Description
Book SynopsisFrom the dawn of writing in Sumer to the sunset of the Islamic empire, this title traces four thousand years of speculation on the origins of civilization. It looks at the ways the conquerors and those they conquered reshaped their myths of civilization's origins in response to the social and political consequences of empire.
Trade Review"McCants's richly textured analysis points to some cultural anomalies that can lead to provocative reflections."--Donald J. Dietrich, European Legacy
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Introduction 1 Chapter One: Gifts of the Gods: The Origins of Civilization in Ancient Near Eastern and Greek Mythology 10 Chapter Two: The Beneficent Sky God: Cultural History in the Qur'an 29 Chapter Three: Who Was First? Protography and Discovery Catalogs 57 Chapter Four: Inventing Nations: Postconquest Native Histories of Civilization's Origins 85 Chapter Five: "The Sciences of the Ancients": Speculation on the Origins of Philosophy, Medicine, and the Exact Sciences 120 Conclusion 145 Bibliography 149 Index 167
