Cradles of Civilization

Dr. David Neiman tracks the rise of civilization from the Agricultural Revolution to the Ceramic Age, and then the Bronze. He traces the origin of writing and its development into hieroglyphics and then into the alphabet. Dr. Neiman explores the legendary reign of Hammurabi of Babylon, the tumultuous history of ancient Egypt and gives a dramatic retelling of the earliest known piece of literature, "The Epic of 

Dr. David Neiman (1921–2004) was professor of Jewish theology at Boston College and specialized in a broad range of fields, including archaeology, Biblical studies, Jewish history and Catholic-Jewish relations. He also organized Boston College’s Institute of Biblical Archeology and participated in nearly a dozen archaeological excavations in Israel. He was the author of Domestic Relations in Antiquity (Little Acorns Press, 1994) as well as a commentary and selected translation of the Book of Job (Massada, 1972). He also wrote several important articles for the Encyclopedia Judaica. His lectures on the Book of Genesis were delivered in 2000 at the University of Judaism in Bel Air, CA.

5 lectures: 4 hours 16 minutes