Overview

Thousands of years ago, in a part of the world we now call ancient Mesopotamia, people began writing things down for the very first time. What they left behind, in a vast region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, preserves leaps in human ingenuity. But they also capture breathtakingly intimate, raw, and relatable moments, like a dog's paw prints as it accidentally stepped into fresh clay, or the imprint of a child's teeth. In Between Two Rivers, historian Dr. Moudhy Al-Rashid reveals what these ancient people chose to record about their lives. We find a lullaby to soothe a baby, countless receipts for beer, and the messy writing of preschoolers. We meet an enslaved person negotiating their freedom, an astronomer tracing the movement of the planets, a princess who may have created the world's first museum, and a working mother struggling with ""the juggle"" in 1900 BCE. Millennia ago, Mesopotamians saw the world's first cities, the first writing system, early seeds of agriculture, and groundbreaking developments in medicine and astronomy. With breathtaking intimacy and grace, Al-Rashid brings their lives―with all their anxieties, aspirations, and intimacies―vividly close to our own.

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Reviews

""[Moudhy Al-Rashid is] a gifted storyteller, able to spin a yarn of gold from very fragmentary sources."" -- "" New Scientist"" ""Ancient history as reflected in objects discovered in a Mesopotamian ruin that may be the world's earliest museum."" -- ""Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"" ""Beautifully written and explained: Between Two Rivers is a masterpiece."" -- ""George Monbiot, author The Invisible Doctrine"" ""Provides remarkable insights into ancient lives...Even at a distance of nearly four millennia, it is impossible not to be moved."" -- ""Sunday Times (London)"" ""The world it explores is fascinating and crucially important."" -- ""Stephen Greenblatt, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Dark Renaissance ""

Author Information

Moudhy Al-Rashid is an honorary fellow at the University of Oxford's Wolfson College, where she specializes in the languages and history of ancient Mesopotamia. Originally from Saudi Arabia, where she grew up, she now lives in Oxfordshire with her family and their dogs. Moudhy Al-Rashid is an honorary fellow at the University of Oxford's Wolfson College, where she specializes in the languages and history of ancient Mesopotamia. Originally from Saudi Arabia, where she grew up, she now lives in Oxfordshire with her family and their dogs.

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