The first Book at Lunchtime of Michaelmas Term features Stephanie Dalley's The City of Babylon.
'… this detailed history, drawing on fascinating ancient texts and the archaeology of the site, is valuable reading for anyone wanting to get to grips with ancient Babylon.'
‘An excellent work … Highly recommended.’
The 2000-year story of Babylon sees it moving from a city-state to the centre of a great empire of the ancient world. It remained a centre of kingship under the empires of Assyria, Nebuchadnezzar, Darius, Alexander the Great, the Seleucids and the Parthians. Its city walls were declared to be a Wonder of the World while its ziggurat won fame as the Tower of Babel. Visitors to Berlin can admire its Ishtar Gate, and the supposed location of its elusive Hanging Garden is explained. Worship of its patron god Marduk spread widely while its well-trained scholars communicated legal, administrative and literary works throughout the ancient world, some of which provide a backdrop to Old Testament and Hittite texts. Its science also laid the foundations for Greek and Arab astronomy through a millennium of continuous astronomical observations. This accessible and up-to-date account is by one of the world's leading authorities.
Stephanie Dalley will be joined by an expert panel to discuss The City of Babylon.
Stephanie Dalley is a British scholar of the Ancient Near East who was formerly a Fellow of the Oriental Institute, Oxford, where she taught Akkadian and Sumerian for almost three decades.
12 October 12.30pm - 2.00pm
The Seminar Room, Radcliffe Humanities, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, Woodstock Road, Oxford. OX2 6GG
Book your place here
