- Landscape Archaeology, Near Eastern Archaeology, Mediterranean prehistory, Anatolian Archaeology, Urbanism (Archaeology), Hittite archaeology, and 15 moreLuwian, Ancient Near East, Ancient Near East (Archaeology), Neo-Assyrian studies, Archaeology, Assyriology, Aegean Archaeology, Late Bronze Age archaeology, Hittite, Bronze and Iron Ages in Eastern Mediterranean (Archaeology), Anatolian History, Anatolian Archaeology (Archaeology), Syria (Archaeology), Cyprus and the East Mediterranean, and Late Bronze Age Syriaedit
In this paper, I take identity as a characteristic of empire in its periphery, denoting the totality of: 1) the imperial strategies an empire pursues in different regions, 2) the index of empire in each region, and 3) local responses to... more
In this paper, I take identity as a characteristic of empire in its periphery, denoting the totality of: 1) the imperial strategies an empire pursues in different regions, 2) the index of empire in each region, and 3) local responses to imperialism. My case study is the Hittite Empire, which dominated parts of what is now modern Turkey and northern Syria between the seventeenth and twelfth centuries bce, and its borderlands. To investigate the identities of the Hittite imperial system, I explore the totality of the second millennium bce in two regions. First, I explore imperial dynamics and responses in the Ilgın Plain in inner southwestern Turkey through a study of the material collected by the Yalburt Yaylası Archaeological Landscape Research Project since 2010. Second, I explore the identity of the Hittite Empire in the city of Emar in northern Syria by a thorough study of the textual and archaeological material unearthed by the Emar Expedition. In both cases, I argue that the manifestations of the Hittite Empire were mainly conditioned by the pre-Hittite trajectories of these regions. The strategies that the administration chose to use in different borderlands sought to identify what was important locally, with the Hittite Empire integrating itself into networks that were already established as manifestations of power, instead of replacing them with new ones.
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Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) was used to record an inscription carved on the surfaces of 17 limestone blocks of the Yalburt Yaylası Sacred Pool Complex (Konya), which dates from the XIII th century B.C. After a brief... more
Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) was used to record an inscription carved on the surfaces of 17 limestone blocks of the Yalburt Yaylası Sacred Pool Complex (Konya), which dates from the XIII th century B.C. After a brief introduction concerning the site and the RTI technique, and particularly its Highlight-RTI variant, this paper reports on the imaging strategy tailored to the conditions of this specific landscape monument, which contains blocks of various dimensions organized along three axes. While various applications of the RTI technique on open-air examples have been reported in the literature to date, our experience on the Yalburt Yaylası Sacred Pool Complex presents a large-scale application of Highlight-RTI on a complex monument. The paper concludes that RTI is an efficient tool for documenting landscape monuments when the needs of each site are carefully analyzed. In this large-scale capacity, RTI works best as a site-specific technique customized to the particularities of each locale.
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"Houses of the ancient Near East were fragile architectural entities in conception, susceptible to attacks with their cracks and openings, through which demons could enter to threaten the dwellers. We can learn about such domestic... more
"Houses of the ancient Near East were fragile architectural entities in conception, susceptible to attacks with their cracks and openings, through which demons could enter to threaten the dwellers. We can learn about such domestic anxieties through the incantations against the demon Lamaštu, produced in the 2nd and the 1st millennia BCE.
Incantations of the Bronze and Iron Ages depict Lamaštu as a demon specifically dangerous during labor, for both the mother and the baby. During the performance of events that target to exorcise Lamaštu from the patient, the whole household would be imbued with new soundscapes and smellscapes that have not been part of the house before, and would no longer be once the ritual was over. These short-lived transformations to the domestic space, however, would be preserved in the memory of its inhabiters."
Incantations of the Bronze and Iron Ages depict Lamaštu as a demon specifically dangerous during labor, for both the mother and the baby. During the performance of events that target to exorcise Lamaštu from the patient, the whole household would be imbued with new soundscapes and smellscapes that have not been part of the house before, and would no longer be once the ritual was over. These short-lived transformations to the domestic space, however, would be preserved in the memory of its inhabiters."
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Many studies of Hittite history start with the Early Bronze Age in Anatolia as the time period when Indo-European presence starts in Anatolia. The scene then changes to the Middle Bronze Age as a prelude to what comes immediately after,... more
Many studies of Hittite history start with the Early Bronze Age in Anatolia as the time period when Indo-European presence starts in Anatolia. The scene then changes to the Middle Bronze Age as a prelude to what comes immediately after, while Hittites do not appear on the stage as a defined entity until the Late Bronze Age. This curious practice of always talking about the totality of the Bronze Age, but actually not making use of it as something other than a mere background for the teleological and inevitable rise of “Anatolia’s First Empire” actually hints at one of the ways to problematize studies of Hittite archaeology. This paper argues that the geographically united and temporally seperated model (i.e. “The Assyrian Colony Period of MBA” or “Hittite culture of the LBA”) fails to do justice to the continuity of the archaeological record and material practices in Anatolia during the Bronze Age.
By using textual and archaeological material regarding Anatolia and North Syria, this paper argues that the temporal and spatial boundaries of the Hittite culture can be put to test. It aims to do this through a discussion of the interactions of the Hittite administration in Central Anatolia with different regions and how its strategies were altered to fit regional histories and networks. The paper concludes that this is a revealing exercise for painting a more nuanced panorama of the Hittite Kingdom rather than a short-lived and landlocked empire of high plains.
By using textual and archaeological material regarding Anatolia and North Syria, this paper argues that the temporal and spatial boundaries of the Hittite culture can be put to test. It aims to do this through a discussion of the interactions of the Hittite administration in Central Anatolia with different regions and how its strategies were altered to fit regional histories and networks. The paper concludes that this is a revealing exercise for painting a more nuanced panorama of the Hittite Kingdom rather than a short-lived and landlocked empire of high plains.