First States I: Mesopotamia and Egypt

In this chapter, I first summarize the key facts about the six earliest pristine states in the world in Uruk, Egypt, Harappa, Erlitou, Moche, and Monte Alban. The first pristine state formation episodes share many similarities, for instance the continuity, high productivity, and transparency of crop production since several millennia, but also several differences, for instance regarding the importance of irrigation and in the creation of new centers of power. Climate variations within the Holocene interglacial epoch appear to have played an important role in the background of all developments. I then review the more detailed evidence concerning the key stylized facts in the two earliest states in Mesopotamia and Egypt.