The Archaeology of Political Spaces : The Upper Mesopotamian Piedmont in the Second Millennium BCE

This book, consisting of 12 contributions, amalgamates the most recent results from archaeological research in the Upper Mesopotamian piedmont. Under the growing influence of expanding territorial states which had become established during the 2 nd millennium BC, this region experienced a substantial change in social and political life during that time. The discussion is centered around settlement shapes, developments in the material culture, as well as written documents that attest to this change. In summary, this book emphasizes the significant roll of archaeological research in the reconstruction of models concerning the formation and transformation of political space in the ancient world. Introduction 9 Development and Transformation of Settlements and Settlement Systems in the Khabur Headwater Region 17 20th Century BC in the Khabur Triangle Region and the Advent of the Old Assyrian Trade with Anatolia 19 Neue Tontafelfunde aus dem mitannizeitlichen Taidu – ein Vorbericht 43 Tell Abu Hafur ‘East’, Tell Arbid (North-Eastern Syria) and Nemrik (Northern Iraq) as Examples of Small-Scale Rural Settlements in Upper Mesopotamia in the Mittani Period 51 Tell Fekheriye in the Late Bronze Age: Archaeological Investigations into the Structures of Political Governance in the Upper Mesopotamian Piedmont 69 Settlement Patterns of the Middle Assyrian State: Notes toward an Investigation of State Apparatuses 93 From Text to Tell. Governance and the Geography of Political Space according to Middle Assyrian Administrative Documents 115 Development and Transformation of Settlements and Settlement Systems in the Upper Tigris Region 125 Ritual Practices and the Emergence of Social Complexity in the Upper Tigris Region at the Beginning of the Second Millennium BC 127 The Upper Tigris – Cultural Autonomy or Interdependence? The Case of Ziyaret Tepe and Giricano 139 Salat Tepe and its Vicinity in the Middle Bronze Age: Stratigraphic Sequence and Ceramic Assemblages 159 Across the Mountains 175 The Upper Khabur and the Upper Tigris Valleys during the Late Bronze Age: Settlements and Ceramic Horizons 177 Die Stadt Kahat. Vorposten der königlichen Jagden in mittelassyrischer Zeit 209 Index 231 This book, consisting of 12 contributions, unites the most recent results from archaeological research in the Upper Mesopotamian piedmont. Under the growing influence of expanding territorial states, which were established during the 2nd millennium BCE, this region experienced a substantial change in social and political life during that time. The discussion is centered on settlement shapes, developments in material culture, as well as written documents that attest to this change. In summary, this book emphasizes the significant role of archaeological research in the reconstruction of models concerning the formation and transformation of political spaces in the ancient world.