Ancient Mesopotamia at
the Dawn of Civilization
Ancient Mesopotamia at
the Dawn of Civilization
The Evolution of an Urban Landscape
G U I L L E R MO A L G A Z E
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS |
CHICAGO AND LONDON |
GUILLERMO ALGAZE is professor of anthropology at the University of California, San Diego, and author of The Uruk World System: The Dynamics of Expansion of Early Mesopotamian Civilization, now in its second edition from the University of Chicago Press.
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2008 by The University of Chicago All rights reserved. Published 2008 Printed in the United States of America
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ISBN-13: 978-0-226-01377-0 (cloth)
ISBN-10: 0-226-01377-4 (cloth)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Algaze, Guillermo, 1954–
Ancient Mesopotamia at the dawn of civilization : the evolution of an urban landscape / Guillermo Algaze.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-226-01377-0 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-226-01377-4 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Cities and towns, Ancient—Iraq.
2. City planning—Iraq. 3. Commerce, Prehistoric—Iraq. 4. Iraq—Civilization—To 634.
I. Title. |
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HT114.A524 |
2008 |
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307.760935—dc22 |
2008015337 |
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∞ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
FOR MY WIFE, SUSAN, AND DAUGHTER, ARIELLE,
WHO EVERY MORNING GIVE ME A REASON TO LIVE
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Prologue xiii
CHAPTER 1. The Sumerian Takeoff 1
Natural and Created Landscapes 1
A Reversal of Fortune 3
Forthcoming Discussions 6
CHAPTER 2. Factors Hindering Our Understanding of the Sumerian Takeoff 11
The Material Limits of the Evidence 11
Conceptual Problems 14
Methodological Problems 24
CHAPTER 3. Modeling the Dynamics of Urban Growth 28
Growth As DiversiÞcation 30
Growth As Specialization 33
Growth Situated 36
Growth Institutionalized 37
CHAPTER 4. Early Mesopotamian Urbanism: Why? 40
Environmental Advantages 40
Geographical Advantages 50
Comparative and Competitive Advantage 63
CHAPTER 5. Early Mesopotamian Urbanism: How? 64
The Growth of Early Mesopotamian Urban Economies 64
The Uruk Expansion 68
Multiplier Effects 73
CHAPTER 6. The Evidence for Trade 93
CHAPTER 7. Early Mesopotamian Urbanism in Comparative
Perspective 100
Evidentiary Biases 100
Florescent Urbanism in Alluvial Mesopotamia 102
The Primacy of Warka: Location, Location, Location 109 Aborted Urbanism in Upper Mesopotamia 117
CHAPTER 8. The Synergies of Civilization 123
Propinquity and Its Consequences 123
Technologies of the Intellect 127
The Urban Revolution Revisited 140
CHAPTER 9. Conclusion: The Mesopotamian Conjuncture 143
EPILOGUE Early Sumerian Civilization: A Research Agenda 151
Agency 152
Paleoenvironment 154
Trade 155
Households and Property 157
Excavation and Survey 159
Paleozoology 161
Mortuary Evidence 162
Chronology 163
The Early Uruk Problem 164
APPENDIX 1. Surveyed Early/Middle Uruk Sites in the Mesopotamian Alluvium Organized by Size and Presumed Functional Category 167
APPENDIX 2. Surveyed Late Uruk Sites in the Mesopotamian Alluvium Organized by Size and Presumed Functional Category 173
Notes 177 Reference List 193
Source List 221 Index 225
Illustrations
Figures
1. Map of the ancient Near East in the fourth millennium BC 4
2. Plan of excavated Late Uruk structures in Anu Ziggurat (Kullaba) area of Uruk/Warka 13
3. Plan of excavated Late Uruk structures in Eanna area of Uruk/ Warka (phases V–IV) 13
4. Uruk cylinder seal impressions 42
5. The ancient Mesopotamian alluvium during the late fifth and fourth millennia BC 45
6. Arched reed hut (Arabic: madhaif) typical for Iraqi marsh environments 47
7. Uruk period madhaif representations 47
8. Uruk cylinder seal impressions depicting various types of canoes and boats 52
9. Loaded donkey being led to market, Iraq 57
10. Sail barge being towed along river canal in southern Iraq (ca. 1950s) 60
11. Excavated areas of Late Uruk colonies at Jebel Aruda and Habuba Kabira-süd 71
12. Imported flint and obsidian blades 75
13. Locally manufactured clay sickle 75
14. Uruk cylinder seal impressions depicting various stages in the textile production process 83
15. Uruk sealing portraying scribes keeping track of various categories of agricultural production 91
16. Early–Middle Uruk period (ca. 3900/3800–3400 BC) settlement patterns in Nippur-Adab and Warka (Uruk) survey areas of the Mesopotamian alluvium 104
17. Late Uruk period (ca. 3400–3200/3100 BC) settlement patterns in Nippur-Adab and Warka (Uruk) survey areas of the Mesopotamian alluvium 105
18. Approximate outline of the Late Uruk occupation of Uruk/Warka (interior perimeter) 107
19. Fourth-millennium demographic trends 110
20. The High Mound at Tell Brak, as seen from the surrounding plain 119
21. Location of Late Uruk period sites and principal waterways of the time in Warka survey area 125
22. Uruk seal impressions depicting labor scenes 130
23. Uruk beveled rim bowl from Chogha Mish, Iran 132
24. Middle/Late Uruk period impressed ball from Chogha Mish, Iran 134
25. Seal impressed Late Uruk period numerical notation tablet 136
26. Late Chalcolithic numerical mnemonic device from Arslan Tepe VIA 137
Table
1. Reworking of Adams’s data for Late Uruk period settlement in the Nippur-Adab and Warka regions 113