Civilizations of the Ancient World

Books

The following three books are required:

Assigned Books

1. Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations, 3d Edition

by Ralph W. Mathisen. Oxford U. Press, 2020. 978-0-190-08094-5. $74.99 List.

  • Getting this book:
  • Try to get the right edition, especially if you’re buying a used copy. The first edition is significantly different from the second and third, and page numbers will not match up with later editions.
2. The Epic of Gilgamesh

trans. by Andrew R. George. London: Penguin, 2003. 978-0-140-44919-8. $13.00.

  • Getting this book:
  • I strongly recommend the Andrew George edition because he translated directly from the source. It also has a very useful introduction. If you get another edition, make sure it is based on the Standard Version of the epic.
  • I recommend against using a random online transcription of the text, as for this 4,500-year old text you definitely want an expert translation with good commentary and extrapolation such as the George.
3. Four Texts on Socrates

ed. by Thomas G. West and Grace Starry West. Ithaca: Cornell Press, 1998. 978-0-801-48574-9. $12.30.

The assigned books are available from Lehman College Bookstore and from Amazon and other online retailers (try searching aggregators such as Bookfinder for the best deals). Make sure you do so enough in advance that you’ll receive the books in time for the assignments.