The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East: Volume III

Abstract

This groundbreaking, five-volume series offers a fully illustrated history of Egypt and Western Asia (the Levant, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and Iran), from the emergence of complex states to the conquest of Alexander the Great. Written by leading scholars, whose expertise brings to life the people, places, and times of the remote past, the volumes focus firmly on the political and social histories of states and communities. Individual chapters present the key textual and material sources underpinning historical reconstruction, paying particular attention to recent archaeological finds and how they impact our understanding. The third volume covers the period from 1600 to 1100 BC or in archaeological terms, the Late Bronze Age. Twelve chapters survey the history of the Near East “From the Hyksos to the late second millennium BC” and discuss the Hyksos state of Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt, and the Nubian kingdom of Kerma prior to the unification marking the creation of the New Kingdom, the super power of the period; the imperial powers of the Hittites in Central Anatolia and of Mittani in Upper Mesopotamia, which came to be replaced by the rising star of Assyria; the kingdoms of Kassite Babylonia and of Elamite Iran as well as the Mycenaean world centered on the Aegean. Topics include state formation, consolidation and disintegration, the role of political ideologies, social hierarchies and religious practices, modes of governance and administration, and the conflicts, diplomatic efforts, and trade and knowledge networks that connected states and communities between the Sahara, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.