The First Armies

The First Armies КНИГИ ;ВОЕННАЯ ИСТОРИЯ Title: The First Armies Author: Doyne Dawson Publisher: Cassell Year: 2002 ISBN: 0304352888 Pages: 224 Format: PDF Language: English Size: 102 MbWhen did mankind invent war, and has violence always decided human arguments? When did ritualized tribal conflict become organized and hunting expeditions turn into armies? And, are we genetically programmed for combat? From Stone Age warriors to the savage cruelty of the Assyrian Empire, embark on an investigation of the origins of human aggression, including the first weapons purpose--built to kill other people. It becomes clear even the earliest civilizations developed military institutions, devoting themselves to war-making technologies that ranged from chariots to siege engines. The story concludes with the Assyrians, a society completely dedicated to military conquest.and one which pioneered the use of terror and mass executions as an instrument of state policy. Hotfile UploadingDepositfiles 85 Has violence always been the final arbiter of human argument? Do other species conduct 'war' as opposed to the routine violence of the animal kingdom? When did ritualized, tribal conflict become 'organized' and hunting expeditions become armies?

Doyne Dawson investigates the origins of human aggression, revealing the first weapons purpose-built to kill other humans. Harnessing biological, anthropological and psychological data he shows how the earliest civilizations developed military institutions and dedicated war-making technologies from the most effective missile weapon for nearly three millennia, the composite bow, to the chariot and siege engine. A period of great change, almost as important as the invention of gunpowder, the transition from Bronze Age to Iron Age and from chiefdom to city state, kingdom or empire was both turbulent and climactic. For those who embraced the change there was astronomical wealth that furnished great palaces and temples. For those who did not there was the ignominy of defeat, often leading to slavery or death.

Escorting us through this period the author gives a detailed analysis of how and why the ancient kingdoms and empires rose and fell. Beginning with the small tribes and chiefdoms of earliest man we see the birth of politics with the dynasty builders of Mesopotamia. He examines how the hungry and prolific nomads of the hills and deserts, Scythians, Amorites and Hurrians, managed to defeat more advanced civilizations. We see the rise of the Chariot Kingdoms and the battles of Megiddo and Kadesh where the Egyptians and the Hittites struggled for hegemony over Canaan. As compelling as it is bloody, his story concludes with the Assyrian Empire, a society organized for military conquest that had pioneered the use of terror -- mass executions -- as an instrument of state policy.

Machine generated contents note: I THE ROOTS OF WAR The nature of the problem; Ants and apes; Becoming human; The cultural explosion 21 2 THE WARS OF THE TRIBES 35,000-3200 BC The role of warfare in cultural evolution; Bands, tribes and chiefdoms; The arbiter of history 47 3 THE WARS OF THE CITIES 3200-I700 BC The birth of politics; Early Dynastic Sumer; The Great Dynasties of Mesopotamia: Akkad, Ur, Babylon; Beyond Mesopotamia: The Nile and the Indus 75 4 THE WARS OF THE GREAT KINGDOMS I700-II00 BC The coming of the Indo-Europeans; War and politics in the High Bronze Age; The battles of Megiddo and Kadesh; The fall of the Chariot Kingdoms I9 5 THE WARS OF THE EMPIRES I IOO-5 39 BC The dawn of the Iron Age; The rise of Assyria; The fall of Assyria; The aftermath: Jerusalem and Babylon; Conclusion 159 APPENDIX 212 BIOGRAPHIES 214 FURTHER READING 217 INDEX 22. PICTURE CREDITS 224. This book traces the roots of war into the animal past of mankind, deals with Hobbesian warfare, and covers Clausewitzian warfare in the region now called the Middle East from roughly 3500 to 500 B.C