Download or read book Luxury and Legitimation written by Allison Karmel Thomason and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2005 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Utilizing a variety of ancient sources, including cuneiform texts, images and archaeological finds, Luxury and Legitimation explores how the collecting of luxury objects contributed to the formation of royal identity in one of the world's oldest civilizations, ancient Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). Allison Thomason makes a significant and timely contribution to the subjects of collecting and material culture studies by bringing a new understanding to the political, cultural and social institutions of an important pre-Classical, non-Western civilization.