In Babylon, Paul Kriwaczek tells the story of ancient Mesopotamia from the earliest settlements around 5400 BC, to the eclipse of Babylon by the Persians in the sixth century BC. He chronicles the rise and fall of dynastic power during this period; he examines its numerous material, social and cultural innovations and inventions: The wheel, civil, engineering, building bricks, the centralized state, the division of labour, organised religion, sculpture, education, mathematics, law and monumental building.

At the heart of Kriwaczek's magisterial account, though, is the glory of Babylon - 'gateway to the gods' - which rose to glorious prominence under the Amorite king Hammurabi, who unified Babylonia between 1800 and 1750 BC. While Babylonian power would rise and fall over the ensuing centuries, it retained its importance as a cultural, religious and political centre until its fall to Cyrus the Great of Persia in 539 BC.

In the sixth millennium BC, settlers on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers created the world's first cities. In doing so, they wrote the opening chapter of the history of human civilization as we know it. Paul Kriwaczek tells their extraordinary story.

About the Author
Paul Kriwaczek (1937-2011) was born in Vienna. In 1970 he joined the BBC full-time and wrote, produced and directed for twenty-five years. A former head of Central Asian Affairs at the BBC World Service, he was fluent in eight languages, including Farsi, Pashto, Urdu, Hindi and Nepalese.


Book Information
ISBN 9781848871571
Author Paul Kriwaczek
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint Atlantic Books
Publisher Atlantic Books
Weight(grams) 317g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 23mm