1. Introduction: a history of the study of early cities Norman Yoffee and Nicola Terrenato; Part I. Early Cities as Arenas of Performance: 2. Ancient Egyptian cities: monumentality and performance John Baines; 3. The dedicated city: meaning and morphology in classic Maya urbanism Stephen Houston and Thomas G. Garrison; 4. Southeast Asian urbanism: from early city to classical state Miriam Stark; 5. Cities as performance John Baines, Miriam Stark, Thomas G. Garrison and Stephen Houston; Part II. Early Cities and Information Technologies: 6. Urbanization and techniques of communication: the case of the rise of the southern Mesopotamian city of Uruk during the fourth millennium BCE Hans Nissen; 7. Writing and the city in early China Wang Haicheng; 8. Reading early Maya cities: interpreting the role of writing in urbanization Danny Law; 9. Inka administration in Tawantinsuyu by means of the knotted-cords Gary Urton; 10. Writing and record-keeping in early cities Danny Law, Wang Haicheng, Hans Nissen and Gary Urton; Part III. Early Urban Landscapes: 11. Tiwanaku urban origins: distributed centers and animate landscapes John W. Janusek; 12. Mesopotamian cities and urban process, 3500-1600 BCE Geoff Emberling; 13. Teotihuacan: an early urban center in its regional context Sarah C. Clayton; 14. Urban landscapes: transforming spaces and reshaping communities Geoff Emberling, Sarah C. Clayton and John W. Janusek; Part IV. Early Cities and the Distribution of Power: 15. Ancient South Asian cities in their regions Carla M. Sinopoli; 16. Greek cities in the first millennium BCE Ian Morris and Alex R. Knodell; 17. Different cities: Jenne-jeno and African urbanism Roderick J. McIntosh; 18. The distribution of power: hierarchy and its discontents Carla M. Sinopoli, Roderick J. McIntosh, Ian Morris and Alex R. Knodell; Part V. Early Cities as Creations: 19. Baghdad, an imperial foundation (CE 762-836) Françoise Micheau; 20. Jerusalem: capital city created in stone and in imagination Ann E. Killebrew; 21. City of earth and wood: New Cahokia and its material-historical implications Timothy Pauketat, Susan M. Alt and Jeffery D. Kruchten; 22. Imagined cities Timothy R. Pauketat, Ann E. Killebrew and Françoise Micheau; Part VI. Early Imperial Cities: 23. Neo-Assyrian capital cities: from imperial headquarters to cosmopolitan cities Adelheid Otto; 24. Mexico-Tenochtitlan: origin and transformations of the last Mesoamerican imperial city Gerardo Gutiérrez; 25. The archetypal imperial city: the rise of Rome and the burdens of empire Nicola Terrenato; 26. Imperial cities Nicola Terrenato, Gerardo Gutiérrez and Adelheid Otto; 27. Conclusion: early cities and the evolution of history: the meaning of early cities Norman Yoffee.