The Hittites in the Late Bronze Age became the mightiest military power in the Ancient Near East. Yet their empire was always vulnerable to destruction by enemy forces; their Anatolian homeland occupied a remote region, with no navigable rivers; and they were cut off from the sea. Perhaps most seriously, they suffered chronic under-population and sometimes devastating plague. How, then, can the rise and triumph of this ancient imperium be explained, against seemingly insuperable odds?...

This gripping biography documents the life and reign of Hattusili, one of the most famous and well-documented Hittite rulers. Hattusili ruled over the ancient kingdom of Anatolia (modern Turkey) during the 2nd millennium BC and was a political rival and, at the same time, treaty-partner of the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses the Great. Trevor Bryce offers a chronological account of Hattusili, charting the rise of the Bronze Age Hittite prince from a sickly childhood to become – ...

In dealing with a wide range of aspects of the life, activities, and customs of the Late Bronze Age Hittite world, this book complements the treatment of Hittite military and political history presented by the author in The Kingdom of the Hittites (OUP, 1998). It aims to convey to the reader a sense of what it was like to live amongst the people of the Hittite world, to participate in their celebrations, to share their crises, to meet them in the streets of the capital or in their homes, t...

The history of Ancient Babylonia in ancient Mesopatamia is epic. After playing host to three great empires, the Hammurabic and Kassite empires, and the Neo-Babylonian Empire ruled by Nebuchadnezzar, it was conquered by the Persians. Entered triumphantly by Alexander the Great, it later provided the setting for the Conquerer's deathbed. Squabbled over by his heirs, Babylonia was subsequently dominated by the Parthian and Roman empires. In this Very Short Introduction, Trevor Bryce ...

Syria has long been one of the most trouble-prone and politically volatile regions of the Near and Middle Eastern world. This book looks back beyond the troubles of the present to tell the 3000-year story of what happened many centuries before. Trevor Bryce reveals the peoples, cities, and kingdoms that arose, flourished, declined, and disappeared in the lands that now constitute Syria, from the time of it's earliest written records in the third millennium BC until the reign of the Roman e...

This 500,000 word reference work provides the most comprehensive general treatment available of the peoples and places of the regions commonly referred to as the ancient Near and Middle East – extending from the Aegean coast of Turkey in the west to the Indus river in the east. It contains some 1,500 entries on the kingdoms, countries, cities, and population groups of Anatolia, Cyprus, Syria-Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Iran and parts of Central Asia, from the Early Bronze Age to the end of...

Offering fascinating insights into the people and politics of the ancient near Eastern kingdoms, Trevor Bryce uses the letters of the five Great Kings of Egypt, Babylon, Hatti, Mitanni and Assyria as the focus of a fresh look at this turbulent and volatile region in the late Bronze Age.Numerous extracts from the letters are constantly interwoven into the fabric of narrative and discussion, and this lively approach allows us to witness history through the eyes of the people who live...

This atlas provides students and scholars with a broad range of information on the development of the Ancient Near East from prehistoric times through the beginning of written records in the Near East (c. 3000 BC) to the late Roman Empire and the rise of Islam. The geographical coverage of the Atlas extends from the Aegean coast of Anatolia in the west through Iran and Afghanistan to the east, and from the Black and Caspian Seas in the north to Arabia and the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean ...

The history of Ancient Babylonia in ancient Mesopatamia is epic. After playing host to three great empires, the Hammurabic and Kassite empires, and the Neo-Babylonian Empire ruled by Nebuchadnezzar, it was conquered by the Persians. Entered triumphantly by Alexander the Great, it later provided the setting for the Conquerer's deathbed. Squabbled over by his heirs, Babylonia was subsequently dominated by the Parthian and Roman empires. In this Very Short Introduction, Trevor Bryce ...

A central figure in both classical and ancient near Eastern fields, Trevor Bryce presents the first publication to focus on Troy’s neighbours and contemporaries as much as Troy itself. With the help of maps, charts and photographs, he unearths the secrets of this iconic ancient city.Beginning with an account of Troy’s involvement in The Iliad and the question of the historicity of the Trojan War, Trevor Bryce reveals how the recently discovered Hittite texts illuminate thi...

In the early 12th century, the Late Bronze Age Hittite empire collapsed during a series of upheavals which swept the Greek and Near Eastern worlds. In the subsequent Iron Age, numerous cities and states emerged in south-eastern Anatolia and northern Syria, which are generally known today as the 'Neo-Hittite kingdoms'. Bryce's volume gives an account of the military and political history of these kingdoms, moving beyond the Neo-Hittites themselves to the broader Near Eastern world and the s...

The ancient Near East is known as the "cradle of civilization"--and for good reason. Mesopotamia, Syria, and Anatolia were home to an extraordinarily rich and successful culture. Indeed, it was a time and place of earth-shaking changes for humankind: the beginnings of writing and law, kingship and bureaucracy, diplomacy and state-sponsored warfare, mathematics and literature. This Very Short Introduction offers a fascinating account of this momentous time in human history. The thr...