The Provincial Archaeology of the Assyrian Empire

The Provincial Archaeology of the Assyrian Empire PDF

Author: John MacGinnis

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781902937748

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The Assyrian empire was in its day the greatest empire the world had ever seen. Building on the expansion of the Middle Assyrian state in the late second millennium BC, the opening centuries of the first millennium witnessed a resurgence which led to the birth of a true empire whose limits stretched from Egypt to Iran and from Anatolia to the Persian Gulf. While the Assyrian imperial capital cities have long been the focus of archaeological exploration, it is only in recent decades that the peripheral areas have been the subject of sustained research. This volume sets out to synthesize the results of this research, bringing together the outcomes of key investigations from across the empire. The provincial archaeology of the empire is presented in a new light, with studies of the archaeological imprint of Assyria in present-day Israel, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. A wide range of methodological and interpretive approaches are brought to bear on the data. Analyses of environmental zones and ecofactual datasets, material culture and architectural traditions, the permeation of literacy and the use of para-literate systems form the platform for innovative and integrative evaluations and lead to a new appreciation for the diversity of local responses to the Assyrian expansion.

The Neo-Assyrian Empire in the Southwest

The Neo-Assyrian Empire in the Southwest PDF

Author: Avraham Faust

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2021-01-18

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 0192578715

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The Neo-Assyrian empire — the first large empire of the ancient world — has attracted a great deal of public attention ever since the spectacular discoveries of its impressive remains in the 19th century. The southwestern part of this empire, located in the lands of the Bible, is archaeologically speaking the best known region in the world, and its history is described in a plethora of texts, including the Hebrew Bible. Using a bottom-up approach, Avraham Faust utilises this unparalleled information to reconstruct the outcomes of the Assyrian conquest of the region and how it impacted the diverse political units and ecological zones that comprised it. In doing so, he draws close attention to the transformations the imperial take-over brought in its wake. His analysis reveals the marginality of the annexed territories in the southwest as the empire focused its activities in small border areas facing its prospering clients. A comparison of this surprising picture to the information available from other parts of the empire suggests that the distance of these provinces from the imperial core is responsible for their fate. This sheds new light on factors influencing imperial expansion, the considerations leading to annexation, and the imperial methods of control, challenging old conventions about the development of the Assyrian empire and its rule. Faust also examines the Assyrian empire within the broader context of ancient Near Eastern imperialism to answer larger questions on the nature of Assyrian domination, the reasons for its harsh treatment of the distant provinces, and the factors influencing the limits of its reach. His findings highlight the historical development of imperial control in antiquity and the ways in which later empires were able to overcome similar limitations, paving the way to much larger and longer-lasting polities.

Imperial Peripheries in the Neo-Assyrian Period

Imperial Peripheries in the Neo-Assyrian Period PDF

Author: Craig W. Tyson

Publisher: University Press of Colorado

Published: 2019-01-15

Total Pages: 319

ISBN-13: 1607328232

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Though the Neo-Assyrian Empire has largely been conceived of as the main actor in relations between its core and periphery, recent work on the empire’s peripheries has encouraged archaeologists and historians to consider dynamic models of interaction between Assyria and the polities surrounding it. Imperial Peripheries in the Neo-Assyrian Period focuses on the variability of imperial strategies and local responses to Assyrian power across time and space. An international team of archaeologists and historians draws upon both new and existing evidence from excavations, surveys, texts, and material culture to highlight the strategies that the Neo-Assyrian Empire applied to manage its diverse and widespread empire as well as the mixed reception of those strategies by subjects close to and far from the center. Case studies from around the ancient Near East illustrate a remarkable variety of responses to Assyrian aggression, economic policies, and cultural influences. As a whole, the volume demonstrates both the destructive and constructive roles of empire, including unintended effects of imperialism on socioeconomic and cultural change. Imperial Peripheries in the Neo-Assyrian Period aligns with the recent movement in imperial studies to replace global, top-down materialist models with theories of contingency, local agency, and bottom-up processes. Such approaches bring to the foreground the reality that the development and lifecycles of empires in general, and the Neo-Assyrian Empire in particular, cannot be completely explained by the activities of the core. The book will be welcomed by archaeologists of the Ancient Near East, Assyriologists, and scholars concerned with empires and imperial power in history. Contributors: Stephanie H. Brown, Anna Cannavò, Megan Cifarelli, Erin Darby, Bleda S. Düring, Avraham Faust, Guido Guarducci, Bradley J. Parker

The Imperialisation of Assyria

The Imperialisation of Assyria PDF

Author: Bleda S. Düring

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2020-01-30

Total Pages: 205

ISBN-13: 1108478743

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How can we understand the remarkable success of the Assyrian Empire? This book provides an agent-centred explanation using archaeological data.

Ziyaret Tepe

Ziyaret Tepe PDF

Author: Timothy Matney

Publisher: Cornucopia Books/Caique Publishing

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 9780956594891

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This unique record charts the important archaeological finds over 18 years at Ziyaret Tepe in southeast Turkey - site of Tushan, a provincial capital of the Assyrian Empire dating back to the 9th century BC. Informative, scholarly, copiously illustrated, personal and extremely readable, this groundbreaking book sets a new benchmark in the field.

The Archaeology of Imperial Landscapes

The Archaeology of Imperial Landscapes PDF

Author: Bleda S. Düring

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2018-03-29

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13: 1108103170

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The Archaeology of Imperial Landscapes examines the transformation of rural landscapes and societies that formed the backbone of ancient empires in the Near East and Mediterranean. Through a comparative approach to archaeological data, it analyses the patterns of transformation in widely differing imperial contexts in the ancient world. Bringing together a range of studies by an international team of scholars, the volume shows that empires were dynamic, diverse, and experimental polities, and that their success or failure was determined by a combination of forceful interventions, as well as the new possibilities for those dominated by empires to collaborate and profit from doing so. By highlighting the processes that occur in rural and peripheral landscapes, the volume demonstrates that the archaeology of these non-urban and literally eccentric spheres can provide an important contribution to our understanding of ancient empires. The 'bottom up' approach to the study of ancient empires is crucial to understanding how these remarkable socio-political organisms could exist and persist.

The Southern Levant Under Assyrian Domination

The Southern Levant Under Assyrian Domination PDF

Author: Shawn Zelig Aster

Publisher: Eisenbrauns

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781575067971

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Presents a series of studies that address various aspects of Assyrian rule in the southern Levant and its consequences, as well as life under Assyrian hegemony, and the sources available for such studies.

Ancient Assyria: A Very Short Introduction

Ancient Assyria: A Very Short Introduction PDF

Author: Karen Radner

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2015-03-26

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 0191024937

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Assyria was one of the most influential kingdoms of the Ancient Near East. In this Very Short Introduction, Karen Radner sketches the history of Assyria from city state to empire, from the early 2nd millennium BC to the end of the 7th century BC. Since the archaeological rediscovery of Assyria in the mid-19th century, its cities have been excavated extensively in Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Israel, with further sites in Iran, Lebanon, and Jordan providing important information. The Assyrian Empire was one of the most geographically vast, socially diverse, multicultural, and multi-ethnic states of the early first millennium BC.Using archaeological records, Radner provides insights into the lives of the inhabitants of the kingdom, highlighting the diversity of human experiences in the Assyrian Empire. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.