"Civilizations of Ancient Iraq" by Benjamin Foster and Karen Foster, Princeton University Press 2012

 

Cover Image Princeton University Press

Ancient Mesopotamia, meaning land between two rivers, resides in modern day Iraq including parts of Syria, Turkey and Iran, contained many ancient civilizations such as the Sumerians and Babylonians. These ancient civilizations ruled the Fertile Crescent from 3100 BCE to around 600 CE. Ancient Historians have a plethora of primary sources written in Cuneiform on tablets, yet many of these tablets remained not translated. Many journal articles have been written on the subject of Ancient Mesopotamia with several books published on the subject as well, but the journals are more prominent in number and harder to obtain because of the expensive cost of the academic journals. The scholarly books are more affordable yet few published volumes are pleasing to read.  Princeton University Press’ book Civilizations of Ancient Iraq by Benjamin Foster and Karen Foster is the latest scholarly work to spread its knowledge to the masses.  Benjamin Foster teaches at Yale University in the Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations department.  As Professor of Assyriology and Babylonian Literature and Curator of the Yale Babylonian Collection, Dr. Foster exemplifies his expertise as an expert in Ancient Mesopotamia, especially in Akkadian literature with his earlier publication titled Before the Muses, a translation of a plethora of Akkadian literature sources. In addition to Dr. Foster holding a professorship at Yale University, Karen Foster also holds a teaching position at Yale University in their Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations department. Her expertise rises in Art of the Ancient Near East and Aegean. Both Fosters received their PhD from Yale University.  One would deduce from the expertise of Dr. Benjamin Foster and Dr. Karen Foster and the scholarly reputation of Yale that Civilizations of Ancient Iraq delivers as a cornerstone volume on Ancient Mesopotamia……

The excitement about this book elates because a scholarly press decided to make an up to date book on Ancient Mesopotamia with many books publishing in the twentieth century.  Alas, the book failed miserably as a scholarly work with many flaws.  I absolutely believe both authors are the foremost experts in their fields yet Princeton University Press failed two reputable scholars.  To start, the writing style is not scholarly at all. The syntax of the Civilizations of Ancient Iraq transforms from bad to terrible throughout the book. At a depthless view of the book, the context of each chapter looks enticing to one whom has a mild interest in Ancient Mesopotamia, however, when a deeper look is taken to each individual chapter the glow of this promising book falls apart. The style of the writing is atrocious with an almost too simplistic syntax that includes short choppy sentences.  On top of the awful writing style the authors, for some unseen reason, decided to add unnecessary commentary on present day Iraq that had nothing to do with Ancient Mesopotamia.  The only reason one can fathom that authors elevate modern day Iraq in a book focused on Ancient Mesopotamia is to highlight the current destruction taken on these ancient sites from armed conflict and looters. Yet, this book delves into too much depth into modern Iraq. A better solution entails creating a separate chapter at the end of the book to highlight the problems ancient sites face in modern day Iraq.  Though the blame, if one wants an easy scapegoat, would fall at the feet of the authors, one would be wrong to lay the problems with the book on the authors. Princeton University Press shoulders much of the blame for the less than extraordinary work of scholarship.

Blame shoved on the publisher correctly indicates the disastrous scholarly work that contains the publisher’s insignia since the publisher gave the green light to print the manuscript it had received and vetted to its standards. Though without further evidence one considers the aforementioned book a minor blip for Princeton University Press, yet there are several more books owned and produced by the press that shifts more evidence that the problem is not with the authors but with the press editor(s). To receive his or her PhD from Yale University one must demonstrate their exemplary writing style to communicate in a professional and scholarly manor.  I have full faith that both Benjamin Foster and Karen Foster can communicate scholarly work in a professional manner for two reasons. Firstly, one does not defend their dissertation with success from an Ivy League institution; both authors have completed their dissertations at Yale. Secondly, professors that teach at Yale University illustrate their scholarly skills. Since both authors teach at Yale, then one can see Yale has the utmost faith in their academic publishing skills.  Princeton University Press printed other scholarly works that have failed in the style and manner expected from a scholarly press.

I have read several other books printed by Princeton University Press and each one reads as if written with the aim to conduct “beautiful” and “poetic” style that does not mesh with scholarly works. These books do not just limit themselves to history; other subjects that fail include the Sciences and Classical Studies. At first, I thought I must be having trouble with this book so I leant it to two friends, an ancient history major and a medieval history major respectively, both subjected to reading a multitude of scholarly works. My fears were at ease when both indicated to me that they could not read past the first three chapters because the writing style reeked of terrible style and flow.  I recommend the following books to learn about Ancient Mesopotamia in a professional and pleasing scholarly prose: A History of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000 - 323 BC by Marc Van De Mieroop (Wiley-Blackwell) and Ancient Mesopotamia: Portrait of a Dead Civilization by A. Leo Oppenheim (Chicago). In the end, this mundane and banal product reflects negatively on Princeton University Press.

Grade: D-