In this book, Joy McCorriston examines the continuity of traditions over millennia in the Near East. Tracing the phenomenon of pilgrimage in pre-Islamic Arabia up through the development of the Hajj, she defines its essential characteristics and emphasizes the critical role that pilgrimage plays in enabling and developing socioeconomic transactions. Indeed, the social identities constructed through pilgrimage are key to understanding the long-term endurance of the phenomenon. In the second part of the book, McCorriston turns to the household, using cases of ancient households in Mesopotamian societies, both in the private and public spheres. Her conclusions tie together broader theoretical implications generated by the study of the two phenomena and offer a new paradigm for archaeological study, which has traditionally focused on transitions to the exclusion of continuity of traditions.

Examines the continuity of traditions over millennia in the Near East by focusing on the traditions of pilgrimage and household.

About the Author
Joy McCorriston is Associate Professor of Anthropology at The Ohio State University. She has published forty academic articles and book chapters on the origins of food production, the development of agricultural economies through the Bronze Age and Southern Arabian prehistory. She currently leads the Ancient Human Social Dynamics in Arabia Project in Oman.

Reviews
"Highly recommended." -Choice
"...this is a very significant book for understanding the longterm history of the Middle East, and it does an important job in forcing prehistorians to look at their work within the context of written history while reminding historians of the deeper roots of Middle Eastern culture." --Current Anthropology



Book Information
ISBN 9780521137607
Author Joy McCorriston
Format Paperback
Page Count 306
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 620g
Dimensions(mm) 255mm * 179mm * 14mm