Entrepreneurs and Enterprise in Early Mesopotamia

Garfinkle (history, Western Washington U., Bellingham) presents a long-delayed, much-revised version of his doctoral dissertation (no date or institution cited) that incorporates a significant amount of recent scholarship. The economy of the Third Dynasty of Ur, often called the Neo-Sumerian Period, is one of the best documented in all antiquity, he says, but until now no one has focused on the role played by individual entrepreneurs under those kings. He highlights the operation and significance of business enterprise, and describes the activities of the entrepreneurs whose records have been preserved in three large cuneiform archives rich in material and illuminating different aspects of business. Personal names and geographical names are indexed. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)