Assyrians, Aramaeans and Babylonians: the Syrian Lower Middle Euphrates Valley at the End of the Bronze Age
The historical hypothesis of a possible, or even probable, continuity of the ancient Amorite traditions of the Bronze Age in the Middle Euphrates Iron Age cultures is now better supported by the discovery of the continuity of the sedentary occupation during the “crisis years” in the 13th and 12th ce...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
IFAPO
2009
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In: |
Syria
Year: 2009, Volume: 86, Pages: 133-139 |
Online Access: |
Presumably Free Access Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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Summary: | The historical hypothesis of a possible, or even probable, continuity of the ancient Amorite traditions of the Bronze Age in the Middle Euphrates Iron Age cultures is now better supported by the discovery of the continuity of the sedentary occupation during the “crisis years” in the 13th and 12th centuries, not only in the region around Terqa, but also in the southern part of the valley. The sites belonging to that period recently identified in this area appear clearly to be marked by the presence of a more southern, or more eastern culture, usually classified as “Late Kassite”, a situation indicating a change in the evolution of the local society. But the presence itself, already in Iron I period, of well‑organised settlements in an area where a dimorphic organisation of the population and of the economy had been traditional for a very long time, lends new weight to the idea that the first “Aramaean” polities attested in the Middle Euphrates were not simply clans of primitive nomads coming out of the steppe. Instead, they represented a new political structure, well implanted in the local (and cuneiform) culture, reshaping its form against the pressure of the Mesopotamian states and empires. |
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ISSN: | 2076-8435 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Syria
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.4000/syria.520 |