Interesting mini-biographies of lesser-known cultures
The book is divided into 40 chapters, each of which is devoted to one ancient culture. For each, Matyszak discusses their origin and history, charting the rise and fall (or disappearance) of each group. The summaries are based on mentions of these peoples in ancient texts like the Bible or Herodotus’s Histories, as well as research from recent archaeological digs. In some cases, not much is known about these cultures, and there is a great deal of speculation about their histories. In other cases, today’s archaeologists don’t entirely agree on who these people were or what happened to them. Matyszak clarifies such ambiguities and arguments without passing judgment himself. The coverage here is strictly Old World. You won’t find the Olmecs of Mexico or the Chu culture of China here. The civilizations discussed in this book lived in the Middle East and Europe, a few in North Africa, and a couple venture as far east as India.
This is not a scholarly book written for PhDs. It is intended for general readers with an enthusiasm for archaeology. That’s not to say that it’s not intelligently written or the scholarship is not reliable. It’s just so concise that there isn’t a lot of room for minute detail. Matyszak summarizes the state of research on these peoples in a clear, accessible, and entertaining manner. The text does not have academic notes or citations, but there is a bibliography of “further reading,” separated by chapter, with three or four sources specific to each culture discussed, which is helpful. The writing is about on the level with what you find in Archaeology magazine, which is slightly more academic than National Geographic. In fact, this would have made a great monthly column in Archaeology magazine, if they’d thought of it, but they didn’t; Matyszak did.
One feature that I really enjoyed in this book is that each chapter ends with a brief section under the heading of “Future Echoes.” Here Matyszak points out words and customs from these ancient cultures that we still use today, or important firsts in the history of civilization. For example, the word “magic” comes to us from the language of the Medes. The name “Candace” comes from a warrior queen of the Kushites. The term “Aborigine” was originally the name of a tribe in Italy. The tradition of carrying a bride across the threshold comes from the Sabines. The Hittites negotiated the world’s first peace treaty with the Egyptians. The Amorites were the first culture to advocate the separation of church and state, in the Code of Hammurabi. The Sea Peoples conducted the first organized labor strike. Matyszak also highlights how these groups and their legends inspired future works of art, literature, or film.
If you’ve ever wondered about some of these lesser-known civilizations and how they fit into the grand scheme of ancient history, Matyszak will satisfy your curiosity. He has since published a follow-up to Forgotten Peoples, a 2023 book entitled Lost Cities of the Ancient World, which consists of brief histories of places rather than peoples. I enjoyed Forgotten Peoples enough that I will probably check out that book as well.
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