Nomads, Tribes and the State in the Ancient Near East: Cross-disciplinary Perspectives

For decades, scholars have struggled to understand the complex relationship between pastoral nomadic tribes and sedentary peoples of the Near East. The Oriental Institute's fourth annual post-doc seminar (March 7-8, 2008), 'Nomads, Tribes, and the State in the Ancient Near East', brought together archaeologists, historians, and anthropologists to discuss new approaches to enduring questions in the study of nomadic peoples, tribes, and states of the past: what social or political bonds link tribes and states; could nomadic tribes exhibit elements of urbanism or social hierarchies; and, how can the tools of historical, archaeological, and ethnographic research be integrated to build a dynamic picture of the social landscape of the Near East. This volume presents a range of data and theoretical perspectives from a variety of regions and periods, including prehistoric Iran, ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, 7th-century Arabia, and 19th-century Jordan.