Paper Summary:

The paper looks at the emergence of the ancient cities, where they emerged, and how they evolved in different regions. The paper shows how urban centers have evolved over time in large measure due to man's efforts to exploit the natural world to his advantage. The paper discusses how ancient cities laid the foundation for the modern urban community of today.

From the Paper:

"The history of the ancient cities of the Mediterranean - indeed, the history of cities everywhere - is an interesting one. To begin with, cities as we understand the term today began to emerge right around the time of the Neolithic revolution as agricultural surplus became sufficient to support heavily-concentrated populations (Brakman et al., 15). In the Mesopotamian world, it appears as though the first genuine city - Eridu - took root around 4900 B.C. This city, like all the others that the Mesopotamians would construct for themselves, had its own patron god and there is evidence that these urban centers had their own education systems (apparently centrally-planned) in addition to being locations that served as religious loci for the people of pre-Christian Mesopotamia."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Alston, Richard. The City in Roman and Byzantine Egypt. London: Routledge, 2000.
• Brakman, Steven, Harry Garretson, and Charles van Marrewijk. An Introduction to Geographical Economics: Trade, Location, and Growth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
• Clark, Robert P. The Global Imperative: An Interpretive History of the Spread of Humankind. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1997. Questia.com. 30 Jan. 2007 <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=84379690>
• Coarelli, F. "Roma, la citta come cosmo." Megapoles mediterraneennes: Geographie. urbaine retrospective. Eds. C. Nicolet et al. Paris-Rome: Maisonneuve et Larose - Maison mediterraneenne des sciences de l'homme-Ecole francaise de Rome, 2000. 288-310.
• Leick, Gwendolyn. Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City. London: Penguin Books, 2002.

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