Companion to the Ancient Near East

Daniel C. Snell graduated from Stanford in 1971, took his PhD in Near Eastern Languages from Yale in 1975, and taught at several universities and colleges throughout his career. Now retired, he was L. J. Semrod Presidential Professor of History at the University of Oklahoma. He has authored several books, including the basic workbook for learning cuneiform signs. Dr. Snell held a Fulbright Fellowship to Syria and a Mellon Fellowship at the City University of New York. His latest book is Ancient Near East: The Basics (Routledge, 2014).

• Illustrations List ixNotes on Contributors xiIntroduction 1Part I The Big Picture 91 A History of the Ancient Near East 11Mario Liverani2 From Sedentism to States, 10 000–3000 BCE 27Augusta McMahonPart II The Physical World 453 Archaeology and the Ancient Near East: Renewing a Culture‐Historical Partnership 47Marie‐Henriette Gates4 The Degradation of the Ancient Near Eastern Environment 65Carlos E. CordovaPart III The Social World 855 Gender Roles in Ancient Egypt 87Ann Macy Roth6 Royal Women and the Exercise of Power in the Ancient Near East 97Sarah C. Melville7 The Family in the Ancient Near East 111John P. Nielsen8 Pastoralism in the Ancient Near East 125Anne Porter9 Money and Traders 145Christopher M. Monroe10 Law and Practice 165Bruce Wells11 Working 181David A. Warburton12 Social Tensions in the Ancient Near East 201John Robertson13 Borders and States 225Steven Grosby14 Divine and Non‐Divine Kingship 243Philip JonesPart IV Thought 26115 Transmission of Knowledge 263Benjamin Foster16 Literature of Ancient Egypt and the Ancient Near East 273Susan Tower Hollis17 Ancient Near Eastern Philosophy 293Marc van de Mieroop18 Mesopotamian Cosmology 305Francesca Rochberg19 Ancient Mesopotamian Religion 321Nicole BrischPart V Culture 33920 The Languages of the Ancient Near East 341John Huehnergard21 Mesopotamian Art 355Marian H. Feldman22 Egyptian Medicine 377Tanja Pommerening23 Warfare in Mesopotamia 399Sarah C. MelvillePart VI Inheritances 42124 The Decipherment of the Ancient Near East 423Peter T. Daniels25 Monotheism and Ancient Israelite Religion 439S. David Sperling26 The Ancient Near East and Biblical Scholarship: Recently Uncovered Archives from the Cuneiform World 455Mark Chavalas27 Pharaonic Heritage in Modern Egypt 471Donald Malcolm Reid28 Conclusions 487Daniel C. SnellIndex 497

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