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

Our attachment to ancient Mesopotamia (Iraq) and Egypt as the 'birthplace of civilization', where the foundations of our own societies were laid, is as strong today as it has ever been. When the Iraq Museum in Baghdad was looted in 2003, our newspapers proclaimed 'the death of history'. Yet the ancient Near East also remains a source of mystery: a space of the imagination where we explore the discontents of modern civilization. In What Makes Civilization ? archaeologist David Wengrow investigates the origins of farming, writing, and cities in Egypt and Mesopotamia, and the connections between them. This is the story of how people first created kingdoms and monuments to the gods - and, just as importantly, how they adopted everyday practices that we might now take for granted, such as familiar ways of cooking food and keeping the house and body clean. Why, he asks, have these ancient cultures, where so many features of modern life originated, come to symbolize the remote and the exotic? What challenge do they pose to our assumptions about power, progress, and civilization in human history? And are the sacrifices we now make in the name of 'our' civilization really so different from those once made by the peoples of Mesopotamia and Egypt on the altars of the gods? Renowned archaeologist David Wengrow creates here a vivid new account of the "birth of civilization" in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, bringing together within a unified history the first two nations where people created cities, kingdoms, and monumental temples to the gods. But civilization, Wengrow argues, is not exclusively about large-scale settlements and endeavors. Just as important are the ordinary but fundamental practices of everyday life, such as cooking, running a home, and cleaning the body. Tracing the development of such practices, from prehistoric times to the age of the pyramids, Wengrow reveals unsuspected connections between distant regions and provides new insights into the workings of societies we have come to regard as remote from our own. The book obliges us to recognize that civilizations are not formed in isolation, but through the mixing and borrowing of culture between different societies. It concludes by drawing telling parallels between the ancient Near East and more contemporary attempts to reshape the world according to an ideal image. CONTENTS: Chronology chart Introduction: A Clash of Civilizations? PART I The Cauldron of Civilization Camouflaged Borrowings On the Trail of Blue-Haired Gods Neolithic Worlds The (First) Global Village Origin of Cities From the Ganges to the Danube: the Bronze Age Cosmology and Commerce The Labours of Kingship PART II Forgetting the Old Regime Enlightenment from a Dark Source Ruined Regimes: Egypt at the Revolution Conclusion: What Makes Civilization? MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict Contents 8 List of Maps and Illustrations 9 Chronology Chart 13 Preface and Acknowledgements 14 Introduction: A Clash of Civilizations? 22 PART I: THE CAULDRON OF CIVILIZATION 38 1. Camouflaged Borrowings 40 2. On the Trail of Blue-Haired Gods 53 3. Neolithic Worlds 60 4. The (First) Global Village 75 5. Origin of Cities 87 6. From the Ganges to the Danube: The Bronze Age 109 7. Cosmology and Commerce 130 8. The Labours of Kingship 146 PART II: FORGETTING THE OLD REGIME 172 9. Enlightenment from a Dark Source 174 10. Ruined Regimes: Egypt at the Revolution 184 Conclusion: What Makes Civilization? 195 Further Reading 198 Picture Acknowledgements 230 Index 232 A 232 B 232 C 233 D 233 E 234 F 234 G 234 H 235 I 235 J 235 K 235 L 235 M 236 N 236 O 236 P 237 Q 237 R 237 S 237 T 238 U 238 V 238 W 238 Z 238 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. Chronology chart Introduction: A clash of civilizations? pt. 1. The cauldron of civilization Camouflaged borrowings On the trail of blue-haired gods Neolithic worlds The (first) global village Origin of cities From the Ganges to the Danube : the Bronze Age Cosmology and commerce The labours of kingship pt. 2. Forgetting the old regime Enlightenment from a dark source Ruined regimes : Egypt at the revolution Conclusion: What makes civilization? David Wengrow. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 177-208) And Index.