Mountains and Lowlands: Ancient Iran and Mesopotamia

Excellent account of the interaction of Mesopotamia with the what is now modern-day Iran, demonstrating the close connections between the two areas of civilization.

This book from the Ashmolean museum promised a wide-and-deep view of ancient Iran and Iraq's history and culture, and delivered it to some extent. But I had hoped for more. The history part was more detailed than insightful, and the cultural part was mostly a lot of undercontextualized art images - some familiar, some not - from the Ashmolean and other collections. I was looking for deeper connections between the art and the history, the mountains and the plains, but didn't find it.

Wonderful Book. Very well-written and fascinating presentation of the ancient world, in particular Iran and Iraq. Very happy I purchased this.

Thanks.

I honestly appreciated the way in which Collins introduced the reader to the general Near East and more specifically, its more modern history and current affairs which continue to shape and reshape the always volatile region. While many civilizations have come, made their mark and gone, very little has changed over the millennia. The struggles of the people have evolved but they are still ever so present.In recent years, it has become necessary to re-evaluate our modern understanding of the history of this region. Historically, scholars have often viewed and compared the ancient Near East against the Western world and the backdrop of the general Mediterranean. Collins make it very obvious that he is attempting to correct this mindset.There is no doubt that this publication showcases some of the most beautiful photographs of ancient artifacts. Most of which are housed in the Ashmolean while the others vary in location from the British Museum, to the University of Pennsylvania, and even the Louvre.I found this research to be very fascinating and an extremely well compiled collection covering pretty much everything you need to know about both ancient Mesopotamia and Iran. I highly recommended it to those with an interest or passion on Near Eastern history.Read the full review here: ancient-origins.net/book-reviews/mountains-and-lowlands-ancient-iran-and-mesopotamia-007422

Interesting book on this subject..