ReViews

Civilizations of the Ancient Near East

Jack M. Sasson, John Baines, Gary Beckman, Karen S. Rubinson, eds. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1995) 4 vols., $449

Superlatives are inadequate to describe this magnificent library of information on the ancient Near East. Here, at last, is a panoramic view of the world of the Bible along with in-depth analyses of various aspects of Assyrian, Egyptian, Hittite and Palestinian civilizations—all presented in non-technical, comprehensible prose by specialists in each field.

The series begins by trying to gain some perspective on this immense amount of information. The nine essays in its opening section discuss the role of the ancient Near East in Western thought: How have these ancient civilizations been discovered, and how have the discoveries been absorbed and digested? Not only are these issues fundamental to the work of historians and archaeologists, but they help reveal our own culture to us by showing how we and our immediate ancestors have viewed the ancient Near East. This section should be required reading for every concerned reader of the Bible.