Middle East Construction Kit

A very readable introduction to the ancient Middle East, for conlangers and anyone interested in history and languages. The regions covered are Egypt, Canaan/Israel, Mesopotamia, and Persia, from prehistory to the Greek conquest. The book covers literature, history, religion, and everyday life, and contains meaty grammatical sketches of Sumerian, Akkadian, and Biblical Hebrew, including an explanation of how cuneiform evolved and how it worked. This part of history is of particular interest...