Suchergebnisse

During this presentation, I wanted to show from two case studies how the appearance or non-appearance, or even rejection of the state, could be linked to a de-sanitising process whereby economic or political relations leave the area of family relations, as proposed by Maurice Godelier in ideals and material (1984). The two cases presented, relatively close in time and space, are considered for comparative purposes as two different evolutionary trajectories, and not on a broadcaster continuum, based on a hypothetical area of origin.The first problem is perhaps to do as if, by dissenting archaeologists about the origins of the state, we know what is being said about. Social stratification, the formation of an elite with no relationship with other classes of society, a system of taxations without direct returns, an army and permanent coercive forces are all elements of a non-exhaustive list, the translation of which on the ground is never evident even though it exists: writing, metrology, places and symbols of power, etc. There is no agreement on the characterisation of the first states, if not to recognise that they differ profoundly from our modern concept (s), that power is concerned with dominant lines and that the market economy does not exist there, placed by one or more redistributive systems at various levels of social organisation. This has been done as if everyone had a similar, if not common, idea on these issues, which before an assembly bringing together specialists from diverse cultural areas, is an unlikely battle, possibly giving rise to quiproquos and misunderstandings. ; International audience ; During this presentation, I wanted to show from two case studies how the appearance or non-appearance, or even rejection of the state, could be linked to a de-sanitising process whereby economic or political relations leave the area of family relations, as proposed by Maurice Godelier in ideals and material (1984). The two cases presented, relatively close in time and space, are considered for comparative ...

Assyriology; Mesopotamia; Ancient Near East

Assyriology; Mesopotamia; Ancient Near East

Assyriology; Mesopotamia; Ancient Near East

Assyriology; Mesopotamia; Ancient Near East

The paper tries to apply a developmental and comparative approach to the analysis of the processes bringing to the first hierarchical societies in Upper Mesopotamia by focusing on their Neolithic roots and analysing the structural similarities and differences with the contemporary societies in two other regions of the Near East: South Mesopotamia and Central Anatolia. This comparison is aimed at evidencing, on the one hand, similarities and differences with an area – South Mesopotamia– whose features differed widely in the sixth millennium BCE but with which the Upper Mesopotamian communities were closely related for millennia. On the other hand, the author examines the profound structural differences with Central Anatolian communities, where the subsistence strategies, environmental contexts, and the resulting economic, social, and political organization seem to have differed substantially from the Mesopotamian ones. Whereas the comparison with Central Anatolian developments therefore essentially focused attention on structural features and differences, the analysis of the relationship with Southern Mesopotamia also considered the nature and effects of the intensive "contacts" that linked together the two Mesopotamian regions and were relevant to the developments of both societies.

This book deals with the agronomy of ancient Mesopotamia. It relies on the original, yet hardly known, agronomic encyclopaedia: The "Book of Nabatean Agriculture" written by Qûtâmä (end of Antiquity). The three parts of the book analyze the origin of the Mesopotamian school of agriculture and its economic and agro-technical conceptions. The material is a considerable contribution to the history of the Mesopotamian agriculture. It also contains the knowledge which was basic to the establishment of the agronomic culture of Islam. Besides, the historians of agronomy could, thanks to this new material, relate the Mesopotamian contribution to the development of the science of agriculture

This book contains the proceedings of the 61e Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, which was held in Geneva and Bern in Switzerland from 22nd until 26th June 2015. The overarching conference theme "Text and Image" addressed a topic of fundamental importance for historical research on ancient Near Eastern cultures and societies. The aim of the conference was to stimulate an interdisciplinary dialogue between the closely related, but increasingly diverging disciplines of Near Eastern Archaeology and Assyriology. Fifty-one articles are published in three languages, including contributions to the main topic and to a number of workshops organized in the context of the RAI, as well as reports on an extraordinary session devoted to cultural heritage.