Mesopotamia, situated roughly where Iraq is today, was one of the greatest ancient civilizations. It was here that the very first cities were created, and where the familiar sights of modern urban life - public buildings and gardens, places of worship, even streets and pavements - were originally invented.

This remarkable book is the first to reveal everyday life as it was in ten long-lost Mesopotamian cities, beginning with Eridu, the Mesopotamian Eden, and ending with Babylon, the first true metropolis: cosmopolitan, decadent, multicultural and the last centre of a dying civilization. Using archaeological fragments of jewellery, textiles and writings Gwendolyn Leick paints a colourful picture of the lives of Mesopotamians - from poets and priests to business-women and divorcees - and the incredible achievements of their advanced and imaginative society.

As Leick convincingly shows, Mesopotamian antiquity has as much interest as, and even greater importance than, Egypt; and her welcome book helps redress the balance of knowledge in its direction. -Independent on Sunday

美索不达米亚，大致位于今天的伊拉克，是最伟大的古代文明之一。最早的城市就是在这里诞生的，现代城市生活中熟悉的景象--公共建筑和花园、礼拜场所、甚至街道和人行道--也是在这里发明的。

这本了不起的书首次揭示了十个失传已久的美索不达米亚城市的日常生活，从美索不达米亚的伊甸园Eridu开始，到第一个真正的大都市巴比伦结束：世界性的、颓废的、多文化的和一个垂死文明的最后中心。格温多林-莱克利用珠宝、纺织品和文字的考古碎片，为美索不达米亚人--从诗人和祭司到女商人和离婚者--的生活描绘了一幅色彩斑斓的画面，以及他们先进而富有想象力的社会所取得的令人难以置信的成就。

正如Leick令人信服地表明的那样，美索不达米亚古代的兴趣和埃及一样大，甚至比埃及更重要；她这本受欢迎的书有助于在其方向上重新调整知识的平衡。-星期日独立报