Dans Mon Catalogue

Paperback, 328 pages

English language

Published Feb. 20, 2025 by Hodder Press.

ISBN:: 9781529392135
Goodreads:: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/223473876-between-two-rivers

(1 review)

A fresh and fascinating new history of ancient Mesopotamia and the birth of history.

Thousands of years ago, in a part of the world we now call ancient Mesopotamia, people began writing things down for the very first time.

What they left behind, in a vast region that once sat between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, preserves leaps in human ingenuity, like the earliest depiction of a wheel and the first approximation of pi. But they also capture breathtakingly intimate, raw and relatable moments, like a dog's paw prints as it accidentally stepped into fresh clay, or the imprint of a child's teeth.

In Between Two Rivers, historian Dr Moudhy Al-Rashid reveals what these ancient people chose to record about their lives, allowing us to brush hands with them millennia later. We find a lullaby to soothe a baby, instructions for exorcising a ghost, countless receipts for beer, and the …

A fresh and fascinating new history of ancient Mesopotamia and the birth of history.

Thousands of years ago, in a part of the world we now call ancient Mesopotamia, people began writing things down for the very first time.

What they left behind, in a vast region that once sat between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, preserves leaps in human ingenuity, like the earliest depiction of a wheel and the first approximation of pi. But they also capture breathtakingly intimate, raw and relatable moments, like a dog's paw prints as it accidentally stepped into fresh clay, or the imprint of a child's teeth.

In Between Two Rivers, historian Dr Moudhy Al-Rashid reveals what these ancient people chose to record about their lives, allowing us to brush hands with them millennia later. We find a lullaby to soothe a baby, instructions for exorcising a ghost, countless receipts for beer, and the adorable, messy writing of preschoolers. We meet an enslaved person negotiating their freedom, an astronomer tracing the movement of the planets, a princess who may have created the world's first museum, and a working mother struggling with 'the juggle' in 1900 BCE.

Together, these fragments illuminate not just the history of Mesopotamia, but the story of how history was made.

1 edition

Serg reviewed Between two rivers by Moudhy al-Rashid

Half list of artifacts, half personal blog

2 stars

"Between two rivers" describes a number of artifacts from ancient Mesopotamia, from the viewpoint of the author. She describes how, as a student, she became fascinated with these civilizations that left us the oldest written records. She then takes us to Ennigaldi-Nanna's museum: an archeological site that, as the name suggests, is likely to have been a museum in the distant past. Artifacts from very different periods were found there, including lists (in clay) describing them. From here, several of these artifacts are discussed, each in their own chapter.

The chapters are lightened up by the author's personal story, focusing on how she relates to the ancient Mesopotamians. For example, she observes how even back then mothers sang lullabies to their babies like she did for her own children. Thus she shows us how the clay tablets and ancient ruins become a window into a once vibrant society. But the …

"Between two rivers" describes a number of artifacts from ancient Mesopotamia, from the viewpoint of the author. She describes how, as a student, she became fascinated with these civilizations that left us the oldest written records. She then takes us to Ennigaldi-Nanna's museum: an archeological site that, as the name suggests, is likely to have been a museum in the distant past. Artifacts from very different periods were found there, including lists (in clay) describing them. From here, several of these artifacts are discussed, each in their own chapter.

The chapters are lightened up by the author's personal story, focusing on how she relates to the ancient Mesopotamians. For example, she observes how even back then mothers sang lullabies to their babies like she did for her own children. Thus she shows us how the clay tablets and ancient ruins become a window into a once vibrant society. But the relation to ancient history seems forced in at least one place. When she describes a set of anatomically correct drawings, she observes that one among them did not have reproductive parts; she then concludes that this represented a nonbinary person. This conclusion seems drawn from preciously little evidence; surely the drawing could also represent a eunuch? Such hastened conclusions make one wonder if other interpretations are informed by 21st century ideals.

Although the artifacts themselves are clearly described, the bigger picture isn't always clear. There is a timeline but it is somewhat hidden at the back of the book; what's also missing is a map. It is clearly a popular-scientific publication with the emphasis on popular.

All in all, it is a pleasant read but it was not the introductory text I had hoped for.