For Collins, Mesopotamia’s most important contribution to the modern world is the city, where all this dynamic interaction could take place. “Over several centuries, we see the development of massive urban centres, with thousands of people living together,” he says. “Quite what’s driving them to come together we can’t yet tell. There are all sorts of possible factors, such as the environment, or the need to manage resources. Ultimately we could be talking about significant individuals who compelled or encouraged people to support them. So, the same sort of factors we see in modern politics could underlie the rather broad-brush things we see in archaeology.”

He continues: “But once cities are established, they never stop. Mesopotamia provides the earliest evidence we have for people grappling with many of the questions for which we are still coming up with solutions today. How do you manage large numbers of people living together? How do you feed them? How do you deal with overpopulation? And what technology – such as the administrative tools of writing and cylinder seals – allows you to create hierarchies and meaning in a society, so that there’s a sense of collective identity? That’s why cities, in the sense that we think of them now, are Mesopotamia’s greatest legacy.”

Alastair Sooke is Art Critic of The Daily Telegraph

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