The diffusion of the colonial system and of Uruk culture in the Mesopotamian periphery did not last long. Just as quickly as these commercial settlements rose, so they collapsed, bringing about a significant regression of Uruk culture in its later stages (Level III of the Eanna). It is hard to say whether this collapse was due to a crisis of the centre (Uruk), unable to maintain its commercial network the way it was before, or to a rejection of Uruk culture by the local communities, or even rebellions from the periphery. Settlements such as Habuba Kebira quite simply disappeared. At Arslantepe, the large public complex (temples and storehouses) was destroyed by a fire and immediately replaced by a village of simple households. This village shows no sign of a political and administrative organisation and was characterised by Transcaucasian influences. Interestingly enough, on the ruins of the temple complex of Arslantepe, a lavish tomb belonging to a high-ranking individual was constructed, almost symbolising the destruction of this area and its probable cause.
In this way, the wave of ‘first urbanisation’ collapsed, leaving its technical and administrative legacy only in Mesopotamia. Therefore, the engine stimulating urbanisation, namely, the accumulation of surplus and the strict organisation of labour, seems to have become difficult to sustain in the areas located outside the alluvial plain, which was different both in nature and size. In the mountainous areas, settlements regressed from urban centres to more modest structures, based again on the village model and its strong pastoral component.
In terms of territorial expansion, the diffusion of Uruk culture took place over quite uniform local cultures, namely, the Late Chalcolithic cultures of the northern Ubaid type. Following the decline of Uruk influence, the formerly colonised areas experienced a process of gradual regionalisation. Due to the lack of written evidence, this process can only be traced through pottery and other kinds of material culture. For instance, certain areas on the Armenian plateau were characterised by handmade and polished red-black pottery, as well as roundhouses. In Central Anatolia there was painted pottery, while in some areas of western Upper Mesopotamia, northern Syria and south of the Taurus there was engobed pottery (the so-called Reserved Slip Ware). The latter would eventually be substituted by the so-called ‘Metallic Ware’. Finally, Assyria and eastern Upper Mesopotamia (as far as Tell Brak) featured a type of painted and incised pottery called ‘Nineveh 5’. The interpretation of these local cultures developing after the collapse of Uruk culture is difficult. There could have been ethnical and political factors at play, as well as re-emerging Late Chalcolithic features and innovative developments. Nonetheless, the degree of cultural diffusion and of inter-regional contacts became significantly more limited than before.
Lower Mesopotamia also experienced some repercussions of this overall process of regionalisation, although it still remained a unique case. In fact, between the end of the fourth and the beginning of the third millennium bc, the Jemdet Nasr phase (named after the site located near Kish, but still linked to Uruk) and the following Early Dynastic I period formed a relatively unitary cycle in Lower Mesopotamia. The Uruk III-Jemdet Nasr phase was still a phase of demographic and economic growth, primarily concentrated in the main centre of Uruk. Moreover, this was a phase of expansion, even in areas that had been previously excluded (the Diyala Valley and the area of Kish). On the contrary, the Early Dynastic I was a period of crisis and regression. This was a delayed consequence of the crisis of the first urbanisation in the Mesopotamian periphery.
Due to their potential in terms of production, the urban settlements of Lower Mesopotamia did not risk extinction. However, between the sudden demographic and organisational growth of the Uruk period and the following growth during the ‘second urbanisation’ (Early Dynastic II—III), these settlements reorganised their internal structures. Therefore, they virtually interrupted their colonial and commercial networks. Metals and semiprecious stones (such as lapis lazuli) were quite rare in the Early Dynastic I, and Lower Mesopotamia appears as one of the many regional cultures of the area. Nonetheless, it still remained the most conspicuous and advanced culture in terms of demography and organisation.
However, certain aspects of these phases seem to lend themselves to a socio-political interpretation. For instance, while the large temple complexes of the Early Uruk phase peaked in the Eanna III phase (at Uruk, Uqair, Eridu and elsewhere), this period saw the emergence of the ‘palace’. The palace was an administrative centre not linked to a cult, an innovation that would lead to significant developments. The institution of the palace first appeared at Jemdet Nasr (after a gap in the evidence in the Early Dynastic I) and would rise to prominence in the Early Dynastic II—III. This innovation caused a certain opposition or complementarity between the ‘temple’ and the ‘palace’. This may indicate the rise of a ‘secular’ kind of political system in the north (Jemdet Nasr was located by Kish), compared to the temple system of the south.
Therefore, early state organisation continued to operate, with several adjustments and developments, both from the rising palaces and the still prominent temple institutions. Writing remained at the heart of administrative activities, moving on from the pictographic stage of the Uruk IV phase to the logographic and then logo-syllabic ones found on the tablets of the Uruk III and Jemdet Nasr phases. The iconography of seals moved away from working scenes and symbols of power (typical of Uruk IV—III), in favour of geometric depictions in the Jemdet Nasr period (Figure 5.3). These geometric depictions would eventually become more complex in the following period (Early Dynastic I). The information previously provided by depictions on seals, was now delivered entirely in writing. The seal then became just a means for identification, spreading across the population and losing its authority and prestige. Finally, regionalisation became
Figure 5.3 Mesopotamian seal impressions (early third millennium bc). 1—3: Jemdet Nasr style with farming and offering scenes; 4—5: ‘brocade’ style with ornamental animal motifs; 6—9: Early Dynastic I style from Ur, with farming and offering scenes.
Visible in the pottery produced, such as the painted scarlet ware of the Jemdet Nasr and Early Dynastic I phases. This indicates that settlements experienced almost entirely internal developments, both chronologically and regionally.
The other great centre of the first urbanisation, the Susiana region, experienced a similar evolution. After the Late Uruk period, the local sequence reappears with the emergence of Proto-Elamite culture. The latter was characterised by a type of writing that had certainly originated from Uruk IV writing. However, this type of writing experienced considerable changes, in some way contemporary and parallel to those found at Jemdet Nasr. Proto-Elamite writing therefore developed different signs, also due to the need to record the local Elamite language, rather than the Sumerian ofJemdet Nasr. In addition to that, glyptic art and pottery types were considerably different from their Mesopotamian counterparts. This difference marks the development of yet another important regional style, which mirrored the local ethno-linguistic and political features of the area.
Susiana was not the only centre of Proto-Elamite culture, which seems to have had a considerable impact further east. For instance, at Tall-i Malyan (main city of the Anshan region, modern Fars), the settlement extended over 50 hectares, ten times the size of contemporary Susa (Levels 16—13 of the acropolis). The geography of Iran, with its fertile lands surrounded by mountains, or on the margins of the central desert, favoured the rise of local political entities. The latter would eventually unite in a sort of federal system (especially in the following period). Among these various local entities, Susiana remains a unique case, due to its exposure to Mesopotamian influences.
From Tall-i Malyan, Proto-Elamite culture reached a vaster territory than the previous Uruk culture, which had somehow paved the way. Apart from Susa and Tall-i Malyan, Proto-Elamite tablets have been found in the north (Tepe Siyalk IV 2), the east, at Tepe Yahya, and as far as Shahr-i-Sokhta (near the Helmand basin; Figure 5.4). Proto-Elamite trade can be reconstructed studying the distribution of stones and specific types of stone objects (chlorite or steatite vases and so on). Commercial links were distributed across the Iranian plateau, reaching as far as Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf. Having recently invaded the antiques market, the well-known and lavishly decorated steatite vases have kick-started regular investigations in their area of origin (Jiroft), in the hope of finding the archaeological and socio-political context of the area in this period.
At the beginning of the third millennium bc, pottery of the Jemdet Nasr type began to appear along the Persian Gulf, which was an important area for urban settlements and a source of copper from Oman (the ‘Magan’ of later Sumerian texts). It is possible that Mesopotamian merchants were in contact with the local communities, stimulating the development of political elite groups. These Oman communities continued to be based in villages. They supported themselves through a combination of fishing, nomadic pastoralism and the earliest cultivation of oases. Typical of the area were the cultivation of date palms and of Sudanese or Yemenite millet, as well as the domestication of dromedaries.
Figure 5.4 Proto-Elamite tablet recording cattle with addends on one side, the totals and a seal impression on the other.
It has to be borne in mind that the innovative use of oases (for the cultivation of date palms) and dromedaries would eventually spread across the Arabian Peninsula and in the Sahara. Among the arid lands extending from Oman to the western coast of northern Africa, Oman rose to prominence for its technological innovations precisely because of its contacts with different and more advanced cultures. Finally, it is important to note how the cultures developing along the Gulf and in Oman, apart from trading maritime materials (mother-of-pearl, shells and turtle shell), enabled an increased interaction between the Sumerian and Elamite coast in the Gulf and the more eastern region of the Indus Valley. In the latter area, the protoIndian culture of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro (the Meluhha of the Sumerian texts of the third millennium bc) was taking shape.
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