Early Stages In The Evolution Of Mesopotamian Civilization

Author : Norman Yoffee,Jeffery J. Clark
Publisher : University of Arizona Press
Page : 306 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 2016
Category : History
ISBN : 9780816532810

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Early Stages in the Evolution of Mesopotamian Civilization by Norman Yoffee,Jeffery J. Clark Pdf

Between 1969 and 1980, Soviet archaeologists conducted excavations of Mesopotamian villages occupied from preagricultural times through the beginnings of early civilization. The results of their work were published primarily in Soviet journals and in the English-language journals Sumer and Iraq. This volume brings together translations of these Russian articles along with newly commissioned work to make the results of this research accessible for the first time to the Western world. In addition to eight articles available here for the first time in English, a concluding chapter by Norman Yoffee offers new insights on cultural interaction based on the research at hand. The research conducted by the Soviets helped transform our knowledge of the early post-Paleolithic prehistory of Mesopotamia.

Author : Guillermo Algaze
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 249 pages
File Size : 43,7 Mb
Release : 2009-05-15
Category : History
ISBN : 9780226013787

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Ancient Mesopotamia at the Dawn of Civilization by Guillermo Algaze Pdf

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.

Author : Marc Van De Mieroop
Publisher : Clarendon Press
Page : 290 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 1997-11-13
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 9780191588457

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The Ancient Mesopotamian City by Marc Van De Mieroop Pdf

Urban history starts in ancient Mesopotamia. In this volume Marc Van De Mieroop examines the evolution of the very earliest cities which, for millennia, inspired the rest of the ancient world. The city determined every aspect of Mesopotamian civilization, and the political and social structure, economy, literature, and arts of Mesopotamian culture cannot be understood without acknowledging their urban background. - ;Urban history starts in ancient Mesopotamia: the earliest known cities developed there as the result of long indigenous processes, and, for millennia, the city determined every aspect of Mesopotamian civilization. Marc Van De Mieroop examines urban life in the historical period, investigating urban topography, the role of cities as centres of culture, their political and social structures, economy, literature, and the arts. He draws on material from the entirety of Mesopotamian history, from c. 3000 to 300 BC, and from both Babylonia and Assyria, arguing that the Mesopotamian city can be regarded as a prototype that inspired the rest of the ancient world and shared characteristics with the European cities of antiquity. -

Author : Robert McC. Adams
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 166 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 2017-07-05
Category : History
ISBN : 9781351483186

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The Evolution of Urban Society by Robert McC. Adams Pdf

The Evolution of Urban Society is concerned with the presentation and analysis of regularities in the two best-documented examples of early, independent urban society: Mesopotamia and central Mexico. It provides a systematic comparison of institutional forms and trends of growth that are to be found in both of them. Emphasizing basic similarities in structure rather than the many acknowledged formal features by which each culture is rendered distinguishable from all others, it demonstrates that both societies can usefully be regarded as variants of a single processual pattern.

Author : Robert McCormick Adams
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 220 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2005
Category : History
ISBN : UCAL:B4346950

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The Evolution of Urban Society by Robert McCormick Adams Pdf

The Evolution of Urban Societyis concerned with the presentation and analysis of regularities in the two best-documented examples of early, independent urban society: Mesopotamia and central Mexico. It provides a systematic comparison of institutional forms and trends of growth that are to be found in both of them. Emphasizing basic similarities in structure rather than the many acknowledged formal features by which each culture is rendered distinguishable from all others, it demonstrates that both societies can usefully be regarded as variants of a single process.Generalizing, comparative analyses of the origins of ancient civilizations in early anthropological studies emphasized the diversity of their cultures rather than their similarities. As this volume illustrates, early societies, in actuality, provide a significant example of broad regularities in human behavior. The emergence of states - of stratified, politically organized societies based upon a complex division of labor - is one of those great transformations that have punctuated human civilization. Adams shows why the study of societal evolution is so significant, and why it has remained a durable and attractive anthropological focus of interest.Originally published in 1966, The Evolution of Urban Society is based on a series of lectures at the University of Rochester in honor of the esteemed anthropologist Lewis Henry Morgan. It remains required reading for students of anthropology, ethnography, ancient civilizations, and world history. As Elizabeth Carter noted in Science at the time: "Adams's The Evolution of Urban Society set the agenda for contemporary research into early urbanism in the [Mesopotamian] region."

Author : A. Leo Oppenheim
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 494 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 2013-01-31
Category : History
ISBN : 9780226177670

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Ancient Mesopotamia by A. Leo Oppenheim Pdf

"This splendid work of scholarship . . . sums up with economy and power all that the written record so far deciphered has to tell about the ancient and complementary civilizations of Babylon and Assyria."—Edward B. Garside, New York Times Book Review Ancient Mesopotamia—the area now called Iraq—has received less attention than ancient Egypt and other long-extinct and more spectacular civilizations. But numerous small clay tablets buried in the desert soil for thousands of years make it possible for us to know more about the people of ancient Mesopotamia than any other land in the early Near East. Professor Oppenheim, who studied these tablets for more than thirty years, used his intimate knowledge of long-dead languages to put together a distinctively personal picture of the Mesopotamians of some three thousand years ago. Following Oppenheim's death, Erica Reiner used the author's outline to complete the revisions he had begun. "To any serious student of Mesopotamian civilization, this is one of the most valuable books ever written."—Leonard Cottrell, Book Week "Leo Oppenheim has made a bold, brave, pioneering attempt to present a synthesis of the vast mass of philological and archaeological data that have accumulated over the past hundred years in the field of Assyriological research."—Samuel Noah Kramer, Archaeology A. Leo Oppenheim, one of the most distinguished Assyriologists of our time, was editor in charge of the Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute and John A. Wilson Professor of Oriental Studies at the University of Chicago.

Author : Ariane Thomas,Timothy Potts
Publisher : Getty Publications
Page : 238 pages
File Size : 52,9 Mb
Release : 2020
Category : Art
ISBN : 9781606066492

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Mesopotamia by Ariane Thomas,Timothy Potts Pdf

Mesopotamia, in modern-day Iraq, was home to the remarkable ancient civilizations of Sumer, Akkad, Babylonia, and Assyria. From the rise of the first cities around 3500 BCE, through the mighty empires of Nineveh and Babylon, to the demise of its native culture around 100 CE, Mesopotamia produced some of the most powerful and captivating art of antiquity and led the world in astronomy, mathematics, and other sciences—a legacy that lives on today. Mesopotamia: Civilization Begins presents a rich panorama of ancient Mesopotamia’s history, from its earliest prehistoric cultures to its conquest by Alexander the Great in 331 BCE. This catalogue records the beauty and variety of the objects on display, on loan from the Louvre’s unparalleled collection of ancient Near Eastern antiquities: cylinder seals, monumental sculptures, cuneiform tablets, jewelry, glazed bricks, paintings, figurines, and more. Essays by international experts explore a range of topics, from the earliest French excavations to Mesopotamia’s economy, religion, cities, cuneiform writing, rulers, and history—as well as its enduring presence in the contemporary imagination.

Author : Hans J. Nissen,Kenneth J. Northcott
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 230 pages
File Size : 44,7 Mb
Release : 2011-03-04
Category : History
ISBN : 9780226182698

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The Early History of the Ancient Near East, 9000–2000 B.C. by Hans J. Nissen,Kenneth J. Northcott Pdf

Hans J. Nissen here provides a much-needed overview of 7000 years of development in the ancient Near East from the beginning of settled life to the formation of the first regional states. His approach to the study of Mesopotamian civilization differs markedly from conventional orientations, which impose a sharp division between prehistoric and historic, literate, periods. Nissen argues that this approach is too rigid to explain the actual development of that civilization. He deemphasizes the invention of writing as a turning point, viewing it as simply one more phase in the evolution of social complexity and as the result of specific social, economic, and political factors. With a unique combination of material culture analysis written data, Nissan traces the emergence of the earliest isolated settlements, the growth of a network of towns, the emergence of city states, and finally the appearance of territorial states. From his synthesis of the prehistoric and literate periods comes a unified picture of the development of Mesopotamian economy, society, and culture. Lavishly illustrated, The Early History of the Ancient Near East, 9000-2000 B.C. is an authoritative work by one of the most insightful observers of the evolution and character of Mesopotamian civilization.

Author : Britannica Educational Publishing
Publisher : Britannica Educational Publishing
Page : 216 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2010-04-01
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN : 9781615302086

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Mesopotamia by Britannica Educational Publishing Pdf

Celebrated for numerous developments in the areas of law, writing, religion, and mathematics, Mesopotamia has been immortalized as the cradle of civilization. Its fabled cities, including Babylon and Nineveh, spawned new cultures, traditions, and innovations in art and architecture, some of which can still be seen in present-day Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey. Readers will be captivated by this ancient culture’s rich history and breadth of accomplishment, as they marvel at images of the magnificent temples and artifacts left behind.

Author : J. N. Postgate
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 367 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 1992
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 0415008433

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Early Mesopotamia by J. N. Postgate Pdf

Old World civilization began in the Near East, in Egypt and in Mesopotamia, where two very different cultures prospered. Egypt, isolated as it was within the Nile Valley, largely failed to export its culture. Early Mesopotamia, however, exerted its influence throughout the Near Eastern world, and thence to Greece. Early Mesopotamia: Society and Economy at the Dawn of History offers an entirely new account of this complex and influential society. Early Mesopotamia has left us many thousands of inscribed clay tablets, ranging from the archives of government offices and merchant houses to diplomatic and private correspondence. These reveal the most intimate details of law, commerce, irrigation and agriculture two thousand years before Classical Greece. With the help of a wealth of illustrations and quotations from these documents, Nicholas Postgate explores the organization of the world's first urban society. Surprisingly modern at times, Mesopotamia was technologically and socially innovative, as well as acutely self-analytical and dominated by bureaucracy and commerce. Early Mesopotamia integrates historical and archaeological data which until now have been largely scattered in specialist literature. It will prove invaluable to students of archaeology, ancient history, anthropology and Biblical studies.

Author : Norman Yoffee
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 293 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 2005-01-13
Category : History
ISBN : 9780521818377

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Myths of the Archaic State by Norman Yoffee Pdf

In this ground-breaking work, Norman Yoffee shatters the prevailing myths underpinning our understanding of the evolution of early civilisations. He counters the emphasis in traditional scholarship on the rule of 'godly' and despotic male leaders and challenges the conventional view that early states were uniformly constituted bureaucratic and regional entities. Instead, by illuminating the role of slaves and soldiers, priests and priestesses, peasants and prostitutes, merchants and craftsmen, Yoffee depicts an evolutionary process centred on the concerns of everyday life. Drawing on evidence from ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and Mesoamerica, the author explores the variety of trajectories followed by ancient states, from birth to collapse, and explores the social processes that shape any account of the human past. This book offers a bold new interpretation of social evolutionary theory, and as such it is essential reading for any student or scholar with an interest in the emergence of complex society.

Author : Denis J Murphy
Publisher : Oxford University Press on Demand
Page : 426 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 2007-07-19
Category : Nature
ISBN : 9780199207138

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People, Plants & Genes by Denis J Murphy Pdf

This book links the latest advances in molecular genetics with the science and history of plant domestication, the evolution of plant breeding, and the implications of our new knowledge for the agriculture of today and the future.

Author : Mikasa no Miya Takahito (principe del Giappone.)
Publisher : Otto Harrassowitz Verlag
Page : 260 pages
File Size : 48,6 Mb
Release : 1995
Category : Hittites
ISBN : 3447036060

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Essays on Ancient Anatolia and Its Surrounding Civilizations by Mikasa no Miya Takahito (principe del Giappone.) Pdf

Author : Rupert Matthews,Gretchen Wildwood
Publisher : The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc
Page : 50 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2009-08-15
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN : 9781615312351

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Ancient Mesopotamian Civilization by Rupert Matthews,Gretchen Wildwood Pdf

Mesopotamia, the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, was home to some of the world’s first cities and empires. This book beautifully describes the Ancient Mesopotamians, deftly combining dramatic illustrations of their myths with factual explanations about how people really lived at the time.

Author : Charles Keith Maisels
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 501 pages
File Size : 41,5 Mb
Release : 2003-12-16
Category : History
ISBN : 9781134837311

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Early Civilizations of the Old World by Charles Keith Maisels Pdf

Tracing the development of some of the earliest and key civilizations in history, Early Civilisations of the Old World explains how particular forms of social structure and cultural interaction developed from before the Neolithic period.