{"title":"Amanda H. Podany","description":"Amanda H. Podany is Professor and Chair of History at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. She is the author of the award-winning book Brotherhood of Kings: How International Relations Shaped the Ancient Near East as well as a number of other books and articles on topics in ancient Near Eastern history.","products":[{"product_id":"the-ancient-near-east-a-very-short-introduction-paperback","title":"The Ancient Near East: A Very Short Introduction - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe ancient Near East is known as the \"cradle of civilization\"--and for good reason. Mesopotamia, Syria, and Anatolia were home to an extraordinarily rich and successful culture. Indeed, it was a time and place of earth-shaking changes for humankind: the beginnings of writing and law, kingship and bureaucracy, diplomacy and state-sponsored warfare, mathematics and literature. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis \u003cem\u003eVery Short Introduction\u003c\/em\u003e offers a fascinating account of this momentous time in human history. The three thousand years covered here--from around 3500 BCE, with the founding of the first Mesopotamian cities, to the conquest of the Near East by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 539 BCE-represent a period of incredible innovation, from the invention of the wheel and the plow, to early achievements in astronomy, law, and diplomacy. As historian Amanda Podany explores this era, she overturns the popular image of the ancient world as a primitive, violent place. We discover that women had many rights and freedoms: they could own property, run businesses, and represent themselves in court. Diplomats traveled between the capital cities of major powers ensuring peace and friendship between the kings. Scribes and scholars studied the stars and could predict eclipses and the movements of the planets. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEvery chapter introduces the reader to a particular moment in ancient Near Eastern history, illuminating such aspects as trade, religion, diplomacy, law, warfare, kingship, and agriculture. Each discussion focuses on evidence provided in two or three cuneiform texts from that time. These documents, the cities in which they were found, the people and gods named in them, the events they recount or reflect, all provide vivid testimony of the era in which they were written. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the Series: \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eOxford's\u003cem\u003e Very Short Introductions\u003c\/em\u003e series offers concise and original introductions to a wide range of subjects--from Islam to Sociology, Politics to Classics, Literary Theory to History, and Archaeology to the Bible. Not simply a textbook of definitions, each volume in this series provides trenchant and provocative--yet always balanced and complete--discussions of the central issues in a given discipline or field. Every \u003cem\u003eVery Short Introduction\u003c\/em\u003e gives a readable evolution of the subject in question, demonstrating how the subject has developed and how it has influenced society. Eventually, the series will encompass every major academic discipline, offering all students an accessible and abundant reference library. Whatever the area of study that one deems important or appealing, whatever the topic that fascinates the general reader, the\u003cem\u003e Very Short Introductions\u003c\/em\u003e series has a handy and affordable guide that will likely prove indispensable.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51365696176351,"sku":"9780195377996","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/bPs88oRqg09780195377996.webp?v=1789070103"},{"product_id":"weavers-scribes-and-kings-a-new-history-of-the-ancient-near-east-hardcover","title":"Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA unique history of the ancient Near East that compellingly presents the life stories of kings, priestesses, merchants, bricklayers, and others\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this sweeping history of the ancient Near East, Amanda Podany takes readers on a gripping journey from the creation of the world's first cities to the conquests of Alexander the Great. The book is built around the life stories of many ancient men and women, from kings, priestesses, and merchants to brickmakers, musicians, and weavers. Their habits of daily life, beliefs, triumphs, and crises, and the changes that people faced over time are explored through their own written words and the buildings, cities, and empires in which they lived. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eRather than chronicling three thousand years of rulers and states, \u003cem\u003eWeavers, Scribes, and Kings\u003c\/em\u003e instead creates a tapestry of life stories through which readers will come to know specific individuals from many walks of life, and to understand their places within the broad history of events and institutions in the ancient Near East. These life stories are preserved on ancient clay tablets, which allow us to trace, for example, the career of a weaver as she advanced to become a supervisor of a workshop, listen to a king trying to persuade his generals to prepare for a siege, and feel the pain of a starving young couple and their four young children as they suffered through a time of famine. What might seem at first glance to be a remote and inaccessible ancient culture proves to be a comprehensible world, one that bequeathed to the modern world many of our institutions and beliefs, a truly fascinating place to visit.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51369497297119,"sku":"9780190059040","price":41.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/Danfle9JI69780190059040.webp?v=1789142491"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/amanda-h-podany.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}