The book under review provides a clear and concise introductory overview of ancient Assyria, which covers a territory of fluctuating size in various political forms from the third millennium to the middle of the first millennium b.c. A work that explains its key periods, features and overall evolution clearly and concisely provides a breath of fresh air to the layperson and scholar alike. Perhaps in an effort to present as clear a picture as possible, some nuances are omitted. However, the work does not suffer as a result, given its aim to provide an introduction.
Beginning with an overview that places the Assyrian heartland and Aššur at the centre, the work presents the empire's history as a function of its centre's relationship to surrounding lands and powers; ‘Assyria’ ebbs and flows around this nucleus, whose continuity allows for the characterisation of sequential empires built upon and around it as Assyrian.
The remaining chapters organise the vast amounts of known information about Assyria into categories based on space and individuals. Chapter 2 organises major events and periods along the lines of cities central to those periods in Assyrian history, such as Kaneš for the Old Assyrian period and Kalḫu for the beginning of the Neo-Assyrian period, interspersed with anecdotes about each site's excavation history. While addressing public, private and sacred spaces within each city and major events of each period, the chapter also incorporates colourful details about daily life, such as the community's culinary contributions to the ‘daily feast’ of the city's god in Aššur (pp. 16–17) or methods of transporting tin, ‘wrapped up in bales of fabric that were carefully balanced across the donkeys’ backs and sides in order to spare them from the discomfort’ (p. 25), in the Old Assyrian trade network.
Chapters 3, 4 and 5 approach history through the lens of individuals. The sources excerpted provide a sampling of the types of cuneiform records available to Assyriologists for the reconstruction of ancient Assyria. Further, they open up a window on to the human side of history, from the political concerns of a king to the emotional pleas of a forgotten court scholar, to the business concerns of a family of traders in Kaneš to the inheritance arrangements of a Persian family relocated to Aššur.
Chapters 4 and 5 address the internationalism of Assyria, whose citizens lived in multiple regions both by choice – for example, to coordinate trade and conduct diplomacy – or by force – for example, to flee famine. At the same time, many foreigners called the ‘increasingly multicultural, cosmopolitan’ (p. 79) Assyria home during the later periods. The final chapter closes with Assyria at its height in the first millennium b.c. with particular focus on warfare, for which the culture is famous, as well as the legacy of what was once the world's largest empire.
R.’s book is a welcome introductory level overview of an empire with a rich and complex history. Not only does it provide a useful resource for the interested layperson, but it would also fit nicely into a university-level history course.
