Edward Chiera was that most remarkable of men, a competent and respected scholar possessed of an ardent desire to make his research readily and entertainingly available to laymen. More remarkable, Chiera had extraordinary gifts to equal to his desire. "They Wrote on Clay" combines fascinatingly the fruits of sound and painstaking archeology with the natural-born storyteller's art. As transmitted by Chiera, the message of the recently discovered Babylonian clay tablets becomes an absorbing exrusion into the common life of a vanished civilization. Few will read "They Wrote on Clay "without becoming infected with something of Chiera's love for the rich archeological lore of the ancient Near East.

"The book presents, briefly and clearly, a vivid picture of a long-dead people who in numerous ways were very like ourselves."--L. M. Field, "New York Times "

"No mystery story can be as exciting."--"Harper's "

"Plainly and fetchingly written."--"New Republic "