Ancient Mesopotamia

ISBN-13: 9780521573344 / Angielski / Twarda / 1999 / 272 str.

Binghamton) Susan Pollock (State University of New York

Opis

This is an in-depth treatment of the antecedents and first flourescence of early state and urban societies in lowland Mesopotamia over nearly three millennia, from approximately 5000 to 2100 BC. The approach is explicitly anthropological, drawing on contemporary theoretical perspectives to enrich our understanding of the ancient Mesopotamian past. It explores the ways people of different genders and classes contributed and responded to political, economic, and ideological changes. The interpretations are based on studies of regional settlement patterns, faunal remains, artifact distributions and activity patterning, iconography, texts and burials.

Recenzje

' … a very useful addition to the growing body of secondary archaeological literature on Mesopotamia … It is also well written, carefully referenced, indexed, suitably illustrated and includes an annoted bibliography. As such, it should certainly appeal to its audience.' Antiquity

Spis treści

1. Introduction; 2. Geographic setting and environment; 3. Settlement patterns; 4. Making a living: tributary economics of the fifth and fourth millennia; 5. A changing way of life: the oikos-based economy of the third millennium; 6. The growth of bureaucracy; 7. Ideology and images of power; 8. Death and the ideology of community.