The Ubaid Period In The Urbanisation Process; The Birth Of Urbanism In The Near East (5500-3800 B.C.)

Abstract

The Ubaid culture, which takes its name from Tell-al Ubaid, plays a crucial role in the process of urbanization in the Near East. Surviving for more than 1500 years (5500-3800 BC), it was characterised by important social, economic and political developments which influenced the development of urban polities both the Near East and the East and Southeastern Anatolia Regions. With this culture, certain radical structural changes peculiar to complex societies, urban societies, such as political and economic centralisation based on control over product, production and labor organisation with sealing practices, socio-economic differences, a high degree of economic specialisation and technological development, indicate that a complex economy, and organised trade had begun to take place in the social, political and economical organisations of the societies of the Near East. This paper is concerned with enlightening the role of the Ubaid Culture in the development of urban societies in the Near East. With this aim, this culture will be analyzed from the viewpoint of those characteristics peculiar to urban societies mentioned above.