Amanda H. Podany
Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East by Amanda H. Podany covers 3,000 years of the history of regions that used cuneiform writing. Those regions are ancient Iraq (Mesopotamia), Syria, parts of Turkey (Anatolia), northern parts of the Levant (the eastern Mediterranean coastal lands), parts of Iran (Elam and later Persia), regions in Egypt, Bahrain (Dilmun), the Lake Van region (Urartu), and the southern Levant. Included in this expansive study is a fascinating exploration of the development of written language from proto-cuneiform to Aramaic and all the various languages and permutations in between.
This sweeping history begins in Uruk (southern Iraq) around the year 3500 BCE and concludes in 323 BCE with a scribe in Uruk in whose home archaeologists unearthed cuneiform tablets copied from far older texts in Sumerian and Akkadian, both of which were dying languages at the time. Dr. Podany imagines a touching scene as this conscientious scribe authenticates his copy of the original tablet: “In accordance with the (original) tablet. Duplicate written and checked and properly executed.” It was signed by “Rimat-Anu, [son of] Shamash-iddin, descendent of Shangu-Ninurta.” Rimat-Anu dates the copy and identifies the city as Uruk. It is in Uruk that Dr. Podany begins her study, and it is in Uruk she ends it—a fitting end since Uruk is the oldest city on earth and the birthplace of advances in law, science, technology, and art.
Dr. Podany invites us to travel with her through time as she knocks on the doors of homes and palaces to learn how people lived, what they did, what they ate, what games they played, what they traded, what they built, what wars they fought, and which gods they worshiped. She deconstructs information derived from surviving cuneiform tablets and cylinder seals. Many of the tablets consist of contracts and trade deals. One of the most memorable contracts was drawn up in Emar in the 13thC BCE and duly signed by witnesses. It includes children’s clay footprints of the young siblings sold into slavery because their parents could no longer afford to feed them during a devastating famine.
With Dr. Podany as our guide, we learn about the lives and activities of kings and queens, priests and priestesses. We also glimpse into the lives of ordinary people—the weavers, scribes, tradesmen, slaves, and inn keepers. Her tone is engaging and conversational. She derives some fascinating insights about the period through her analysis of even the smallest smidgen of a cuneiform tablet. She breathes life into her characters who emerge as very relatable—an administrator, thousands of years ago, making a mistake in adding up totals of deliveries or a scholar including marginalia when copying the words from an ancient text.
The breadth and scope of the scholarship is impressive and extensively researched. It is thoughtful, engaging, accessible, and full of invaluable insights about a fascinating time and place and the people who inhabited it. Included in the study are photographs of tablets, statues, and seals; maps; footnotes; an extensive bibliography; and a detailed index.
Dr. Podany takes us on a fascinating jaunt through history. Her study is highly recommended for those interested in the history of the ancient Near East.