Kozyreva N.V. Studies in the History of Southern Mesopotamia in Early Antiquity (from the 7th to the middle of the 2nd millennium BC). St. Petersburg : Contrast, 2016. 552 p., ill. (Studia Mesopotamia). ISBN 978-5-4380-0149-2
The book provides a historical reconstruction o f the social institutions, economic and political
structures of Southern Mesopotamia and its neighbours in Early Antiquity. The period was marked
by dynamic interactions o f the different ethnic groups with different cultural and economical
background which culminated in creating the earliest forms o f life and labour organization in the
city-states along with the first systems o f government, the appearance o f written language and
writing down the first law collections. The study relies on exhaustive research o f the numerous
epigraphic evidences (Sumerian and Akkadian cuneiform texts), excavated artifacts and the interpretation
o f the archaeological record as a whole. The book is accessible to a wider audience,
while it also provides a wealth o f new material to the specialist in the field.