The World of the Oxus Civilization

"The World of the Oxus Civilisation brings to life one of the great 'lost civilisations' of the ancient world, lost only because, while extraordinarily rich and extensive in its reach, its story has long been hidden from the broader world of scholarship by extreme political and linguistic barriers. This volume, telling the full story of the Oxus Civilisation for the first time, is a magnificent gift for anyone interested in the rich complexity of the ancient world and the early rise of internationalism across Asia. Its comprehensive coverage, presented as a series of specialist essays by a range of international scholars, will be warmly welcomed as a much needed authoritative work of reference filling a critical gap in the early history of Old World development." - Alison Betts, University of Sydney, Australia.

"This ambitious book provides a comprehensive overview by many experts of the remarkable Bronze Age Civilization of the Oxus including detailed description of the settlement systems, the archaeological evidence for a complex and unique culture as well as discussions of relations with neighboring civilizations in Iran, the Indus Valley and Mesopotamia. The astounding richness of the burials at the site of Gonur are testimony to the wealth and sophistication of this culture which flourished as part of the expansive network of trade and exchange that linked the riverine cultures of the Near East from Troy to the Indus valley." - Holly Pittman, University of Pennsylvania, USA.