Book Review - Weavers, Scribes, and Kings by Amanda H. Podany
Review
Author: Petros Koutoupis
Since the dawn of archaeology, history was written by the kings and queens, alongside the most notable of the elite. Timelines were created based on their reigns and the events which occurred and were recorded in their lifetime; often stepping into the realm of fiction and propaganda. Only recently have scholars begun to dig deeper and attempt to piece together the lives of the general population. This is where Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East comes into the picture.
Dr. Amanda H. Podany does something fascinating in this recent publication: relying on ancient texts and letters, she tells the story of the ordinary people, living their ordinary lives from the ancient Near East. Dr. Podany is Professor Emeritus of History at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, who specializes in the study of Syria and Mesopotamia in the Middle and Late Bronze Age.
I cannot begin to express how well researched and well written this book is. Consisting of over 600 pages of content, it covers the general Mesopotamian region from as early as the Uruk Period in 3500 BCE, all the way to the end of the Persian Period in 323 BCE. The way I can best describe this book is that using a comfortable and easy to follow tone, she takes the reader on a journey through time, adding color to the lives of the everyday people. These are the people that wouldn’t have made the headlines by any means but they do exist and they supported and contributed to the society in which they lived in.
Sifting through the cuneiform texts, we learn of the detailed lives of priests and priestesses, weavers, merchants, soldiers and so many more. And as I was reading, it just reminded me that while these individuals lived so many thousands of years before us, their personal struggles and their values are no different. It is easy to disconnect oneself from something so distant but Amanda has this amazing ability to bring these people back to life by telling us their stories.
The book is written chronologically, as one might expect, and the author provides plenty of context to ensure that the reader does not get lost while going on this adventure. I enjoyed this book quite a bit and would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in ancient Near Eastern history.
You can purchase a copy of Weavers, Scribes, and Kings on Amazon.
Mesopotamia: The Land Between the Rivers
In this exciting episode, host, Petros Koutoupis, sits down with guest historian and author, Dr. Amanda Podany to discuss her latest publication “Weavers, Scribes and Kings” and to also talk about the Cradle of Civilization, Mesopotamia. How and when did the earliest urban settlements form? What were the motivations for the discovery of writing? We also…
Interesting review! I had already heard of this book and would like to read it at some point. It's always nice to learn more about ordinary people in the past.
The best ancient history writing, for me, lets ordinary people re-enter the frame without pretending we can know more than the evidence allows. Scribes, weavers, merchants, debtors, witnesses: that is where the ancient world stops being marble and starts breathing.