Between Two Rivers

Ancient Mesopotamia, a land between two rivers, is known as the ‘cradle of civilisation‘. At the height of its influence, this region saw the birth of the world‘s first cities, the first writing system, the first historical records, as well as myths, medicine, literature, astronomy and religion that went on to revolutionise societies around the world. In Between Two Rivers, historian Dr Moudhy Al-Rashid brings us closer to this ancient past and the lives of the people who lived in this extraordinary society. The hundreds of thousands of clay tablets from ancient Mesopotamia tell wonderfully relatable stories - from a parent desperately trying to soothe a baby, or a bored teenager doodling during class, to a brewer collecting ingredients to make beer and a slave trying to negotiate their freedom. Through the contents of a 2,500-year-old museum, collected together by a princess from the 6th century BC, Al-Rashid introduces us to different periods of Mesopotamia‘s history, revealing aspects of society and culture that resonate with us today, from war to education and language, and from women‘s rights to religion and the divine. These artefacts not only bring this region to life, but also show us that people we think of as ‘ancient‘ in fact had a highly developed sense of their own history. Breathing life and colour into a complex and surprisingly modern society, Between Two Rivers investigates what history meant back then, what it means today, and what we can learn from the distant past.