Origins is the first fully comprehensive study of the debt owed by modern western culture to Ancient Near Eastern civilization ‎- a debt touched upon by standard histories of the Ancient Near East but never as systematically investigated as here by William W‎.‎ Hallo‎.‎ The author‎,‎ who has devoted a lifetime to the study of the Ancient Near East‎,‎ places the emphasis on the way the Ancient Near East continues to shape our Western world‎.‎ He takes an in‎-depth look at the ancient origins of many institutions that are most essential to contemporary life ‎- and most often taken for granted‎.‎ In the exploration of the ‎"‎first half of history‎"‎‎,‎ Hallo shows that modern ideas of urbanism and the formation of capital were first developed between 3000‎-500 BC and that aspects of 20th‎-century agriculture‎,‎ manufacturing and trade go back to ancient Mesopotamia‎,‎ Egypt and Israel‎.‎ Special attention is given to the role played by women‎,‎ arguing that this was an often non‎-traditional one‎;‎ for example‎,‎ women are shown to have been among the first authors in history who are actually known by their names‎.‎The scope of the work is vast‎:‎ Hallo methodically examines a wide range of topics‎,‎ from the order of the alphabet to the coronation of kings‎,‎ and from schooling to the calendar‎.‎ An intriguing touch is provided by sections on games and on the world‎'‎s oldest cookbooks‎.‎ This ground‎-breaking study leaves the reader with a full appreciation of the legacy of the Ancient Near East to modern Western society‎,‎ in all its aspects‎.‎ It will be essential reading for researchers and general readers alike who are interested in the cultural history of the West as well as the history of the Ancient Near East‎.‎

• Author‎:‎ Hallo‎,‎ William W‎.‎Dijkstra‎,‎ Klaas
• Publisher‎:‎ Brill Academic Publishers
• ISBN‎:‎ 9789004103283