Archaeology

Bioarchaeology of the Near East (Volume 1, 2007) includes contributions by Theya Molleson, Douglas H. Ubelaker, and Joseph L. Rife, as well as short fieldwork reprots.

Bioarchaeology of the Near East (Volume 2, 2008) includes contributions by Nathan K. Harper, Sherry C. Fox, Mateusz Baca, and Martyna Molak, as well as short fieldwork reprots.

Cylinder seals were important instruments in the Ancient Near East, and were used in Mesopotamia from the beginning of the third millennium BCE to the fifth century BCE. This volume presents an analysis of 1000 cylinder seals (including 70 that are not yet published) from the Old Babylonian period, including the Isin and Larsa dynasties, and uses this analysis as well as data from written texts of the period to answer questions relating to the seal cutters and the production of the seals.

This volume features the tablets of the Akkadian text of Gilgamesh, reproduced as a cuneiform text with German captions.

Description of the excavations of several places in north-eastern Egypt in 1906

Report of the 1900 excavations of Abydos, which discovered some of the oldest Egyptian artwork

This pamphlet contains 206 Syriac inscriptions, sorted by date, attesting to the Nestorian presence in Central Asia

This early history of the Church of the East was part of a volume issued to commemorate the exhibition of thirty Syriac inscriptions from Central Asia at the Musee Guimet.

ICONEA is the only publication exclusively dedicated to the archaeomusicology of Near and Middle Eastern cultures from its Sumerian origins to the dawn of Christianity. ICONEA also publishes papers of comparative archaeomusicology with contemporaneous neighbouring cultures.

Recent archaeological discoveries within the Upper Tigris region in Southeastern Turkey offer a unique opportunity to understand the dynamics of the Assyrian Empire borderlands. Within a few years most of the region will be irreversibly submerged, due to the construction of the Ilisu dam, the biggest hydroelectric power plant project in Turkey. It is of paramount importance to understand and record as much data as possible about the local communities and the foreign connections that flowered in this area.

The author responds to criticism against his prior publications, when his conclusions were based foremost on the relevant archaeological findings. It is a debate between methodologies used by archaeology and the assumptions of textual analysis within biblical scholarship.

From Ugarit to Nabataea is a collection of articles on the texts and cultures of various Near and Middle Eastern societies such as Ugarit, Ancient North Arabia, Nabatea, Palmyra, Edessa, the monasteries of Mesopotamia, and modern day Syriac-speaking communities. They include discussion of the religious beliefs, iconography, epigraphy, architecture and language of these societies – fields to which John F. Healey has contributed in his long, distinguished and varied career.

This article presents, in provisional form, a recently discovered and excavated Nabataean sanctuary devoted to the cult of the sun-god in Madâ’in Sâlih, ancient Hegra.

This article provides some new information about the role of snakes in relation to Nabataean religion, presenting a small group of unknown snake monuments from Petra.

Excavation of the Small Temple of Petra, Jordan has revealed a Roman building likely dedicated to the imperial cult. Constructed in the wake of Roman annexation of Nabataea in 106 CE, the temple would have helped to solidify Roman control. Reid systematically examines the evidence used to support the identification of the Small Temple as an imperial cult building through the discussion of its prominent use of marble, a material with Roman imperial associations and almost entirely monopolized by the bureaucracy of the Roman Empire. The analysis of architectural evidence, as well as the placement of the Small Temple within the city, also support this identification.

Excavations in the Lower Market in Petra (Jordan), capital of the ancient kingdom of Nabsataea, uncovered the remnants of a monumental pool-complex at the heart of the ancient city. It played an important role in the socio-political life of Petra during the Nabataean and Roman periods. The mere presence of a paradeidos in Petra symbolized the Nabataean king's power and helped to legitimize his place among contemporary rulers. The paradeisos is an example of a gratuitous display of conspicuous consumption, a symbol of the flourishing status of Petra during its Classical era.

This book analyzes Zimri-Lim’s interactions with sovereigns from the Habur and with Yamut-bal and Numha tribal polities. It describes how Zimri-Lim’s disproportionate dependence on tribal connections left him vulnerable when these alliances began to falter in his tenth regnal year.

The Syriac writers of Qatar themselves produced some of the best and most sophisticated writing to be found in all Syriac literature of the seventh century, but they have not received the scholarly attention that they deserve in the last half century. This volume seeks to redress this underdevelopment by setting the standard for further research in the sub-field of Beth Qatraye studies.

Negotiating Island Identities explores the history of interaction between Crete and the Cycladic islands from the late Middle to Late Bronze II periods when Minoan influence was at its peak. Based on a thorough investigation of pottery assemblages from key sites, the book advocates a rethink of established acculturation scenarios (such as “Minoanisation”) in relation to the Cycladic islands. Openness or closure towards outside influences was not predetermined by cultural, geographical or ecological variables but was socially constructed. Island communities could consciously fashion their worlds and make choices about the nature and degree of interaction with their neighbours.

The Syriac writers of Qatar themselves produced some of the best and most sophisticated writing to be found in all Syriac literature of the seventh century, but they have not received the scholarly attention that they deserve in the last half century. This volume seeks to redress this underdevelopment by setting the standard for further research in the sub-field of Beth Qatraye studies.

A diachronic study of the development of Aqaba castle, an important Islamic khan at the junction of two major pilgrim routes, both based on Arabic and Crusader sources and the results of the excavations undertaken by Ghent University in Aqaba.

A collection of essays written in honour of S. Thomas Parker by his former students and colleagues. The essays focus on surveys, material and written culture, the economy, and the Roman military in the Near East.

“In the absence of reliable archaeological evidence, the question of how the mosque was made represents a real challenge. Its origin remains moot despite many attempts to settle the question. This study sets out to explore whether early Islam, within the framework of the Prophet’s teachings and practices, as well as the Qurʾān, might have provided the necessary prompts for the making of the mosque and the shaping of its essential functional and architectural features. It also investigates how such religious prompts may have interacted with the political, cultural and socio-economic contexts in which the mosque type materialized. As such, this book scrutinizes two dominant tendencies regarding the mosque type, the modern Western views on its non-Islamic origins and the Islamic legalist views on what it should look like.”

The Material Origin of Numbers examines how number concepts are realized, represented, manipulated, and elaborated. Utilizing the cognitive archaeological framework of Material Engagement Theory and culling data from disciplines including neuroscience, ethnography, linguistics, and archaeology, Overmann offers a methodologically rich study of numbers and number concepts in the ancient Near East from the late Upper Paleolithic Period through the Bronze Age.

This book focuses on the production, sale, and consumption of portable arts in regions covered today by the modern polities of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and the Palestine Authority. The reprinted chapters in this volume have been revised and updated. They offer interdisciplinary approaches to the material culture of the region from the twelfth to the early twentieth centuries, combining evidence from primary written sources, archaeology, and objects in museums and private collections. Topics include the production and distribution of pottery, importation of glazed wares into the Middle East, shadow puppetry, economic activity associated with the Syrian hajj, the manufacturing practices of the crafts operating in Damascus during the last decades of Ottoman rule, and the decoration of artillery shell cases during and after World War I. Also included are an introduction containing a critical evaluation of the main sources of information, a cumulative bibliography, and a previously unpublished study of leatherworking in the late Ottoman period.