ROOTS Public Lecture Series by JMA-Chair Marcella Frangipane
Jun 23, 2023 from 04:00 PM
Kunsthalle Kiel,Düsternbrooker Weg 1, 24105 Kiel
Marcella Frangipane (Sapienza University of Rome and Accademia dei Lincei in Italy)
State emergence and urbanization in the Near East during the 4th millennium BCE. Different models and evolutionary paths
The lecture focuses on the origins and development of the first centralised government institutions, characterised by strong political and economic power, within the wide Mesopotamian world including the peripheral mountain regions of south-eastern Anatolia, drawing comparisons between their features, origins and development paths with those observed in Pre-Dynastic Egypt. The nature of these early forms of political and economic power will be analysed by considering the archaeological evidence of centralisation of resources, mainly essential resources, production means (land and flocks), and labour, as well as the rise of bureaucracy. The needs for administering an increasing amount of transactions led to the development of sophisticated administrative and book-keeping tools and the first appearance of writing and numerical system. Variations in the existence and scale of urbanization and its relationship with the State development will be also considered. Both environmental and social factors will be analysed to highlight the foundation of these crucial changes in the history of human societies and their variability in time and space, reflecting on the possible reasons for their stability or collapse.
Download Poster for Lecture Series: here
