Ancient Civilizations: Mesopotamia
So far as we now know, "civilization," in the sense of "living in cities," first emerged in the Middle East at least 6,500 years ago. The oldest-known and longest-lived urban areas there include Eridu and Uruk (home of Gilgamesh), located in what is now southern Iraq. This collection includes resources for exploring the foundation, growth, and persistence of the long history of "Mesopotamia" (literally, "between the rivers") - the lands watered by the Tigris and Euphrates.
Site Name Keywords
Lagash •
Telloh •
Uruk •
Ubaid •
Ur •
Girsu •
Tell Abu Shahrain •
Warka •
Tell Al Hiba •
Basra
Site Type Keywords
Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex •
Settlements •
Town / City •
Resource Extraction / Production / Transportation Structure or Features •
Agricultural or Herding •
Agricultural Field or Field Feature •
Canal or Canal Feature •
Water Control Feature •
Road, Trail, and Related Structures or Features •
Non-Domestic Structures
Other Keywords
complex societies •
Cultural Ecology •
Riparian Communities •
Riparian •
Irrigation Canal System •
Landscape Evolution •
Riparian Vegetation •
Malacology •
Image Analysis •
Marsh Environment
Culture Keywords
Mesopotamian •
Ubaid •
Uruk •
Islamic •
Babylonian •
Proto-Sumerian •
Abbasid
Investigation Types
Archaeological Overview •
Reconnaissance / Survey •
Environment Research •
Consultation •
Data Recovery / Excavation •
Methodology, Theory, or Synthesis •
Research Design / Data Recovery Plan •
Site Evaluation / Testing •
Systematic Survey •
Ethnographic Research
Material Types
Ceramic •
Dating Sample •
Shell •
Fauna •
Building Materials •
Macrobotanical •
Pollen •
Wood
Temporal Keywords
Early Dynastic •
Ubaid Period •
Uruk Period •
Sumerian
Geographic Keywords
IQ (ISO Country Code) •
Republic of Iraq (Country) •
Asia (Continent) •
Maysan (State / Territory) •
Dhi Qar (State / Territory) •
Iraq •
Al Qadisiyah (State / Territory) •
An Najaf (State / Territory) •
Wasit (State / Territory) •
Mesopotamia
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-2 of 2)
- Documents (2)
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High Risk: Deltaic Resilience and the Genesis of Mesopotamian Cities (Iraq). Final Report. (2011)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
Final Report to the National Science Foundation for NSF-BCS High Risk Research in Physical Anthropology and Archaeology Award # 1045974. 18 Figures, 1 Table, 1 Appendix.
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Marshland of Cities: Deltaic Landscapes and the Evolution of Early Mesopotamian Civilization (2003)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
Prevailing theories of the evolution of early complex societies in southern Mesopotamia presume a uniform, arid landscape transited by Tigris and Euphrates distributaries. These theories hold that it was the seventh millennium BCE introduction of irrigation technologies from the northern alluvium to the south that began the punctuated evolution of Mesopotamian irrigation schemes. In this view, irrigation-dependent agro-pastoral production was the primary stimulus to urbanization and, millennia...