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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
An “adventure tale for puzzle lovers and Indiana Jones fans alike” (The Washington Post) following three free-spirited Victorians on their 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, a scribe in the mud-walled city-state of Uruk picked up a reed stylus to press tiny symbols into clay. For the next three thousand years, wedge-shape cuneiform script would record the military conquests, scientific discoveries, and epic literature of the great kingdoms of Mesopotamia. 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 have captured the Victorian public’s imagination. Assyria, Babylon, the mighty Persian Empire… these civilizations had gone down in the annals as the great antagonists to ancient Greece and ancient Israel. What did these “bad guys” of Western history have to say for themselves? What were their values, their rituals, their understandings of their place in the universe? What was it like simply to be human at the dawn of recorded history?
Enter a swashbuckling archaeologist, a suave military officer turned diplomat, and a cloistered Irish rector, all vying for glory in a race to decipher the script that would enable humans to peer farther back into our history than ever before. From the ruins of Persepolis to lawless outposts of the crumbling Ottoman Empire, let The Mesopotamian Riddle whisk you off on “an epic intellectual adventure” (The Wall Street Journal) through the golden age of archaeology in an epic quest to understand where we came from—and where we perhaps might go.
It was one of history’s great vanishing acts. Around 3,400 BCE, a scribe in the mud-walled city-state of Uruk picked up a reed stylus to press tiny symbols into clay. For the next three thousand years, wedge-shape cuneiform script would record the military conquests, scientific discoveries, and epic literature of the great kingdoms of Mesopotamia. 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 have captured the Victorian public’s imagination. Assyria, Babylon, the mighty Persian Empire… these civilizations had gone down in the annals as the great antagonists to ancient Greece and ancient Israel. What did these “bad guys” of Western history have to say for themselves? What were their values, their rituals, their understandings of their place in the universe? What was it like simply to be human at the dawn of recorded history?
Enter a swashbuckling archaeologist, a suave military officer turned diplomat, and a cloistered Irish rector, all vying for glory in a race to decipher the script that would enable humans to peer farther back into our history than ever before. From the ruins of Persepolis to lawless outposts of the crumbling Ottoman Empire, let The Mesopotamian Riddle whisk you off on “an epic intellectual adventure” (The Wall Street Journal) through the golden age of archaeology in an epic quest to understand where we came from—and where we perhaps might go.
About The Author
Cordula Krämer
Joshua Hammer is the New York Times bestselling author of six books, including The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu, The Falcon Thief, 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: 400 pages
- ISBN13: 9781668015445
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Raves and Reviews
“[An] epic intellectual adventure... Mr. Hammer’s ability to skip from philology to Great Game intrigue, from biblical sources to the ‘Assyria fever’ that swept London, is extraordinary.”
—The Wall Street Journal
“Written with brilliant characterization and edge-of-your-armchair suspense. As in the best detective novels, the story of those who uncover the mystery is as intriguing as the mystery itself.”
—Julian Sancton, New York Times bestselling author of Madhouse at the End of the Earth
“This tale of dusty scholars could have been as dry as the desert. But... Mr. Hammer makes dead languages speak again.”
—The Economist
“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
“Stirring.... [An] elegantly written, fascinating account.”
—Pittsburgh Post Gazette
“An adventure tale for puzzle lovers and Indiana Jones fans alike.”
—Washington Post
“Riveting... sumptuous... abundantly deserving to be read.”
—Moment Magazine
"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 rivalry, secrets buried for centuries, and the long quest for the truth.”
—David E. Hoffman, author of The Billion Dollar Spy
“Joshua Hammer tells a splendid tale.”
—Barry Strauss, author of The War That Made the Roman Empire
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High Resolution Images
- Book Cover Image (jpg): The Mesopotamian Riddle Hardcover 9781668015445
- Author Photo (jpg): Joshua Hammer Cordula Krämer(0.1 MB)
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The Mesopotamian Riddle
An Archaeologist, a Soldier, a Clergyman, and the Race to Decipher the World's Oldest Writing
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