David Wengrow tries to do a great deal with a small book. An archaeologist at University College London, Wengrow not only synthesizes what's new in our understanding of what's old, but also proposes an explanation for the fascination in the modern West with walking mummies and aristocratic vampires. He is less successful with the latter than the former, where he focuses on the many steps leading from nomadic to urban life and the dense web of commerce connecting far-flung regions from India to Greece in ancient times. By arguing that the great societies of Egypt and Mesopotamia developed differently but not in isolation, he disputes the idea of civilization as “processes or attributes that set one society apart from another.” The continuities uniting humanity are as strong as the forces tearing us apart.
What Makes Civilization? The Ancient Near East & the Future of the West (Oxford University Press), by David Wengrow
Book Review