21 Mesopotamia The World's Earliest Civilization.pdf

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First Edition

Britannica Educational Publishing

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Introduction by Dan Faust

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Mesopotamia : the world's earliest civilization / edited by Kathleen Kuiper.—1st ed.

p. cm.—(The Britannica guide to ancient civilizations)

“In association with Britannica Educational Publishing, Rosen Educational Services.”

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-61530-208- 6 (eBook)

1. Iraq—Civilization—To 634. I. Kuiper, Kathleen.

DS71.M55 2010

935—dc22

2009053644

On the cover: The reconstructed Ishtar Gate, an enormous burnt-brick entryway located

over the main thoroughfare in the ancient city of Babylon. Ishtar is the goddess of war and

sexual love in the Sumerian tradition. Nico Tondini/Robert Harding World Imagery/

Getty Images

Pp. 17, 40, 66, 78, 115, 133, 150: Panel from a bronze door showing the storming of the

Syrian city of Hazazu. DEA/G. Dagli Orti/Getty Images