The Ancient Near East (Volume I): An Anthology of Texts and Pictures

Rating:
Summary: Indispensible Guide
Review: Absolutely recommended for anyone who is interested in studying the culture and writings of the ancients in the near east. Many documents are translated and there is a gallery of photographs of items and what they are/signify. Some of the language used in translation is a tiny bit dated (the occassional thee and thou and so forth) but that doesn't diminish an excellent resource.

Rating:
Summary: A useful compendium of original source material
Review: I bought this book along with its companion: Volume II - A New Anthology of Texts and Pictures, because it was time for me to see for myself what the the original sources had to say about the Ancient Near East.

This volume, which first was published in 1958 contains over 70 ancient texts and about 280 black and white photographs of artefacts from the Ancient Near East. The ancient documents include those from Mesoptamia, Egypt, Canaan, Israel, Assyria from the period about 2500BCE to about 500BCE. The editor states that the selection of texts was made from the point of view of relevance to the biblical Old Testament, having been taken from the original larger anthologies of texts (ANET) and pictures (ANEP) which were originally published in 1955 and 1954 respectively.

The texts themselves have cross references to the original text number, the relevant illustration number, and the specific biblical passages where there seems to be some point of contact, The translations were made by 11 eminent scholars, all of whom have provided an explanation of the content and meaning of the texts which they have translated, as well as providing useful notes on aspects of the text which might require clarification

I found the translations to be generally quite readable, but they definitely had to be read with full care and concentration to understand them. Some, being somewhat fragmentary, are rather more difficult to follow than others. In reading the texts, I was, of course completely dependent upon the translations and the interpretations of the scholars themselves, but at least I am now starting to have a fuller understanding of the cultures of the Ancient Near East.

3 of the 18 Egyptian texts in the book were included in Miriam Lichtheim's Ancient Egyptian Literature Volume 1: The Old and Middle Kingdoms, and I noticed that the translations in this book had been somewhat shortened. Except for a difference in style, however, I did not notice any significant differences and found it very interesting to compare the two translations.

All in all, I am very happy to have read this book, which will probably serve me as a useful reference from now on. As so much work has been done on ancient text translations in the 35 years since the two parent volumes were published, and the price of these full anthologies was in excess of US$250, I am glad I chose to buy the shortened versions. That is not to say that I won't buy them sometime in the future, but in the meantime, I want to be selective about the next set of texts to read, and have decided, as a next step, to read Volume II and III of Miriam Lichtheim's translations of Egyptian texts, and William L Moran's translations of the Amarna Letters

Rating:
Summary: Just a little bit boring
Review: I love ancient history and found the book interesting, but just a little bit stale.

Rating:
Summary: A useful compendium of original source material
Review: I obtained this volume of translations of Ancient Near Eastern texts and pictures along with its companion Volume I - An Anthology of Texts and Pictures which was first published in 1958. This volume, which was published in 1975, includes translations of more recently discovered material selected from the 1969 anthology of Supplementary Texts and Pictures Relating to the Old Testament.

This volume contains 72 texts and about 110 black and white photographs of artefacts from various and states and cities of Ancient Near East. The documents include myths, laws, treaties, inscriptions, hymns, letters, wisdom literature etc, from Egypt, and from the Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, Assyrian, and later periods of Mesopotamia.

The format is similar to that of Volume I with cross references to the ANET text number. Translations have been made by 13 eminent scholars, most of whom have provided some explanation of the content and meaning of the texts they have translated. In general, however, there are fewer notes than in Volume I, and no cross references to illustration number or to any biblical passages.

I found the translations to be generally quite readable, but, in the same way as for Volume I, they definitely had to be read with full care and concentration to understand them, and some, being somewhat fragmentary, are rather more difficult to follow than others. In reading the texts, I was, of course completely dependent upon the translations and the interpretations of the scholars themselves. In particular, I found the comments and notes by Professor S N Kramer on the various Sumerian Texts to be most helpful.

I am happy to have read this book and its companion, because they have given me some direct insight into the cultures of the Ancient Near East. Whether it is better to obtain the larger parent anthologies is, I think, a matter of whether you are prepared over US$250 for the latest editions of these two volumes ( ISBN 0691035032 for the texts, and ISBN 0691035024 for the pictures). But if these smaller volumes are anything to go by, then they are probably worth it.

I didn't want to spend that much on this subject at this stage of my studies. So for the moment, I have decided to be selective about next set of texts to read, and as a next step, will be studying Volume II and III of Miriam Lichtheim's translations of Egyptian texts, and William L Moran's translations of the Amarna Letters.

Rating:
Summary: For the serious scholar
Review: This book by Pritchard best serves serious historians though not necessarily those specializing in the Near East. Indeed the images and the translations are valuable for the mythologist or the art historian. I have found it to be very useful in my own research.

Rating:
Summary: first of two great text
Review: This first of two published books providing the non-specialist and specialist alike with images and texts from the Near East was and is a welcomed addition to any serious scholar's library. It helps to have a background in Near Eastern history but is not necessary.

Rating:
Summary: A Stimulating Resource
Review: Volume II or "The Ancient Near East" is a good companion to Volume I, containing mythic, legal, and monumental information from the Middle East Bronze and Iron Ages. It really puts you back there to read actual letters and contracts, or to see the developments in poetic, narrative and visual arts. The only real problem is the lack of consistent dating infomation, particularly for the artwork. It makes it difficult to form a conceptual picture if things are presented in what appears to be a random order.

Rating:
Summary: A Stimulating Resource
Review: Volume II or "The Ancient Near East" is a good companion to Volume I, containing mythic, legal, and monumental information from the Middle East Bronze and Iron Ages. It really puts you back there to read actual letters and contracts, or to see the developments in poetic, narrative and visual arts. The only real problem is the lack of consistent dating infomation, particularly for the artwork. It makes it difficult to form a conceptual picture if things are presented in what appears to be a random order.