Anarchy in Mesopotamia: New study reveals early society decided to reject centralized governance

Recent excavations at the Shakhi Kora settlement in Iraqi Kurdistan shed new light on the origins and rejection of early centralized governance in ancient Mesopotamia. The research results, published in the journal Antiquity reveal that the inhabitants of Shakhi Kora engaged in early experiments with centralized, perhaps state-like, organizations but ultimately chose to abandon them.

Led by Professor Claudia Glatz of the University of Glasgow, an international team has been excavating the site since 2019 as part of the Sirwan Regional Project. The excavations have uncovered a long sequence of structures that span several centuries, providing a unique regional window into the development of early centralized institutions.

"Our excavations at Shakhi Kora provide a unique, new regional window into the development, and ultimately the rejection, of some of the earliest experiments with centralised, and perhaps state-like, organisations," Glatz said.

The team unearthed large quantities of simple, coarsely made bowls known as beveled-rim bowls in institutional structures at Shakhi Kora. These bowls are thought to have held savory meals given in exchange for labor in ancient Mesopotamia. Analyses of organic residues inside some of the bowls indicate they were frequently used to serve hearty meat stews, suggesting that herds of sheep and goats were kept near Shakhi Kora for this purpose.

The findings indicate that the origins of the state and its institutions in Mesopotamia are, at least in part, in their capacity to provide food to members of a broader community, La Vanguardia reported.

Pottery shards and other cultural items from Shakhi Kora show a progression from reflecting primarily local traditions to being closely associated with the major ancient city of Uruk in southern Iraq, according to Live Science. Uruk was one of the world's first cities and featured a large-scale monumental precinct in the later fourth millennium BCE. The distinctive beveled-rim bowls found at Shakhi Kora are similar to those found at Uruk and other contemporary sites in the wider Mesopotamian region.

Despite these influences, the site was abandoned in the late fourth millennium BCE without any signs of violence or environmental pressures. The final abandonment of the last institutional building at Shakhi Kora points to a deliberate choice by the local community to distance themselves from this centralized system of authority and resource distribution.

"This reaffirms that top-down, hierarchical forms of government were not inevitable in the development of early complex societies. Local communities found ways to resist and reject tendencies towards centralized power," Glatz said.

"Local communities found ways to resist and reject tendencies towards centralized power," Glatz noted.

Phys.org, Live Science, and La Vanguardia reported on the finding, among other websites.

This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq