THE BABYLONIAN WORLD
As the layers of the foundations of modern science and mathematics and the builders
of a towering, monumental urban city, the Babylonians were by far the most insistent
people of the ancient world in addressing an audience beyond their time. This lavishly
illustrated volume reflects the modernity of this advanced and prescient civilization
with thirty-eight brand new essays from leading international scholars who view this
world power of the Ancient Near East with a fresh and contemporary lens.
Drawing from the growing database of cuneiform tablets, epigraphic research, and
the most recent archaeological advances in the field, Gwendolyn Leick’s collection
serves as the definitive reference resource as well as an introductory text for university
students.
By bringing into focus areas of concern typical for our own time – such as ecology,
urbanism, power relations, plurality and complexity – this essential volume offers a
variety of perspectives on certain key topics to reflect the current academic approaches
and focus. These shifting viewpoints and diverse angles onto the ‘Babylonian World’
result in a truly kaleidoscopic view which reveals patterns and bright fragments of
this ‘lost world’ in unexpected ways.
From discussions of agriculture and rural life to the astonishing walled city of
Babylon with its massive ramparts and towering ziggurats, from Babylonian fashion
and material culture to its spiritual world, indivisible from that of the everyday, The
Babylonian Worldis a sweeping and ambitious survey for students and specialists of
this great civilization.
Gwendolyn Leickis presently senior lecturer at Chelsea College of Art and Design.
A specialist in the Ancient Near East, she has published extensively on the topic,
including The Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern ArchitectureandWho’s Who in the
Ancient Near East.