The Evolution of Fragility: Setting the Terms

Explanations for the collapse of early states (and complex societies) often assume that they were integrated and stable until something bad happened, usually environmental change or because enemies overwhelmed them. In fact, many of these early states lasted a relatively short time, at least in archaeological reckoning. Others were longer-lived, but struggled to overcome structural weaknesses that eventually resulted in the fragmentation or a large-scale undoing of political orders. Rulers who attempted to institute mechanisms of control often laid the conditions for resistance and the disintegration of their regimes. The central theme of this volume is to undermine some traditional themes that naturalize the state and legitimize its historical claims to permanence

The Economics of Ritual at Late Old Babylonian Kish

A small archive of economic documents from the city of Kish in the late Old Babylonian period records amounts of money owed to the “supervisor of kezertu women” from the kezertu account. The employment of kezertu women in ritual performance is investigated as well as the managerial activities of the “supervisor of kezertu women.” The historical reasons for the migration of the cult of Ištar of Uruk to Kish and the economics of ritual performance are considered.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43760/1/10927_1998_Article_1568520981436219.pd

Mogens Herman Hansen (éd.). 2000. A Comparative Study of Thirty-City State Cultures.

Yoffee Norman. Mogens Herman Hansen (éd.). 2000. A Comparative Study of Thirty-City State Cultures.. In: Paléorient, 2000, vol. 26, n°1. pp. 168-170

Mogens Herman Hansen (éd.). 2000. A Comparative Study of Thirty-City State Cultures.

Yoffee Norman. Mogens Herman Hansen (éd.). 2000. A Comparative Study of Thirty-City State Cultures.. In: Paléorient, 2000, vol. 26, n°1. pp. 168-170