Mesopotamian civilization : the material foundations
The best way to achieve an understanding of the art, architecture, history, and literature of a great civilization such as Mesopotamia's, D.T. Potts believes, is through an analysis of its material infrastructure. Concentrating on Southern Mesopotamia and relying preponderantly on evidence from the third millennium B.C., Potts describes a civilization from the ground up. He creates an ethnography of ancient Mesopotamia which combines knowledge of its material culture and its mental culture. Potts examines the climate, the landforms, and other conditions that enabled the area to become populated. What natural resources did the earliest Mesopotamians have at their disposal? How did Mesopotamian religious ideals reflect the basic conditions of life in the alluvial plain of Southern Mesopotamia? What contributions to Mesopotamian civilization came from the East and what from the West? In addressing such questions as these, Potts offers a new foundation for understanding an ancient civilization of great complexity
xx, 366 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm
9780801433399, 0801433398
35262365
The country and its climate
The aboriginal population of southern Mesopotamia
Agriculture and diet
Inedible natural resources
Watercraft
Pottery production
Metal production
Some Material correlates of religious life
Kinship in an urban society
Mortuary practices
Functional aspects of writing and sealing
East meets West
West meets East
Some reflections