Ancient Semitic Civilizations

By S. Moscati

Book Overview

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• Format: Hardcover
• ISBN: B00BLE9VVS
• Release Date: January 1958
• Publisher: Putnam
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Naami's Review

Great book for both laymen and students who wish to understand some of the ancient Near East civilizations.

Very interesting

This very interesting 253-page text, first published by an Italian, University of Rome professor by Putnam in 1957, provides an excellent window into six ancient Semitic civilizations--that is, before the common era (B.C.E.). In three brief opening sections, the author discusses the geographical area under observation, the people and their languages and finally their religions and nomadic cultures, He then continues in six chapters to outline the histories of the Babylonians and Assyrians in Iraq, the Canaanites in the Mediterranean coast, The Hebrews who followed them, the Aramaeans, the pre-Islamic Arabs and lastly, the Ethiopians. In the coastal Mediterranean, Hittite mythology "strikingly" parallels that of Greece, Egypt, Anatolia and Crete, the author concludes. Moreover, before the rise of the Israelites, "no durable and united political force [was] able to establish itself in this region." Indeed, in Phoenicia, people were "not even interested in the establishment of such a force or, consequently, in that of a stable cultural unity; for it was absorbed in commercial ambitions." The establishment and duration of the "Hebrews" as a nation "down to the present day" was not, the author notes, "ensured by political power; its cause must be sought, if anywhere, in the Hebrew religion, in the tenacious conservation of the ancient faith...." It was the interpretations of "the ancient Hebrew prophets" concerning the "vicissitudes of their people" that gave the people "an attachment to their religious and national traditions its unique tenacity..." and "unique vitality." This chapter focuses on many ancient manuscripts as well as archaeological discoveries, including the discovery at Ezion-geber "on the coast of the Red Sea, copper mines and refineries" exhibiting a "remarkably advanced state of knowledge and technique." The book also discusses the discovery of Solomon's stables at Megiddo, and the Israel's control of Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, which flourished especially under the rule of Ahab. The Aramaeans flourished in the "broad strip of land interposed between Canaan and Mesopotamia," extending at its southern end to the Anatolian mountains. Unfortunately, this chapter is the shortest as the Aramaean sources are "rare." But the word "Aram," meaning region or state, first appeared in 23rd Century BCE cuneiform in their language. Their peak came in the 11th and 10th centuries preceding Christ. The chapter on the pre-Islamic Arabs is also of great interest, not least for its mention of a rich south-western coastal region of Arabia that was known as Arabia Felix, where excellent soil and isolation "permitted the organization of lasting and prosperous political units." But by and large, the area was populated by "beduin tribes" who crossed the desert region in searches for water and pastures, giving this area in particular "a static and isolated aspect as compared with the historical evolution around it." The language was related to E