Introduction

In 1985, Croom Helm published an Atlas of Classical History edited by Richard Talbert, intended primarily for high school and undergraduate students. Its aim was to provide ‘a reasonably comprehensive, up-to-date and scholarly coverage of Classical history down to the time of Constantine’. e book’s success is reected in its numerous reprints by the publisher Routledge, from 1985 to 2008. Encouraged by this, Matthew Gibbons, Routledge’s current editor for Classics, Archaeology and Museum Studies, asked me to write a complementary volume on the ancient Near East, catering primarily for the student market, but with appeal for a broader reading public as well. e present volume is the outcome.