What Makes Civilization?: The Ancient Near East and the Future of the West

by David Wengrow

Overview

The targeted destruction of ancient sites and monuments in the Middle East provokes widespread outrage in the West. But what is our connection to the ancient Near East? In this updated edition of What Makes Civilization? archaeologist David Wengrow investigates the origins of farming, writing, and cities in ancient Mesopotamia (Iraq) and Egypt, and explores the connections between these two civilizations. It is the story of how people first created kingdoms and monuments to the gods and, just as importantly, how they pioneered everyday practices that we might now take for granted, such as familiar ways of cooking food and keeping the house and body clean. Wengrow asks why these ancient cultures, where so many features of modern life originated, have come to symbolize the remote and the exotic. Today, perhaps more than ever, he argues, the beleaguered cultural heritage of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia stands as a warning for the future. A warning of the sacrifices people will tolerate to preserve their chosen form of life; of the potential for unfettered expansion that exists within any cultural tradition; and of blood perhaps yet to be spilled, on the altar of a misguided notion of civilization.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191613494
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	07/22/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	18 MB
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About the Author

David Wengrow is Professor of Comparative Archaeology at the UCL Institute of Archaeology. He also held positions at Christ Church, University of Oxford, the Warburg Institute, and the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. He has conducted fieldwork in Africa and the Middle East, most recently in Iraqi Kurdistan, and writes widely on the early cultures and societies of those regions, including their role in shaping modern political identities.

Table of Contents

List of Maps and Illustrations VIII

Chronology Chart XII

Preface and Acknowledgements XIII

Introduction: A Clash of Civilizations? 1

Part I The Cauldron of Civilization 17

1 Camouflaged Borrowings 19

2 On the Trail of Blue-Haired Gods 32

3 Neolithic Worlds 39

4 The (First) Global Village 54

5 Origin of Cities 66

6 From the Ganges to the Danube: The Bronze Age 88

7 Cosmology and Commerce 109

8 The Labours of Kingship 125

Part II Forgetting the Old Regime 151

9 Enlightenment from a Dark Source 153

10 Ruined Regimes: Egypt at the Revolution 163

Conclusion: What Makes Civilization? 174

Further Reading 177

Picture Acknowledgements 209

Index 211

Editorial Reviews

"Convincingly concludes that the parallel development of Mesopotamia and Egypt demonstrates the deep attachment of human societies to the concepts they live by, and the inequalities they are prepared to endure in order to preserve those guiding principles."
- Nature

"This book promises a lot and delivers even more ... It guides readers into the heart of the sources of civilization ... following the footsteps of Henri Frankfort, and offering a comparative perspective on Egypt and Mesopotamia missing since 1951. Finally, a rare feat for an archaeologist, Wengrow rounds up the discussion by suggesting reasons for the lasting significance of Near Eastern civilization for the contemporary West. ... this short but dense and still entertaining book ... should be read by all who do not forget about the 'broad questions'."
- Professor Arpad Szakolczai University College Cork, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute

"What Makes Civilization? is well written for a student or educated-layperson audience ... when the past is being employed to understand the present or predict the future of human societies, archaeologists must be part of the discussion."
- Prof. Jason Ur, Harvard University, Current Anthropology

From the Publisher