For decades, scholars have struggled to understand the complex relationship between pastoral nomadic tribes and sedentary peoples of the Near East. The Oriental Institute's fourth annual post-doc seminar (March 7-8, 2008), Nomads, Tribes, and the State in the Ancient Near East, brought together archaeologists, historians, and anthropologists to discuss new approaches to enduring questions in the study of nomadic peoples, tribes, and states of the past: What social or political bonds link tribes and states? Could nomadic tribes exhibit elements of urbanism or social hierarchies? How can the tools of historical, archaeological, and ethnographic research be integrated to build a dynamic picture of the social landscape of the Near East? This volume presents a range of data and theoretical perspectives from a variety of regions and periods, including prehistoric Iran, ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, seventh-century Arabia, and nineteenth-century Jordan.

几十年来，学者们一直在努力理解近东地区游牧部落和定居民族之间的复杂关系。东方研究所第四届年度博士后研讨会（2008年3月7-8日）"古代近东的游牧民族、部落和国家 "将考古学家、历史学家和人类学家聚集在一起，讨论研究过去游牧民族、部落和国家的持久问题的新方法。什么社会或政治纽带将部落和国家联系起来？游牧部落会不会表现出城市化或社会等级制度的要素？如何整合历史、考古和人种学研究的工具来构建近东社会景观的动态图景？本卷介绍了来自不同地区和时期的一系列数据和理论观点，包括史前伊朗、古代美索不达米亚和埃及、七世纪的阿拉伯以及十九世纪的约旦。