Written for the most part by acknowledged masters of Assyriology and underpinned by decades of scholarly engagement with that enormous and intractable mass of cuneiform texts ! that permit an intimate insight into all aspects of human activity that is unrivalled in the study of ancient civilizations ! What this book offers is a series of well-written chapters on a selection of the most absorbing, intriguing or otherwise appealing topics in ancient Mesopotamian history ! the volume is lively and interesting and will be read with profit and enjoyment by undergraduate and general reader alike. Written for the most part by acknowledged masters of Assyriology and underpinned by decades of scholarly engagement with that enormous and intractable mass of cuneiform texts ! that permit an intimate insight into all aspects of human activity that is unrivalled in the study of ancient civilizations ! What this book offers is a series of well-written chapters on a selection of the most absorbing, intriguing or otherwise appealing topics in ancient Mesopotamian history ! the volume is lively and interesting and will be read with profit and enjoyment by undergraduate and general reader alike.