Author: Bernbeck, Reinhard

Source: Anthropology of the Middle East, Volume 4, Number 1, Spring 2009 , pp. 33-64(32)

Abstract:

In this article I provide a critique of historiography in Near Eastern archaeology and argue that forms of narrating the past are by necessity always political in nature. Current writing styles have a bias towards the upper classes of the past. I use this insight to elaborate on new ways of writing that shift the focus to different subjects of history. As a case study, I analyse discourses about evidence from fourth millennium Mesopotamia. Finally, I point out some alternative ways to approach historiography by asking new questions about old topics.

Keywords: CLASS CONFLICT; HISTORIOGRAPHY; INEQUALITY; MESOPOTAMIA; URBANISATION

DOI: 10.3167/ame.2009.040104

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