I am Jeff Clarke, author and graphic designer. I have always been interested in origins and beginnings, whether it be the universe, life on Earth, military aviation and ancient societies. I possess a valuable private library of my own and generally prefer to use this rather than on-line sources as the authors’ qualifications are more easily ascertainable. I design the covers for all my novels.
Gilgamesh, victorious king of ancient Uruk, is the first and boldest of heroes. To curb his lust for Uruk’s women the gods create a man from the wilds to challenge him. The two embark upon bizarre adventures but offend the gods, who wreak a cruel revenge. Gilgamesh, fearful of his own mortality, hears of a man who, guided by the gods, survived the Great Flood by building an ark, then was granted eternal life.
Gilgamesh’s quest to discover this man and the secret of eternity takes him on a journey of conflict and danger, through the Valley of Shadows and across the Waters of Death. Immortality reveals a shocking truth and he will confront a yet greater challenge when his kingdom is faced with destruction.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the great masterpieces of world literature, and the oldest, with its origins lost in the mists of time.
It contains a dramatic account of the Great Flood, upon which the much later Noah’s Ark tale was based. The Epicwas current for some 3,000 years and entered the literature of many ancient cultures including those of Sumer, where it originated, Assyrian, Babylonian, and Hittite.
The Epichas been reconstructed from many thousands of clay tablets unearthed from Middle Eastern archaeological sites. The cultures through which it passed moulded their own flesh upon its venerable bones and this I have also done.
The definitive translation of the world's oldest known epic, now updated with newly discovered material
Miraculously preserved on clay tablets dating back as far as four thousand years, the poem of Gilgamesh, King of Uruk, predates Homer by many centuries. The story tells of Gilgamesh's adventures with the wild man Enkidu, and of his arduous journey to the ends of the earth in quest of the Babylonian Noah and the secret of immortality. Alongside its themes of family, friendship and the duties of kings, the Epic of Gilgamesh is, above all, about mankind's eternal struggle with the fear of death.…
History Begins at Sumerexplains lucidly how the Sumerian people, particularly the city of Uruk on the banks of the Euphrates River in what is now Iraq, the city over which Gilgamesh is said to have ruled, was responsible for many world firsts.
These included the use of the wheel, literature, organised schooling, an administrative structure, and many of those features that enable the functioning of what we now would consider a true city. An example that others were soon to follow.
Which civilization had the first system of law? The first formal educational system? The first tax cut? The first love song? The answers were found in excavations of ancient Sumer, a society so developed, resourceful, and enterprising that it, in a sense, created history. The book presents a cross section of the Sumerian "firsts" in all the major fields of human endeavor, including government and politics, education and literature, philosophy and ethics, law and justice, agriculture and medicine, even love and family.
History Begins at Sumer is the classic account of the achievements of the Sumerians, who lived in what…
This most revealing book explains how, over 7,000 years ago in Mesopotamia, between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, an area corresponding roughly with that of modern Iraq, urban living began.
The region where this remarkable phenomenon first occurred is known as Sumer. Where its people originated remains something of a mystery and the still imperfectly understood Sumerian language appears unrelated to any other known tongue, ancient or modern.
Situated in an area roughly corresponding to present-day Iraq, Mesopotamia is one of the great, ancient civilizations, though it is still relatively unknown. Yet, over 7,000 years ago in Mesopotamia, the very first cities were created. This is the first book to reveal how life was lived in ten Mesopotamian cities: from Eridu, the Mesopotamian Eden, to that potent symbol of decadence, Babylon - the first true metropolis: multicultural, multi-ethnic, the last centre of a dying civilization.
This book, like the others, is an essential reference for anyone researching the subject.
It covers in detail geography, rivers and irrigation, archaeology and building, government and society, religion and myth, language and writing, architecture, and the arts, economy and trade, food and agriculture, arms and warfare, everyday life, customs and society in general.
Getting down to finer details is the strength of this book. A great asset it has to be for the finer points in developing a novel.
Modern-day archaeological discoveries in the Near East continue to illuminate our understanding of the ancient world, including the many contributions made by the people of Mesopotamia to literature, art, government, and urban life The Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia describes the culture, history, and people of this land, as well as their struggle for survival and happiness, from about 3500 to 500 BCE. Mesopotamia was the home of a succession of glorious civilizations-Sumeria, Babylonia, and Assyria-which flourished together for more than three millennia. Sumerian mathematicians devised the sixty-minute hour that still rules our lives; Babylonian architects designed the famed…
This large and sumptuous volume, published in 1962, is the oldest of my references for ancient history.
Although over sixty years old its text, compiled by numerous specialists in their day, is still largely authoritative.
Where it excels, however, is in a cover to cover wealth of detailed pictures showing people, activities, situations, and places from ancient times in numerous parts of the world.
I have found this book an invaluable source, particularly regarding fashion and dress, for the book featured here as well as for Mycenaean period novels I’ve also published.
Oversized coffee-table book based on a series of articles entitled The Epic of Man which appeared in LIFE magazine from 1955 to 1957. They were prepared under the direction of Senior Editor Kenneth MacLeish and Art Director Charles Tudor and were written by Lincoln Barnett. Much new material has been added, and many of the illustrations and photographs are published here for the first time.
Gabrielle found her grandfather’s diaries after her mother’s death, only to discover that he had been a Nazi. Born in Berlin in 1942, she and her mother fled the city in 1945, but Api, the one surviving male member of her family, stayed behind to work as a doctor in a city 90% destroyed.
Gabrielle retraces Api’s steps in the Berlin of the 21st century, torn between her love for the man who gave her the happiest years of her childhood and trying to come to terms with his Nazi membership, German guilt, and political responsibility.
Api's Berlin Diaries: My Quest to Understand My Grandfather's Nazi Past
"This is not a book I will forget any time soon."
Story Circle Book Reviews
Moving and provocative, Api's Berlin Diaries offers a personal perspective on the fall of Berlin 1945 and the far-reaching aftershocks of the Third Reich.
After her mother's death, Robinson was thrilled to find her beloved grandfather's war diaries-only to discover that he had been a Nazi.
The award-winning memoir shows Api, a doctor in Berlin, desperately trying to help the wounded in cellars without water or light. He himself was reduced to anxiety and despair, the daily diary his main refuge. As Robinson retraces Api's…
Interested in
Mesopotamia,
Iraq,
and
Sumerian history?
10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them.
Browse their picks for the best books about
Mesopotamia,
Iraq,
and
Sumerian history.
