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Akkadica  Assyriological Center
Georges Dossin CONSPECTUS LIBRORUM MAINPAGE CONSPECTUS LIBRORUM PAGE 2 CONSPECTUS LIBRORUM PAGE 3 CONSPECTUS LIBRORUM PAGE 4  |
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Conspectus Librorum - Book Review: Bill T. ARNOLD, Who Were the Babylonians? Society of Biblical Literature - Archaeology and Biblical Studies. [SBL Number 10]. Atlanta, 2004. Paperback. viii-148 pages. (a hardback edition was published by Brill Publishers Leiden) ISBN: 1-58983-106-3. Price USD 15.95,-. "Who Were the Babylonians ?" is one of many scholarly books on the history and culture of the Babylonians, only this time the initial aim is not only to provide an accessible and comprehensible summary for specialists, but also for students in the various fields of Near Eastern studies. In the first chapter the author offers a general portrait of the Babylonians, their role in ancient history and the (permanent) mark they left on different aspects of human sciences. The chapter ends with a brief overview of the primary sources for the study of the Babylonians. The second chapter covers the developments in Southern Mesopotamia before the Babylonians (3rd millennium B.C.E.) and the rise of Babylon - the Old Akkadian and neo-Sumerian periods. The book proceeds with the Old Babylonian Period, in Chapter 3. The Sumero-Akkadian culture of Southern Mesopotamia knew a remarkable progress towards the end of the third millennium B.C.E. Subsequently, at the dawn of the second millennium, significant socio-political and cultural developments were taking place. These would have an important impact on the future of Babylonia for quite some time. In the first half of the millennium, the city of Babylon became the political center of the country, to gradually develop into an empire of magnitude and great historical importance. The following chapter concentrates on the Middle Babylonian Period (1595 - 1155 B.C.E.), after the Old Babylonian Empire came to an end through an invasion of the Kassites. Arnold pays special attention to the cultural developments in Babylonia during the four and a half centuries of Kassite rule, and the role it played in a new age of internationalism across the ancient Near East. The sociopolitical history of Babylonia during the centuries following the collapse of the Kassite Dynasty is discussed in Chapter 5, titled "the Early Neo-Babylonian Period". The term "Early Neo-Babylonian" as used in this book, refers to the period from the fall of the Kassites (1155 B.C.E.) until the rise the Chaldeans in southern Babylonia (c. 800 B.C.E.). The Neo-Babylonian Empire, summarized in Chapter 6, was a period of very short duration, between the Assyrians and the Persians. Nevertheless, the grandeur of the empire, and its legacy in biblical, as well as classical resources, certainly left an important mark on the ancient Babylonian history. In general, the final chapter covers the emergence and fall of this new Babylonian Empire, starting with the arrival of the Chaldeans and Arameans. Through the text we can find a number of maps, lists of kings and black & white photographs. At the end there is a list of resources which will guide the reader of this book in learning more about the Babylonians. There is also an index of biblical references and modern authorities. Ingrid M. Swinnen Vrije Universiteit Brussel |