ANCIENT BABYLON

Books | Web Sites

Books

For Teachers

The Babylonians: An Introduction by Gwendolyn Leick. (Routledge, 2002)
A survey of the people of Babylon and the city in which they flourished.

Cuneiform (Reading the Past, Vol 3) by C. B. F. Walker. (University of California Press, 1987)
Learn about the history and usage of this ancient form of writing.

Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia by Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat. (Hendrickson Publishers, 2002)
A look at the food, games, religion, and other aspects of society, from 3100 B.C.E. to the fall of Assyria and Babylon.

Everyday Life in Ancient Babylonia by Jean Bottéro. (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001)
An introduction to Babylonian society's customs, traditions, and values, from a noted scholar.

The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Daily Life, Vol.1 edited by Joyce E. Salisbury. (Greenwood Press, 2004)
A comprehensive look at the lives of ordinary people in ancient times — their clothes, food, culture, customs, beliefs, etc.

For Students

Fiction

Gilgamesh the Hero by Geraldine McCaughrean. (Eerdmans, 2002)
The Epic of Gilgamesh has been called the world's first great work of literature. Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu fight monsters, survive earthquakes, and face the ultimate enemy. For older readers.

Gilgamesh the King retold by Ludmila Zeman. (Tundra Books, 1992)
The story of how Gilgamesh and Enkidu meet and become the closest of friends is retold for younger readers.

My Nine Lives by Clio by Marjorie Priceman. (Aladdin, 2001)
This journal tells the story of one cat's nine lives, beginning with her first life in ancient Mesopotamia and ending with her most recent in Wisconsin in 1995. Historical notes about each time period are included.

Quests and Journeys by Don Nardo. (Lucent Books, 2002)
Discovering Mythology series. Details six epic searches, including Gilgamesh's search for immortality.

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World by Mary Hoffman. (Frances Lincoln Ltd., 2003)
Philip, a fictional slave to the real poet and librarian Callimachus, narrates the story of their trip to visit the wonders of the ancient world.

The Winged Cat and Other Tales of Ancient Civilizations by Deborah Nourse Lattimore. (HarperTrophy, 2002)
Three tales, all set in ancient times, tell about a clever Egyptian servant girl, a Babylonian slave who struggles to be free, and a prince from the earliest kingdom in Crete.

Nonfiction

1001 Things to Spot Long Ago by Gillian Doherty. (Usborne, 1999)
Can you find the 79 objects in the busy marketplace in Mesopotamia? For younger readers.

Ancient Mesopotamia: The Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians by Virginia Schomp. (Franklin Watts, 2004)
The stories of the people who lived in the area that became known as the Cradle of Civilization unfold in words and photographs of artifacts, ruins, and the land as it looks today.

The Ancient Near East by Rebecca Stefoff. (Marshall Cavendish, 2005)
World Historical Atlases series. The history of Mesopotamia, from its beginnings as an agricultural center through its rise to power and eventual fall to Persia.

First Civilizations by Dr. Erica C. D. Hunter. (Facts on File, Inc., 2003)
Maps, drawings, and photographs of treasures and artifacts illustrate brief sections about the lives and culture of the people of Mesopotamia and other ancient civilizations.

Great Wonders of the World by Russell Ash. (Dorling Kindersley, 2000)
Ancient wonders, including the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and modern wonders, such as the Japanese Shimkansen (bullet train) are described in detailed pictures, photographs, and captions.

Iraq by Dynise Balcavage. (Gareth Stevens, 2003)
The modern country of Iraq (once ancient Babylon) is described, including its government, economy, arts, festivals, lifestyles, and current political reality.

Mysteries of Lost Civilizations by Anne Millard. (Copper Beech Books, 1996)
What is merely the stuff of legend and what has its roots in the truth? Where, exactly, were the Hanging Gardens? This is the story of how archeologists discover answers to our questions about the past.

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World by Diana Bentley. (Oxford University Press, 2001)
Printed in association with the British Museum, the ancient wonders are described and depicted in drawings. Each section includes photographs of a comparable modern structure.

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World by Lynn Curlee. (Atheneum, 2002)
Why were these spectacular structures built and what purpose did they serve? The author shows them as they might have been used with strikingly realistic paintings.

Writing in Ancient Mesopotamia by Jil Fine. (PowerKids Press, 2003)
The people who lived in and around Babylon developed a kind of writing called cuneiform. Its form and historical importance is described in simple language for younger readers.

Web Sites

Ancient History: Mesopotamia
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/mesopotamia_gallery.shtml
Find out more about ancient Mesopotamia by exploring topics such as early writing and more.

Ancient Wonders
http://library.thinkquest.org/J002388/ancientwonder.html
Individual links to information about the seven ancient wonders.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
http://www.unmuseum.org/hangg.htm
Take a virtual field trip through time to learn about the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, as well as the other wonders of the ancient world.

Seven Wonders: Get Clued In
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sunken/wonders/
Play this interactive game about the seven ancient wonders of the world.

The Seven Wonders: Other Monuments
http://ce.eng.usf.edu/pharos/wonders/other.html
The Civil and Environmental Engineering department of the University of Florida lists the seven ancient wonders, the seven modern wonders, the seven forgotten wonders, and the seven natural wonders of the world with links to photographs and information about each selection.

Write Like a Babylonian
http://www.upennmuseum.com/cuneiform.cgi
See your monogram in cuneiform, the way an ancient Babylonian might have written it.