Thomason (Southern Illinois U.-Edwardsville) explores the relevance that luxury objects held in Mesopotamia, examining what Mesopotamians had to say about their objects and their reasons for collecting them. Her aim is to understand how Mesopotamian conceptions of luxury and collections were important parts of the culture. After chapters defining collection and introducing Mesopotamian society, she surveys collecting in each of the three millennia before the current era. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)