Jean Bottéro (1914–2007)

This book is a collection of articles written by the author (a respected French Assyriologist) from 1966 to 1982, along with an introduction and some helps and aids. This is not an introduction to ancient Mesopotamia. What Bottéro tries to do is figure out how the ancient Mesopotamians thought, what made their brain tick. He is especially fascinated by:

• the utility of investigating long lost cultures,
• how the development of writing changed the way that educated Mesopotamians looked show more at the world,
• the links between concrete reality and concepts, and the written word,
• how the world was investigated and understood,
• how ancient Mesopotamians thought about the gods, sex, and death.

Bottéro is disarming in his mixed attitude to the Mesopotamians: they both repulse and intrigue him. Although his writing does not require technical knowledge of ancient Mesoptamian history, writing or language, a basic familiarity is assumed. Following his reasoning can be hard work (at least for those like me for whom philosophy and logic hold no special attraction) but it is worthwhile persisting. Windows open up, not only on long past cultures, but on how humans view and construct culture. Perhaps it can lend some perspective to our own? That, I think, is one of Bottéro’s hopes. show less

One of the author's goals in this book is to defend the utility of studying ancient civilizations. He does this by presenting the ways of thought of the ancient Mesopotamians as recorded in their tablets. The presentation is of course limited by the scarcity of the evidence and the tenuousness of interpretations, but nevertheless it persuaded me. Excellent books like this are the best justification for the pursuit of understanding in ancient history.

Bottero is an excellent writer, always worth reading. This book is the best one I've read on the historical context of the Old Testament, where these ideas came from and why they were fixed in a written canon.

This is as close to the original as a non-expert is ever going to get