The Uruk World System: The Dynamics of Expansion of Early Mesopotamian Civilization, Second Edition / Edition 2

by Guillermo Algaze

Overview

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 chapter that explores recent data and interpretations of the expansion of Uruk settlements across Syro-Mesopotamia.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226013824
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	07/01/2005
Edition description:	First Edition, 2
Pages:	174
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Guillermo Algaze, a MacArthur Fellow, is professor and chair of the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, San Diego.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Uruk sites in the Susiana plain of Khuzestan
3. Uruk settlements in the Syro-Mesopotamian plains and surrounding highlands
4. The function of Uruk settlements in the Syro-Mesopotamian plains and surrounding highlands
5. The late Chalcolithic period in Syro-Mesopotamia
6. Social change in the northern periphery and the collapse of the Uruk expansion
7. Conclusions
8. The Uruk expansion : new interpretations and new data

Editorial Reviews

Argues that a significant factor in the development of early Mesopotamian civilization were developments within the surrounding cultures. Reviews archaeological evidence of cross- cultural contact and influence between the valley towns and the alien hinterland. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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