Ancient West Asian Civilization

1. Introduction: The Aim of Study of Ancient West Asian Civilization

Akira Tsuneki

Part I. Environment and People of Ancient West Asia

2. Geology Based Culture?
Ken-ichiro Hisada

3. A Brief Review of the Geology of West Asia
Seyed A. Aghanabati

4. Paleoclimatic Changes and Human Cultural Evolution in West Asia
Ryo Anma, Teruyuki Maruoka

5. Earthquake Activity in West Asia: Seismicity in the Mediterranean Sea and Evaluation of the Strong Motion for the AD 365 Crete Earthquake Using the Stochastic Green’s Function
Tsuneo Ohsumi, Yuji Yagi

Part II. Great Transformations in Prehistory

6. The Origins of Agriculture
Ken-ichi Tanno, Osamu Maeda

7. The “Commodification” of Animals
Hans-Peter Uerpmann, Margarethe Uerpmann

8. The Beginnings of Metal Use in West Asia
Ünsal Yalçın

Part III. Urbanization and Change in Human Societies

9. The Birth of Cities in Ancient West Asia
Jason Ur

10. The Invention of Cuneiform and the Dawn of the Modern World
Jonathan Taylor

11. The World’s Oldest Writing in Mesopotamia and the Japanese Writing System
Jun Ikeda, Shigeo Yamada

12. Ancient Mesopotamian Gods: Mythology, Cult, and Scripture
Uri Gabbay

Part IV. Importance of Cultural Heritage

13. Do Archaeological and Conservation Sciences Save Cultural Heritage?: Cultural Identity and Reviving Values After Demolishment
Yoko Taniguchi

14. Conservation and Archaeological Science for the Protection and Understanding of Ancient Craftsmanship in Cultural Heritage
Stavroula Golfomitsou, Thilo Rehren, Christian Eckmann

Part V. Synthesis

15. Some Observations and Future Directions
Timothy P. Harrison

Keywords: Social Sciences, Archaeology, Cultural Heritage, Geoecology/Natural Processes, Climate Change