This is a physically beautiful book even in the Kindle rendition with excellent organization, photographs and writing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genesis_Apocryphon
Forgotten Peoples of the Ancient World
by Philip Matyszak
2020 / 398 pages
Read by Michael Page 8h 3m
Rating: 9.5 / ancient history of the west
Matyszak tells the story of the “forgotten peoples of the ancient world” and in true US Western Civ style he starts out with “The First Civilizations” covering the Tigris and Euphrates rivers with Mesopotamia right there in the middle between the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf.
There are several different cities in this area and they each have had their own histories and residents over a long period of time.. Starting around BC 2334 and going through 1200 BC Matyszak shows the reader the lives of the Akkadians, the Ammorites, the Canaanites, the Elamites, the Hittites the Hyksos and the Sea Peoples in roughly chronological order while moving outward from the center of Canaan as they did. And that’s just Part 1.
And then comes Part 2 which continues the development of cultures in the Mediterranean area but spreading out “From Assyria to Alexander,” and as far as Sicily and Egypt. Part 3 is called “The Coming of Rome” and includes another 14 groups or tribes or peoples involved,. After that is Part 4 “The Fall of Rome in the West” ending in the Mid-6th Century with some more peoples. Finally there is the Epilogue.
The more I read the more I appreciated the book. I loved reading about the Roman Empire and its relations with the local tribes.
Matyszak’s style is clear and engaging and the book (even the Kindle version) has beautiful maps and colored photos to enhance and clarify the tale. At the beginning of each Part and Section there’s a simple map of that specific area and a nice Introduction which is printed on colored background, It works – for me anyway.
Matyszakis proves himself a master of organization because in order to follow this narrative you have to know where you are in time and space and how they fit together. The thing is that those elements change often. At the end of each Section there is a little sub-section called Further Echos. on top of organization here so I’m going to be reading this again.
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