LaBianca Oystein S., Scham Sandra A. (eds.) Connectivity in Antiquity: Globalization as a Long-Term Historical Process

Routledge, 2010. — 184 p.Today's politicians argue that the more 'connected' societies are the less danger they pose to global stability. But is this a 'new' idea or one as old as history itself? Trade routes as far back as prehistory were responsible for the exchange of ideas as well as goods, leading to the rapid expansion of states and empires. 'Connectivity in Antiquity' brings together a team of influential scholars to examine the process of globalization in antiquity. The essays examine metallurgy, social evolution, economic growth and the impact of religious pilgrimage, and range across the eastern Mediterranean, Syria, the Transjordan, south Yemen, and Egypt. 'Connectivity in Antiquity' will be of value to all those interested in the relationship between antiquity and modern globalisation.Oystein S. LaBianca is Professor of Anthropology and Senior Director, International Development Program, at Andrews University, Michigan.Sandra Arnold Scham is an archaeologist, the current Washington Correspondent for Archaeology Magazine and the former editor of the journal Near Eastern Archaeology. In addition to teaching the archaeology of the Ancient Near East at the University of Maryland and Catholic University she has also taught at Jerusalem University College in Israel. Sandra has done archaeological work in Israel, Jordan and Southeastern Turkey. For four years between 2001 and 2005, she was the co-director of an Israeli and Palestinian cooperative heritage project funded by the U.S. Department of State-the first such project ever undertaken. From 2008 to 2010 she has been serving as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy Fellow in which capacity she is advising the United States Agency for International Development on development strategies in the Middle East and Asia.