Reviews

Ancient Near Eastern History and Culture

William H. Stiebing, Jr. (New York: Longman, 2003) 368 PP., $57

A History of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000–323 BC

Marc Van De Mieroop (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2004) 336 PP., $27.95

Nowadays scholars tend to produce thick, difficult treatises on narrow, highly specialized topics. So it is welcome indeed to have two eminent historians—William Stiebing of the University of New Orleans, and Marc Van De Mieroop of Columbia University—publishing extremely readable works covering great swathes of ancient history.