From Mesopotamia to Iraq: A Concise History Hans J.

Nissen, Peter Heine

The recent reopening of Iraqs National Museum attracted worldwide attention, underscoring the countrys dual image as both the cradle of civilization and a contemporary geopolitical battleground. sweeping account of the rich history that has played out between these chronological poles, !rom Mesopotamia to Iraq loo"s bac" through #$,$$$ years of the regions deeply significant yet increasingly overshadowed past. %ans &. Nissen and 'eter %eine begin by e(plaining how ancient Mesopotamian inventions) including urban society, a system of writing, and mathematical te(ts that anticipated 'ythagoras )profoundly influenced the course of human history. These towering innovations, they go on to reveal, have sometimes obscured the ma*or role Mesopotamia continued to play on the world stage. le(ander the +reat, for e(ample, was fascinated by ,abylon and eventually died there. -eventh.century Muslim armies made the region one of their first conquests outside the rabian peninsula. nd the rab caliphs who ruled for centuries after the invasion built the magnificent city of ,aghdad, attracting legions of artists and scientists. Tracing the evolution of this vibrant country into a contested part of the /ttoman 0mpire, a twentieth.century ,ritish colony, a republic ruled by -addam %ussein, and the democracy it has become, Nissen and %eine repair the fragmented image of Iraq that has come to dominate our collective imagination. In hardly any other continuously inhabited part of the globe can we chart such developments in politics, economy, and culture across so e(tended a period of time. ,y doing *ust that, the authors illuminate nothing less than the forces that have made the world what it is today.

Contents:
'reface 1 Landscape, Climate, Population !"e #e$innin$s o% &edentary Li%e 12a. #$,$$$34$$$ bce5 ' !"e First (r)an &ociety and t"e (se o% *ritin$ 12a. 4$$$367$$ bce5

+ City,&tates and t"e *ay to-ard t"e Central &tate 12a. 67$$3768$ bce5 . !"e First Central &tates 12a. 768$3#898 bce5 / #a)ylonia as Part o% t"e Near 0astern Community o% &tates 1#8983#7$$ bce5 1 !"e 0mpires o% t"e Assyrians and t"e #a)ylonians 1#7$$3869 bce5 2 !"e Ac"aemenid 0mpire 1869366# bce5 3 Ale4ander and t"e &eleucids in #a)ylonia 166#3#4# bce5 15 !"e 0mpires o% t"e Part"ians and t"e &asanians 1#4# bce to :47 ce5 11 !"e Islamic Conquest 1:773#78;5 1 Iraq as Part o% t"e 6ttoman 0mpire 1#78;3#9#;5 1' Iraq under t"e Monarc"y 1#97#3#98;5 1+ !"e 7epu)lic o% Iraq 1#98;37$$;5 2hronology, #:$$ bce to #9$$ ce #:8 -elected ,ibliography Illustration 2redits Inde( http<==www.press.uchicago.edu=presssite=metadata.epl>mode?toc@isbn?9A;$77:8;::8: