History begins at Sumer.

History Begins at Sumer was the first book I've read about Sumer, and it's fifty years old so I'm sure there are more up to date books and considering the very specialized purpose there must also be more complete books on the subject. What I loved about this is that it was written by an

honest-to-god Sumerologist that was very much in the middle of the research happening. Some of the chapters were about texts that had only been translated by him at the time. It also seemed to me that there's always a bit more passion when the writer has such a close relationship to the material.

Each chapter is dedicated to a notable bit of history or development in Sumer drawing exclusively from primary sources, often focusing on just one in a chapter. This gave me a wonderful introduction to a wide cross section of Sumerian culture without the sacrifice of nuance and analysis that so often occurs in books that attempt to present a complete history of such epic subjects.

Reading History Begins at Sumer certainly hasn't left me a mini expert in Sumeria, that really isn't the point of the book. It has however whet my appetite to continue reading the ancient history of the area and gave me enough of the foundation in the subject to make me feel more comfortable picking up more formidable books on the subject.

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