Assyria

The Rise and Fall of the World's First Empire

De: Eckart Frahm

Narrado por: Matthew Lloyd Davies

A new history of Assyria, the ancient civilization that set the model for future empires

At its height in 660 BCE, the kingdom of Assyria stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. It was the first empire the world had ever seen. Here, historian Eckart Frahm tells the epic story of Assyria and its formative role in global history. Assyria’s wide-ranging conquests have long been known from the Hebrew Bible and later Greek accounts. But nearly two centuries of research now permit a rich picture of the Assyrians and their empire beyond the battlefield: their vast libraries and monumental sculptures, their elaborate trade and information networks, and the crucial role played by royal women.

Although Assyria was crushed by rising powers in the late seventh century BCE, its legacy endured from the Babylonian and Persian empires to Rome and beyond. Assyria is a stunning and authoritative account of a civilization essential to understanding the ancient world and our own.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"An extremely readable introduction to Assyria and the Assyrians, from their origins to their ultimate demise. Frahm presents a wealth of knowledge and information in an accessible manner, and with relevance to today, which will be of interest to scholars, students, and members of the general public alike."—Eric Cline, author of 1177 B.C.

“Eckart Frahm has produced a compelling account of how the Assyrians built an empire that ruled over large territories and diverse peoples. Assyria offers us a new way to think about the formation and sustainability of an imperial model that has shaped human experiences for much of the past 3000 years. It is ancient history that remains relevant to this day.”—Edward J. Watts, author of Mortal Republic

“A superb, compelling, and exuberantly written history of the Assyrians, popularly known only as the bad guys of the Old Testament, but actually one of the most significant of all ancient Near Eastern empire builders. This book is filled with fascinating detail and cliché-busting analysis. Sweeping yet nuanced, Eckart Frahm challenges—and changes—the way we think about the Assyrians and the culture they fashioned.”—Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, author of Persians

“Eckart Frahm has given us a history which jumps with life. From Assyria’s humble origins at mercantile Ashur to the smoking ruins of imperial Nineveh, Frahm animates a lost world with the authority and the eye of a master painter. This is Assyria with all its jealous princes, scheming viziers, exorcists, rebels, and vassals—its glittering palaces, besieged cities, and vast borderlands. Readers can rejoice knowing they hold in their hands a book both definitive and compelling.”—Seth Richardson, University of Chicago

“Eckart Frahm’s eminently readable Assyria is the most comprehensive account to date of the world’s first true empire. It will transform how we approach Assyria and its role in history.”—Gojko Barjamovic, Harvard University

Fascinating!

There is so much covered here, it was simply fascinating. I appreciated the summary at the end covering the damage inflicted by ISIS and the meaning behind it.

Interesting source for civilization

There is a lot of information and detail this book. The struggle is bringing it together for a coherent narrative. It is like a list of events but no real cause/effect. So a thing happened, what were the contributing causes? What was influencing these actions? I am guessing that the surviving records of the time are very limited and this level of nuance would require a lot of conjecture or guessing. So I respect that the author didn't throw out any wild theories, but some thoughts or wider narrative would have been nice. Otherwise this just seems like a list of dates and names.

Too much volume change in narration

The narrator has such a wide range in the volume of his reading that I missed about 15% of the book. He little more than whispers the last 2 to 3 words while almost shouting the first few.

Extremely frustrating narration

The book itself was very interesting, presenting a more nuanced view of the Assyrian civilization than I had encountered before, although it tended to jump around chronologically.

But like others have said, the narration volume changes drastically within sentences. The narrator begins sentences very loudly, but I frequently had to turn the volume up to its max just to hear a key phrase at the end of a sentence (only for the next sentence to blow my speakers out). If you are listening to this with road noise in the background, forget about it. The sound mixing should have been balanced much more.

Excellent book and reading

This was a great reading of the book. i enjoyed it very much. Will listen to this again.

Fascinating history

Excellent book. Easily accessible to a non historian but lots of good history. Narrator is good.

wow, a moving masterpiece!

wanting to learn more about assyria for an upcoming video game I got far more than I bargained for! exceptionally narrated this boom takes you through what feels like a fever dream of history. it takes you along on the journey of the world's first empire step by step.i honestly want to listen to it again right now! p.s the final bit talking about ISIS is particularly moving and makes one believe in karma, the good of humanity and justice.

Excellent

Hugely fascinating history of the "world's first empire." Assyrian rulers were almost comically violent in their self depictions, but this varnish hides a more nuanced reality. Much of the conquest was spurred not just by the need for more arable land but often by the need for people. Mass deportations, which are often (justifiably) depicted as a war crime, were a means of achieving that end. The publicized brutality was calculated to increase loyalty by aristocrats and vassal states over which Assyrian rulers often had weak control.

The author is clearly knowledgeable and takes a standard "names and dates" approach for most of the narrative. But in between this are some fascinating insights and analysis. For example, Assyria became expansionist when dealing with ecological change, a sharp contrast to standard collapse theories. It had a Greek-Roman equivalent of a relationship with Babylon, admiring their culture and civilization and adopting it's gods as it's own, even while subjugating the population. All of this is hugely interesting if you're in the mood for good history.

Outstanding Historical Book

The book was extremely wellwell written and could be easily fallen by non-scholars scholars in those raiders who just enjoy history. The narrator is great, and kept my interest throughout the entire book.

great depth

far more info than I've found in any other single place. Definitely worth the time