Name: The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of the Modern World
Price: 69.18 NZD
Availability: InStock
Author: Selena Wisnom
ISBN: 9780226822556

portada The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of the Modern World

The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of the Modern World

Type

Physical Book

Author

Selena Wisnom

Publisher

University Of Chicago Press

Language

English

Pages

400

Format

Hardcover

ISBN13

9780226822556

Edition No.

The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of the Modern World

Selena Wisnom (Author) · University Of Chicago Press · Hardcover

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Synopsis "The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of the Modern World"

A tour of an ancient library transports us to Mesopotamia, introducing us to its people, their ideas, and their humanity. The library of Ashurbanipal, Assyria's last great king, held an astonishing collection at the forefront of knowledge in its day, from ancient traditions in religion and literature to the latest developments in magic and medicine. When the Assyrian empire fell, the library burned to the ground, and its contents, clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform writing, lay buried for thousands of years until a team of Victorian archaeologists discovered the remnants in modern-day Iraq. The clay had baked and hardened; the very fire that consumed the library had helped its texts to survive for millennia. In The Library of Ancient Wisdom, scholar Selena Wisnom, one of only a few hundred experts able to read cuneiform script today, guides us inside this important collection and, through its contents, brings ancient Mesopotamia and its people to life. Introducing us to Ashurbanipal and his family, scribes, astrologers, physicians, and more, Wisnom explores the library's tablets and the details they divulge about how these ancient people thought about the world. Like us, they had concerns about job security, jealous rivalries, and profound friendships, and questions about the meaning of life. Wisnom ushers us into a world where magic was commonplace, where the gods spoke to you in dreams, and where the secrets of the universe were revealed through puns--taking us to the heart of what it means to be human. Offering a close look at a major historical landmark as well as a readable account of the world's earliest civilizations, The Library of Ancient Wisdom lays bare the ideas, hopes, fears, and desires that survive on humble clay.

Selena Wisnom

(Author)

View Author's Page

Selena Wisnom is a British scholar and writer specializing in the history and literature of ancient Mesopotamia. She is currently a professor of Middle Eastern Heritage at the University of Leicester, where she combines academic research with cultural outreach.

Her most notable work is The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of the Modern World, published by Penguin in 2025. This book offers an accessible look at the most important literary texts of ancient Mesopotamia, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, and explores their influence on Western culture. The work has been praised for its richness in details and its ability to connect antiquity with the present.

In addition to her academic work, Wisnom has written poetry inspired by ancient Babylonian poetry, adapting Mesopotamian poetic forms into English. Her poems have been published in literary magazines such as Mslexia, The Literateur, and Blackbox Manifold.

Wisnom has also worked on editing ancient texts, such as the Enuma Elish, and has participated in cultural and academic events related to the history of the Middle East.

Her interdisciplinary approach and her ability to communicate the richness of ancient Mesopotamia have solidified her reputation as one of the most prominent voices in the dissemination of ancient history.

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