Preface and Acknowledgements - Chapter 1. Explorers of a Deep Past - 1.1 Early explorations and the identification of Kish - 1.2 From the French excavation to the Anglo-American expedition (1911-1933) - 1.3 Back to Kish from afar: researches between 1960s 1980s - 1.4 Kish in 2000 CE: Recent studies and ongoing research projects; Chapter 2. From Dust to Data: Research Aims and Methodology - 2.1 Aims of the research - 2.2 An archaeology of the archive - 2.3 Data management system - 2.4 The value of sources: a rationale for accessing reliability - 2.5 Digitization: finds, maps, plans and sections - 2.6 The study of the pottery assemblage - 2.7 Introduction to the case studies: topography and development of the excavations; Chapter 3. An Emerging Town: From Jemdet Nasr to Early Dynastic I - 3.1 Y sounding – Phases 1-5 - 3.2 YW sounding – Phases 1-3 - 3.3 ZY sounding – Lowest phase; Chapter 4. Shaping a Capital City: Early Dynastic II-III - 4.1 Y sounding – Phases 6-10 - 4.2 YW sounding – Phases 4-7 - 4.3 YWN sounding – Phase 1 - 4.4 Ziggurat Z.1 – Phases 1-2; Chapter 5. Impact of Empires: From Akkadian to Ur III - 5.1 Z trenches – Phases 11-13 - 5.2 YW sounding – Phase 8 - 5.3 YWN sounding – Phase 2 - 5.4 Ziggurat Z.1 – Phases 3-4; Chapter 6. Conclusions: Urban Trajectories at Kish; Appendix 1. The Epigraphic Evidence (A. Westenholz); Appendix 2. Notes on the Stratigraphy of Tell A at Kish; Appendix 3. The Pottery Types; Abbreviations; References; Credits; Plates; Additional Online Kish Files (AOKF) - AOKF 1 – Catalogue of the finds by context - AOKF 2 – Small finds at the Ashmolean and Field museums - AOKF 3 – Pottery materials at the Ashmolean and Field museums and others - AOKF 4 – Catalogue of the graves - AOKF 5 – The epigraphic finds - AOKF 6 – Unpublished letters and reports of the Anglo-American Expedition kept in archives