Interactions Between Western Iran and Mesopotamia From the 9th-4th Millennia B. C.

Abstract

Throughout prehistory, the cultures of Iran and Western Asia differed in important respects. Many of these differences<br />can be attributed to the different geographic and environmental conditions in the two regions. Western Iran is largely a<br />heavily divided mountainous region with difficult access whereas Mesopotamia is relatively flat and open to travel and<br />trade. The early Holocene environment of the Mesopotamian plain was very dynamic and unstable, whereas the major<br />changes in the Zagros involved the spread of cereal grasses and trees. These different environments affected the kinds<br />of cultures and settlements that could occur. Other differences stem from the broader regions of interaction in which<br />each area was involved. Interactions within Mesopotamia occurred between the north and south, while the Zagros was<br />part of a northern and eastern sphere of interaction. These differences are reflected in the general absence of<br />interaction between the Iran and Western Asia during the long period of prehistory.