This third edition of A History of the Ancient Near East provides a comprehensive examination of the unusual multicultural civilization of the ancient Near East.
This book presents the complex history of the region in a concise and accessible manner.
Beginning with the appearance of written records around 3000 AD, it covers the origins of the first cities in Mesopotamia, the rise of the Babylonian and Hittite kingdoms, and the rise of the Assyrian and Persian empires.
The concluding section describes the changes in the ancient Near East before the conquests of Alexander the Great, with new additions covering the dominance and continuity of the region during the Persian Empire.
Other recent additions include a comprehensive timeline of major events, 30 new illustrations, and a look at political events, military expeditions, and socio-cultural developments in the Near East over a period of three millennia.

In other areas, the Uruk people settled in existing settlements and formed their own villages.
Interactions between Uruk immigrants and local populations brought cultural innovations such as megastructures to the region.
For example, a great temple was built at Tell Brak in northeastern Syria.
The temple was built according to local religious traditions, but its architectural techniques were influenced by those of southern Uruk.
The temple's internal structure, the building's foundation platform, the cone mosaic decoration, and the temple's contents are all cultural elements imported from southern Uruk.
In some areas, Uruk cultural influence was limited to a few buildings.
But even there, the impact on the local population could be significant.
For example, at Aslan Tepe, local elites tended to imitate southern customs and built massive structures.
Finally, it can be pointed out that there were also ancient settlements, such as Tepe Gaura, which had no cultural influence from Uruk at all.

--- p.76

The kings of Akkad did not exercise political power only in Babylonia.
Although several kings of the early monarchy period undertook military expeditions to various parts of the Near East, none could match the achievements of the kings of Sargon's dynasty.
To determine the sphere of influence of the Akkadian kingdom and the nature of its influence, we must examine the inscriptions of its kings.
These inscriptions are carved on stelae erected in the forecourt of the Nippur temple, following the tradition of the early monarchy, which regarded Nippur as the supreme city.
Military matters dominate the content of this inscription.

--- p.120

The Hittite borders were always fluid.
The capital was located in central Anatolia, on the upper reaches of the Kyzylyrmak River.
And their military expeditions were mainly concentrated in the south.
At its peak, Hatti also ruled western Syria.
However, it is not certain whether the northern and western borders reached the Black Sea coast and the Aegean Sea.
Since the state was organized around vassal kings rather than direct rule over territory, borders were determined by the degree to which the vassal states within the Hittite sphere of influence depended on the Hittites rather than by actual hegemony.
Throughout the period discussed here, the Hittites had greater interest in Syria than in the Anatolian frontier.
The political center of the Hittites was located at the northernmost tip of their territory.

--- p.252

Since the late 8th century, Babylonian and Chaldean resistance to Assyria has been supported to a significant extent by Elam.
The swamps to the south connected the two regions, and the rebels could easily escape from Babylonia to Elam and evade the Assyrian army.
Moreover, the Elamite armies were easily persuaded by the Babylonians to go to war against Assyria.
And often they were paid for their military service.
The history of Elam in the 5th century is almost completely known to us through Babylonian and Assyrian sources.
Although some Elamite kings left inscriptions, these are few in number and contain little information.
From 740 to 647, when Elam re-emerged on the international stage, we encounter five kings in the Elamite sources.
However, Mesopotamian sources record sixteen kings who claimed the throne of Elam.
Despite political instability in Elam (15 changes of rulers in 100 years), Elam was able to harass Assyria and amass wealth that was the envy of its neighbors.

--- p.336

When Ashurbanipal destroyed Elam in 646, the Medes appear to have expanded their influence into the Zagros Mountains.
In 614, a man named Umakishtar attacked Assyria and later destroyed the Assyrian Empire with the help of Babylonia.
Umakistar may have been chosen as a leader of the Medians for a time, but there is no evidence that he ever became king of a unified nation.
When the Assyrian Empire fell, the Assyrian fortresses were also abandoned.
The Medes and other Zagros mountain peoples continued to raid the surrounding areas.
To counter their raids, the Babylonians built a massive wall connecting the Tigris and Euphrates rivers directly above the city of Babylon.
Later, this wall was called the Median Wall.

--- p.427