From Achaemenids to Ziwiye and administration to ziggurat, this text provides of information on the ancient near eastern world. it is the only single-volume dictionary to cover the whole area – Mesopotamia, the Levant, Iran, anatolia and Arabia – from earliest times until the Persian conquest of Babylon in 539 BC. Over 500 cross-referenced and comprehensively indexed entries provide explanations and descriptions of the ideas, institutions, sites, peoples and personalities that have shaped an area often described as the cradle of civilization. The volume contains essays on architecture, literature, economics, labour, religion and society and include more unusual subjects like adultery, crime, drunkenness, eunuchs and sexual behaviour. Each entry is followed by a short bibliography enabling readers to pursue topics in detail, with summary chronologies for ease of reference. The dictionary is illustrated throughout with black-and-white photographs and specially commissioned maps, plans of major sites and drawings of reconstructed buildings, sculptures and reliefs.