Zapomenuté národy starověkého světa – Matyszak Philip (2021)

This richly illustrated Czech-language book presents the stories of forgotten peoples and their notable figures, from Sargon the Great and the first civilizations to the invasions of barbarian tribes and the fall of Rome. It recalls that civilization is humanity’s collective project and that the modern world was shaped not only by the “great” civilizations. The book focuses on a section of the ancient world, depicting the multicultural mass of people who inhabited the ancient Middle East, the Mediterranean and parts of Europe. It explores peoples such as the Bactrians and Samaritans, about whom only fragments may remain in popular memory. Each people has a separate chapter containing a brief description and a schematic map of its territory or sphere of influence, followed by an account of the civilization’s rise and decline, its rulers and values, livelihoods, advances in construction and trade, relations with neighboring peoples and military conquests. Illustrations or photographs show surviving evidence such as buildings, remains of ancient cities, figurines, jewelry and texts preserved for thousands of years. The end of each chapter offers connections with the present in the Bible, myths and legends, language, culture, architecture, legal systems, warfare and even cynology, including the possible distant connection between the dogs of the Dalmatian tribes and the modern Dalmatian breed. The book also shows that the good or bad reputation of some peoples is often not based on rational foundations and that history is more complicated than it first appears.