As always, I look to my Assyriology peeps for help with this question because I perpetually forget the best intro books

Can @digi_hammurabi @DrMonicaPalmero @sarabmohr @pearcele @Apkallatu @JonTaylor_BM @cwjones89 please help? https://twitter.com/srdjanluzajic/status/1266317111783120897

“Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City” by Gwendolyn Leick provided a readable, beautifully organised overview of various cities and their histories in ancient Mesopotamia https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Mesopotamia.html?id=HUFdfwRpDykC&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y

Three books in the “A Very Short Introduction” series are a great start for anyone interested in ancient Mesopotamia but not keen on reading textbooks.

The Ancient Near East by @ahpod

Babylonia by Trevor Bryce

Ancient Assyria by Karen Radner

“Civilizations of Ancient Iraq” by BR Foster and KP Foster is another readable intro to the history of ancient Mesopotamia, for those interested but not sure where to start https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Civilizations_of_Ancient_Iraq.html?id=0FGEMW1NQmwC&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y

For children (and adults) who may not want to read all ~3,000 lines of the original Epic of Gilgamesh, Ludmila Zeman has made a beautifully illustrated version of the story in “Gilgamesh the King” and its sequels