Ancient Civilizations
Course Info
Assignments
Content
Resources
Books
Three books are required. Some possible ways to get them are listed below.
The assigned books are available from the Lehman College online 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.
Here are the new online bookstore links for each section. The books are the same for each crosslisted course.
➊ Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations, 3d Edition
by Ralph W. Mathisen. Oxford U. Press, 2020. ISBN 9780190080945.
List paperback: $102.99; Ebook Rental $45 (see links below for possibly cheaper alternatives).
- Getting this book:
- Oxford University Press discount offer
- Rent or buy (new, used, or digital) via the Lehman College online bookstore (see section links above). Rent or buy (new or used) via Valore Books or Amazon. Buy (new or used) via Abe Books or Alibris.
- A physical copy of the second edition should be on reserve at Lief Library.
- Try to get the current 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.
➋ The Epic of Gilgamesh
trans. by Andrew R. George. London: Penguin, 2003. ISBN 9780140449198.
$13.99.
- Getting this book:
- A full online copy can be found at the Internet Archive.
- Rent or buy (new or used) via the Lehman College online bookstore (see section links above) or Valore Books. Buy Kindle or paperback (new or used) via Amazon. Buy (new or used) via Abe Books, Alibris, Better World Books, or Powell’s.
- A basic copy of the translation by Maureen Gallery Kovacs can be found at Ancient Texts. This is not recommended because it lacks commentary and notes.
- 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.
➌ Four Texts on Socrates, Revised Edition
ed. by Thomas G. West and Grace Starry West. Ithaca: Cornell Press, 1998. ISBN 9780801485749.
$14.95.
- Getting this book:
- A physical copy is available in the stacks at Lief Library.
- Hourly borrowing is available via the Internet Archive.
- Rent or buy (new or used) via the Lehman College online bookstore (see section links above) or Valore Books. Buy (new or used) via Amazon, Abe Books, Alibris, Better World Books, or Powell’s.
- Four Texts on Socrates has Aristophanes’s Clouds, which we’ll be reading in class. The other works included in this text may help your interpretation of the play and especially your essay.
- There are basic transcriptions of Clouds online, but again the intro and notes will be vital to your appreciation of the play, so you should use this book or another full-text book edition.