Most archaeologists and historians of the ancient Near East have focused on the internal transformations that led to the emergence of early cities and states. In The Uruk World System, Guillermo Algaze concentrates on the unprecedented and wide-ranging process of external expansion that coincided with the rapid initial crystallization of Mesopotamian civilization. In this extensive study, he contends that the rise of early Sumerian polities cannot be understood without also taking into account the developments in surrounding peripheral areas. This new edition includes a substantial new...

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...

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...