ABSTRACT
Central to all accounts of urbanization or state formation is the concept of specialization: the distribution of essential functions among the population so that some concentrate on one task, some on another, whether it be administrative or productive. This diversification of function can be horizontal – corresponding to specialist craft or agricultural activities – or vertical-leading to a hierarchical bureaucracy. The earliest texts from Uruk IV include lexical lists which mention a range of crafts and professions which shows how far specialization of both kinds had progressed. In historic times they are closely though not indissolubly associated with temple and palace. The institution both profits from control of specialized activity, and makes its own contribution by providing the conditions under which technical expertise can flourish. Although the Near East lacks the marvellous visual record of Egyptian wall-paintings and models, it seems usually to have been ahead of Egypt in the development of technology. Each innovation cannot be traced to its source, but Mesopotamia undoubtedly played an important role in providing a social context which favoured the exploitation of new potential. As with agriculture, this involved the control of some sectors of the population by others. Rather than focus attention on the definition of social classes as such, we shall concentrate more on the types of work attested in our sources, falling broadly into specialized crafts on one side and and mass labour schemes, which merge with the organization of military service, on the other.
