Download or read book Uruk Mesopotamia Its Neighbors written by Mitchell S. Rothman and published by James Currey. This book was released on 2001 with total page 590 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Old and New World archaeology, the Mesopotamian case has long stood as the model for the evolution of complex societies, providing the conceptual and organizational standard for understanding city and state origins. But new data on Mesopotamia in the late 5th and 4th millennia BC have been accruing with astonishing speed over the last 20 years, opening fresh areas of exploration and debate. In Uruk Mesopotamia and Its Neighbours , ten of the foremost field archaeologists working in the area today provide an overview and analysis of these data. The authors radically reassess the chronological framework for the greater Mesopotamian region, assemble basic data sets on both local and regional levels, and interpret and synthesize these data to put localpatterns and dynamics into their widest regional context. With lavish illustration and thorough documentation, this volume is destined to become a standard reference work on the state of Mesopotamian archaeology at the beginning of the 21st century. Its significance extends beyond the archaeology of the ancient Near East to the wider fields of anthropology and political science.
Download or read book Ancient Iran and Its Neighbours written by Cameron A. Petrie and published by Oxbow Books. This book was released on 2013-12-31 with total page 833 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fourth millennium BC was a critical period of socio-economic and political transformation in the Iranian Plateau and its surrounding zones. This period witnessed the appearance of the world’s earliest urban centres, hierarchical administrative structures, and writing systems. These developments are indicative of significant changes in socio-political structures that have been interpreted as evidence for the rise of early states and the development of inter-regional trade, embedded in longer-term processes that began in the later fifth millennium BC. Iran was an important player in western Asia especially in the medium- to long-range trade in raw materials and finished items throughout this period. The 20 papers presented here illustrate forcefully how the re-evaluation of old excavation results, combined with much new research, has dramatically expanded our knowledge and understanding of local developments on the Iranian Plateau and of long-range interactions during the critical period of the fourth millennium BC.
Download or read book Rethinking World Systems written by Gil J. Stein and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2022-08-16 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The use of world-systems theory to explain the spread of social complexity has become accepted practice by both historians and archaeologists. Gil Stein now offers the first rigorous test of world systems as a model in archaeology, arguing that the application of world-systems theory to noncapitalist, pre-fifteenth-century societies distorts our understanding of developmental change by overemphasizing the role of external over internal dynamics. In this new study, Stein proposes two complementary theoretical frameworks for the study of interregional interaction: a "distance-parity" model, which views world-systems as simply one factor in a broader range of intersocietal relations, and a "trade-diaspora" model, which explains variation in exchange systems from the perspective of participant groups. He tests his models against the archaeological record of Mesopotamian expansion into the Anatolian highlands during the fourth millennium B.C. Whereas some scholars have considered this "Uruk expansion" to be one of the earliest documented world-systems, Stein uses data from the site of Hacinebi in southeastern Turkey to support his alternate perspective. Comparing economic data from pre- and postcontact phases, Stein shows that the Mesopotamians did not dominate the people of this distant periphery. Such evidence, argues Stein, shows that we must look more closely at the local cultures of peripheries to develop realistic cross-cultural models of variation in colonialism, exchange, and secondary state formation in ancient societies. By demonstrating that a multitude of factors affect the nature and consequences of intersocietal contacts, his book advocates a much-needed balance between recognizing that no society can be understood in complete isolation from its neighbors and assuming the primacy of outside contact in a society's development.
Download or read book Ancient Mesopotamia at the Dawn of Civilization written by Guillermo Algaze and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2009-05-15 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The alluvial lowlands of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in southern Mesopotamia are widely known as the “cradle of civilization,” owing to the scale of the processes of urbanization that took place in the area by the second half of the fourth millennium BCE. In Ancient Mesopotamia at the Dawn of Civilization, Guillermo Algaze draws on the work of modern economic geographers to explore how the unique river-based ecology and geography of the Tigris-Euphrates alluvium affected the development of urban civilization in southern Mesopotamia. He argues that these natural conditions granted southern polities significant competitive advantages over their landlocked rivals elsewhere in Southwest Asia, most importantly the ability to easily transport commodities. In due course, this resulted in increased trade and economic activity and higher population densities in the south than were possible elsewhere. As southern polities grew in scale and complexity throughout the fourth millennium, revolutionary new forms of labor organization and record keeping were created, and it is these socially created innovations, Algaze argues, that ultimately account for why fully developed city-states emerged earlier in southern Mesopotamia than elsewhere in Southwest Asia or the world.
Download or read book Origini XXXIV 2012 written by AA. VV. and published by Gangemi Editore spa. This book was released on 2013-01-29T00:00:00+01:00 with total page 498 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THIS ISSUE CONTAINS “FIFTY YEARS OF EXCAVATIONS AND RESEARCHES AT ARSLANTEPE-MALATYA (TURKEY). A CONTRIBUTION TO THE STUDY OF THE EARLIEST CENTRALISED SOCIETIES” Proceedings of the International Conference held in Rome on 5-7 December, 2011 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Sapienza University expedition at Arslantepe.The volume is organised in five thematic sections, each referring to a topic on which the excavations at Arslantepe have obtained results, and presenting contributions by both members of the Arslantepe team and other scholars working on the same topic in other sites or regions of the Near East. The objective was to relate the Arslantepe achievements with other outcomes, in the framework of the current debate. Thematic sections in the volume: THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL COMPLEXITY IN THE LATE CHALCOLITHIC (5TH AND 4TH MILLENNIA BC) Arslantepe in the 5th and 4th millennia M. Frangipane, F. Balossi Restelli, M.B. D'Anna and P. Guarino, H. Pittman, H. Çaliskan Akgül, G. Siracusano and L. Bartosiewicz Late Chalcolithic developments in other regions of the Near East G. Stein, S. Pollock, J. Oates, P. Butterlin, B. Helwing, S. Gülçür. ARSLANTEPE IN THE EARLY BRONZE AGE: FAR-REACHING CHANGES AND THE RISE OF NEW SOCIETIES M. Frangipane, G. Palumbi, P. Piccione and C. Lemorini, Y.S. Erdal, R. Laurito. ON THE MARGINS OF EMPIRES: MALATYA AND THE HITTITEWORLD M. Liverani, C. Alvaro, F. Manuelli, S. de Martino, C. Mora and L. d'Alfonso, S. Mazzoni, A. Archi. ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY. ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS, AGRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE MALATYA PLAIN S. Dreibrodt, C. Lubos, J. Lomax, T. Schroedter and O. Nelle, L. Sadori and A. Masi, G. Liberotti and R. Quaresima. CONSERVATION AND EXHIBITION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES M. Özdögan and Z. Eres, D. Mangano.
Download or read book Trypillia Mega Sites and European Prehistory written by Johannes Müller and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-01-22 with total page 607 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In European prehistory population agglomerations of more than 10,000 inhabitants per site are a seldom phenomenon. A big surprise to the archaeological community was the discovery of Trypillia mega-sites of more than 250 hectares and with remains of more than 2000 houses by a multidisciplinary approach of Soviet and Ukrainian archaeology, including aerial photography, geophysical prospection and excavations nearly 50 years ago. The extraordinary development took place at the border of the North Pontic Forest Steppe and Steppe zone ca. 4100–3400 BCE. Since then many questions arose which are of main relevance: Why, how and under which environmental conditions did Trypillia mega-sites develop? How long did they last? Were social and/or ecological reasons responsible for this social experiment? Are Trypillia and the similar sized settlement of Uruk two different concepts of social behaviour? Paradigm change in fieldwork and excavation strategies enabled research teams during the last decade to analyse the mega-sites in their spatial and social complexity. High precision geophysics, target excavations and a new design of systematic field strategies deliver empirical data representative for the large sites. Archaeological research contributed immensely to aspects of anthropogenic induced steppe development and subsistence concepts that did not reach the carrying capacities. Probabilistic models based on 14C-dates made the contemporaneity of the mega-site house structures most probable. In consequence, Trypillia mega-sites are an independent European phenomenon that contrasts both concepts of urbanism and social stratification that is seen with similar demographic figures in Mesopotamia. The new Trypillia research can be read as the methodological progress in European archaeology.
Download or read book Materiality of Writing in Early Mesopotamia written by Thomas E. Balke and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2016-10-24 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume presents recent research on the relationship between the material format of text-bearing artefacts, the texts they carry, and their genre. The essays cover a vast period, from the counting stones of the late 4th millennium BCE to the time of the Great Hittite Kingdom in the 2nd millennium BCE. The breadth of substantive focus allows new insights of relevance to scholars in both Ancient Middle Eastern studies and the humanities.
Download or read book Mobile Pastoralism and the Formation of Near Eastern Civilizations written by Anne Porter and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-03-26 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the roles of mobile and sedentary members of the ancient world in ancient Mesopotamia.
Download or read book Mesopotamia and the Rise of Civilization written by Jane R. McIntosh and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2017-08-18 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A broad introduction to a major turning point in human development, this book guides the reader through the emergence of civilization in Mesopotamia, when city life began and writing was invented. Covering Mesopotamia from around 3000 BCE to the fall of Babylon in 539 BCE, Mesopotamia and the Rise of Civilization: History, Documents, and Key Questions combines narrative history material and reference entries that enable students to learn about the rise of civilization in Mesopotamia and its enormous influence on western civilization with primary source documents that promote critical thinking skills. The book provides essential background via a historical overview of early development of society in Mesopotamia. This introduction is followed by reference entries on key topics; 4,000-year-old primary sources that explore Mesopotamian civilization through voices of the time and bring to light the events of a schoolboy's day, the boasts of kings, and personal letters about family concerns, for example; and a section of argumentative essays that presents thought-provoking perspectives on key issues. While the intended readership is high school students, the book's authoritative coverage of intriguing subject matter will also appeal to the wider public, especially in these times of heightened focus on the Middle East.
Download or read book Proceedings of the 4th International Congress of the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East 29 March 3 April 2004 Freie Universit t Berlin written by Hartmut Kühne and published by Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. This book was released on 2008 with total page 488 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Congress hosted 611 registered participants from 38 countries. Its aim was to be an international forum for scholars and demands of Near Eastern Archaeology. From the four sections of the Congress, [Vol. I: 1) The Reconstruction of Environment. Natural Resources and Human Interrelation through Time, 2) Visual Communication ISBN 978-3-447-05703-5], Vol. II: 3) Social and Cultural Transformation: The Archaeology of Transitional Periods and Dark Ages, 4) Archaeological Field Reports (Excavations, Surveys, Conservation) Together these volumes unite 77 contributions on about 1100 pages. They are arranged according to the sections. The rst three will be introduced by the key lectures which were given by Tony Wilkinson, Winfried Orthmann, and Roger Matthews. The resumes of these sections were provided by Wendy Matthews, Dominik Bonatz, and Diederik J.W. Meijer. The contributions cover many aspects of the main themes through time, from the Neolithic to the Hellenistic / Roman period, and offer interdisciplinary approaches to complex archaeological problems.
Download or read book The Sumerian World written by Harriet Crawford and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-08-29 with total page 689 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Sumerian World explores the archaeology, history and art of southern Mesopotamia and its relationships with its neighbours from c.3,000 - 2,000BC. Including material hitherto unpublished from recent excavations, the articles are organised thematically using evidence from archaeology, texts and the natural sciences. This broad treatment will also make the volume of interest to students looking for comparative data in allied subjects such as ancient literature and early religions. Providing an authoritative, comprehensive and up to date overview of the Sumerian period written by some of the best qualified scholars in the field, The Sumerian World will satisfy students, researchers, academics, and the knowledgeable layperson wishing to understand the world of southern Mesopotamia in the third millennium.
Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia written by Sharon R. Steadman and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2011-04-01 with total page 1193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia is a unique blend of comprehensive overviews on archaeological, philological, linguistic, and historical issues at the forefront of Anatolian scholarship in the 21st century. Anatolia is home to early complex societies and great empires and was the destination of many migrants, visitors, and invaders. The offerings in this volume bring this reality to life as the chapters unfold nearly ten thousand years (ca. 10,000-323 BCE) of peoples, languages, and diverse cultures who lived in or traversed Anatolia over these millennia. The contributors combine descriptions of current scholarship on important discussion and debates in Anatolian studies with new and cutting edge research for future directions of study. The 54 chapters are presented in five separate sections that range in topic from chronological and geographical overviews to anthropologically-based issues of culture contact and imperial structures and from historical settings of entire millennia to crucial data from key sites across the region. The contributers to the volume represent the best scholars in the field from North America, Europe, Turkey, and Asia. The appearance of this volume offers the very latest collection of studies on the fascinating peninsula known as Anatolia.
Download or read book Rural Archaeology in Early Urban Northern Mesopotamia written by Glenn M. Schwartz and published by Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press. This book was released on 2015-12-31 with total page 691 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents the results of the extensive excavation of a small, rural village from the period of emerging cities in upper Mesopotamia (modern northeast Syria) in the early to middle third millennium BC. Prior studies of early Near Eastern urban societies generally focused on the cities and elites, neglecting the rural component of urbanization. This research represents part of a move to rectify that imbalance. Reports on the architecture, pottery, animal bones, plant remains, and other varieties of artifacts and ecofacts enhance our understanding of the role of villages in the formation of urban societies, the economic relationship between small rural sites and urban centers, and status and economic differentiation in villages. Among the significant results are the extensive exposure of a large segment of the village area, revealing details of spatial and social organization and household economics. The predominance of large-scale grain storage and processing leads to questions of staple finance, economic relations with pastoralists, and connections to developing urban centers.
Download or read book Agency and Identity in the Ancient Near East written by Sharon R. Steadman and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-01 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agency theory examines the relationship between individuals or groups when one party is doing work on behalf of another. 'Agency and Identity in the Ancient Near East' offers a theoretical study of agency and identity in Near Eastern archaeology, an area which until now has been largely ignored by archaeologists. The book explores how agency theory can be employed in reconstructing the meaning of spaces and material culture, how agency and identity intersect, and how the availability of a textual corpus may impact on the agency approach. Ranging from the Neolithic to the Islamic period, 'Agency and Identity in the Ancient Near East' covers sites located in Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, and Israel. The volume includes contributions from philology, art, history, computer simulation studies, materials science, and the archaeology of settlement and architecture.
Download or read book The Archaeology of Mesopotamia written by Dr. Roger Matthews and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 628 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This innovative volume evaluates the theories, methods, approaches and history of Mesopotamian archaeology from its origins in the 19th century up the to present day.
Download or read book The Archaeology of Mesopotamia written by Roger Matthews and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-01-11 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The only critical guide to the theory and method of Mesopotamian archaeology, this innovative volume evaluates the theories, methods, approaches and history of Mesopotamian archaeology from its origins in the nineteenth century up to the present day. Ancient Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), was the original site of many of the major developments in human history, such as farming, the rise of urban literate societies and the first great empires of Akkad, Babylonia and Assyria. Dr. Matthews places the discipline within its historical and social context, and explains how archaeologists conduct their research through excavation, survey and other methods. In four fundamental chapters, he uses illustrated case-studies to show how archaeologists have approached central themes such as: * the shift from hunting to farming * complex societies * empires and imperialism * everyday life. This will be both an ideal introductory work and useful as background reading on a wide range of courses.
Download or read book The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East written by Karen Radner and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2020-07-07 with total page 800 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This groundbreaking, five-volume series offers a comprehensive, fully illustrated history of Egypt and Western Asia (the Levant, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and Iran), from the emergence of complex states to the conquest of Alexander the Great. Written by a highly diverse, international team of leading scholars, whose expertise brings to life the people, places, and times of the remote past, the volumes in this series focus firmly on the political and social histories of the states and communities of the ancient Near East. Individual chapters present the key textual and material sources underpinning the historical reconstruction, paying particular attention to the most recent archaeological finds and their impact on our historical understanding of the periods surveyed. Commencing with the domestication of plants and animals, and the foundation of the first permanent settlements in the region, Volume I contains ten chapters that provide a masterful survey of the earliest dynasties and territorial states in the ancient Near East, concluding with the rise of the Old Kingdom in Egypt and the Dynasty of Akkad in Mesopotamia. Politics, ideology, religion, art, crafts, economy, military developments, and the built environment are all examined. Uniquely, emphasis is placed upon elucidating both the internal dynamics of these states and communities, as well as their external relationships with their neighbors in the wider region. The result is a thoughtful, critical, and robust survey of the populations that laid the foundation for all future developments in the ancient Near East.