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Empires of the Plain : Henry Rawlinson and the Lost Languages of Babylon Hardcover – January 1, 2003

by Lesley Adkins (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 31 ratings
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. 2003, clean copy, with dustjacket, no markings, Professional booksellers since 1981
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  1. Reading age
    1 year and up
  2. Print length
    1000 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    HarperCollins
  5. Publication date
    January 1, 2003
  6. ISBN-10
    0007128991
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0007128990
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins; First Edition (January 1, 2003)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 1000 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0007128991
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0007128990
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 1 year and up
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.64 pounds
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 31 ratings

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Lesley Adkins

Lesley Adkins

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Visit www.adkinshistory.com for further details, newsletter and events.

Lesley Adkins is a historian and archaeologist, author of numerous critically acclaimed non-fiction books on social and naval history, and also on archaeology and the ancient world. Her books are mostly written with her husband Roy Adkins, and their latest one is WHEN THERE WERE BIRDS: THE FORGOTTEN HISTORY OF OUR CONNECTIONS. Other books include GIBRALTAR: THE GREATEST SIEGE IN BRITISH HISTORY; JANE AUSTEN'S ENGLAND (called 'Eavesdropping on Jane Austen's England' in the UK); JACK TAR: LIFE IN NELSON'S NAVY; THE WAR FOR ALL THE OCEANS; EMPIRES OF THE PLAIN; and THE KEYS OF EGYPT. They have been translated into several languages worldwide. She lives in England, near Exeter in Devon.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
31 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Mrs D V L Iles
5.0 out of 5 stars the difficulty of translating the uncovered tablets
Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2018
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Fascinating tale of one man's find and ultimate translation of one of the earliest writings in history and led to my reading more on the subject and visiting the British Museum to see the ' the Stones Cry Out' exhibition
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Larry N. Stout
4.0 out of 5 stars A most interesting life, well revealed
Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2020
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A very nice book about the remarkable career of Rawlingson.

The writer is remiss in excluding archaeologist Seton Lloyd's excellent book "Foundations in the Dust" from the list of recommended readings.

It is to be regretted that the author seems to to lend credence to one of the most ridiculous myths of all time, in discussing at length what she thinks may have happened to Noah's Ark amid the glaciers high atop Mt. Ararat. Unfortunate, too, that the author and the publisher's editor could not manage between them to spell Maharashtra correctly.
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C. L. Davis
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant and fun
Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2015
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One of the most enjoyable and beautifully written books about the ancient Near East I have ever read. I congratulate Ms. Adkins for taking an immensely complex subject, and breathing life into the subject of cuneiform. I had been hoping to find a text to cover the process of deciphering this ancient script but thought I'd never find it.
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Andris A Staklis
5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting, compelling story of the life of an English ...
Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2016
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Exciting, compelling story of the life of an English student whose family decides to send him to India to make his fortune. He adapts to the situation amazingly. Becomes an outstanding soldier, masters many languages, and makes a contribution to history in his study of cuneiform writing.
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RJC
5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating history
Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2014
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A really entertaining read about a time in history when adventurers went out and rediscovered world history. Sir Henry Rawlinson is my new hero. Thanks Lesley Adkins.
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T. Stilwell
3.0 out of 5 stars Amateur Treasure Hunter
Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2010
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I read books about Howard Carter and his search for ancient Egyptian artifacts. I also read about the Egyptian hieroglyphics. Then I saw a BBC Horizon special on cuneiforms and purchased this book to learn more. Unfortunately, the book reads like a compilation of personal letters and diaries of a few individuals but usually Henry Rawlinson. This has advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, you get a first hand account which makes for very interesting reading. On the other hand, he is what he is, a wealthy aristocrat that treats others badly, so you may learn more than you bargained for about the British especially with their current fondness for bashing the Americans and claiming that they wrote the book on fair play. The behavior of his colleagues in India and Afghanistan can only be described as barbaric. In any case, much is left out with this one-sided view of history.

Henry is first and foremost a military officer working for the East India Company at a time when Asians are referred to as Orientals whether they are Indian, Afghani or Iranian so some of the titles of various professors or scientists will seem odd. Henry has surprizingly little to do most of the time so he spends his time ruining horses in racing contests and shooting anything that moves for the pure pleasure of killing. He can't really bond with anybody because of the class war and because he didn't enlist in the regular army or go to college so he spends his time drinking and chasing women (the author alludes to this only briefly but considering the sources used...) and ocassionally looking at ancient ruins. And there's the rub. He wants credit for discoveries so he pulls aristocratic strings that force dramatic delays in progress with regard to either finding artifacts or translating them. A better man would have chosen at most a few areas to study or having rediscovered an ancient site, urged another less busy person to come hither and investigate but not Henry. His military career puts him in India, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and possibly Turkmenistan or Azerbaijan. When time is available and it often is not, he takes a chance to explore ruins and speculate about his findings. He didn't go to college so he is in over his head. He does copy a few writings here and there but then he hints to the Royal Society of London that he has found major breakthroughs and of course refuses to cough up more than bits and pieces. Some British and French scientists are keen to use the Christian Bible and ancient Greek stories to uncover lost civilizations. Surprizingly, nobody seems keen to use the Koran or ancient Roman stories. Surprizingly, some Christian leaders are against excavations on the grounds that they might uncover disturbing scientific facts that discredit the Christian Bible. Henry is continually asked to share his discoveries so that more talented experts can assist with the digging and the translation but he refuses out of selfishness and offers the most pathetic excuses. Because he is a military officer, he rarely gets a chance to return to these sites to do serious assessments yet still demands full credit for discovery and his interpretion of ancient events based on his limited knowledge. Several years later when he can finally take a leave of absence without damaging his military career, he returns to Britain and provides findings that are helpful but still extremely limited in scope. Thus the selling point to the British public is that this brave young man climbed a dangerous cliffside to view some ancient carvings written in 3 languages. He's a hero because one French archaelogist attempted the same thing and gave up. Apparently there wasn't much competition in those days nor was anybody interested in doing it right by bringing better telescopes, ropes, ladders or perhaps an engineer that can build such things? He's also a hero because he translated a few stones. Hard work by another member of what is now the UK is ignored because of his racial background (One really must admire those British and their fair play). Hard work by French and German researchers are deliberately delayed, downplayed and eventually discredited so that Britain can have a hero. Well done! The behavior of the Royal Society of London borders on inexcusable! The French discovered an ancient ruin and dug several items out of it, moved them to the river and sent them downstream to boat waiting to bring them back to France for research and display, but the British force the boat to wait MONTHS before leaving for no other reason than that the British want to poke around in the same ruins, find more stuff and claim first credit. One sees the dark side of archaeology in all its glory.

At this point, you might be wondering about cuneiforms. I know I was. The author weaves an interesting story but is rather weak on the linguistics. Cuneiforms are not discussed except to suggest that multiple ancient civilizations seemed to like the concept of writing things down and apparently tweaked cuneiform to tolerate their languages (similar to the way many European languages use the Roman alphabet) rather than simply inventing their own written language. This sounds intriguing but we are left without any details. Similarly, we learn that two writing methods are used: written and cursive and two methods are used: clay tablets to keep around the city and stone carvings in mountainsides to last an eternity. All this is very interesting but clearly I need to read a different book.
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Jonathan
4.0 out of 5 stars The spin is annoying and a touch Boy's Own, but the narrative is correct in all essentials.
Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2017
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Factually, very sound. However, it's incredibly biased. There's really no need to make Rawlinson out to be a hero, he had a lot of faults and he achieved a lot of great things. It's not obvious why the author chose to weaken their case by putting on quite so much spin. However, in terms of the actual facts, once spin is removed, the book is accurate and documents a spectacular piece of linguistic decryption for which there are few parallels.
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Richard P. Castillo
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Resource
Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2017
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Excellent read. Real insights.
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Top reviews from other countries

Ted
5.0 out of 5 stars Insight into the cultural history of the written word.
Reviewed in Canada on November 17, 2019
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Fascinating story of the "rediscovery" and interpretation of the earliest form of writing. Helped me realise how old Afghanistan's military history actually is.
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Beverley Chong
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Australia on April 8, 2018
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Really good read.
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T. G. S. Hawksley
5.0 out of 5 stars The Victorians invariably inspire
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 19, 2009
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The Victorians invariably inspire, and that is certainly the case in the story of how cuneiform was deciphered in the 19th C. told very abley by Lesley Adkins. She takes us to a stage full of larger than life haracters fiercely competing for the prize of being the first to crack the ancient alphabets of Babylon. And the scenery is nearly as interesting as the story: India, Iran, Iraq, an interlude for the Afghan war, club land in London, and Ireland. Centre stage is the ambitious gentlemanly Henry Rawlinson, successful soldier and diplomat who becomes engrossed in trying to find the meaning of the ancient alphabets. And so we find him at Bishapur, Mount Elwand, and Bisitun precariously balancing on ladders in the scorching heat copying cuneiform from the inscriptions on the rocks. Later we join him for the very bloody Afghan war where he has to retreat from Kandahar, clearly as fanatical and doped up then as now. He then foregoes promotion in India and leave to England, so he can be based in Baghdad as Consul to resume work on his `old friends' the cuneiforms. Rawlinson's discoveries were received with great excitement back in London, and he looked set to become the winner of the race. But it wasn't quite so simple, for he was not alone. There was Austen Henry Layard, who had a less than formal education, but was widely read and was especially enamoured by `Arabian Nights'. After turning his back on a profession in the law, he borrowed £300 from his mother and started travelling east, towards Nineveh, where he spent hours drawing the ruins, including the cuneiform: soon he was in correspondence with Rawlinson. As the story unfolds, Layard and Rawlinson initially become something of a team, with Layard being the chief excavator, supplying Rawlinson with more and more cuneiform, and Rawlinson the chief analyst. Then there is the opium smoking Frenchman Paul Emile Botta, whose excavations inspired Layard. The amount of support he received from his government also irritated the Englishmen as they had to largely rely on their own means. These three were men who knew the heat and dust of Asia, and were friends, of sorts. The fourth character in the drama was not. This was Revd Edward Hincks, shepherd to an obscure flock twenty miles south of Belfast, who knew only the rain of Ireland. But he was a linguistic genius. Working only on the cuneiform available in the public domain, he had worked out the name Nebuchadnezzar on one of the inscriptions before Rawlinson. He presented his first paper on `Old Persian and Elamite Cuneiform in 1846, and, as Adkins says, `his achievement was more remarkable because he did not have a copy of Rawlinson's Bisitun inscription'. There is a sense of rivalry between the two men from the start. When Rawlinson hears of Hinck's advances, he writes to Layard `A certain Dr Hincks has got much further than I and pretend(s) to have succeeded.' They met four years later in London, but there was no friendship and later when both of them were answering questions at a meeting in Edinburgh, Hincks was annoyed that Rawlinson did not acknowledge his significant early contribution, and later Rawlinson would refer to Hinck's `over confidence'. The neglect of Hincks continued when in 1851 the American Oriental Society published a long analysis of Old Persian: Rawlinson was mentioned, not him. Infuriated Hincks eventually published a new paper detailing the scholars responsible for the discovery to all the letters so far deciphered. The tone makes it quite clear who has been more successful - `Of the 177 values we have in common, 100 were first published by me in my former paper...' By now Layard, writing popular books on the romance of the discoveries, was siding more with Hincks in print. This enraged Rawlinson who used his influence to oppose Hincks' employment at the British Museum, which was very important for the poorly paid cleric. As well as this rivalry, there was also some scepticism among the wider public regarding the whole enterprise, some saying the translations were just `moonshine'. To settle this Royal Asiatic Society held a literary inquest in 1857 where scholars analysed both Rawlinson and Hinck's work. The result was a vindication for both scholars - and Hincks was shown to be just as capable translator as Rawlinson. Despite their rivalry they laid the foundation for all that is now known about the ancient Babylonian languages. Hincks ended his days in obscurity in Ireland; Rawlinson, always famous, became very much the establishment man of London society. The characters and the story make the book fascinating, but it also reveals much about Victorian Britain: the insatiable desire to explore; the great importance of knowledge about the ancient civilisations, especially regards corroborating the events in the Bible,. There is the exactitude demanded by the academic societies; and finally there is the strange, almost extraordinary confidence of these Victorians. A confidence that made them sure they would be able to decipher the cuneiform alphabets, and a confidence that never questioned their right to excavate the plains of Babylonian. Some of this was done by the young Layard with a team of Arab helpers. He would bring up the obelisks; ship them down the Tigris to Bombay, and from there to London and the British Museum. He was not doing this with a military escort. The local Arab and Iranian rulers were allowing it. The question screaming in between the lines is, why weren't the Arab and Iranian scholars trying to decipher their own ancient languages? The answer must be to do with the stark difference between the intellectual climates of West and East. Quite rightly Adkins doesn't explore this, her story is already complex enough, and she tells it superbly to the end.
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Masoud Akhbari
5.0 out of 5 stars Empire of the plain, history of a lost language was found
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 19, 2012
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I am a historian and I recommand this book to all lovers of history, the book written about Henry Rawlinson nthat found the key to open the lost Babylonian Language which for thousands of years men did not know how to read them.
I purchased mored more copies to give away to friends.
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