The present volume is concerned with some of the work done in the Hellenistic period cemetery at Pichvnari between 1965 and 2004, as well as at Zemopartskhma and other sites of the Supsa-Natanebi basin, where pithos burials of the Hellenistic period were discovered in the 1950s.

Contents: Introduction: The development of Arabic as a written language (Christian Julien Robin); Ancient Arabia and the written word (M.C.A. Macdonald); Mount Nebo, Jabal Ramm, and the status of Christian Palestinian Aramaic and Old Arabic in Late Roman Palestine and Arabia (Robert Hoyland); A glimpse of the development of the Nabataean script into Arabic based on old and new epigraphic material (Laila Nehme); The evolution of the Arabic script in the period of the Prophet Mu ammad and the Orthodox Caliphs in the light of new inscriptions discovered in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ('Ali Ibrahim Al-Ghabban); In search of a standard: dialect variation and New Arabic features in the oldest Arabic written documents (Pierre Larcher); The codex Parisino-petropolitanus and the ijazi scripts (Francois Deroche); The relationship of literacy and memory in the second/eighth century (Gregor Schoeler); The Use of the Arabic script in magic (Venetia Porter); The Old Arabic graffito at Jabal Usays: A new reading of line 1 (M.C.A. Macdonald).

Archaeological investigations in the north-western part of the Arabian Peninsula has increased during the last 15 years. One of the major sites in the region is the ancient oasis of Taym�’, known as a commercial hub on the so-called Incense Road connecting South Arabia with the Eastern Mediterranean. In the context of this new research a multidisciplinary project by the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) and the Orient Department of the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) has been investigating the archaeology and ancient environment of Taym�’ since 2004. A major aim of this project was the development of new perspectives of the site and the region, characterised by elaborating the local socio-cultural and economic contexts. So far, Taym�’ has been known mainly through exogenous sources. The present volume is the first of the publication series of the Saudi-German archaeological project and focuses on three fundamental aspects of research at Taym�’: the current archaeological exploration of the oasis is contextualised with previous and ongoing research within the region, while at the same time offering a first overview of the settlement history of the site, which may have started as early as more than 6000 years ago. New information on the palaeoenvironment has been provided by multiproxy- analysis of sediments from a palaeolake immediately north of the settlement. The results indicate an Early Holocene humid period in the region that is shorter than the so-called African Humid Period. The abrupt aridification at around 8 ka BP, known from other regions in the Near East, is also attested in north-western Arabia. The reconstruction of the past vegetation of the site and its surroundings demonstrates that oasis cultivation at Taym�’ started during the 5th millennium BCE with grapes and figs, rather than with the date palm. According to hydrological investigations on water resources, groundwater aquifers provided the main source of local water supply. These were exploited through wells, some of which have been identified in the area of the ancient oasis. Finally, since the time of early travellers to Northwest Arabia evidence of cultural contacts has been observed in the records from the site, which had been occupied by the last Babylonian king, Nabonidus (556–539 BCE) for ten years. A historical-archaeological essay on Egypt and Arabia as well as a study on the ambiguous relationship between Assyria and Arabia – characterised by conflict and commerce – shed new light on the foreign relations of ancient Taym�’.

Stone containers have been made and used in the Middle East for over eleven millennia where they pre-dated the invention of pottery and were widely traded. The appearance or properties of the stone helped govern how stone vessels were valued or used and many classes were strictly utilitarian, being used for storage, cooking or lighting. Others were decorated and at times they were considered valuable exotica, particularly in regions far removed from their source areas. The subject of stone vessels is attracting growing attention but this is the first attempt to bring together different approaches to the study of softstone vessels, particularly but not exclusively those carved from varieties of chlorite, and covering all periods from prehistory to the present.

Syria has been a major crossroads of civilizations in the ancient Near East since the dawn of human kind. Until the current crisis began in 2011, Syria was one of the foremost pioneers in the investigation of past human knowledge, diversity, and identity. However, due to the ongoing war, archaeological excavations came to an abrupt halt. Since then, there have been countless alarming reports of damage or destruction inflicted on archaeological, historical, and museum sites. The International Syrian Congress on Archaeology and Cultural Heritage (ISCACH), held December 3-5, 2015 in Beirut, Lebanon, was designed to bring together international scholars who have directed or participated in archaeological expeditions in Syria, and colleagues from Syria. By doing so, not only could the results of years of archaeological investigations and cultural heritage management in Syria be shared and discussed, but also a spirit of friendship and collaboration could be fostered and strengthened during this turbulent period. The Congress focussed on the scientific aspects of each explored site and region allowing researchers to examine in detail each heritage site, its characteristics and identity. Archaeological Explorations in Syria 2000-2011: Proceedings of ISCACH-Beirut 2015 consists of two parts. The first part presents the results of archaeological investigations conducted between 2000 and 2010. The second part comprises abstracts of papers and posters presented during the Congress. It is hoped that this book will represent an important contribution to the scientific dialogue between international and Syrian scholars, and will appeal to the general public interested in the culture and history of Syria.

This year, 2017, marks 70 years since the discovery of the famous Dead Sea Scrolls at Khirbet Qumran by the Dead Sea in 1947. The Dead Sea Scrolls are one of the most well-known archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. This book addresses the proto-history and the roots of the Qumran community and of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the light of contemporary scholarship in Alexandria, Egypt. Alexandria, as the centre for Hellenistic Jews and the location of the Library of Alexandria, forms a key to understanding the theme of the book. The relationship of this context to the thoughts of the Essenes, the Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria, the Jewish Therapeutae of Egypt living in the neighbourhood of Alexandria and the Pythagoreans are especially studied in this work. Historical sources (both Jewish and Classical authors) and archaeological evidence are taken into account in the wider Graeco-Roman context. The connection between the Jewish Therapeutae in the Lake Mareotis region and the Palestinian Essenes is explained by the 'Jewish Pythagoras' based on the idea that the movements share the same philosophical tradition based on Judaism and Pythagoreanism. The prototypes of the Dead Sea Scrolls are explained in their Egyptian context, in association with the Library of Alexandria, the Egyptian temple manuals, and the formation of libraries in the Hellenistic period including that of Qumran.

This volume contains 23 articles written by 26 authors in order to express the extent of their respect and friendship for Christine Kepinski. The topics addressed in their papers reflect the scientific work of Christine Kepinski, who always promoted interdisciplinary approaches and developed multi-scale analysis from the object itself to regional study. Several papers are directly connected to fieldwork she conducted in Iraq and in Turkey: Haradum and the Middle Euphrates area, Tilbeshar and Kunara. Others are devoted to material study, notably glyptic, seals and sealing practices. Others evoke Syria: she never directed archaeological excavation there but she always integrated Syria in her studies. Finally, some are inspired by Christine Kepinski's interest for urban life. The chronological time span of the book as well as the various specialisations of the authors clearly show the great value of her scientific background guided by her taste for the Orient.

There is a long-held feeling in Russia that Moscow is the true heir to the Christian Byzantine Empire. In 1894, Imperial Russia opened one of the world's leading centres for Byzantine archaeology in Istanbul, the Russian Archaeological Institute - its purpose was to stake the claim that Russia was the correct heir to 'Tsargrad' (as Istanbul was referred to in Russian circles). This then is the history of that institute, and the history of Russia's efforts to reclaim its Middle East - events since in the Crimea, Syria and Georgia are all, to some extent, wrapped up in this historical framework. Ure looks at the founding of the Russian Archaeological Institute, its aims, and its place in the 'digging-race' which characterised the late Imperial phase of modern history. Above all, she shows how the practise of history has been used as a political tool, a form of "soft power".

Volume 1 of the series Arabia Orientalis presents the first comprehensive study of two Umm an-Nar (2700-2000 BC) burial pits from the UNESCO World Heritage site Bat in the Sultanate of Oman. They were excavated between 2010 and 2012 by the University of Tubingen. Each burial pit represents one of the largest closed finds of the Early Bronze Age in the region. Finds largely include beads and other items of personal adornment, as well as pottery and human bones. Detailed typologies of all objects are the basis for in-depth statistical analyses of the different categories of finds and the reconstruction of burial customs at Bat. Furthermore, imports and imitations from other regions including the Indus Valley, Iran, and Mesopotamia illuminate Bat's foreign relations and integration into the interregional exchange and communication system. The interpretation of the unearthed human remains conducted by Steve Zauner offer, not only the number of individuals, sex, and age of the deceased, but also insights into lifestyle, diseases, and stress of the people in the past.

This is a major re-evaluation of the life and legacy of Gertrude Lowthian Bell (1868-1926), the renowned scholar, explorer, writer, archaeologist, and British civil servant. The book examines Gertrude Bell's role in shaping British policy in the Middle East in the first part of the 20th century, her views of the cultures and peoples of the region, and her unusual position as a woman occupying a senior position in the British imperial administration. It focuses particularly on her involvement in Iraq and the part she played in the establishment of the Iraqi monarchy and the Iraqi state. In addition, the book examines her interests in Iraq's ancient past. She was instrumental in drawing up Iraq's first Antiquities Law in 1922 and in the foundation of the Iraq Museum in 1923. Gertrude Bell refused to be constrained by the expectations of the day, and was able to succeed in a man's world of high politics and diplomacy. She remains a controversial figure, however, especially in the context of the founding of the modern state of Iraq. Does she represent a more innocent age when the country was born out of the remnants of the Ottoman Empire, or does she personify the attitudes and decisions that have created today's divided Middle East? The volume's authors bring new insights to these questions.

Antiquities have been pawns in empire-building and global rivalries; power struggles; assertions of national and cultural identities; and cross-cultural exchanges, cooperation, abuses, and misunderstandings—all with the underlying element of financial gain. Indeed, “who owns antiquity?� is a contentious question in many of today’s international conflicts. About Antiquities offers an interdisciplinary study of the relationship between archaeology and empire-building around the turn of the twentieth century. Starting at Istanbul and focusing on antiquities from the Ottoman territories, Zeynep Çelik examines the popular discourse surrounding claims to the past in London, Paris, Berlin, and New York. She compares and contrasts the experiences of two museums—Istanbul’s Imperial Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art—that aspired to emulate European collections and gain the prestige and power of owning the material fragments of ancient history. Going beyond institutions, Çelik also unravels the complicated interactions among individuals—Westerners, Ottoman decision makers and officials, and local laborers—and their competing stakes in antiquities from such legendary sites as Ephesus, Pergamon, and Babylon. Recovering perspectives that have been lost in histories of archaeology, particularly those of the excavation laborers whose voices have never been heard, About Antiquities provides important historical context for current controversies surrounding nation-building and the ownership of the past.

Everyone who investigates pre-modern concepts of nature cannot avoid a critical reflection on the ancient understandings of it. Here, "nature" is understood in the sense of a seemingly untouched space, largely independent of human culture. While this concept of "nature" is prevalent in modern times, the reconstruction of ancient ideas is difficult in that concepts of nature, if at all present, emphasize other aspects. For example, the Greek term in pre-Hellenistic times defines the nature of a thing rather than an untouched environment. A word for "nature" in this sense has not been handed down to us in the remaining texts of the Ancient Near East and Classical Antiquity. Nevertheless, such concepts can certainly be reconstructed from descriptions of nature to be found in literature and the representations of natural elements in art. The present volume aims at identifying these concepts of nature in texts as well as in archaeological remains of the Ancient Near Eastern and the Greek culture from the Archaic to the Hellenistic period. Contributions from the fields of archaeology and philology are juxtaposed for each time period in chronological order. This arrangement provides a good overview of the concepts of nature prevailing throughout different period and cultures. | Der Begriff "Natur" wird in modernen, mitteleuropaischen Gesellschaften meist im Sinne eines vermeintlich unberuhrten Raumes verstanden, der weitgehend unbeeinflusst von menschlicher Kultur ist. Fur vormoderne Kulturen lassen sich solche Vorstellungen bzw. Konzepte sehr viel schwieriger nachweisen, da beispielsweise ein Wort fur "Natur" mit der eben genannten Bedeutung in den erhaltenen Texten des Alten Orients und der griechischen Antike so nicht uberliefert zu sein scheint. Gleichwohl werden durchaus Naturelemente in der antiken Literatur, der Flachenkunst sowie in antiken Monumenten beschrieben bzw. abgebildet sowie als integrative Bestandteile genutzt und funktionalisiert. Daraus lassen sich Konzepte von "Natur" herausarbeiten und rekonstruieren. Der vorliegende Band moechte solche "Naturkonzepte" in Texten, Artefakten und Denkmalern des Alten Orients und des griechischen Kulturraumes von der Archaik bis in den Hellenismus identifizieren und einen UEberblick uber die jeweils in einem bestimmten Zeit- und Kulturraum vorherrschenden Vorstellungen sowie deren diachrone Entwicklung geben.

The author is an important but controversial figure in the history of Palestinian archaeology. This volume celebrates the centennial of the publication of his excavations at Tel Gezer (1912), conducted under the auspices of the PEF. This excavation was the most ambitious one of its time in the land, yielding important architectural remains and thousands of artefacts, including the well-known Gezer Calendar. The contributions of several eminent scholars reflect on the man and his work, and also report on how his work influenced the understanding of the sites he excavated in Palestine, all of which are currently being re-investigated. It is also richly illustrated with images from the PEF archives. Evaluations of Macalister's work vary tremendously and are reflected here. Many learnt from him, others deplored his methods and record keeping. As one contributor puts it, 'an industrious archaeologist but an awful excavator', and a man who was both admired and intensely disliked: regarded as both a villain and a visionary. But it is generally agreed that he is a figure who cannot be ignored, and anyone interested in Palestinian archaeology will find a great deal to learn from this book.

Recent studies on the Anatolian archaeology in this volume shows the great importance of the cultural and archaeological heritage of the Turkey. This volume includes data from surveys and excavations, in addition to the analysis of unpublished materials preserved in local museums. The geographical region covered in by the papers included in this volume covers the whole of Asia Minor, from the west coast to the central and northern part, up to the east. The temporal coverage ranges from the Neolithic to the nineteenth century. Scholars from various parts of the world, but especially young and promising Turkish researchers, have contributed papers to this volume which discuss the important archaeological heritage of Anatolia and contribute a great deal to archaeological knowledge and practice in this part of the world.

One of the greatest historians of the twentieth century, Arnaldo Momigliano (1908-1987) is known for his path-breaking studies of ancient Greek and Roman history. The encyclopedic knowledge of the ancient world that Momigliano brought to his work, however, enabled him to make connections between ancient history and the subsequent study of that history. His sweeping vision stretched from antiquity to the present day. In Momigliano and Antiquarianism, Peter N. Miller brings together an international and interdisciplinary group of scholars to provide the first serious study of Momigliano's history of historical scholarship. At its core, this collection is devoted to one of Momigliano's most celebrated subjects the history of antiquarianism, and one of his most audacious claims, that the decay of early modern antiquarianism actually gave birth to the modern cultural sciences - history, sociology, anthropology, art history, archaeology, and history of religion. Filling a gap in the scholarship, this erudite collection will prove fascinating to teachers and students of classics, history, and the human sciences.

This work comprises several studies dealing with the society, economy, ideology and power among the mainly tribal, semi-pastoral communities living and moving around the southern arid margins of the southern Levant, particularly the Negev desert, southern Transjordan (ancient Edom) and north-eastern Sinai during the first millennium BCE. All studies revolve around a central concept: the phenomenon of tribalism. In few words, tribalism constituted the framework around which were structured the local groups' social institutions, economy, politics and ideology. Key topics such as the manufacture and circulation of local ceramics, the exploitation and trade of copper and incense, the local socio-political fluctuations and emergence of local chiefdoms, and the ideology of kinship and segmentation are studied under this light.

This book is an archaeological and art-historical study of the images and monuments of Roman 'client' kings in the Near East from the Taurus to Edom (modern South East Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan) in the important transitional period between the downfall of the Seleucid empire and Rome's establishment of provincial administration across the entire region. In this volume, Kropp treats royal portraits, tombs, palaces, coins, and temples as historical documents and aims at uncovering royal identities and ideological aspirations. In particular, he focuses on the six major players: the Kommagenian, Emesan, Ituraean, Nabataean, Hasmonaean, and Herodian dynasties. The images and monuments discussed show an endless variety of eclectic styles, shapes, and types - a result of individual, deliberate choices from an array of cultural and artistic options, such as Hellenistic, Roman, and Persian. The study of their origins and importance therefore places monuments, like the Khazneh at Petra or the Temple at Jerusalem, in their proper context and allows a more nuanced understanding of their creation as expressions and constructions of royal personas.

In the past, textile production was a key part of all ancient societies. The Ancient Near East stands out in this respect with the overwhelming amount of documentation both in terms of raw materials, line of production, and the distribution of finished products. The thirteen intriguing chapters in Textile Production and Consumption in the Ancient Near East describe the developments and changes from household to standardised, industrialised and centralised productions which take place in the region. They discuss the economic, social and cultural impact of textiles on ancient society through the application of textile tool studies, experimental testing, context studies and epigraphical as well as iconographical sources. Together they demonstrate that the textile industries, production, technology, consumption and innovations are crucial to, and therefore provide an in-depth view of ancient societies during this period. Geographically the contributions cover Anatolia, the Levant, Syria, the Assyrian heartland, Sumer, and Egypt.

Hierapolis (Phrygia) is located in Turkey in the territory of Pamukkale-Denizli. The city was known in antiquity for the cult of Cyble, patron goddess of the colony since its foundation. Hierapolis experienced a period of extraordinary prosperity both economically and politically throughout the 2nd century A.D. and into the early years of the 3rd century A.D., corresponding to the phase of monumentalization of the city. On the hill overlooking the east of the city is an imposing octagonal building, built in the late 4th and early 5th centuries A.D, erected as a 'martyrion' in honour of Saint Philip. Among other key monuments of this important ancient city, this study concentrates on the martyrion with the main objective of increasing knowledge of the building from an architectural point of view and aimed at retrieving a data set useful for planning a future restoration project. In addition, an aim of the research was to contribute to the knowledge of religious architecture between the 4th and 6th centuries in Asia Minor within the field of the history of late antique architecture. Most of the work was dedicated to the realization of plans and prospects which have allowed detailed analysis of each part of the building. It is hoped this work on the topographical-historical framework of Hierapolis will contribute to the study of similar architectural structures by presenting a seriation of masonry structures and technical solutions applicable also to other regions.

The treasure of Buseyra is preserved in the museum of Deir az-Zour in Syria. The coins in the hoard cover a large period from the Sassanian Sovereign Khusro II (590/1-628) until the terminal date 331H/ 941. These coins offer precious information, not only about a large number of mints but about the periods and quantities of minting activity. This treasure is important because it is the first complete hoard of the 10th century discovered in the al-Djazira area. According to Tomas Noonan, the Middle East and Central Asian hoards only amount to ten per cent of the treasures found in northern and eastern Europe and the Nordic countries. In comparing contemporaneous 10th-century silver hoards, and especially the relation between the numbers of coin dies and their representation of their products, we can obtain insights into the flows of money and the balance of payments for each area and each minting city.

This volume covers the Isin-Larsa and Old Babylonian periods, a period marked initially by the struggle of two city-states, Isin and Larsa, for control over the land of Sumer in southern Babylonia. In the end the city-state of Babylon, under its energetic ruler Hammurabi, intervened. At an opportune moment, Hammurabi struck swiftly, defeated Larsa, and incorporated the southern domains into his own realms, thereby creating an empire that for a short time united the lands of Sumer and Akkad. The inscriptions in this volume are grouped by dynasties and arranged in order by ruler within each dynasty. Further, the inscriptions are arranged chronologically within each king's reign. A short introduction for each inscription gives its general contents, place of origin, and relative dating. Also included are a detailed catalogue of exemplars, a brief commentary, bibliography, and text in transliteration facing an English translation. The appended microfiches contain a transliteration of each individual exemplar displayed in a format reminiscent of a musical score.

For the Gods are the opening words or incipit of the first inscribed votive artefacts dedicated to the principal deities of the Sumerian pantheon. They commemorate the construction or renovation of cities, temples, rural sanctuaries, border steles, in sum all the symbolically charged features of archaic states belonging thus metaphorically to supernatural tutelary overlords. Girsu (present-day Tello) is one of the earliest known cities of the world together with Uruk, Eridu, and Ur, and was considered to be in the 3rd Millennium the sanctuary of the Sumerian heroic god Ningirsu who fought with the demons of the Kur (Mountain) and thus made possible the introduction of irrigation and agriculture in Sumer. Girsu was the sacred metropolis and central pole of a city-state that lay in the Southeasternmost part of the Mesopotamian floodplain. The pioneering explorations carried out between 1877 and 1933 at Tello and the early decipherment of the Girsu cuneiform tablets were ground-breaking because they revealed the principal catalytic elements of the Sumerian takeoff - that is, a multiplicity and coalescence of major innovations, such as the appearance of a city- countryside continuum, the emergence of literacy, of bronze manufacture, and the development of monumental art and architecture. Because of the richness of information related in particular to the city's spatial organization and geographical setting, and thanks to the availability of recently declassified Cold War space imagery and especially the possibility to launch new explorations in Southern Iraq, Girsu stands out as a primary locale for re-analyzing through an interdisciplinary approach combining archaeological and textual evidence the origins of the Sumerian city-state.

L'ouvrage se propose de presenter la question essentielle de la consommation alimentaire dans le Proche-Orient ancien, notamment entre le IVe et le Ier millenaire av. J.-C. Grace aux decouvertes archeologiques et surtout grace a une abondante documentation textuelle, les historiens disposent aujourd'hui de sources fiables decrivant les approvisionnements des cites de Mesopotamie. Ainsi voit-on mieux la variete des produits disponibles, celle-ci etait largement plus grande que ce que l'on pouvait imaginer il y a peu. La transformation des ingredients fait aussi apparaitre des techniques insoupconnees a une epoque preindustrielle. La codification en recettes culinaires elaborees pour l'usage des temples reflete egalement un haut developpement. Les rituels religieux s'appuyaient sur un code alimentaire structure, dont les interdits et les tabous ne forment que l'une des facettes. Certains aspects de la vie quotidienne sont presentes sous un jour nouveau. Au premier chef le banquet qui est envisage comme une veritable institution modelant des comportements urbains. De fait, la representation des festins et des banquets dans les temples et les palais constituent des themes classiques de l'art et de la litterature antique. Comprendre l'importance du repas comme rite de cohesion sociale permet incidemment de mieux envisager des evenements qui se derouleront des siecles plus tard.

Established in 2006 by the Association for Near Eastern and Caucasian Studies in corporation with Institute of Oriental Studies and Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography (National Academy of Sciences of Armenia) AJNES is the only periodical in the Republic of Armenia devoted exclusively to the investigation of ancient and medieval cultures of the Near East and the Caucasus. Articles appearing in its pages are contributions of scholars of international reputation in history, archaeology, philology, art, religion and science. This book presents Issues 1 and 2 of ARAMAZD: Armenian Journal of Near Eastern Studies Volume XIV 2020 in one combined printed edition.