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The Mesopotamian Riddle
An Archaeologist, a Soldier, a Clergyman, and the Race to Decipher the World's Oldest Writing
Table of Contents
About The Book
A rollicking adventure starring three free-spirited Victorians on a twenty-year quest to decipher cuneiform, the oldest writing in the world—from the New York Times bestselling author of The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu.
It was one of history’s great vanishing acts.
Around 3,400 BCE—as humans were gathering in complex urban settlements—a scribe in the mud-walled city-state of Uruk picked up a reed stylus to press tiny symbols into clay. For three millennia, wedge shape cuneiform script would record the military conquests, scientific discoveries, and epic literature of the great Mesopotamian kingdoms of Sumer, Assyria, and Babylon and of Persia’s mighty Achaemenid Empire, along with precious minutiae about everyday life in the cradle of civilization. And then…the meaning of the characters was lost.
London, 1857. In an era obsessed with human progress, mysterious palaces emerging from the desert sands had captured the Victorian public’s imagination. Yet Europe’s best philologists struggled to decipher the bizarre inscriptions excavators were digging up.
Enter a swashbuckling archaeologist, a suave British military officer turned diplomat, and a cloistered Irish rector, all vying for glory in a race to decipher this script that would enable them to peek farther back into human history than ever before.
From the ruins of Persepolis to lawless outposts of the crumbling Ottoman Empire, The Mesopotamian Riddle whisks you on a wild adventure through the golden age of archaeology in an epic quest to understand our past.
It was one of history’s great vanishing acts.
Around 3,400 BCE—as humans were gathering in complex urban settlements—a scribe in the mud-walled city-state of Uruk picked up a reed stylus to press tiny symbols into clay. For three millennia, wedge shape cuneiform script would record the military conquests, scientific discoveries, and epic literature of the great Mesopotamian kingdoms of Sumer, Assyria, and Babylon and of Persia’s mighty Achaemenid Empire, along with precious minutiae about everyday life in the cradle of civilization. And then…the meaning of the characters was lost.
London, 1857. In an era obsessed with human progress, mysterious palaces emerging from the desert sands had captured the Victorian public’s imagination. Yet Europe’s best philologists struggled to decipher the bizarre inscriptions excavators were digging up.
Enter a swashbuckling archaeologist, a suave British military officer turned diplomat, and a cloistered Irish rector, all vying for glory in a race to decipher this script that would enable them to peek farther back into human history than ever before.
From the ruins of Persepolis to lawless outposts of the crumbling Ottoman Empire, The Mesopotamian Riddle whisks you on a wild adventure through the golden age of archaeology in an epic quest to understand our past.
About The Author
Cordula Krämer
Joshua Hammer is the New York Times bestselling author of six books, including The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu and The Mesopotamian Riddle. His writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, GQ, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and Outside. He lives in Berlin.
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster (March 18, 2025)
- Length: 384 pages
- ISBN13: 9781668015469
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Raves and Reviews
“With brilliant characterization and edge-of-your-armchair suspense, The Mesopotamian Riddle is a tale within a tale, bringing to life the scholars and adventurers who aspired to nothing less than decoding the origins of civilization. And as in the best detective novels, the story of those who uncover the mystery is as intriguing as the mystery itself. Displaying an investigative prowess worthy of the archaeologists he writes about, Joshua Hammer delivers a masterclass in narrative nonfiction.”
—Julian Sancton, New York Times bestselling author of Madhouse at the End of the Earth
“Joshua Hammer is a marvelous storyteller, and he has grabbed hold of one of history’s great yarns. His rollicking tale, combining intellectual heft and fast-paced vigor, places readers ringside as rivals struggle with a deciphering mystery that had stymied the world for two thousand years.”
—Edward Dolnick, New York Times bestselling author of The Writing of the Gods
"The Mesopotamian Riddle is equal parts enthralling and erudite, a story of linguists who battled marauding bandits, diseases and disasters . . . with nothing less than the veracity of the Hebrew scriptures and the roots of western civilization at stake."
—Barbara Demick, author of Eat the Buddha
“A riveting and revelatory story of how secrets buried for centuries were discovered and deciphered by a handful of brilliant and obsessive gumshoes, whose rivalry and long quest for the truth make for a powerful and unforgettable tale, masterfully told.”
—David E. Hoffman, author of The Billion Dollar Spy
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