The Cambridge Ancient History, Early History of the Middle East, Part 1 and 2

Volumes I and II of the Cambridge Ancient History have had to be entirely re-written as a result of the very considerable addi- tions to knowledge which have accrued in the past forty-five years. For the same reason it has also been necessary to in- crease the size of the volumes and to divide each of them into two parts which will be published separately. The individual chap- ters have already appeared as fascicles, but without maps, indexes and chronological tables which, for practical reasons, have been reserved for these volumes. Some additions and corrections have also been made in order to bring the text, as far as possible, up to date.

Part 2 of Volume I deals with the history of the Near East from about 3000 to 1750 B.C. In Egypt, a long period of political unification and stability enabled the kings of the Old Kingdom to develop and exploit natural resources, to mobilize both the manpower and the technical skill to build the pyramids, and to encourage sculptors in the production of works ofsuperlative quality. After a period of anarchy and civil war at the end of the Sixth Dynasty the local rulers of Thebes established the so-called Middle Kingdom, restoring an age of political calm in which the arts could again flourish.

In Western Asia, Babylonia was the main centre and source of civilization, and her moral, though not always her military, hegemony was recognized and accepted by the surrounding countries of Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, Assyria and Elam. The history of the region is traced from the late Uruk and Jamdat Nasr periods up to the rise of Hammurabi, the most significant developments being the invention of writ- ing in the Uruk period, the emergence of the Semites as a political factor under Sargon, and the success of the centralized bureaucracy under the Third Dynasty of Ur.

The beginning of the Bronze Age in the Aegean area was marked by the mass migrations westwards from Asia Minor. In the ensuing era of prosperity, cultural and commercial links were established both between the mainland and Troy and Crete and between Crete and Cyprus. But in the latter part of the Early Bronze Age these developments were violently disrupted in some places on the mainland, possibly by immigrants from the North who spoke an Indo-European language.