Ancient Near Eastern History And Culture - 2nd edition

List of Tables, Figures, Maps, and Documents Preface Acknowledgments
CHAPTER 1 Introduction Studying the Ancient Near East What Is the "Near East"? The Nature of Historical Study Antiquity's "Clues" Creating a Chronology for the Ancient Near East A Note on Chronological Terminology: b.c.e./c.e. vs. b.c./a.d. Absolute and Relative Chronology Sources for Ancient Near Eastern Chronology Prelude: Near Eastern Prehistory The Origins of Sedentary Life (c. 10,500ndash;8300 b.c.e.) Early Agricultural Communities in Southwest Asia (c. 8300ndash;6000 b.c.e.) The Development of Complex Societies in Southwest Asia (c. 6000ndash;3700 b.c.e.) Early Cultures of the Nile Valley (c. 8000ndash;3500 b.c.e.) Debating the Evidence: The Emergence of Social Stratification and Male Dominance
CHAPTER 2 The Dawn of Civilization in Western Asia The Emergence of Mesopotamian Civilization (c. 3700ndash;3000 b.c.e.) The Urban Revolution The Development of Cuneiform Writing Debating the Evidence: The Origin of the Sumerians Other People of Mesopotamia The Emergence of Elam The Mesopotamian Early Dynastic Period (c. 3000ndash;2330 b.c.e.) An Era of Independent City States Debating the Evidence: The "Royal Tombs" of Ur Mesopotamian Culture During the Early Dynastic Era Religion and World View Debating the Evidence: The Sacred Marriage Ceremony The Development of Kingship Economy and Society Education, Literature, and the Arts Science, Technology, and Warfare Urbanization in Other Areas of Western Asia (c. 3300ndash;2300 b.c.e.) Early Bronze Age Syria and Palestine Early Bronze Age Anatolia and Iran
CHAPTER 3 The First Mesopotamian Empires The Akkadian Empire (c. 2334ndash;2193 b.c.e.) 65 Sargon of Akkad (c. 2334ndash;2279 b.c.e) Sargon's Successors Debating the Evidence: Divine Kingship Administration of the Empire Debating the Evidence: Reasons for Empire's Collapse The Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2112ndash;2004 b.c.e.) Ur's Rise to Power Shulgi's Reforms The Fall of Ur Persian Gulf and Central Asian Civilizations Dilmun, Magan, and Meluhha The Oxus Civilization
CHAPTER 4 The Old Babylonian Period and Its Aftermath The "Interregnum" After the Fall of Ur (2000-1800 B.C.E.) The Assyrian Merchant Colony at Kanesh The Ascendancy of Isin and Larsa Hammurabi and His Dynasty (c. 1800-1595 B.C.E.) Shamshi-Adad's Empire Hammurabi and His Successors Old Babylonian Cultural Developments Literature Debating the Evidence: The "Code" of Hammurabi Babylonian Society in the "Code" The Hittite Old Kingdom Debating the Evidence: Indo-European Origins The Emergence of a Hittite State The Emergence of New Peoples The Hurrians and the Kingdom of Mitanni Kassite Rule in Babylonia
CHAPTER 5 EGYPT TO THE END OF THE OLD KINGDOM The Late Predynastic Era (c. 3500ndash;3000 b.c.e) The Geography of Egypt and Nubia The People of the Nile Valley Prelude to Civilization: The Naqada II Period The Formation of the Egyptian State (c. 3050ndash;2686 b.c.e.) Debating the Evidence: The Process of Unification The Development of Egyptian Writing The Early Dynastic Period (Dynasties 1 and 2) Major Elements of Egyptian Culture Ma'at Divine Kingship Burial and the Afterlife Religion and Ritual The Old Kingdom (Dynasties 3