AU  - Maisels, Charles Keith.
TI  - The emergence of civilization: from hunting and gathering to agriculture, cities, and the state in the Near East 
SN  - 0415001684
AV  - DS57 M35 1990
PY  - 1990///
CY  - London, New York
PB  - Routledge
KW  - Ancient civilization
KW  - Middle East
KW  - Cities and towns
KW  - Urbanization
KW  - History
KW  - Civilization
KW  - To 622
N1  - Includes bibliographical references (p. 337-383) and index; 1. Introduction -- 2. The premisses of social succession -- 3. The Ecology of the Zagrosian Arc -- 4. The Origin and Growth of Villages -- 5. The heartland of cities -- 6. The institutions of urbanism -- 7. Theories of the state -- 8. From status to state -- 9. Modelling societies : modes of production -- 10. Ideology and political economy of the Mesopotamian state -- 11. Summary and owerview
N2  - The Emergence of Civilisation is a major contribution to our understanding of the development of urban culture and social stratification in the Near Eastern region. Charles Maisels argues that our present assumptions about state formation, based on nineteenth century speculations, are wrong. His investigation illuminates the changes in scale, complexity and hierarchy which accompany the development of civilisation. The book draws conclusions about the dynamics of social change and the processes of social evolution in general, applying those concepts to the rise of Greece and Rome, and to the collapse of the classical Mediterranean world
ER  -