Towards a contrapuntal reading of history: orientalism and the ancient near east

This article concerned with the idea of Orientalism which was introduced by Edward Said as early as 1978. However, since almost all scholars who have written about Orientalism concentrate on Islamic and modern history, this article looks at ancient history. As will be seen, the root of Orientalism discussed by Said should be sought in ancient time, not least when the West (the Greeks) came into contact with the Eas