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A parent desperately trying to soothe a baby, a bored teenager doodling during class, a slave negotiating their freedom: snapshots from everyday lives, preserved in clay from ancient Mesopotamia.
At the height of its power, this lush region was encircled by two great rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates. Over the course of thousands of years, Mesopotamia saw the world's first cities, the first writing system, the early seeds of agriculture, the development of myths, medicine, literature and astronomy that all went on to influence societies around the world. It is the birthplace of history itself.
In
Between Two Rivers, historian Dr Moudhy Al-Rashid brings us closer to the lives of the ancient people from the land between two rivers. Through the clay tablets left behind, Al-Rashid explores the foundations of extraordinary societies and empires, from the Sumerians to the Babylonians. We find, immortalised in clay and stone, early dictionaries, a dog's paw prints, war-time propaganda, the world's first museum and countless receipts for beer. These stories not only bring Mesopotamia to life, but also show us that people we think of as 'ancient' in fact had a highly developed sense of their own history.
With startling modernity,
Between Two Rivers tells the story of how history was made.
About the author
Dr Moudhy Al-Rashid is an Honorary Fellow at the University of Oxford's Wolfson College, where she specialises in the languages and history of ancient Mesopotamia. She completed her BA from Columbia University in Philosophy, and after a single day of learning about cuneiform texts at a summer school, decided to pursue the subject with a Master's degree and eventually a Doctoral degree at the University of Oxford. She is from Saudi Arabia, where she also grew up, and now lives in Oxfordshire with her family.
Summary
Mesopotamia is the birthplace of history.
At the height of its power, this lush region was encircled by two great rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates. Over the course of thousands of years, Mesopotamia saw the world's first cities, the first writing system, the early seeds of agriculture, the development of myths, medicine, literature and astronomy that all went on to influence societies around the world.
In this fresh history, Dr Moudhy Al-Rashid brings us closer than ever before to the lives of ancient people from the land between two rivers. Through the clay tablets they left behind, Al-Rashid explores the foundations of extraordinary societies and empires, from the Sumerians to the Babylonians. We find, immortalised in clay and stone, early dictionaries, a dog's paw prints, a parent desperately trying to soothe a baby, a bored teenager doodling during class, a slave negotiating their freedom, the world's first museum and countless receipts for beer.
With startling modernity, Between Two Rivers tells the story of how history was made.
Foreword
A fresh and fascinating new history of ancient Mesopotamia and the birth of history.
