Mesopotamia and the East: An Archaeological and Historical Study of Foreign Relations, 3400-2000 BC.

Mesopotamia and the East: An Archaeological and Historical Study of Foreign Relations, 3400-2000 BC. This book draws together textual and archaeological evidence from abroad geographical and chronological span. The focus is on Mesopotamiaand Iran in the late 4th and 3rd millennia BC, but includes Central Asiaand the Gulf. Chronologically it ventures into the 2nd millennium aswell. The methodology employed demonstrates once more how important itis to integrate textual and archaeological data when both categories ofevidence are available. Each is so imperfect that either on its ownpresents a picture which is not merely incomplete, but which can beactively misleading. In today's specialized world fewer and fewerscholars are qualified in both skills and the polarization intoepigraphers and archaeologists, who often seem unable to communicatewith each other, is greatly to the detriment of the subject. Potts ablydemonstrates the strength of a twin-track approach.Having set the scene with a survey of the historical and physicalgeography physical geography:see geography. of the area, Potts has a very useful discussion of the closebut still ill-defined relationship between Sumer and Susa in the late4th millennium. This discussion includes a section which evaluates theevidence for the primacy of early writing in southern Mesopotamia, andthen concludes that Susa has good grounds for challenging this widelyheld assumption. The evidence available is as yet inconclusive and a'non-proven' verdict is the only possible one in thecircumstances. The succeeding chapters focus in turn on textualevidence, on metals and metalwork and on stones and stone vessels. Thetreatment of the textual data and royal inscriptions in particularraises some difficult questions. The author notes that this form ofwritten evidence is liable to distortion for propaganda purposes andthat many of the surviving examples are 'heavily edited' latercopies. In spite of these caveats he still tends to take the claims theymake at face value, especially for the kings of the EDII/III periods,which can really only be described as proto-historic at best. TheSumerian King List The Sumerian king list is an ancient text in the Sumerian language listing kings of Sumer from Sumerian and foreign dynasties. The later Babylonian king list and Assyrian king list were similar. is also treated somewhat uncritically. A moreanalytical approach is needed and it would have been valuable to includeat this point corroborative cor��rob��o��rate?tr.v. cor��rob��o��rat��ed, cor��rob��o��rat��ing, cor��rob��o��ratesTo strengthen or support with other evidence; make more certain. See Synonyms at confirm. evidence from other classes of material, sothat the reliability of individual inscriptions could be assessed by thereader.The chapter on metals contains useful material on sources andunderlines the surprising paucity of Iranian metalwork in southMesopotamia. Those on stones and stonework stonework,term applied to various types of work—that of the lapidary who shapes, cuts, and polishes gemstones or engraves them for seals and ornaments; of the jeweler or artisan who mounts or encrusts them in gold, silver, or other metal; of the stonemason who are the meat of the book andhave much that is new and stimulating. There is, for example, a detailedstudy of the chlorite/steatite vessels which have been the object ofmuch speculation in the past. A revised dating for Tepe Yahya indicatesthat the so-called Intercultural style vessels in fact survive into theUr III period, and even beyond (Potts quotes D.T. Potts (forthcoming) onthis important chronological revision). This longer chronology issupported by new finds from the Gulf, such as a fine Hut Pot in theBahrain National Museum, which comes from the early 2nd-millenniumDilmun grave complex at Sar and sherds of similar vessels which havebeen found at the adjacent Early Dilmun settlement.The data presented in this book show that there is often a dichotomybetween lowland Elam, based in the Susiana plain, and the highland zonewith its capital at Anshan/Tell-i-Malyan. This dichotomy is reflected intheir relationships with the southern plain of Mesopotamia. Geographydictated that ties between Mesopotamia and Susa were much closer thanthose with the highlands and it is only at times of exceptionallyefficient rule in the alluvium al��lu��vi��um?n. pl. al��lu��vi��ums or al��lu��vi��aSediment deposited by flowing water, as in a riverbed, flood plain, or delta. Also called alluvion. that control of any sort was exercisedover Anshan. Control is probably too strong a word and relations weremaintained by a careful blend of stick and carrot, of raids anddiplomatic gifts, which included the bestowing of daughters in marriageas considered appropriate.During the 3rd millennium, contacts with Elam were generally ofsecondary economic importance, largely it seems because the import ofbulk raw materials, such as the copper crucial to Mesopotamia'seconomy, was by water. Bulk goods came from Oman or the Indus valley viathe Arabian Gulf (or down the river Euphrates from Anatolia) as watertransport was both cheaper and more efficient. Smaller, lighter,high-value, often manufactured or part-finished goods, such as stonevessels, travelled overland. The importance of non-economic methods ofexchanging goods is also stressed. Booty in the expansionist ex��pan��sion��ism?n.A nation's practice or policy of territorial or economic expansion.ex��pansion��ist adj. & n. Agadeperiod seems to account for the movement of considerable quantities ofraw materials and craftsmen, as well as finished goods. One can alsospeculate that the diplomatic marriages of royal women in this periodand the next were accompanied by substantial dowries of valuable goods.The textual evidence for the marriage of Mesopotamian princesses in Elamexists and logic suggests that well-endowed Elamite ladies appeared inthe harems of Sumer and Akkad in exchange, perhaps bringing with themprestige goods from their own countries. Potts is right to stress thattrade, strictly defined, is only one of the mechanisms by which goodsmoved around the ancient world.This book will be enormously useful and so it is perhaps churlish churl��ish?adj.1. Of, like, or befitting a churl; boorish or vulgar.2. Having a bad disposition; surly: "as valiant as the lion, churlish as the bear"Shakespeare. tosay that it is based on the author's D.Phil. thesis and that toomany traces of its origins remain. A more rigorous editorial policycould have eliminated a certain amount of repetition in the text andimproved its structure. In addition the captions of three figures areconfused (figures 33, 34 & 35) and a number of spelling mistakesshould have been corrected. For example, in table 1.1 the Barbar templeis misspelt throughout.Potts re-orients the trade patterns of Mesopotamia in the 3rdmillennium in a fundamental way. He shows that highland Iran had itsclosest ties to the east and north rather than with Mesopotamia, whilethe Susiana plain fluctuated between a high-land-oriented independenceand a Mesopotamian-linked subservience. A strong case is made for thecrucial importance of water transport up the Gulf, and for Meluhha as animportant supplier of copper, semi-precious stones, and even of tin, inthe 3rd millennium. Oman was probably the major source of copper and ofstones such as the diorite/olivine-gabbros so popular for royal statuary stat��u��ar��y?n. pl. stat��u��ar��ies1. Statues considered as a group.2. The art of making statues.3. A sculptor.adj.Of, relating to, or suitable for a statue. in the Agade and Ur III periods. A centre/periphery model to explainrelations between Mesopotamia, Iran and the Indus valley is no longertenable ten��a��ble?adj.1. Capable of being maintained in argument; rationally defensible: a tenable theory.2. ; overlapping spheres of influence seem nearer to reality. Thespheres of influence stretched as far as central Asia, and the corridorfrom here, down the Indus and up the Arabian Gulf is confirmed as one ofthe most important routes in the ancient Near East.HARRIET CRAWFORD Institute of Archaeology The Institute of Archaeology is an academic department of University College London (UCL), in the United Kingdom. The Institute is located in a separate building at the north end of Gordon Square, Bloomsbury. , University College London “UCL” redirects here. For other uses, see UCL (disambiguation).University College London, commonly known as UCL, is the oldest multi-faculty constituent college of the University of London, one of the two original founding colleges, and the first British ReferencePOTTS, D.T. (forthcoming). Chapter 8, in D.T. Potts, Excavations atTepe Yahya, Iran, 1967-1975: Periods IVc and IVb (3000-2000 BC).Cambridge (MA).