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Assyria and the West -

Assyria and the West

A Fresh Look at the Unshakeable Pillars of Late Bronze and Iron Age Chronology in the Eastern Mediterranean World
Buch | Hardcover
446 Seiten
2025
Archaeopress Archaeology (Verlag)
978-1-80327-989-3 (ISBN)
CHF 157,10 inkl. MwSt
This volume re-examines key chronological anchors of the Late Bronze and Iron Ages, questioning the reliability of synchronisms between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Focusing on artistic, archaeological, and historical data, the contributors explore shifting timelines and tensions in Assyrian, Hittite, and Levantine contexts.
Many years ago, archaeologist George Hanfmann wrote that: ‘a word of caution must be added regarding the so-called ‘absolute’ dates. Because the Near East is so vital for the chronologies of the European, Central Asiatic … areas, it is well to remind ourselves from time to time that the two great pillars of the chronology of the Bronze Age, the Egyptian and the Mesopotamian, are not two stout towers resting on immovable foundations.’ His first pillar, the chronology of Egypt, has come under increasing scrutiny, particularly with respect to the ‘Third Intermediate Period’, which separates the 26th Dynasty from Egypt’s earlier history. To establish firmer dates for New Kingdom Egypt, scholars now point to synchronisms with Mesopotamia. Yet, how valid are these synchronisms? In many respects, Mesopotamian chronology seems antagonistic rather than complementary to the Egyptian. Egypt provides the dates for the Late Bronze Age Hittite empire, while Assyria controls those of the Neo-Hittite kingdoms that succeeded it in northern Syria during the Iron Age. Here, Imperial Hittite styles come into conflict with indications from Assyrian-dated artistic sequences. Similarly, at Byblos, links with Neo-Assyrian art have raised a mystery concerning its royal inscriptions, while Israel remains the focal point of heated debates in Iron Age archaeology. An option is simply to lower the start of the Iron Age, and there is much evidence from Mesopotamia consistent with this. The articles in this volume deal with several important aspects of ‘Assyria and the West’ (as related to the so-called ‘Dark Age’).

Pieter Gert van der Veen (PhD, habil.) is a reader in Levantine archaeology at the University of Mainz. Besides being a prolific writer on archaeological topics, he has excavated at various sites in Israel and has conducted archaeological field work in East Jerusalem. He specialises in inscribed seals and scarabs from ancient Israel and Jordan, West Semitic epigraphy, the history and archaeology of monarchic Judah, and Late Bronze Age burial finds from Eastern Jerusalem. Ronald Wallenfels PhD is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, New York University, and a former Associate Curator in the Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. He has published extensively in monographs, journal articles, and critical reviews on both the languages and art history of the Ancient Near East from the Early Bronze Age through the end of the Hellenistic period. Peter James (1952-2024) was an independent researcher specialising in ancient history, archaeology and the chronology of the Eastern Mediterranean, ancient technology and astronomy, and sub-Roman Britain. He graduated in archaeology and ancient history at the University of Birmingham and pursued postgraduate research in ancient history at University College London. He authored and co-authored many articles and books, including Centuries of Darkness: A challenge to the conventional chronology of Old World archaeology (London, 1991).

PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


A GENERAL INTRODUCTION: ‘ASSYRIA AND THE WEST’ –  Peter James†, Pieter van der Veen and Ronald Wallenfels (eds)


OBITUARY FOR PETER JAMES† (1952–2024) – John Bimson


 


SESSION 1: THE PRESENT STATE OF MESOPOTAMIAN AND HITTITE CHRONOLOGY: UNSOLVED ISSUES AND FRESH APPROACHES


AN INTRODUCTION TO SESSION ONE: ‘DOES ANYBODY REALLY KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?̕ – Ronald Wallenfels 


ASSYRIAN AND MITANNIAN POTTERY STYLES: FROM ASSUR TO THE EUPHRATES AND BEYOND – Robert Porter


DISCUSSION 1: THE NORTH SYRIAN ḪURRIAN KINGDOMS AND DARK AGE CHRONOLOGY – Ronald Wallenfels and Peter James†


A CRITICAL LOOK AT MESOPOTAMIAN-EGYPTIAN SYNCHRONISMS DURING THE 14TH–13TH CENTURIES BC – Peter James†


MIDDLE ASSYRIAN HISTORY AND CULTURE AND DARK AGE ASSYRIAN CHRONOLOGY – Ronald Wallenfels


TWO PARALLEL LINES DURING THE MIDDLE AND EARLY NEO-ASSYRIAN PERIOD – Bieke Mahieu


EA 16: NAPḪURIYA REVISITED – Johannes Dams


ELAMITE DARK AGE CHRONOLOGY – Yuri Khramov


DISCUSSION 2: Assyria and the Post-Kassite Period IN THE LIGHT OF CoD CHRONOLOGY – Ronald Wallenfels


DATING HARTAPU: THE TROUBLED RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ARCHAEOLOGY AND TEXTS – Jorrit Kelder


THE HITTITE NEW KINGDOM AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE NEO-HITTITE KINGDOMS: GAP OR CONTINUITY? – Peter James† and Bieke Mahieu


 


SESSION 2: THE LEVANT AND THE EFFECTS OF ASSYRIAN CHRONOLOGY


A DARK AGE HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT? AN INTRODUCTION – John Bimson


AN ALTERNATIVE PARADIGM FOR ISRAEL’S ORIGINS IN CANAAN – John Bimson


PHOENICIA AT THE LATE BRONZE–IRON AGE TRANSITION – Jesse Millek


TOWARDS A RESOLUTION OF THE ‘SEA PEOPLES’ RUBIKS CUBE: HIRAM, KING OF THE SEA PEOPLES? – Peter James†


‘REDATING THE BYBLOS INSCRIPTIONS’: ULTRA-LOW CHRONOLOGIES AND THE DATING OF EARLY 1ST MILLENNIUM BCE LEVANTINE MATERIAL CULTURE AND HISTORY – Ronald Wallenfels


CHRONOLOGICAL DATA AND MID-NINTH CENTURY BC ISRAEL – Wolfgang Zwickel


ASSYRIAN SYNCHRONISMS AND THE TYRIAN ANNALS – Nikos Kokkinos


‘LATE ASSYRIAN-STYLE’ SEALS, BULLAE AND POTTERY AS CHRONOLOGICAL MARKERS FOR DATING IRON AGE IIB – Pieter van der Veen


IN DUBIO PRO REO: THE CASE OF SENNACHERIB AND THE BEERSHEBA VALLEY – Ariel Bagg


THE CHRONOLOGY OF EDOM IN THE IRON AGE: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE EVIDENCE – Juan Tebes


TEXT-IMPEDED ARCHAEOLOGY: ASSYRIAN INVOLVEMENT AT SAMARIA AND TELL ES-SA’IDIYEH – Rupert Chapman


DISCUSSION 3: NEO-BABYLONIAN AND ACHAEMENID PERIOD POTTERY MARKERS FROM TELL ES-SA’IDIYEH STRATUM IV – Pieter van der Veen


DISCUSSION 4: In dubio pro reo. The case of Sennacherib and the Beersheba Valley – Peter James†


 


SESSION 3: SCIENTIFIC DATING METHODS


‘ASSYRIA AND THE WEST’ IN THE LIGHT OF SCIENTIFIC DATING: AN INTRODUCTION – Uwe Zerbst


OPEN QUESTIONS REGARDING THE RELIABILITY OF 14C DATING IN THE CONTEXT OF ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN CHRONOLOGY – Uwe Zerbst and Pieter van der Veen


THE AMMIṢADUQA TABLETS AND BABYLONIAN CHRONOLOGY IN RETROSPECT: SUCCESSES AND FAILURES – David Lappin


ANCIENT DNA: THE SOLUTION TO EVERYTHING OR THE DEVIL’S WORK? – Nick Thorpe

Erscheinungsdatum
Co-Autor Peter James
Zusatzinfo Colour figures throughout
Verlagsort Oxford
Sprache englisch
Maße 205 x 290 mm
Gewicht 1986 g
Themenwelt Geisteswissenschaften Archäologie
Geschichte Allgemeine Geschichte Vor- und Frühgeschichte
ISBN-10 1-80327-989-3 / 1803279893
ISBN-13 978-1-80327-989-3 / 9781803279893
Zustand Neuware
Informationen gemäß Produktsicherheitsverordnung (GPSR)
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