Research Catalog

Title

Thirst : water and power in the ancient world / Steven Mithen with Sue Mithen.

Author

Mithen, Steven J.

Publication

Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2012.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

Mithen, Sue

Description

xvii, 347 p., [16] p. of plates : ill. (chiefly col.), maps; 24 cm.

Summary

• "Water is an endangered resource, imperiled by population growth, mega-urbanization, and climate change. Scientists project that by 2050, freshwater shortages will affect 75 percent of the global population. Steven Mithen puts our current crisis in historical context by exploring 10,000 years of humankind’s management of water. Thirst offers cautionary tales of civilizations defeated by the challenges of water control, as well as inspirational stories about how technological ingenuity has sustained communities in hostile environments. As in his acclaimed, genre-defying After the Ice and The Singing Neanderthals, Mithen blends archaeology, current science, and ancient literature to give us a rich new picture of how our ancestors lived. Since the Neolithic Revolution, people have recognized water as a commodity and source of economic power and have manipulated its flow. History abounds with examples of ambitious water management projects and hydraulic engineering—from the Sumerians, whose mastery of canal building and irrigation led to their status as the first civilization, to the Nabataeans, who created a watery paradise in the desert city of Petra, to the Khmer, who built a massive inland sea at Angkor, visible from space. As we search for modern solutions to today’s water crises, from the American Southwest to China, Mithen also looks for lessons in the past. He suggests that we follow one of the most unheeded pieces of advice to come down from ancient times. In the words of Li Bing, whose waterworks have irrigated the Sichuan Basin since 256 BC, “Work with nature, not against it.”"--
• "This impressive contribution to California and Civil War history interweaves in compelling prose the complex and conflicted story of the Golden State's emergence as a fully pledged loyal state in the midst of a terrible war. Matthews's insightful and colorful volume highlights the many surprising ways that California contributed to the success of the Union Cause, despite a divided citizenry whose actions at times reflected a boldly pro-Confederate position." -Joan Waugh, University of California, Los Angeles. -- As in his acclaimed, genre-defying After the Ice and The Singing Neanderthals, Mithen blends archaeology, current science, and ancient literature to give us a rich new picture of how our ancestors lived. Since the Neolithic Revolution, people have recognized water as a commodity and source of economic power and have manipulated its flow. History abounds with examples of ambitious water management projects and hydraulic engineering -- from the Sumerians, whose mastery of canal building and irrigation led to their status as the first civilization, to the Nabataeans, who created a watery paradise in the desert city of Petra, to the Khmer, who built a massive inland sea at Angkor, visible from space. -- As we search for modern solutions to today's water crises, from the American Southwest to China, Mithen also looks for lessons in the past. He suggests that we follow one of the most unheeded pieces of advice to come down from ancient times. In the words of Li Bing, whose waterworks have irrigated the Sichuan Basin since 256 BC, "Work with nature, not against it." -- Book jacket.

Alternative Title

Water and power in the ancient world

Subject

• Water-supply > History
• Water use > History
• Water consumption > History
• Civilization, Ancient

Genre/Form

History

Note

• "First published in Great Britain in 2012 by Weidenfield & Nicolson."--T.p. versp.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 319-338) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Thirst: for knowledge of the past and lessons for the future -- The water revolution: the origins of water management in the Levant, 1.5 million years ago to 700 BC -- 'The black fields became white/the broad plain was choked with salt': water management and the rise and fall of Sumerian civilisation, 5000-1600 BC -- 'Water is the best thing of all' - Pindar of Thebes, 476 BC: water management by the Minoans, Mycenaeans, and Ancient Greeks, 2100-146 BC -- A watery paradise in Petra: the Nabataeans, masters of the desert, 300 BC-AD 106 -- Building rivers and taking baths: Rome and Constantinople, 400 BC-AD 800 -- A million men with teaspoons: hydraulic engineering in ancient China, 900 BC-AD 907 -- The hydraulic city: water management by the kings of Angkor, AD 802-1327 -- Almost a civilisation: Hohokam irrigation in the American South-West, AD 1-1450 -- Life and death of the water lily monster: water and the rise and fall of Mayan civilisation, 2000 BC-AD 1000 -- Water poetry in the Sacred Valley: hydraulic engineering by the Incas, AD 1200-1572 -- An unquenched thirst: for water and for knowledge of the past.

ISBN

• 9780674066939 (cloth : alk. paper)
• 0674066936 (cloth : alk. paper)

LCCN

^^2012027504

OCLC

792887065

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library