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. The creation and development of Mesopotamia was made possible by the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. "None of the achievements of Mesopotamian production in the realm of agriculture, animal husbandry, or related industries (textiles, leather working, boat building)," Potts says, "can be understood except in reference to the very specific river regimes and soil conditions of the alluvium." 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.

About the Author :
D. T. Potts is Professor of Middle Eastern Archaeology at the University of Sydney. A specialist in Arabian Gulf archaeology, he is founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy Journal and has conducted major excavations at Tell Abraq, Jabal al Emalah, and Al Sufouh. His previous works include The Arabian Gulf in Antiquity.

Review :
"The author has succeeded in producing a useful compendium of stand-alone essays covering some of the often-glossed-over aspects of ancient Mesopotamian civilization. The book is sure to become familiar reading to students of the ancient Near East-a testament to its merits."-Michael Danti, Biblical Archaeologist "The great merit of the book is that Potts tries always to bring in what the written cuneiform record has to say about his subjects, and he frequently succeeds in making juxtapositions that are strikingly informative and in putting matters in a new light."-Daniel C. Snell, American Historical Review "This excellent book covers many important subjects that are not discussed in more conventional treatments of ancient Mesopotamia."-Jerrold S. Cooper, The Johns Hopkins University