Sumer and the Sumerians

This work reviews the social and technological developments in Mesopotamia from 3800 to 2000 BC.

Harriet Crawford (Author)

9780521533386, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 16 September 2004

264 pages, 87 b/w illus. 9 maps
24.4 x 18.8 x 1.5 cm, 0.57 kg

'the real achievement of this slim book is that Crawford does not over-generalise, but leaves the reader with an understanding of both the broad patterns as well as the differences between regions in Mesopotamia and through time.' Bibliotheca Orientalis

Mesopotamia produced one of the best-known ancient civilizations, with a literate, urban culture and highly-developed political institutions. In this fully revised and expanded edition of her classic text, Sumer and the Sumerians, Harriet Crawford reviews the extraordinary social and technological developments in the region from 3800 to 2000 BC. Drawing on the most up-to-date historical and archaeological sources, she provides a thematic exploration of this ancient civilization, examining its physical and historical background, changing settlement patterns, public and private architecture and cultural developments of the period. In this new edition, the chapter on Manufacturing Industries and Trade has been enlarged and divided into two chapters. In addition, a new chapter on the contemporary developments in Upper Mesopotamia is included. The final chapter reflects on the future of the heritage of Iraq in the aftermath of the second Gulf War.

1. The rediscovery of the ancient Near East: the physical environment
2. History, chronology and social organization
3. Patterns of settlement and agriculture
4. Town planning and temple architecture
5. Public buildings and private housing
6. Upper Mesopotamia
7. Life, death and the meaning of the universe
8. Manufacturing industries
9. Trade
10. Writing and the arts
11. Conclusions.

Subject Areas: Prehistoric archaeology [HDDA], Archaeology by period / region [HDD]