The impetus for writing this book was the excavation conducted by the University of Athens at the site of Tell Nader in Erbil (ancient Arbela) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, from 2011 onwards under my direction.

This is a tell with a diameter of approximately 100m and a height of 5m, with archaeological layers that span from the Late Neolithic (7th millennium BC) to the Early Iron Age (early 1st millennium BC). The main phase of this small settlement is dated to the late phase of the Ubaid Period of the Chalcolithic era, that is, the late 5th millennium BC.

This book constitutes a critical yet concise overview of the archaeology of prehistoric Mesopotamia, which refers to the period preceding the emergence of writing at the end of the 4th millennium BC. No similar manual exists in Greek literature to date, which is why I hope it will serve as a useful tool for Greek archaeologists who wish to engage, even cursorily, in the archaeology of the Near East, for archaeology students, as well as for non-specialists who wish to gain an initial acquaintance with this subject.

Moreover, no similar book exists in the recent international literature, as the excellent works of Redman (1978), Nissen (1988), and Charvat (2002, 1st ed. 1993) are already outdated. Therefore, I hope that this work will be translated into English if the opportunity arises.

The existing literature on the subject is indeed vast, so an exhaustive presentation within the scope of a book that aims to offer the reader a general yet complete picture of the topic would not be feasible. I have therefore chosen to primarily present the more recent literature, in which the reader can easily find references to older works. From the older literature, only those publications I deemed fundamental are cited, and in this regard, they remain relevant.