Irrigation in Early States
New Directions
edited by Stephanie Rost
Irrigation has long been of interest in the study of the past. Many early civilizations were located in river valleys, and irrigation was of great economic importance for many early states because of the key role it played in producing an agricultural surplus, which was the main source of wealth and the basis of political power for the elites who controlled it. Agricultural surplus was also necessary to maintain the very features of statehood, such as urbanism, full-time labor specialization, state institutions, and status hierarchy. Yet, the presence of large-scale or complex irrigation systems does not necessarily mean that they were under centralized control. While some early states organized the construction, operation, and maintenance of irrigation works and resolved conflicts related to water distribution, other early governments left most of the management to local farmers and controlled only the surplus. The cross-cultural studies in this volume reexamine the role of irrigation in early states. Ranging geographically from South America and the southwestern United States to North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, they describe the physical attributes and environments of early irrigation systems; various methods for empirical investigation of ancient irrigation; and irrigation’s economic, sociopolitical, and cosmological dimensions. Through their interdisciplinary perspectives, the authors-all experts in the field of irrigation studies-advance both methodological and theoretical approaches to understanding irrigation in early civilizations.
- Edited by Stephanie Rost
Other Titles in this Series
Margins of Writing, Origins of Cultures
New Approaches to Writing and Reading in the Ancient Near East. Papers from a Symposium held February 25-26, 2005
Volume 2, 2
Performing Death
Social Analyses of Funerary Traditions in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean
Volume 3, 3
The Late Third Millennium in the Ancient Near East
Chronology, C14, and Climate Change
Volume 11, 11
Similar Books
Colour Concept “Secoli bui” a colori
Codici cromatici e architetture dipinte nell’età tardoantica e medievale
Connecting the Dots: Counting, Writing, and the Beginnings of Civilization
The Secret Lives of Clay Tokens: A Memoir
Crossing Disciplines in the Study of Archaeology and Prehistoric Art: Insights from the Sahara and Mediterranean Africa
Proceedings of the XX UISPP World Congress (5–9 September 2023, Timișoara, Romania) Volume / Session 18
Crossing Sacred Landscapes
Contacts and Continuities in the Desert Cults and Beliefs of Ancient Northern Arabia and the Arid Southern Levant
Cuneiform Artefacts from Archaeological Contexts: New Research on Ancient Iraq
Proceedings of a Conference Held at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, July 4–5, 2024
Volume 2
Exploring Prehistoric Pottery in Japan
A Study of Organic Inclusions, Adhering Materials, and Impressions of Woven Items
From Coast to Coast
Current Archaeological Research on Cultural Exchange along and across the Baltic Sea
Volume 19
Harvesting the Margins of the Viking World
Decentralizing Economies in Late Iron Age Fennoscandia
Volume 6
Ḫattušaš utnē išḫameški
Hittite and Other Ancient Near Eastern Studies Presented to Piotr Taracha on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday
Linguistic and Cultural Dynamics in a Frontier Society
New Perspectives on Northeastern Bavaria and Western Bohemia in the Early Middle Ages
Volume 9
