Includes bibliographical references.

Front Matter -- Copyright Page -- Acknowledgements -- Color Metalanguage, Signs and Convention Used -- Figures and Plates -- Color Semantics -- Abstract Colors -- Material Colors -- Colorful Matter -- Making Sense of Color -- Back Matter -- Appendix A -- Plates -- Bibliography -- Indices -- General Index.

In The Meaning of Color in Ancient Mesopotamia, Shiyanthi Thavapalan offers the first in-depth study of the words and expressions for colors in the Akkadian language (c. 2500-500 BCE). By combining philological analysis with the technical investigation of materials, she debunks the misconception that people in Mesopotamia had a limited sense of color and positions the development of Akkadian color language as a corollary of the history of materials and techniques in the ancient Near East.