GLENN M. SCHWARTZ is Whiting Professor of Archaeology in the Department of Near Eastern Studies, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. PETER M. M. G. AKKERMANS is Curator of the Department of Ancient Near East at the National Museum of Antiquities, Leiden, The Netherlands.

'The information is presented in clear, jargon-free prose … the end result is a pleasure to read, as well as thought provoking.' Minerva

• 1. Introduction; 2. Hunter-gatherers at the end of the Ice Age; 3. A changing perspective: neolithic beginnings; 4. The exploration of new horizons; 5. Continuity and change in the late sixth and fifth millenium BC; 6. The fourth millenium BC and the Uruk intrusion; 7. Regionalization and local trajectories; 8. The 'second urban revolution' and its aftermath; 9. The regeneration of complex societies; 10. Empires and internationalism; 11. Iron age Syria; 12. Conclusions.

GLENN M. SCHWARTZ is Whiting Professor of Archaeology in the Department of Near Eastern Studies, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. PETER M. M. G. AKKERMANS is Curator of the Department of Ancient Near East at the National Museum of Antiquities, Leiden, The Netherlands.

'The information is presented in clear, jargon-free prose … the end result is a pleasure to read, as well as thought provoking.' Minerva

• 1. Introduction; 2. Hunter-gatherers at the end of the Ice Age; 3. A changing perspective: neolithic beginnings; 4. The exploration of new horizons; 5. Continuity and change in the late sixth and fifth millenium BC; 6. The fourth millenium BC and the Uruk intrusion; 7. Regionalization and local trajectories; 8. The 'second urban revolution' and its aftermath; 9. The regeneration of complex societies; 10. Empires and internationalism; 11. Iron age Syria; 12. Conclusions.