Chapter 1
General histories of the ancient Near East include A. B. Knapp,
The History and Culture of Ancient Western Asia and Egypt(1987), W.
von Soden, The Ancient Orient(1994), and C. Burney, The Ancient
Near East (1977).
On Mesopotamia, see A. L. Oppenheim, Ancient
Mesopotamia,2d. ed. (1977) and H. Crawford, Sumer and the Sumeri-
ans(1991). A leading authority on post-Sumerian Mesoptamia is
H. W. F. Saggs. His works include The Babylonians(1995), Every-
day Life in Babylonia and Assyria(1965), and The Might That Was As-
syria(1984).
A general survey of the prehistoric world is provided by T.
Champion, C. Gamble, S. Shennan, and A. Whittle, Prehistoric Eu-
rope(1984). The problem of human origins is discussed in R.
Leakey, The Making of Mankind (1981) and in P. Mellars and C.
Stringer, The Human Revolution (1989). M. Ehrenberg, Women in Pre-
history(1989) and F. Dahlberg, ed., Woman the Gatherer(1981) de-
scribe the role of women in prehistoric society. For the Neolithic
revolution, see N. Cohen, The Food Crisis in Prehistory: Overpopulation
and the Origins of Agriculture(1977), G. Barker, Prehistoric Farming in
Europe(1984), and A. Whittle, Neolithic Europe: A Survey(1985).
General surveys of ancient Egypt include C. Aldred, The
Egyptians(1984), B. J. Kemp, Ancient Egypt(1989), and C. Hob-
son, The World of the Pharaohs(1987). An unusually rich literature
also can be found on Egyptian social history. See B. G. Trigger,
B. J. Kemp, D. O’Connor, and A. B. Lloyd, Ancient Egypt, A Social
History(1983), G. Robins, Women in Ancient Egypt(1993), and J.
White, Everyday Life in Ancient Egypt(1963). The best book on the
pyramids is I. E. S. Edwards, The Pyramids of Egypt,rev. ed. (1974).
On religion, see J. Cerney, Ancient Egyptian Religion(1979).
Several works deal with the other peoples of the eastern
Mediterranean and Near East. G. Herm, The Phoenicians: The Pur-
ple Empire of the Ancient World(1975) emphasizes commerce and ex-
pansion, while the development of the alphabet is covered by
D. Diringer, The Alphabet(1975).
Many histories of ancient Israel have been written. See the
fundamental J. Bright, A History of Israel,3d ed. (1981), J. M. Miller
and J. H. Hayes, A History of Ancient Israel and Judah(1986), and M.
Grant, The History of Ancient Israel(1984). Social history and institu-
tions are covered by N. P. Lemche, Ancient Israel: A New History of Is-
raelite Society(1988). The literature on religion is enormous, but the
following are useful as general studies: Y. Kaufmann, The Religion of
Israel(1960), H. Ringgren, Israelite Religion(1966), and D. R.
Hillers, Covenant: The History of a Biblical Idea(1969).
Chapter 2
J. B. Bury and R. Meiggs, A History of Greece to the Death of Alexander
the Great,4th ed. (1975) has held up well as the standard survey
of Greek history, but N. G. L. Hammond, A History of Greece to
322 B.C.,3d ed. (1986) is a venerable competitor.
On Minoan civilization, see S. Hood, The Minoans: The Story
of Bronze Age Crete(1971). The best studies of Mycenaean Greece
are L. W. Taylor, The Mycenaeans,rev. ed. (1983) and J. T.
Hooker, Mycenaean Greece(1976), but several good surveys of
early Greek history as a whole can be found, including M. I. Fin-
ley, Early Greece: The Bronze and Archaic Ages,2d ed. (1982), and R.
Drews, The Coming of the Greeks(1988), which describes the migra-
tions. On Homer and the Homeric Age, see J. Griffin, Homer
(1980). C. Starr, The Economic and Social Growth of Early Greece,
800–500 B.C.(1977) and C. Roebuck, Economy and Society in the
Early Greek World(1984) are good on the early period. V. Han-
son, Warfare and Agriculture in Classical Greece(1983) deals with ho-
plite warfare and and its purposes. Political development is
described by W. G. Forest, The Emergence of Greek Democracy
(1966). A. J. Graham, Colony and Mother City in Ancient Greece,rev.
ed. (1984) describes the process of colonization.
W. Guthrie, The Greeks and Their Gods(1965) and W. Burkert,
Greek Religion(1985) are general studies of Greek religious beliefs.
The role of athletics in the Greek world is described by D. San-
sone, Greek Athletics and the Genesis of Sport(1988).
Studies on politics are heavily weighted toward Athens. See
A. Jones, Athenian Democracy(1975), and J. Ober, The Athenian Rev-
olution(1996). R. Hopper, Trade and Industry in Classical Greece
(1979) covers economic development. Social history, too, is
based heavily on Athenian sources. See T. B. L. Webster, Every-
day Life in Classical Athens(1969), and S. C. Humphreys, The Fam-
ily, Women, and Death(1983). Slavery is covered in Y. Garlan,
Slavery in Ancient Greece(1988). The best general work on Greek
women is probably the early chapters of S. Pomeroy, Goddesses,
Whores, Wives, and Slaves(1975), which also covers the Hellenistic
and Roman periods. The complex issue of homosexuality is ex-
amined by K. Dover, Greek Homosexuality(1978) and E.
Cantarella, Bisexuality in the Ancient World(1992).
The best studies of Sparta are P. Catledge, Sparta and Laconia:
A Regional History, 1300–362 B.C.(1979) and W. Forrest, A History
of Sparta, 950–121 B.C.,2d ed. (1980).
Herodotus remains indispensible for the Persian War and for
much else about the ancient world. A. Burn, Persia and the Greeks: The
Defense of the West,rev. ed. (1984) is a fine modern study.SUGGESTED READINGS
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