I am not incredibly familiar with the ancient Near East with my knowledge coming from bits and pieces mentioned in ancient Greek sources. This book was the perfect entry into the topic. Rather than focusing solely on major events and scholarship, the author goes directly to the source: the surviving cuneiforme tablets that were painstakingly created and preserved by everyday people and scribes. 

I listened to the audiobook version, and it's very clear the author is passionate about the topic. I feel like I've traveled from the workshops weaving women worked in, the halls of Neo-Babylonian palaces, and the sacred spaces of temples dedicated to Inanna. While this type of scholarship is definitely limited by what sources survive, I would love to see more of it. This book gives a name and voice to the everyday people who lived thousands of years ago, and I am absolutely in love with it.