Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization

Description

In Babylon, Paul Kriwaczek tells the story of ancient Mesopotamia from the earliest settlements around 5400 BC, to the eclipse of Babylon by the Persians in the sixth century BC. He chronicles the rise and fall of dynastic power during this period; he examines its numerous material, social and cultural innovations and inventions: The wheel, civil, engineering, building bricks, the centralized state, the division of labour, organised religion, sculpture, education, mathematics, law and monumental building. At the heart of Kriwaczek's magisterial account, though, is the glory of Babylon - 'gateway to the gods' - which rose to glorious prominence under the Amorite king Hammurabi, who unified Babylonia between 1800 and 1750 BC. While Babylonian power would rise and fall over the ensuing centuries, it retained its importance as a cultural, religious and political centre until its fall to Cyrus the Great of Persia in 539 BC.

Paul Kriwaczek was born in Vienna in 1937. In 1970 he joined the BBC full-time and wrote, produced and directed for twenty-five years. A former head of Central Asian Affairs at the BBC World Service, he is fluent in eight languages, including Farsi, Pashto, Urdu, Hindi and Nepalese.

Praise for Paul Kriwaczek "Eloquent and consistently thought-provoking account of ancient Mesopotamia." --"Scotland on Sunday "on "Babylon" "Historical detail gives authority to this tale of human misery and military magnificence."--"The Times "(UK) on "Babylon""" "An outstanding survey of a civilization that endured against great odds but has now essentially vanished." --"Booklist "(starred) on "Yiddish Civilization""" "A landmark book." --"Library Journal "on "In Search of Zarathustra"