What do the wheel, the law, and belief in a single god have in common? All of these ideas first came to people who lived in the ancient Near East. As if these revolutionary developments weren't enough to make a mark on world history, these ancient innovators also came up with the most fantastic invention of all-writing.

Ancient trash and buried treasure : archaeologists at work ; Rivers and ditches, temples and farms : irrigation and the growth of towns ; Of potters and pots, plowmen and plows : technology and the first cities ; How words changed the world : the invention of writing ; A world full of gods and goddesses : religion in Mesopotamia ; The death of a Sumerian lady : queens, kings, and religion in early cities ; The first superhero : the story of Gilgamesh ; The world's first empire builder : Sargon, king of Akkad ; The care and feeding of ancient gods : priestesses and priests in Mesopotamia ; Laying down the law : Hammurabi and the first lawmakers ; Order in the court! : the justice system in Mesopotamia ; Farmers and doctors, barbers and builders : Mesopotamian workers, slave and free ; Ur-Utu's story : the Mesopotamian family ; Scribes, school, and schoolboys : education in ancient Mesopotamia ; Lovers, sisters, and cooks : scenes from a Mesopotamian palace ; The surprise ending of the Babylonian Empire : Hittite victories and Indo-European languages ; Brides and brother kings : diplomacy and the great powers ; King David and his family : the settlements and movements of the Israelites ; One God, many stories : the beliefs of the Israelites ; The lost laws of the Israelites : the Exodus and the Ten Commandments ; Assyria's fighter kings : warriors build an empire ; A bright star shines briefly : Babylon rises, Judah falls ; A mother's love and a ruler's tears : the last Mesopotamian king ; Of camels, kings, and conquerors : the Persian Empire ; Epilogue : a world not truly lost