"Art and Empire" is a good-looking catalog of Assyrian artifacts in the British Museum. The book begins with chapters on the discovery, history and civilization of Assyria and then come eleven chapters on the museum collections, some of which are: Reliefs and Sculptures; Palaces and Temples; Magic and Religion and Literature and Science. Each begins with a nice introduction including the history of the finds.The strength of the catalog is of course the photos of the discoveries, drawings and paintings. A very informative and attractive production. Henry Layard would be proud.

Collon's book provides an excellent overview of Near Eastern Seals. A useful chronology for both stamp and cylinder seals is provided, as well as information on materials, designs, and stone-cutting techniques. The majority of the photographs and text focus on cylinder seals, but a few stamp seals are also included.