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.

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.

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.

An examination of archaeology in Jordan and Palestine, Competitive Archaeology in Jordan explores how antiquities have been used to build narratives and national identities. Tracing Jordanian history, and the importance of Jerusalem within that history, Corbett analyzes how both foreign and indigenous powers have engaged in a competition over ownership of antiquities and the power to craft history and geography based on archaeological artifacts. She begins with the Ottoman and British Empires—under whose rule the institutions and borders of modern Jordan began to take shape—asking how they used antiquities in varying ways to advance their imperial projects. Corbett continues through the Mandate era and the era of independence of an expanded Hashemite Kingdom, examining how the Hashemites and other factions, both within and beyond Jordan, have tried to define national identity by drawing upon antiquities. Competitive Archaeology in Jordan traces a complex history through the lens of archaeology’s power as a modern science to create and give value to spaces, artifacts, peoples, narratives, and academic disciplines. It thus considers the role of archaeology in realizing Jordan’s modernity—drawing its map; delineating sacred and secular spaces; validating taxonomies of citizens; justifying legal frameworks and institutions of state; determining logos of the nation for display on stamps, currency, and in museums; and writing history. Framing Jordan’s history in this way, Corbett illustrates the manipulation of archaeology by governments, institutions, and individuals to craft narratives, draw borders, and create national identities.

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.

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.

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.

While mortuary ruins have long fascinated archaeologists and art historians interested in the cultures of the Near East and eastern Mediterranean, the human skeletal remains contained in the tombs of this region have garnered less attention. In Bioarchaeology and Behavior, Megan Perry presents a collection of essays that aim a spotlight on the investigation of the ancient inhabitants of the circum-Mediterranean area. Composed of eight diverse papers, this volume synthesizes recent research on human skeletal remains and their archaeological and historical contexts in this region. Utilizing an environmental, social, and political framework, the contributors present scholarly case studies on such topics as the region's mortuary archaeology, genetic investigations of migration patterns, and the ancient populations' health, disease, and diet. Other key anthropological issues addressed in this volume include the effects of the domestication of plants and animals, the rise of state-level formations, and the role of religion in society. Ultimately, this collection will provide anthropologists, archaeologists, and bioarchaeologists with an important foundation for future research in the Near East and eastern Mediterranean.

This publication provides the most updated information on the ceramic production (amphorae, cooking and coarse wares, ceramic building materials) of Salakta and the Ksour Essef district, in the Sahel region of Tunisia, from the 3rd century BC to the 7th century AD. This book deals with the history and the archaeology of Sullecthum/Salakta, the typology of the ceramic production (mainly amphorae), the chronology and the location of the workshops, the amphora stamps and contents, the distribution in the Mediterranean, and the organisation of production and trade. The author is Lecturer at the Institut Superieur des Etudes Appliquees en Humanites de Mahdia (University of Monastir, Tunisia). French text with English abstract.

Soil and water management is a major stake for the current Mediterranean countries. It was also an important challenge for past societies, especially since the Neolithic and the early well-established farming communities. the mastery of these vital resources accompanied the complexification of social organization. It also widely contributed, if not to impulse it, at least to structure it. This volume presents the results of the CEDRE multidisciplinary project NAHR IBRAHIM that was led on the Lebanese mountain centered around the Nahr Ibrahim valley (the famous Adonis valley in Antiquity), in the hinterland of the ancient city of Byblos. the mountain has been under-researched by archaeology and history due to the attractiveness of the prestigious coastal phoenician cities. The history of settlement patterns and the construction of agricultural mountainous landscapes since the Early Bronze Age is examined with comparisons from other regions surrounding the Mediterranean Basin.

The ancient city of Hatra is located 80 km southwest of the modern city of Mosul. The site reached its apogee during the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, arriving at the striking dimensions of c. 300 hectares and into a new role as the capital of a significant buffer state between the Parthian and Roman empires. This volume is devoted to the study of the landscape surrounding Hatra and of the development of this important city, drawing on published information gathered by Iraqi and foreign expeditions, as well as unpublished data garnered from over fifteen years of fieldwork at the site by the Italian Archaeological Expedition. The study of the landscape comprehends the morphology, hydrology and geology of the region and offers new proposals regarding the exploitation of natural resources and the development of regional and local routes through the territory under Hatra's political and military control during the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. The analysis of Hatra as an urban centre consists of a detailed study of the city's hydrology, street network and urban areas, with the purpose of detecting the principles behind the planning and development of the city. The main elements of the urban space are treated in this book: the Temenos area and the Small Shrines, the Necropoles, the Fortifications, the Houses, and the Palaces. Due to the cross-referencing of archaeological, historical and epigraphic data, new ideas have been proposed regarding the chronological phases of urbanism at Hatra, from its foundation up to the destruction of the city by the Sasanian army in AD 241. | La citta di Hatra si trova nella Jazira irachena a circa 80 km a sud-ovest di Mosul. Il centro raggiunse il suo apogeo durante il II-III sec. d.C., toccando l'impressionante estensione di quasi 300 ettari e divenendo la capitale di un influente stato cuscinetto, collocato tra l'impero partico e l'impero romano. Questo volume e dedicato allo studio del territorio e dell'urbanistica di questo importante sito antico, impiegando contestualmente informazioni edite, raccolte dalle varie missioni irachene e straniere che si sono avvicendate sul terreno, e inedite, provenienti dal vasto Archivio della Missione Archeologica Italiana a Hatra in piu di quindici anni di ricerche sul campo. Lo studio del territorio definisce un quadro dettagliato della morfologia, idrologia e geologia della regione e dell'area prossima al centro, oltre a proporre alcune nuove ipotesi interpretative sullo sfruttamento delle risorse ambientali, sull'articolazione della rete viaria periurbana e regionale e sull'estensione del territorio sottoposto al controllo politico e militare della citta durante il II e III sec. d.C. L'analisi urbanistica comprende uno studio approfondito dell'idrologia cittadina, della rete stradale e delle aree urbane, allo scopo di individuarne le principali caratteristiche ed eventuali regole nella pianificazione e nello sviluppo della citta. Nel libro sono inoltre analizzati i principali elementi che compongono il tessuto urbano: il Temenos e i templi minori, le necropoli, le difese cittadine, le case e i palazzi. Grazie all'utilizzo contestuale del dato archeologico, storico ed epigrafico, e stato inoltre possibile formulare nuove ipotesi sulle fasi urbanistiche e sulla cronologia di Hatra dalla fondazione alla sua distruzione, avvenuta per mano sasanide nel 241 d.C.

A pioneer of the French Islamic archaeology in the Middle East, Monik Kervran (CNRS, lab The Orient & The Mediterranean) was first renowned for her excavations at Susa in Iran and the discovery of the Darius' statue at the start of her career in 1972. She then directed in the 70's and 80's excavations on the Arabian coasts of the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman, at the main pre-Islamic and Islamic maritime centers of Qal'at al-Bahrain and Sohar. She also led researches in Central Asia and Eastern Iran, excavating Nishapur, and, since the 90's, in the Indus delta where she opened excavations at Sehwan Sharif and Banbhore. Through the nineteen international contributions of this volume, the editors and contributors wish to highlight the variety of Monik Kervran's scientific interests. In this way, they express their admiration and gratitude for her many achievements, in the archaeology, history, architecture, iconography and material culture of the Middle East and Western Indian Ocean during the late pre-Islamic and Islamic periods. | Pionniere de l'archeologie islamique francaise au Moyen-Orient, Monik Kervran (Cnrs, laboratoire Orient & Mediterranee) s'est illustree des le debut de sa carriere par ses fouilles a Suse en Iran et la decouverte de la statue de Darius en 1972. Elle a dirige dans les annees 70 et 80 la fouille d'importants sites portuaires de la cote arabe du golfe Persique et de la mer d'Oman, a Qal'at al-Bahrain et Sohar. Elle a egalement mene des recherches en Asie centrale et en Iran oriental, notamment a Nishapour, puis, depuis les annees 90, dans le delta de l'Indus ou elle a ouvert des fouilles a Sehwan Sharif et Banbhore. A travers les dix-neuf contributions internationales presentees dans cet ouvrage, les editeurs et les contributeurs ont desire mettre en lumiere la diversite des interets scientifiques de Monik Kervran. Ils souhaitent ainsi exprimer leur admiration et leur gratitude pour ses apports majeurs aux champs de l'archeologie, de l'histoire, de l'architecture, de l'iconographie et de la culture materielle du Moyen-Orient et de l'ocean Indien occidental aux periodes pre-islamique tardive et islamique.

The Artuqids were one of the successor dynasties that rose to power in the aftermath of the eleventh-twelfth century invasion of Western and Central Asia by the Seljuq Turks. While the political power of the Artuqids was limited to the Diyar Bakr, a small region in northern Jazira corresponding to Southeastern Turkey, their artistic legacy is noteworthy. The many surviving Artuqid monuments, built over three hundred years (early 12th - early 15th century), and their decoration exemplify the mastery of stone carving which is reflected in intricate designs and motifs. Mardin, alongside other Artuqid centers such as Amid, Mayyafariqin and Hisn Kayfa, was set within a larger zone of diverse Christian and Islamic artistic traditions. This book defines Mardin's artistic context in relation to the other Artuqid centers, as well as the neighboring zones that encompass Anatolia, the Caucasus, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Egypt. During the Artuqid period an original style developed in Mardin and the Diyar Bakr, which itself was rooted in a well-established local school of stone carving. Connected with Christian traditions found in the Syriac Tur 'Abdin and in Late Antique Syria, the decoration also compares with that of monuments in Armenia and Georgia, and resonates with artistic practices seen in areas controlled by the regional Muslim powers of the time: the Zangids, Ayyubids, Mameluks, Great and Anatolian Seljuqs and the Ilkhanids. The Artuqid buildings reflect the spirit of the time, when the Jazira served as an artistic platform, fostering the circulation of ideas that led to new inspiration, and open-minded rulers and patrons, curious and receptive to new creations, stimulated the creative efforts of architects, stone carvers and craftsmen. The decorated monuments also attest to the existence of significant economic wealth and the need to commission sophisticated buildings that magnified the political and social status of the ruling elite's.

At the height of her career, Bell journeyed into the heart of the Middle East retracing the steps of the ancient rulers who left tangible markers of their presence in the form of castles, palaces, mosques, tombs and temples. Among the many sites she visited were Ephesus, Binbirkilise and Carchemish in modern-day Turkey as well as Ukhaidir, Babylon and Najaf within the borders of modern Iraq. Lisa Cooper here explores Bell's achievements, emphasizing the tenacious, inquisitive side of her extraordinary personality, the breadth of her knowledge and her overall contribution to the archaeology of the Middle East. Featuring many of Bell's own photographs, this is a unique portrait of a remarkable life.

In 1963 excavations at Tepe Guran in Luristan revealed a series of occupations, representing a small Neolithic village with an economy based on dry-farming, herding, and hunting, and strongly dependant on the nearby rivers and hills. A unique sequence of a-ceramic and early ceramic levels covering a period of more than a thousand years (c. 6700-5500 BC) were uncovered. Peder Mortensen's book is the final report on the excavations, supplemented by sections on the prehistoric environment and on hunting and early animal domestication at Tepe Guran by Kent V. Flannery and Pernille Bangsgaard. The results are presented within a framework of reflections relating to the author's and to other scholars' recent research on the development of Neolithic settlement and subsistence patterns in the Central Zagros region.

This work presents the most recent views on a subject of primordial importance for all students of history: the understanding of humankind's process of becoming, viewed through the study of the beginnings of pottery in the late forager, and early farmer societies of Europe. It is a collection of essays, by some of the prominent European scholars and young dynamic archaeologists whose works focus on the early European and Middle Eastern pottery, intended to present a new perspective on the rise of a new technology in prehistory. With the breadth, variety and novelty of the approaches presented, Early farmers, late foragers and ceramic traditions. On the beginning of pottery in Europe is a fascinating read for scholars, as well as for the public at large.