James Henry Breasted Prize
The submission deadline has passed. Awardees are announced in the fall, and the next contest will begin in spring 2023.
Established in 1985 and named in honor of James Henry Breasted, a pioneer in ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern history and president of the Association in 1928, this prize is offered for the best book in English in any field of history prior to CE 1000. The prize was endowed by Joseph O. Losos, a longtime member of the Association.
The current prize amount is $1,000. See the list of past recipients.
The general rules for submission are:
- Only books of a high scholarly nature should be submitted. Research accuracy, originality, and literary merit are important factors.
- Only books bearing a copyright of 2022 will be eligible for the 2023 award.
- Nomination submissions may be made by an author or by a publisher. Publishers may submit as many entries as they wish. Authors or publishers may submit the same book for multiple AHA prizes.
- Nominators must complete an online prize submission form for each book submitted.
- One copy of each entry must be sent to each committee member and clearly labeled “Breasted Prize Entry.” Print copies preferred unless otherwise indicated. If only e-copy is available, please contact review committee members beforehand to arrange submission format.
Please Note: Entries must be received by May 15, 2023, to be eligible for the 2023 competition. Entries will not be returned. Recipients will be announced on the AHA website in October 2023 and recognized during a ceremony at the January 2024 AHA annual meeting in San Francisco.
For questions, please contact the Prize Administrator.
2021 Breasted Prize
Simon Martin, University of Pennsylvania Museum
Ancient Maya Politics: A Political Anthropology of the Classic Period 150–900 CE (Cambridge Univ. Press)
Employing both new epigraphic and material evidence, as well as applying theories from anthropology, political science, and comparative history, Simon Martin’s Ancient Maya Politics superbly demonstrates that an abundance of Mayan polities could co-exist for hundreds of years without destroying each other. They existed within a hegemonic system, in which all states subscribed to a shared moral order and endeavored to claim dominance, not through the acquisition of territory, but rather by amassing client kingships.