This book brings to life the turbulent history of man in the Fertile Crescent, from his first appearance in the Old Stone Age until the Christian era. It is written by William Foxwell Albright, one of the world's foremost students of the ancient Near East and the dean of American archaeologists and scholars. Dr. Albright centers on the question of historical process, and argues that monotheism is the key to the history of human civilization in the West. He traces the beginnings of monotheism to the cosmic mythology and high gods of Babylonia and Egypt, and its emergence in history to the solar theism of Akhenaten.