ABSTRACT
The early urban centres in Egypt provided the central structures of control of a number of agricultural settlements scattered across the Nile floodplain (Kemp, 1989). In the Levant, Falconer (1987, 1994) stressed the importance of the development of differentiated networks of production and exchange of commodities in the development of the early urban centres there. These centres grew beyond their means of independent agricultural support (Falconer estimated 35 ha as the maximum size for this in Palestine under rain-fed agriculture) and thus needed to control a supply of food from surrounding areas. The presence of ‘urban’ temples in small rural settlements is suggested as one means by which this supply could be controlled. However, it is important to note that simple population increases are not sufficient causative explanations for the rise of urbanism. The other mechanisms of social interaction and control needed to be put into place.
