Dictionary of the Ancient Near East

Rating:
Summary: Great discovery!
Review: This new work put out under the auspices of the British Museum has what it takes to become THE standard desk reference on the Ancient Near East. Entries are clear and concise (the longest run to two and a half columns). Also, they are good about letting the reader know which archaeological and historical issues are still matters of dispute (in other words, there seems to be no faking of certainty). Although there are no color plates, almost every page has a well-chosen and informative photograph or illustration. Maps and charts are simple and easy to absorb. The editors and their staff get major points for the quality and extent of their cross-referencing and indexing. It's very easy to spend hours following all the interesting leads and connections from one article to another. Many alphabatized reference works don't even bother with an index ("The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization" is an example of a work that desperately needs one); but, as anyone who has to do quick look-ups on the fly knows, an index is a great asset in any single-volume desk reference work.

Information the publisher should have given to Amazon.com: (1) The definition of the Ancient Near East the editors follow is the one used by the British Museum: Mesopotamia, Iran, Anatola, the Caucasus, the Levant and Arabia; (2) The chronological range covered by the entries stretches from 1.5 million years ago to the fall of Babylon to the Persian Cyrus the Great in 539 B.C. [Yes, dates are identified as "B.C.", not "B.C.E."]; (3) Besides information about the ANE that you'd expect to find, this dictionary includes information on the discoverers as well--the people and institutions who made significant contributions to ANE studies. (Although I'm not qualified to judge, I suspect the Brits are over-represented.)

Things I would like to see added in subsequent editions: (1) A general introduction that give the reader some context and background; (2) A timeline that relates what was happening in the ANE to the growth of civilization in Egypt. (I accept the need to limit discussion of Egypt in the individual entries, but would have appreciated a schematic that gave me a workable overview. Don't the Assyriologists ever talk to the Egyptologists at the British Museum?)

Overall an excellent work! I'm glad to own a copy.