The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia: From the Early Bronze Age to the Fall of the Persian Empire

From the perspective of the traditional Western classical education it is not always easy to appreciate the sheer number and diversity of the states, cities and peoples surrounding Greece and Rome. These peoples tended only to come into focus when they collided with the classical world, Medes, Persians and Parthians being foremost among them. This fascinating and outstanding handbook is just about the perfect antidote to classically‐centred, or biblically‐centred views of the ancient Near and Middle East.

In more than 1,500 entries it gives often detailed accounts of kingdoms, countries, cities and city states, and population groups across a wide...