This article explores the social lives of gaming stones, a significant number of which have been found at the Late Bronze Age farming settlement of Aredhiou Vouppes, Cyprus. The number of gaming stones found at the site is unprecedented within a Late Cypriot context. Comparatively few are found in the contemporary urban centers, and in general they appear to be more typical of the Middle Cypriot social world. The purpose of this article is to investigate the agency of these gaming stones, and to consider them as social mediators within the community of Aredhiou. It explores the social and cognitive lives of these objects, examining how they might be transformed and reimagined as they moved through myriad states of existence throughout their object-life, and thus the various ways in which they were entangled in the social life of the settlement.
{"title":"Exploring the Biography of Gaming Stones at Aredhiou, Cyprus during the Late Bronze Age","authors":"Louise Steel","doi":"10.1086/725772","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/725772","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores the social lives of gaming stones, a significant number of which have been found at the Late Bronze Age farming settlement of Aredhiou Vouppes, Cyprus. The number of gaming stones found at the site is unprecedented within a Late Cypriot context. Comparatively few are found in the contemporary urban centers, and in general they appear to be more typical of the Middle Cypriot social world. The purpose of this article is to investigate the agency of these gaming stones, and to consider them as social mediators within the community of Aredhiou. It explores the social and cognitive lives of these objects, examining how they might be transformed and reimagined as they moved through myriad states of existence throughout their object-life, and thus the various ways in which they were entangled in the social life of the settlement.","PeriodicalId":51934,"journal":{"name":"NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY","volume":"86 1","pages":"186 - 195"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44495877","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Robebus Chapel at Mount Nebo was revealed in 1981 and its crypts excavated from 2007 to 2011. The earliest interments were supine and articulated, while the bones of later depositions were disarticulated, commingled, and frequently broken. Postdepositional tool modification occurred on seven crania and on the ribs of one of the estimated seventy-three adult males interred. The accessibility to the crypts provided a means for monastics to view the decomposition sequence and anatomy, which provided useful knowledge in their capacity as physical as well as spiritual healers. Decomposition, reintegration, recombination, removal, and modification with tools were part of the funerary cycle that produced increased fragmentation over time. This fragmentation corresponded to increased competitive relic acquisition, international pilgrimage, and Mount Nebo’s role as a physical and spiritual healing center. N.B.: Images of human bones.
{"title":"Robebus Chapel Crypt Burials","authors":"Margaret Ann Judd","doi":"10.1086/725770","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/725770","url":null,"abstract":"The Robebus Chapel at Mount Nebo was revealed in 1981 and its crypts excavated from 2007 to 2011. The earliest interments were supine and articulated, while the bones of later depositions were disarticulated, commingled, and frequently broken. Postdepositional tool modification occurred on seven crania and on the ribs of one of the estimated seventy-three adult males interred. The accessibility to the crypts provided a means for monastics to view the decomposition sequence and anatomy, which provided useful knowledge in their capacity as physical as well as spiritual healers. Decomposition, reintegration, recombination, removal, and modification with tools were part of the funerary cycle that produced increased fragmentation over time. This fragmentation corresponded to increased competitive relic acquisition, international pilgrimage, and Mount Nebo’s role as a physical and spiritual healing center. N.B.: Images of human bones.","PeriodicalId":51934,"journal":{"name":"NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY","volume":"86 1","pages":"218 - 229"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44524255","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In the recent excavations of Quwakh Tapeh, located forty-five kilometers west of Kermanshah in the Mahidasht Plain in western Iran, two fragments were discovered of an Assyrian royal stele belonging to the end of the eighth century BCE and erected on the site following the attack of the Assyrian king Sargon II (722–705 BCE). Considering the high quality of the material, a dolostone, as well as the high quality of the carving of both the relief and the cuneiform inscription, an important question arises as to where the stele was manufactured. In this article we present the results of petrographic and ICP analysis carried out in order to identify the origin of the raw material used for the Quwakh Tapeh stele. The results of our investigations indicate that the stone used to make the stele was probably extracted from the Shahbazan Formation, which outcrops across the Chahar Zabar-Hasanabad Pass to the west and southwest of Quwakh Tapeh.
{"title":"A Survey on the Geological Origin of the Stele of the Assyrian King Sargon II from Quwakh Tapeh, Kermanshah, Western Iran","authors":"S. Alibaigi, J. MacGinnis, I. Rezaei","doi":"10.1086/725774","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/725774","url":null,"abstract":"In the recent excavations of Quwakh Tapeh, located forty-five kilometers west of Kermanshah in the Mahidasht Plain in western Iran, two fragments were discovered of an Assyrian royal stele belonging to the end of the eighth century BCE and erected on the site following the attack of the Assyrian king Sargon II (722–705 BCE). Considering the high quality of the material, a dolostone, as well as the high quality of the carving of both the relief and the cuneiform inscription, an important question arises as to where the stele was manufactured. In this article we present the results of petrographic and ICP analysis carried out in order to identify the origin of the raw material used for the Quwakh Tapeh stele. The results of our investigations indicate that the stone used to make the stele was probably extracted from the Shahbazan Formation, which outcrops across the Chahar Zabar-Hasanabad Pass to the west and southwest of Quwakh Tapeh.","PeriodicalId":51934,"journal":{"name":"NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY","volume":"86 1","pages":"208 - 216"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46509812","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Recent global projections of climate change highlight alarming rates of flooding and erosion on the coastlines of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Though there are indisputable links between climate change and the deterioration of maritime cultural heritage (particularly coastal archaeology), deterioration is often the result of multiple compounding factors, central among which are anthropogenic landscape alterations. In this article the authors attempt to disentangle these factors at a small scale, using the Gaza Strip, Libya, and Oman as case studies. They examine the impact of accelerating coastal erosion, flooding, and increasing frequency of tropical cyclones to question predominant discussions on the impact of climate change on heritage. They emphasize methods and practices for the identification of sites that can expand and refine climate change research (often reliant on data from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries) through the long-term perspective archaeology is uniquely placed to offer.
{"title":"Coastal Archaeology and Climate Change in the Middle East and North Africa","authors":"Kieran Westley, Georgia Andreou","doi":"10.1086/725769","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/725769","url":null,"abstract":"Recent global projections of climate change highlight alarming rates of flooding and erosion on the coastlines of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Though there are indisputable links between climate change and the deterioration of maritime cultural heritage (particularly coastal archaeology), deterioration is often the result of multiple compounding factors, central among which are anthropogenic landscape alterations. In this article the authors attempt to disentangle these factors at a small scale, using the Gaza Strip, Libya, and Oman as case studies. They examine the impact of accelerating coastal erosion, flooding, and increasing frequency of tropical cyclones to question predominant discussions on the impact of climate change on heritage. They emphasize methods and practices for the identification of sites that can expand and refine climate change research (often reliant on data from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries) through the long-term perspective archaeology is uniquely placed to offer.","PeriodicalId":51934,"journal":{"name":"NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY","volume":"86 1","pages":"230 - 239"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44610904","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In this article, the author interprets a triangular amulet from the original period of Zincirli’s excavations. He argues that the schematic, linear decoration covering the piece related to astral imagery, most likely the lunar deity Su’en with specifically bovine imagery. The pseudo-script “inscription” covering one of the sides of the amulet was understood to be a magical spell. Based on this hypothesis and in combination with comparative figurine iconography, the author further suggests that the amulet was specifically worn by a woman as a protective aid in childbirth.
{"title":"A Triangular Amulet from Zincirli","authors":"K. L. Younger","doi":"10.1086/725771","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/725771","url":null,"abstract":"In this article, the author interprets a triangular amulet from the original period of Zincirli’s excavations. He argues that the schematic, linear decoration covering the piece related to astral imagery, most likely the lunar deity Su’en with specifically bovine imagery. The pseudo-script “inscription” covering one of the sides of the amulet was understood to be a magical spell. Based on this hypothesis and in combination with comparative figurine iconography, the author further suggests that the amulet was specifically worn by a woman as a protective aid in childbirth.","PeriodicalId":51934,"journal":{"name":"NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY","volume":"86 1","pages":"196 - 206"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45585474","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Previous articleNext article FreeFrom the EditorStephanie L. BudinStephanie L. Budin Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmailPrint SectionsMoreHello, Readers!Greece is burning again. According to all the major news media, the island of Rhodes is getting the worst of it. Just two years ago it was the archaeological site of Olympia in the Peloponnese that went up in flames. And that’s not the only kind of burning: Last week (I’m writing this in late July), the Athenian Acropolis closed down to tourism because of the extreme heat. According to all those same major news media, and I quote: “Welcome to the new normal.”Climate change is finding all sorts of new ways ot mess with archaeology. This isn’t entirely new. Back in 2007 I took part in an excavation on Cyprus that was atypically but conveniently for me, taking place in spring. Normally the dig took place during the summer break, once classes were over. But the previous year the team lost several days owing to extreme heat, when it simply was not feasible to have people in the field. So in 2007 they decided to move the dig season from summer break to the Easter season, shielding folks from the Summer’s brutality. We wound up losing only one day to a severe wind-storm, which reminded me of Dante’s second level of Hell (Lust, not inapproriate as we were close to the birthplace of Aphrodite), and reminded the students from Edinburgh of home. The point is, archaeologists are known for their heat tolearance, and the heat is now pushing back in such a way that even the archaeologists are starting to cave.So there is heat for the archaeologists, heat for the tourists, and fire literally all around. And thus once again we must bring up the matter of how the archaeological community is going to deal with the global warming problem, especially when it comes to protecting ourselves in the field.There is a strong probability that excavation seasons are going to start shifting away from the summer months. This is already common in Egypt and Sudan, and, as noted above, becoming desirable for Cyprus. The major concern here is how such new schedules will interact with the standard academic calendar, which normally has student or professors in the classroom during the cooler seasons. Will excavation seasons become shorter to fit into spring break and the gap between Michaelmas and Hilary? Will graduate programs in archaeology tweak their schedules to allow for digs mid-semester? As the seasons shift, will December become the new June? (If you are in the southern hemisphere, please feel free to flip those.) Are we about to see a LOT more people in underwater archaeology programs? Or shall we just become much better at digging at night, hopefully in cooler temperatures?What we can do for the sites—to protect them from heat and fire—is a whole other headache. (Again, the underwater arch
{"title":"From the Editor","authors":"Stephanie L. Budin","doi":"10.1086/727500","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/727500","url":null,"abstract":"Previous articleNext article FreeFrom the EditorStephanie L. BudinStephanie L. Budin Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmailPrint SectionsMoreHello, Readers!Greece is burning again. According to all the major news media, the island of Rhodes is getting the worst of it. Just two years ago it was the archaeological site of Olympia in the Peloponnese that went up in flames. And that’s not the only kind of burning: Last week (I’m writing this in late July), the Athenian Acropolis closed down to tourism because of the extreme heat. According to all those same major news media, and I quote: “Welcome to the new normal.”Climate change is finding all sorts of new ways ot mess with archaeology. This isn’t entirely new. Back in 2007 I took part in an excavation on Cyprus that was atypically but conveniently for me, taking place in spring. Normally the dig took place during the summer break, once classes were over. But the previous year the team lost several days owing to extreme heat, when it simply was not feasible to have people in the field. So in 2007 they decided to move the dig season from summer break to the Easter season, shielding folks from the Summer’s brutality. We wound up losing only one day to a severe wind-storm, which reminded me of Dante’s second level of Hell (Lust, not inapproriate as we were close to the birthplace of Aphrodite), and reminded the students from Edinburgh of home. The point is, archaeologists are known for their heat tolearance, and the heat is now pushing back in such a way that even the archaeologists are starting to cave.So there is heat for the archaeologists, heat for the tourists, and fire literally all around. And thus once again we must bring up the matter of how the archaeological community is going to deal with the global warming problem, especially when it comes to protecting ourselves in the field.There is a strong probability that excavation seasons are going to start shifting away from the summer months. This is already common in Egypt and Sudan, and, as noted above, becoming desirable for Cyprus. The major concern here is how such new schedules will interact with the standard academic calendar, which normally has student or professors in the classroom during the cooler seasons. Will excavation seasons become shorter to fit into spring break and the gap between Michaelmas and Hilary? Will graduate programs in archaeology tweak their schedules to allow for digs mid-semester? As the seasons shift, will December become the new June? (If you are in the southern hemisphere, please feel free to flip those.) Are we about to see a LOT more people in underwater archaeology programs? Or shall we just become much better at digging at night, hopefully in cooler temperatures?What we can do for the sites—to protect them from heat and fire—is a whole other headache. (Again, the underwater arch","PeriodicalId":51934,"journal":{"name":"NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY","volume":"15 Suppl 1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135150072","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The practice of archaeologists of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) urgently needs decarbonization in the context of a climate crisis disproportionately affecting this region’s people and cultural heritage. Academic conferences are both an invaluable forum for research exchange and networking and a carbon-intensive practice presenting barriers to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This article summarizes a study by the authors and the ASOR Ad Hoc Climate Impact Committee on the carbon footprint of the American Society of Overseas Research Annual Meeting and potential strategies for making the meeting carbon neutral and accessible while retaining engagement. We find that the best strategies for significantly reducing the about 1266 t CO2e produced by the traditional meeting format are: (1) alternation of in-person and virtual meetings; (2) hybrid in-person and virtual meeting; (3) dual-component in-person/virtual meeting; or (4) distributed meeting with US and MENA hubs. Carefully vetted carbon offsets should be purchased for remaining emissions.
{"title":"The Climate Crisis and Archaeological Practice in the Middle East and North Africa","authors":"V. Herrmann, Lucas Stephens","doi":"10.1086/724780","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/724780","url":null,"abstract":"The practice of archaeologists of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) urgently needs decarbonization in the context of a climate crisis disproportionately affecting this region’s people and cultural heritage. Academic conferences are both an invaluable forum for research exchange and networking and a carbon-intensive practice presenting barriers to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This article summarizes a study by the authors and the ASOR Ad Hoc Climate Impact Committee on the carbon footprint of the American Society of Overseas Research Annual Meeting and potential strategies for making the meeting carbon neutral and accessible while retaining engagement. We find that the best strategies for significantly reducing the about 1266 t CO2e produced by the traditional meeting format are: (1) alternation of in-person and virtual meetings; (2) hybrid in-person and virtual meeting; (3) dual-component in-person/virtual meeting; or (4) distributed meeting with US and MENA hubs. Carefully vetted carbon offsets should be purchased for remaining emissions.","PeriodicalId":51934,"journal":{"name":"NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY","volume":"86 1","pages":"146 - 156"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41737651","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Recent research focused on the regions of Malatya and the northern Levant has allowed scholars to improve our understanding of the political history of the polities of Malizi and Palastina. The present article examines recent archaeological evidence from Arslantepe and several northern Levantine sites alongside a corpus of textual and iconographic data from the upper Euphrates and the northern Levant in an attempt to identify Early Iron Age networks of cultural exchange that resulted in shared specialized cultic and artistic knowledge. While networks of interaction between these regions may have begun as a product of persistent sociopolitical ties following the fragmentation of the Hittite Empire, this article proposes that it is due to the resilience of major cult centers that Malizi and Palastina were able to exchange specialized cultic knowledge and artistic traditions and employ them in the definition of their new Iron Age cultic and political communities.
{"title":"Networks of Specialized Knowledge","authors":"N. Lovejoy","doi":"10.1086/724782","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/724782","url":null,"abstract":"Recent research focused on the regions of Malatya and the northern Levant has allowed scholars to improve our understanding of the political history of the polities of Malizi and Palastina. The present article examines recent archaeological evidence from Arslantepe and several northern Levantine sites alongside a corpus of textual and iconographic data from the upper Euphrates and the northern Levant in an attempt to identify Early Iron Age networks of cultural exchange that resulted in shared specialized cultic and artistic knowledge. While networks of interaction between these regions may have begun as a product of persistent sociopolitical ties following the fragmentation of the Hittite Empire, this article proposes that it is due to the resilience of major cult centers that Malizi and Palastina were able to exchange specialized cultic knowledge and artistic traditions and employ them in the definition of their new Iron Age cultic and political communities.","PeriodicalId":51934,"journal":{"name":"NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY","volume":"86 1","pages":"112 - 121"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44967351","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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