★★★★★ 5
The Babylonian Empire
Format: Kindle
This book analyses the achievements and challenges of the Babylonian Empire. It was a significant socio-political entity in Ancient Times. Like Assyria, the Babylonian state retained the written Akkadian language (the language of its native populace) for official use, despite its Northwest Semitic-speaking Amorite founders and Kassite successors, who spoke a language isolate, not being native Mesopotamians. It retained the Sumerian language for religious use (as did Assyria). Still, already by the time, Babylon was founded, this was no longer a spoken language, having been wholly subsumed by Akkadian. The earlier Akkadian and Sumerian traditions played a significant role in Babylonian and Assyrian culture. The region would remain an important cultural center, even under its protracted periods of outside rule. Ganesh of Mari founded the Kassite dynasty.
Both Dynasties were significant. Moreover, The Kassites, like the Amorite rulers who had preceded them, were not originally native to Mesopotamia. They had first appeared in the Zagros Mountains of northwestern Iran today. Overall the book is well-written.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2022
