Which book would you suggest for a historian specialized in entirely different region and period, but interested in reading about the Near East history from the first civilizations to around the beginning of classical age?

by ObdurateSloth

I looked at the booklist and it is very extensive, but going through reviews it seems that most books listed there are very introductionary level. I am not knowledgeable in Near East history, but I am looking for something a bit more advanced and sourced and something I can use for reference in the future. I hope it is understandable what I mean and I hope this warranted a full post here, if not feel free to delete it. I would appreciate any suggestions!

Bentresh

There are not many up-to-date surveys of ancient Near Eastern history in English, and most of them are listed in the AH reading list. A History of the Ancient Near East, ca. 3000-323 BC by Marc Van de Mieroop and The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy by Mario Liverani are particularly good places to start.

Oxford University Press is publishing a five volume series on ANE history that will probably interest you, but so far only the first volume has been published, From the Beginnings to Old Kingdom Egypt and the Dynasty of Akkad.

The majority of the more detailed books focus on a particular time period (e.g. the edited volumes Mesopotamien: Die altbabylonische Zeit and Karduniaš: Babylonia under the Kassites) or the reigns of specific rulers (e.g. Luis Siddall's The Reign of Adad-nīrārī III), so reading suggestions will depend on your particular interests.