuisine (although it is obviously about the cuisine of the ruling elite, not the everyday food of the majority of the population), one on banquets (ditto), one on wine by Finet, one on "Love and Sex" and one on the legal position of women in Mesopotamian society (probably better under the Sumerians than the later Semites, but not great in either case) both by Bottero.
There is then an article by Lafont on the Palace Women at Mari, one by Roux on the legend of Queen Semiramis (his opinion is that it originated in Persia and conflates the two historical queens Sammuramat and Naqia/Zakutu and the goddess Inanna), two more by Bottero on "Magic and Medicine" and "The Birth of Astrology", and one by Lafont on trials by ordeal.
The last three articles, all by Bottero, are on the myth of the Flood (the Book of Atrahasis), the Epic of Gilgamesh, and "How Sin was Born", the last a rather annoying article by Bottero which quickly moves from Mesopotamia to "Israel" and interprets Hebrew religion through the rise of modern Judaism on the basis of the Old Testament used totally uncritically (the religion was imposed as a whole entity by a historical individual named Moses, the Hebrew tribes were united from the beginning by the exclusive worship of Yahweh, there was a united monarchy under Saul, David and Solomon (all just taken for granted), and above all the Hebrew concept of "sin" was radically different from that of the other Semitic cultures, etc.) To be honest, all of Bottero's articles were somewhat annoying in their overgeneralizations and personal opinions presented as fact; the articles by the other contributors were better, especially those by George Roux.
May 6, 2021
My first thought when hearing about this book was "do we actually know enough about everyday life in ancient Mesopotamia to fill a book?". The answer: no we don't (at least we didn't when the book was published decades ago). So what's in it? Mostly syntactic wanking, sexism and repetitive writing by Jean Bottéro who also manages to come across as very pretentious.
The other people participating in this book had a more scientific bases for their articles, but sadly they didn't have much to say either as it seems the clay tablets don't really have that much info on everyday life. The few interesting bits of information were wastly drowned by the nonsense. Remind me to never read anything by Jean Bottéro again.
The other people participating in this book had a more scientific bases for their articles, but sadly they didn't have much to say either as it seems the clay tablets don't really have that much info on everyday life. The few interesting bits of information were wastly drowned by the nonsense. Remind me to never read anything by Jean Bottéro again.
August 28, 2018
More of a waste of space than anything. It's written by three writers. The first, Georges Roux is super boring. I don't think he could be more boring if he tried. It took him a bunch of pages to say something that could've been said in a paragraph. The second is Bertrand Lafont, who was pretty decent. The third was Jean Bottero, a super arrogant Assyriologist. He believes that since he is an Assyriologist that must qualify him to offer unsupported claims about Canaan, the bible, philosophy, and morality. He sees things through his own little worldview, which everyone does, but he does it to an extreme degree. However, since he is well established, people just accept whatever nonsense he spouts. Would a go to an actor to get political advice? no. Would I go to an artist to get marriage advice? no. Would I go to an Assyriologist to discuss philosophy and the existence of evil? No. Even if I was going to go to an Assyriologist, I wouldn't go to a moral relativist like this one who has a very clear bias against the bible. Overall, the book had maybe 2 or 3 interesting things. The rest was a huge waste of 270 pages. Mediocre at best.
September 12, 2020
From the essay "Did the Sumerian Emerge from the Sea" by Georges Roux
p. 19 : "But for our purposes, the most interesting part of the myth is the description of Dilmun that opens the story. To quote its last translator, Professor Kramer of Philadelphia, Dilmun is a 'pure', 'clean', 'shining' land, a 'land of the living' where neither illness nor death reigns:
"In Dilmun the crow does not utter its cry,
The *ittidu* bird does not utter the cry of the *ittidu* bird,
The lion does not kill,
The wolf does not seize the lamb,
The wild dog, devourer of kids, is unknown,
He whose eyes hurt does not say: 'My eyes hurt',
He whose head aches does not say: 'My head aches'.
The old woman does not say: 'I am an old woman',
The old man does not say: 'I am an old man'..."
I have never heard the ittidu bird, but I am quite partial to the crows; other than that I am quite taken with the myth of Enki (the god of waters) making fresh water flow in the dream country of Dilmun. As someone involved with eldercare, perhaps a visit from Enki to interrupt the evening 'organ recital' would be an ideal task for a Sumerian god who is currently at loose ends.
Bottero on the Akkadian version of the "Epic of Gilgamesh":
"In an almost forgotten past, when much less was know about things, but when understanding was perhaps all the more penetrating and profound because the world was not as crammed with knowledge and ideas as it is today, and presented itself to the mind in a less cluttered and more easily explorable state, were not those ancient Semites very wise when they emphasized our limitations so forcefully? It might perhaps be salutary to lend them an ear, listen to them again, through their ancient books, across a distance of 2000 or 3000 years, and hear an echo of their great voices nowadays, when our prodigious technical progress tends to go to our heads and let us believe that we are verging on the ultimate power -- that we are at last going to master the universe and our own lives?"
p. 19 : "But for our purposes, the most interesting part of the myth is the description of Dilmun that opens the story. To quote its last translator, Professor Kramer of Philadelphia, Dilmun is a 'pure', 'clean', 'shining' land, a 'land of the living' where neither illness nor death reigns:
"In Dilmun the crow does not utter its cry,
The *ittidu* bird does not utter the cry of the *ittidu* bird,
The lion does not kill,
The wolf does not seize the lamb,
The wild dog, devourer of kids, is unknown,
He whose eyes hurt does not say: 'My eyes hurt',
He whose head aches does not say: 'My head aches'.
The old woman does not say: 'I am an old woman',
The old man does not say: 'I am an old man'..."
I have never heard the ittidu bird, but I am quite partial to the crows; other than that I am quite taken with the myth of Enki (the god of waters) making fresh water flow in the dream country of Dilmun. As someone involved with eldercare, perhaps a visit from Enki to interrupt the evening 'organ recital' would be an ideal task for a Sumerian god who is currently at loose ends.
Bottero on the Akkadian version of the "Epic of Gilgamesh":
"In an almost forgotten past, when much less was know about things, but when understanding was perhaps all the more penetrating and profound because the world was not as crammed with knowledge and ideas as it is today, and presented itself to the mind in a less cluttered and more easily explorable state, were not those ancient Semites very wise when they emphasized our limitations so forcefully? It might perhaps be salutary to lend them an ear, listen to them again, through their ancient books, across a distance of 2000 or 3000 years, and hear an echo of their great voices nowadays, when our prodigious technical progress tends to go to our heads and let us believe that we are verging on the ultimate power -- that we are at last going to master the universe and our own lives?"
July 22, 2013
A very entry-level (not a criticism! I don't read cuneiform!) compendium of what little is known about the various ancient Mesopotamian civilizations. Because the authors are all good scholars they refrain from the crazy-eyed generalizations and shocking, thinly supported theses I like in my non-fiction, instead simply presenting various possibilities about how things might have been. Side note: apparently the Sumerians were really into poems about the vulva.
February 23, 2012
A quick read with some interesting insights into Mesopotamian life. One complaint I have, though, is that it is a very etic perspective, and the author is rather critical of their culture.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews