Late Bronze Age Syria

This dissertation analyzes the material culture, paleobotanical, and faunal remains excavated at the site of Tell Qarqur, Syria, recovered from occupational levels dating from the end of the Late Bronze Age to the Iron II period (from approximately 1200 to 700 BC). Based on archaeological evidence and ancient textual sources, many ancient Near Eastern kingdoms and polities endured social and political turmoil during the late 13th and early 12th centuries BC. Most likely caused by an unknown hostile group or groups, the destruction of monumental scale architecture and the disruption to the people of Qarqur’s agricultural and animal husbandry practices demonstrate that the residents of Qarqur did not escape the effects of the instability that occurred throughout much of the wider region. However, in the subsequent Iron I period, the archaeological record shows that the inhabitants adjusted to these new realities through the adoption of alternative subsistence strategies, and eventually began the gradual recovery of architectural complexity. During the Iron II period, regional survey data and the foundation of new domestic architecture over most of the area of Tell Qarqur indicate significant population growth in the Ghab Basin in general and on-site in particular. Fortification building initiatives by the kingdom of Hamath and the resettlement practices of an expansionist Neo-Assyrian Empire may have been contributing factors in these demographic changes.

The progression, from an established societal system disrupted by sudden changes caused by exogenous forces, to the adaptation, reorganization, and recovery engendered by Qarqur’s inhabitants in reaction to those changes, and the subsequent expansion of the settlement area and population beyond their previous levels, is analogous to what ecologists alternatively call the adaptive cycle or the progression of the four ecosystem functions, concepts that are integral to resilience theory. This theoretical approach forms an interpretive framework that further illustrates the inhabitants of Qarqur’s ability to adjust to changing conditions at the settlement and to exploit various resources from the surrounding environment throughout the duration of the Iron I and Iron II periods.

Note: PDF download of this dissertation is also available at https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/3075/

In many contexts of ancient Syria, recurring processes leading to the concentration of people in urban centers and their dispersal in smaller settlements, or through mobile practices and/or residential flexibility, are attested. Although in the past the successive crises of cities, urbanism and the State have been related to the decrease of agglomeration and to the population dispersal, the  issue appears more complex and diversified when focused on specific situations. By following the spatial and socio-political conditions of the Jabbul and Jazr plains, in Inner Syria, from the Late Bronze Age to Iron Age II, it becomes apparent that, although processes of agglomeration and dispersal are visible, they do not match some usual narratives regarding the settlement patterns of  these periods. Also, it will be argued that the spatial conditions of the different  contexts, including the agglomeration and dispersal of people, impacted on the social and political practices of human groups.

Compte rendu des deux première campagne de fouilles (1987 et 1988) à Tell Mohammed Diyab (Syrie) sous la direction de J.-M. Durand, par Luc Bachelot avec la collaboration de Corrine Castel, Dominique Charpin, [Xavier Faivre] et Martin Sauvage

Le interpretazioni più recenti dell’espansione dei rapporti internazionali che coinvolgono la Siria nel Bronzo Tardo (grosso modo tra il 1600-1200 a.C.) tendono a configurare un vero e proprio fenomeno di globalizzazione, in qualche modo paragonabile (seppure con i necessari distinguo) al processo che conosciamo oggi. Esso appare caratterizzato da un progressivo allargamento delle relazioni politiche e sociali a coprire territori non necessariamente contigui (ossia non necessariamente pertinenti a una stessa entità politico-amministrativa) così come da un crescente trasferimento e condivisione delle innovazioni introdotte dalle nuove tecnologie.