This Box set includes the first four books of the Novels of Ancient Sumeria series: The Prince of Eridu, The Prince and the Priestess, The Prince and the Prophet and The Prince and the Kings. This is the first in a seven-part series that will sweep you into the alluring and dangerous world of the first empire in history, an exotic and yet eerily familiar place that gave birth to many of the ideas that can still be found battling for hearts and minds among the people of the world even today. The story is experienced through the eyes of Ammon-shur, a prince of the ancient and exotic city of Eridu, who barely escapes a palace coup instigated by the shadowy and ruthless organization whose vile practices were decried for millennia by ancient Hebrew prophets, Greek philosophers and Roman sages alike. This wild adventure, based on the oldest written records of both Mediterranean and Mesopotamian sources, depicts a time when the protections of cultures and kingdoms were torn away by the sweeping changes in technology, religion and climate which pushed ancient peoples into bloody conflict with one another and led directly to the dissemination of the stories of heroes and prophets which still circulate in Western thought today.

When the jealous High Priest of Enki murders the King during a holy festival and stages a takeover of the palace, the Crown Prince, Ammon-shur, must flee for his life with nothing more than the clothes on his back. His faithful bodyguard, Balashi, saves him from capture and death at the hands of his enemies, and together the two make their way to the ancient city of Uruk, home of the ancient and powerful temple of Inanna. Ammon goes to the temple to seek allies that he might recruit to his cause to unseat the High Priest of Enki and retake his throne. While at the temple he meets Iltani, the fascinating and beautiful High Priestess of Inanna. Ammon scarcely gets to know the High Priestess before discovering that she is enmeshed in her own struggles against the members of the temple council, who maintain her as a powerless figurehead. Far from finding aid for his own cause, Ammon finds himself promising to help Iltani free herself from the influence of the temple council as well as to help her investigate a darker plot...

Sumerian is the oldest written language of ancient Iraq, first written down some 5,000 years ago. Its literature, encompassing narrative myths, lyrical hymns, proverbs and love poetry, provides a stimulating insight into the world's first urban civilization. This is a comprehensive collection.

Examines the many reasons and motivations for the destruction of books throughout history, citing specific acts from the smashing of ancient Sumerian tablets to the looting of libraries in post-war Iraq.

Innovative study of the early state and urban societies in Mesopotamia, c. 5000 to 2100 BC.

This civilization is single-handedly responsible for some of the most major innovations in nearly every field relevant to maintaining a civilized society - this includes religion, lawmaking, architecture, schooling, art, literature, and even entertainment.

The Sumerians The Sumerians settled in the area known as Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, around five thousand years ago. They produced many fundamental changes to the way in which human societies developed

Judging from the sheer amount of textual material left to us, the rulers of ancient Ur were above all else concerned with keeping track of their poorest subjects, who made up the majority of the population under their jurisdiction. Year after year, administrators recorded, in frightening detail, the whereabouts of the poorest individuals in monthly and yearly rosters, assigning tiny parcels of land to countless prebend holders and starvation rations to even more numerous estate slaves. The texts published in this volume--dating from the time of the Third Dynasty of Ur (ca. 2100-2000 BC)--attest to the immense investment of the ancient rulers in managing their subjects. This volume presents editions of two hundred and twenty-four cuneiform tablets selected from the Schøyen Collection, the vast majority of which have not been previously published. The ancient provenience for these texts is primarily Umma, with other core provinces represented in smaller numbers, such as notable contributions from ancient Adab, which is underrepresented in the published record. In order to provide a fuller picture of the administration of the Ur III state, a number of texts from other collections, both published and unpublished, have been integrated into this volume. Accompanied by Jacob L. Dahl's precise translations, extensive commentary, and exhaustive indexes, this volume presents extensive new data on prosopography, economy, accounting procedures, letters, contracts, technical terminology, and agriculture that adds significantly to our knowledge of society and the economy during the Third Dynasty of Ur. An important contribution to the study of the Ur III period, in particular for Assyriology, this volume will serve as a useful handbook for scholars and students alike.

A legendary civilization vanished under the Fertile Crescent and escaped a fate worse than death until Sumerologists questioned widely accepted truths. The Sumerians reemerged onto the extraordinary timeline of human history. Their tales of kings and gods, including the Epic of Gilgamesh, and their fearless trade in distant lands, during the remarkable Bronze Age, centered in the world’s first city-states that chronicled ancient rivalries and their enduring impact. Inside you will read about... ✓ How We Know What We Know About Sumerians ✓ The Bronze Age – Sumer And Its Contemporaries ✓ How Did The Sumerians Become Civilized? ✓ How Long Were They Around ✓ Primer Of Impact Of Sumerian Ancient Civilization On Our World ✓ What Did They Look Like? ✓ What Shaped Their Worldview? And much more! Our journey relies on excavated and historical evidence to explore their productive fascinations with order and man’s place in the universe. Their application of impressive knowledge helps us unfold their mysterious civilization.

A brother and sister's search for a new life and new home . . . 5,000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia during a terrible drought, Jomar and Zefa's father must send his children away to the city of Ur because he can no longer feed them. At fourteen, Jomar is old enough to apprentice with Sidah, a master goldsmith for the temple of the moongod, but there is no place for Zefa in Sidah's household. Zefa, a talented but untrained musician, is forced to play her music and sing for alms on the streets of Ur. Marjorie Cowley vividly imagines the intrigues, and harsh struggle for survival in ancient Mesopotamia.