Middle East Books

James Henry Breasted, is the founder of American Egyptology. Any Questions you may have regarding the translation of ancient Egyptian text on reliefs will be answered in this five volume set.If by any chance your question is not answered refer to the university of Chicagos Oriental institutes epigraphic survey volumes.

These volumes, written by a distinguished American Egyptologist, were first published in 1906 and 1907. In his introduction to this re-edition, Egyptologist Peter Piccione provides a short biography of the author as well as a historical account of the 5 tomes. Volume 1 discusses the First through the Seventeenth Dynasties; Volume 2, the Eighteenth Dynasty; Volume 3, the Nineteenth Dynasty; and Volume 4, the Twentieth through Twenty-Sixth Dynasties. Volume 5 contains supplementary bibliographies and indices for the previous volumes; Piccione has added a more recent bibliography that proves to be quite useful. Each book offers a description of texts along with comments on historicity and significance, before continuing onto easy-to-understand translations. Many of the texts included are never-before-seen passages, while others are quite popular: the Palermo Stone, Letter of Pepi II, Tale of Sinuhe, Tomb of Rekhmire, Capture of Kadesh, Papyrus Harris, Adoption Stela of Nitocris, and so on. This is the most complete, easy-to-consult translation of Egyptian historical texts ever available in the field of Egyptology. A highly recommended resource for students and scholars.

James Henry Breasted, has left us a reliable source of the translation of the texts on the monuments of Egypt. This five volume set is a must have for anyone interested in a reliable translation of Egyptian monuments. You will find all books written by; James Henry Breasted to be of great value.

These volumes, written by a distinguished American Egyptologist, were first published in 1906 and 1907. In his introduction to this re-edition, Egyptologist Peter Piccione provides a short biography of the author as well as a historical account of the 5 tomes. Volume 1 discusses the First through the Seventeenth Dynasties; Volume 2, the Eighteenth Dynasty; Volume 3, the Nineteenth Dynasty; and Volume 4, the Twentieth through Twenty-Sixth Dynasties. Volume 5 contains supplementary bibliographies and indices for the previous volumes; Piccione has added a more recent bibliography that proves to be quite useful. Each book offers a description of texts along with comments on historicity and significance, before continuing onto easy-to-understand translations. Many of the texts included are never-before-seen passages, while others are quite popular: the Palermo Stone, Letter of Pepi II, Tale of Sinuhe, Tomb of Rekhmire, Capture of Kadesh, Papyrus Harris, Adoption Stela of Nitocris, and so on. This is the most complete, easy-to-consult translation of Egyptian historical texts ever available in the field of Egyptology. A highly recommended resource for students and scholars.

uzun zamandir bu alandaki tek eser olan Woods'un Aqquyunlu calismasi nihayet yeni bir baskisi ile karsimizda. Guncellestirilmis kaynakcasi, haritalari ve tablolari ile daha da kullanisli hale gelmis. calismanin ciddiyeti, derinligi ve genisligi hakkinda zaten birsey soylemeye gerek yok. herkese tavsiye ederim.

This is one of the best books I have ever read on Central Asia. Actually, it is THE best book I have ever read. Lucid, well-organized, it brings a difficult topic within the grasp of a student-scholar.

For those of us who follow Arab politics closely, I found that this book has many new things to say. Marwan Muasher has been privy to three unique situations. (A) He was the first Jordanian Ambassador to Israel. (B) He was one among very few to be around the late King Hussein during the last few weeks of his life (intrigues over the succession issue). (C) He is intimately familiar with details of the many peace process attempts with Israel.
More like a personal diary, it is full anecdotes that show the human side of his time with King Hussein and as ambassador. It is an easy read and has good insights into the psyche of the Arab and the Israeli political players.
The last part of the book also has some interesting things to say. It is a candid non apologetic exposé on reform in the Arab world--not academic but fairly analytical. He talks about his experience (and frustrations) during the formulation of a document and roadmap for reform in Jordan--liberalization of press, democratization of the election process, curbing nepotism, the institutionalization of a merit based public sector, gender and economic parity--and the challenges of this process. This document was presented as the National Agenda in 2005, and to date, that is what it remains, an agenda. Some themes of discussion in this part of the book are the resistance of an old social guard to any change, the dynamics of the political/economic elites in the Arab world and a view on the political role of the different religious movements in the region. A must book to have.

A reference of authority on Middle East Politics, terrorism, and hope through modernization.

This book is by far the best of what has been written about Modern Middle East Politics and current affairs. It takes the reader through a journey of the most important political events in the Middle East and the Arab world that affected the local scene and the international community in the past decade and a half, including the peace process, global terrorism, and political reform. Skillfully, Muasher links the current state of affairs with the cultural, religious, and historical dimensions of the region and the people, providing a thorough understanding of the roots and causes of local politics and its influence on global affairs.

Furthermore, the author's vast experience with the peace process as the first ambassador of Jordan to Israel, the ambassador of his country to the US, and Jordan's Foreign Minister, together with his leadership role in the political, economic and social reform efforts in the Arab world provide a unique internal perspective on the future of the Middle East. Muasher provides valuable insights on the ongoing struggle between the traditional sociopolitical forces and the progressive/moderate camp and its effect on democratic reform,international politics, and the relationship of the Arab world with the West.

The book is an easy read and proficiently simplifies to the reader very complicated cultural, historic, and religious issues and presents them in a very informative way.

Muasher represent a breath of a fresh air in the Middle East Politics. This is a MUST READ BOOK.

This book explains why Raphael Patai's book "The Arab Mind" is wrong and stereotyped.
Barakat explains here everything accurately. A must read!

This book explains why Raphael Patai's book "The Arab Mind" is wrong and stereotyped.
Barakat explains here everything accurately. A must read!

This was a gift for the Egyptian Dig student in the family, who wants to learn more. She loved it.

Such book is an important addition to two fields of studies. The first is the anthropology of language, namely the connection between languages and the phenomena of nationalism and national identity. The second field concerns nationalism and national identities in the Arab Middle East, especially the relationship between the Arabic language and national identity. This book embodies a rich effort to examine the works and ideas of prominent thinkers and scholars in the field of nationalism studies by examining its applicability in the case of the Arab nationalism. Moreover Sulieman uses a wide range of primary classical and modern sources, some of these sources have received only minor attention from scholars, despite their indicative content in studying Arab nationalism and the question of identity. Bu using these sources Suleiman shows how language has played an active role in shaping an Arab nationalism that had clear cultural character.
The book studies also territorial nationalism in the Arab Middle East and how this relates to the language issue as a factor in the conceptualization of national identity. In particular the ideas of Greater Syrian, Egyptian nationalism and Lebanese nationalism.

The Arabic Translation
This is the first ecumenical translation ever in Arabic and one of the fruits of the blessed labors of the Bible society which coordinated Catholic scholarship (mainly society of Jesus), hand in hand with the continuos efforts of the evangelical missions since Dr. Van Dyke of blessed memory, started his first Arabic translation with Lebanese support more than 150 years ago.

How unique is this edition? Very unique indeed.
Here comes the genius of the Orthodox Church tradition: the Controlling authority of the Septuagint and the wider canon of the Alexandrine fathers, as stipulated by Papa Athanasius in his Pascal letter 357, still applicable in the Roman Church, even if the sequence of the Catholic epistles followed by the Pauline was reversed long ago by Amphilochius of Iconium.

Translation principles and rules:
Starting with the best available Hebrew text (Stuttgart: 1968-76),with reference to Aramaic (Syriac) whenever needed. As for the New Testament translation (4th edn.,1994) Koine (Old Greek) the used text was UBS 3, and Nestle Alland no 26. The goal was ultimately rendering in Middle Eastern Arabic speakers a simple modern Arabic language understood by a wide spectrum readership. The word to word translation was avoided in favor of the dynamic equivalent given that translation from Hebrew to Arabic is more expressive due their Semitic brotherhood.
So beautiful is the statement of faith "Throughout history, Bible scholars labored with great erudite and hard work to recover and preserve the original text unblemished" Starting with the ancient clerical traditions the Jews learned in Ancient Egypt illustrated by the ten commandments inscription on stone to the great Alexandrine tradition of the Scriptorium that produced all the great Uncial codices: Alexandrinus, Aphraemi, Sinaticus, and Vaticanus.

Two Variant Editions:
The Bible society has chosen to produce two editions, the full Alexandrine Canon used by the majority Orthodox of the Orient from Antioch to Alexandria,and a minority Roman Unite Churches.
A shorter 'mutilated' edition ( in the words of F. Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury), without O.T. Apocrypha, for the scattered born again brothers. The color code is Brown for the full canon and blue for the shorter, shown by Amazon.com.

Study bible:
Sure, and a good one, which avoids dictating dogmatic influenced interpretations, due to the blessings of ecumenical fellowship.
How? Simply by supporting this annotated Bible with commonly agreed footnotes, and scholarly proven facts, explanations and comments. Four colored maps and two indicative sketches, are helpful tools for novice students, together with general introduction and brief introductions for each book.

For eight years we have been using this bible in Egypt, in the fuller canon edition, which includes the Apochrypha in addition to the hebrew books canonized in jabneh by closing the Hagiographa around the end of the first century.
This scholarly upgraded translation, a friut of the hard work of Bible society translation team, for two decades, was very much needed to satisfy an urgent need in Coptic Egypt and students of the holy word allover the Arab speaking world. It served to clearly instruct in the way of salvation by having the Good News in contemporary plain Arabic. Language was and is the main draw back to the Van Dyke translatiom, that served weii for 150 years.
The other alternative is the Living bible which is a paraphrasing, while the Catholic translation by Jesuits is good but reltively expensive, which render it out of the reach of the population.
To complement the excellent review by Didakialex, I would like to emphasize that the present translation took into account the power of habit of hearing certain expressions. I recommend to compare and check against this transltion whatever translation you use,in Arabic or English.

While Elam civilization looks as not important or as a minor one for many other historians, Mr. Potts created a great book about these forgotten ancient Iranian people. I enjoyed reading the book a lot. Thank you for your great courage.
I hope you will continue this great job by writing a book about the Medes. That is also a forgotton civilization.

This is a well designed and well produced textbook, which seems to have been organised with students and teachers in mind. Potts has given us a cohesive and logically developed narrative; a big advance on the two chapters by the late René Labat in the 3rd edition of the Cambridge Ancient History. Pott's aim has been "to provide a cogent, readable synthesis of Elam" (p. xxi). And he has achieved this admirably. Features of the text of the book are the summaries at the beginning of each chapter (`text boxes'), the clear site maps for each chapter, and the chronological outlines. All very useful.

The book is cultural and historical as well as archaeological in character and in its emphasis. The contents deal with pottery, seals, sculpture, glyptic art, rock reliefs, the texts of clay documents, inscriptions, architecture, site plans, ivories, coins, figurines, burials and grave goods. Comprehensiveness and scope are notable marks of this book, in the search for the origins and the influence of Elam. It covers its pre-history (c. late fifth millennium B.C.) and continues all the way to the eighth century A.D.

In this volume, Elam and the Elamites are dealt with as a polity in their own right, and not merely seen as a troublesome heterogeneous nation in relation to its neighbours, the Assyrians, Babylonians and Persians. Potts stresses the chameleon-like character ("transformations") of Elam over the centuries, as viewed through the lens of contrasting if not conflicting sources of evidence. He argues that courte durée, rather than longue durée, is the historical concept which best helps to account for the periodic changes which characterised the history Elam.

Despite the incompleteness of the data, Potts has succeeded in bringing Elam and its people into sharper focus than has hitherto been the case. It is a worthy successor to Carter and Stolper's Elam: Surveys of Political History and Archaeology (1984), which was probably the best synthesis of that land and its culture before the advent of the present volume. Professor Potts is to be congratulated on his achievement. Particularly on his desire to communicate the results of his research to his readers in a format and language which strive to make the significance of these results clear and intelligible. This new work should become a standard text in the hands of teaching staff and students alike in tertiary institutions for some time to come.

The illustrations and plates are clear, relevant and help to elucidate the text and its interpretation. A copious 35 page bibliography and a generally adequate index round off the volume.

A well-written, finely researched book on a critical but otherwise unnoticed player in international terrorism. What is most interesting is Al-Suri's diverse history of terror cell membership and the resulting network of international links he maintained. This book is more than a biography. By reviewing Al-Suri's life, from his ideology, travel and marital choice, the book outlines a blueprint of "serious" terrorists that has been closely mirrored by many other hardcore jihadists in Al-Qa'ida and other groups. Most interesting is Al-Suri's shift from gun-toting combatant to ideological propagandist and his lasting influences. Though Bin Laden is "the face" of modern terrorism, this book leads the reader to question if the most dangerous players have yet to be identified.

In a fascinating tale of a fascinating individual this book delves deep into the soul of the Jihadist, learning about him, showing us his seminal work, which was 1,600 pages, and shedding lihgt on the man who theorized the global Jihad that threatens so many people today. This was not the Marx of Islamism or the Lenin. This was the Trotsky, the man who understood 'War Islamism' and how individualized Islamic cells of only a few men could spread havoc and take the war to the enemy on ground of the Islamists own choosing. Although Abu Mus'ab al-Suri, whose middle name was Sethmarriam, was not a latter day Sun Tzu or Clauswitz, her might have been. Alleged to have been killed in the snowy hills of the Pashtun, his wareabouts are actually unknown.

A fascinating book about Islamist history, about the birth and making of the Islamist and the strategy of Islamism. He was truly an architect of the international terrorist revolution.

Seth J. Frantzman

Required reading for anyone wanting to better understand the past organizations and efforts of the jihadists and an insight into possible future organizational structure for the terrorist networks. The translations of key sections of the "Global Islamic Resistance Call" of Al-Suri's 1,600 page book shows his well thought out, objective case for his idea of a global Islamic resistance design, or for that matter anyone wishing to cause chaos in today's world. You have to understand the enemy to defeat him because a leaderless resistance would be one of the longest, hardest battle this nation, or any others confronted with this threat, will have to fight. A fight that will take an unfailing determination and focus. A fight of generations to discredit the jihadist propaganda and let the true voices of the areas afflicted with this disease to be heard.

In this very good biography of Ariel Sharon his life comes alive in simple and concise language. A great introduction to Middle Eastern politics and the life of Sharon. This is one of the first in a stream of new biographies of Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister of Israel from 2000 to 2005. He was many things. Firstly a son of rebellious Moshavniks who didn't like the reform of Kibbutz life. He fought in Israel's 1948 war of Independence and was wounded at the battle of Latrun. He led the paratroopers in revenge raids in the 1950s, famously in charge of unit 101. In 1956 he led the paratroopers at Mitle pass in the Sinai and suffered heavy losses. In 1967 he fought a set piece battle at Abu Agheila, defeating the Egyptian army, again in Sinai. In 1973 he famously crossed the canal into Egypt and helped surround the Egyptian third army, but was almost relieved for command for going to far. He helped found the Likud party, combining his own party, ShlomTzion, with Begin's Herut. He was in the agriculture ministry and also in charge of settlements at various times after 1977 and in the 1980s. He was famously discredited as Defense minister for his role in leading the 1982 war in Lebanon and the slaughter at Sabra and Shatilla. In 2000 he returned, Nixon like, from his ranch in the Negev and came to power as the country turned to him, a tough man, to wage war on the Palestinian terrorists then taking dozens of lives weekly. In 2005 he famously led the disengagement from the Gaza strip, reversing years of settlement in the territories. He fell into a coma in the late fall of that year after founding his new Kadima political party.

A fair and good introduction.

Seth J. Frantzman

This book is written by Norman H. Finkelstein the author of thirteen nonfiction books for young readers on history and biography. It is written with elegance and balance, and has a sure narrative flow. The story of Ariel Sharon's life is told against the background of Israeli and Zionist history, the history in the Middle East through the past century.
Finkelstein is eminently fair in his depiction of Sharon, and indicates major mistakes he has made, strong criticism he has received from the outside world. However his approach to Ariel Sharon is by and large a sympathetic one, and he sees him , rightly in my opinion, as primarily a person who dedicated his whole life to the defense and building of Israel.
Born to strongly Zionist parents Sharon was raised with his sister in Kfar Malal, a small dusty farming settlement fifteen miles north of Tel Aviv. As a young man he joined the Haganah and was involved in key battles in the Israeli War of Independence. Critically wounded in the battle of the Kastel he and a friend dragged their way out of the range of enemy fire. He returned to the war afterwards, and continued to contribute to the struggle for Independence. Determination, and strong will would be the central mark of his character.
Finklestein chronicles Sharon's varied contributions to the Israeli Army including the founding of the first commando anti- terror Unit 101. He is not uncritical of Sharon's actions as commander. He shows how Sharon's disregard of orders would characterize his military career throughout. The battles of the Sinai campaign, where an insubordinate Sharon took his men up the Mitla Pass , of the War of Attrition, of the Six Day War, of the Yom Kippur War are all related here summarily, but with accuracy . Finkelstein also tells Sharon's family story including the two great personal tragedies, the death of his first wife, and the accidental shooting death of his oldest son at the age of twelve. Finkelstein however indicates how strong a family person Sharon was, and indicates the major role his second wife Lilly, who was sister of his first, played in his career.
Finkelstein tells the story of Sharon's political career again capsulizing and giving us the highlights in an accurate way. Sharon's joining the Likud becoming a member of the Knesset, the story of his various roles as minister, including Defense Minister in the Lebanon War are also related.His central role in the Settlement movement and the Jewish building in Judea and Samaria is also described. The book closes in the year 2005 as Sharon is about to order the disengagement from Gaza. This prompts Finkelstein to make the point that Sharon was guided always not so much by a fixed program, but as to what he saw would in the situation bring true security to Israel.
Since the book was published Ariel Sharon has had two strokes, the second of which he apparently will never fully recover from.
This book tells his story in a clear, concise and fair way. It indicates that he has been throughout a person of dedication to the survival of Israel and the Jewish people. It shows how he took heroic and courageous actions, time and time again to forward what he saw as the wellbeing of Israel. It indicates clearly where most believe he erred, and gives a realistic evaluation of his life.
I cannot think of a better brief narrative history of a major military and political figure than this small book.