The significance of cultural borrowings from Mesopotamia and Elam in the formation of the Egyptian state during the period 3500-2900 BC has long been debated. This talk will explore the evidence from Syria, Iraq and Iran for the emergence of cities, trade routes and associated technology and art that provides the wider context for the emergence of Egyptian kingship.

Paul Collins is Jaleh Hearn Curator for Ancient Near East at the Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford. He has worked previously as a curator in the Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Middle East Department of the British Museum.

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