Forgotten Peoples of the Ancient World

By: Philip Matyszak

Narrated by: Michael Page

Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's Summary

The ancient world of the Mediterranean and the Near East saw the birth and collapse of great civilizations. While several of these are well known, for all those that have been recorded, many have been unjustly forgotten. Our history is overflowing with different cultures that have all evolved over time, sometimes dissolving or reforming, though ultimately shaping the way we continue to live. But for every culture that has been remembered, what have we forgotten?

This thorough guide explores those civilizations that have faded from the pages of our textbooks but played a significant role in the development of modern society. Forgotten Peoples of the Ancient World covers the Hyksos to the Hephthalites and everyone in between, providing a unique overview of humanity's history from approximately 3000 BCE-550 CE. Each entry exposes a diverse culture, highlighting their important contributions.

Forgotten Peoples of the Ancient World is an immersive, thought-provoking, and entertaining book for anyone interested in ancient history.

©2020 Thames & Hudson Ltd (P)2021 Tantor

Gripping and seamless

very enthralling. Combines a great amount of information with a surprising brevity. The narrator was the crowning touch.

Out of the mists

Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Angles and Jutes. Ancient tribes live again. in this exciting history. Good read!

Comprehensive overview history —with humor

I loved this book. The author reviews the vast history of ancient peoples in the Middle East and Europe with clarity and with a dry humor that really helps one absorb the information. The narrator is fantastic. Highly recommend.

My only complaint is that there isn’t enough pause between sections. The reader goes from one section to the next without even a breath, it seems. Potentially the pauses were edited out.

STELLAR BOOK - YOU”LL LISTEN OVER & OVER

Wonderful, engaging, fast-paced storytelling.

Truly masterful narration.

This team of author & narrator is all-too-rare.
Off to find more of this duo”s efforts!

Let These People Go

Interesting book, but the author has an odd predisposition to list biblical peoples and source using he Bible. This can be an interesting angle at times (there isn't a more popular piece of iron age writing), but gets tired in his chapter on the canaanites, which breezes over the ahistoric nature of the exodus (presenting the flight from Egypt as an equal option to the historal record is laughable). After getting tired, the author then flogs the horse until it stops twitching as he includes a chapter on the lost tribes of Israel, putting them on the same level of historicity as the hittites and elamites. Again, this would be forgiveable if he treated the Bible as any other source or request the same evidence for any biblical peoples as the rest, but his level of scholarship clearly differs for those mentioned in Levidicus and those not.

Title is inaccurate and is poorly researched.

First off, this book is NOT about forgotten peoples, instead is a survey of bronze and iron age cultures traditionally discussed in popular histories.

What is more egregious is the author presents Manetho's now debunked account of the Hyksos as fact and discusses the Hebrews and Hyksos in totally different chapters. However, the author has no qualms about using the Torah as a primary source and quotes it often. From this, it can be deduced the author has not read the primary sources he quotes, because if he had he would have seen Josephus' argument that the Hebrews and Hyksos were one and the same.

Combine that with the arbitrary demonization of certain cultures, weird stereotypes, and delusional belief that ancient culture was extremely warlike show the author has only read a modest number of popular histories and is not subject matter expert. For instance, the author seems to think migration consists of whole populations uprooting and eradicating native populations. The author presents quotes from some ancient sources as fact even if they are absurd, like the idea Thracian women were all sluts.

Really questioning it after the ending

It's very, very difficult to take an academic historian seriously when they conclude their book about lost civilizations with a quote from Rudyard Kipling.

Kipling, who supported looting, oppression, and cultural theft. Kipling, who supported General Dyer after the Amritsar Massacre in India. Kipling, who believed in ethnic superiority.

After this, I suddenly felt as though I'd been listening to an amateur or an imperial apologist.

I'll have to find another source for these topics because I don't feel confident about this one.

Very basic information

This is a quick look at ancient people. Leaves more questions than it answers.

Fast paced and informative

It’s fast paced and the information comes off very smoothly. Don’t blink or you will be restarting the chapter again. I found it a great resource to use to when reading/listening to other ancient histories book when I needed reference a given tribe/ culture

Excellent history, well written

What a well done book. For those interested in learning about lost people, places, races and religions. Eye-opening how quickly a lot of what we hold dear can/will be forgotten.