Reading Response: Uruk Introduction

The first two chapters of Uruk by Mario Liverani were fascinating, but confusing at the same time. Due to the many different names each scholar has for each category, it can be confusing to understand what they’re saying. For example, it says “Those scholars who primarily look at aspects of urban settlement, call it the ‘urban revolution’. Those who place emphasis on socio-political aspects, refer to the emergence of the ‘early state’,” and so on (Uruk, 1). However, despite the confusing diction, Liverani does an impressive job of analyzing opinion and hypotheses about the urbanization of the ancient near east by including past hypotheses that have been disproved as well as discussing theories that are still being studied today.

Since the majority of useful and believable research about the ancient near east has been developed over the last fifty years, the information is all fairly new and ideas are continually being thought of. Much of the information being presented in the reading doesn’t seem to be specific to Uruk but instead is generalizations about the ancient societies and clusters of people. It seems to be more of an introduction to the time and a culture overview. It’s discussing Mesopotamia and other larger areas and what the customs of the time were.

What is most fascinating to be about this reading is how everything affected each other. It seems se obvious hearing it, but it definitely isn’t. For example, the way the role of irrigation and food production directly influenced the size and layout of the family is an incredibly important and enlightening discovery. Due to progressive developments in agriculture, the whole society shifted and the goals and jobs of families changed. The text says, “the agricultural revolution was compelled from the start to adopt a form of centralized administration. It had to establish agencies that... came to centralize also specialized crafts and other aspects of the economy that are not necessarily connected to agriculture” (Uruk, 20). Seeing the information presented in a way that clarifies the process makes it realistic and much more understandable.

The way Liverani presents the information increases his authority and believability. By disproving previously believed ideas and suggesting more recent supported solutions, he is more believable. It was hard for me to understand everything that was going on at first, but with a slower and more careful read I was able to absorb much more of the text. I definitely like this reading so far because it makes me analyze today’s society in a similar way as if from the future. Especially in regard to the family dynamics and living situations. It seems as though many of the social trends discovered about the peoples from thousands of years ago are still true today and are things we can learn from.

~Laney Homet