Collection on the impact of wealth and high culture on state development in ancient societies.

Part I. Order, Legitimacy, and Wealth in Ancient States: 1. Introduction: ideology, wealth, and the comparative study of 'civilizations' Mary Van Buren and Janet Richards; 2. Order, legitimacy, and wealth: setting the terms John Baines and Norman Yoffee; Part II. Civilizations in Comparative Perspective: 3. Society and individual in Early Egypt David O'Connor; 4. Modified order, responsive legitimacy, redistributed wealth: Egypt, 2260-1650 BC Janet Richards; 5. Law courts and the mediation of social conflict in ancient Mesopotamia Norman Yoffee; 6. High culture, Mesoamerican civilization, and the classic Maya tradition Rosemary A. Joyce; 7. Political fragmentation and ideological continuity in the Andean highlands Mary Van Buren; 8. Wealth and socio-economic hierarchies of the Indus Valley civilization Jonathan Mark Kenoyer; 9. Classical order, alternative orders, and the uses of nostalgia Susan E. Alcock; 10. Order, legitimacy, and wealth in ancient China Bennet Bronson; Part III. Conclusions: 11. The politics of high culture: issues of worth and rank Elizabeth M. Brumfiel.