Why Mesopotamia?

Our understanding of how and why early Mesopotamian civilization initially crystallized in the fourth millennium BC is still in its infancy, owing to a large degree to the imperfect nature of the available archaeological data and the lack of detailed historical documentation. It is becoming increasingly clear, however, that the process took place at a time in which the environment of southern Mesopotamia was significantly different from that which characterizes the same area today and that this granted emerging southern polities in the area significant economic and political advantages over their landlocked rivals elsewhere in the ancient Near East, most importantly increased resilience in their ability to sustain themselves over the long run and increased ability to easily acquire commodities from distant lands and efficiently transport and amass local agricultural commodities. In due course, increased economic activity fed by local and trans-regional trade led to a population agglomeration in growing urban centers, and, most crucially, to the development of new forms of labor organization and record keeping. These socially created innovations are crucial to understanding why fully-developed city-states emerged earlier and in a more enduring form in southern Mesopotamia than anywhere else in the ancient Near East, or the world.