Nathalie Kallas | Freie Universität Berlin (original) (raw)

Papers by Nathalie Kallas

BAAL Bulletin d'Archólogie et d'Architecture Libanaises, 2020

The Levant witnessed an unprecedented growth of strong polities during the Middle Bronze Age II ... more The Levant witnessed an unprecedented growth of strong polities during the
Middle Bronze Age II that was triggered on the one side by the rise to of the Mesopotamian powers from the twentieth century bc and on the other by the intense contact with Egypt during one of its greatest eras, the Middle Kingdom followed by the foreign rule of the ‘Hyksos’. Unfortunately, the picture about the role of the Lebanese coast in the socio-political milieu of the MBA is not so complete. This is due, on the one side, to the low quality of the records of the old excavations by today’s standards, and on the other the lack of modern excavations of the main sites, and a general paucity of the field in studying and synthesising or publishing excavated material. Despite the scarcity of information, this paper attempts to highlight some aspects of the role of the MBA Lebanese coastal cities in the regional politics and trade. This is achieved through an examination of the published material, including the written and archaeological evidence, with a focus on the more recent archaeological data.

Das Sonderheft der ANTIKE WELT "Im Feld – Wie Grabungsalltag wirklich aussieht", 2020

Broadening Horizons 5. Civilizations in Contact: From the Prehistory of Upper Mesopotamia to the Bronze and Iron Age Societies of the Levant, ed. Marco Iamoni, 2020

Full Article Downloadable from: https://www.openstarts.units.it/handle/10077/30215 The Middle ... more Full Article Downloadable from: https://www.openstarts.units.it/handle/10077/30215

The Middle Bronze Age in the Near East was a period of particular commercial and political developments. Numerous polities rose in the Levant as a result of internal and external triggers. The material culture and finds from this area, which had no fixed boundaries or clear identity, reveals a continuous and vibrant interaction and exchange with the stronger surrounding cultures. This is clearly reflected in the architecture of the excavated palaces. A mélange of local and foreign features could be identified: Aegean frescoes, Egyptianizing wall paint- ings, Mesopotamian architecture and Anatolian building technique. The architecture of these palaces was used by the Levantine Elites to communicate their political power and reach to their peers. But what was the inten- tion and motivation of the various elites to integrate selected foreign features in the architecture and decora- tion of their palaces? This paper seeks to answer this question by identifying the preferences and the choices of foreign styles and features. Through defining the local or regional trends, some insights are gained about the na- ture of the relationship between the Levantine polities and their neighbors, and the various zones of influence.

Tell el-Burak 1: The Middle Bronze Age: With Chapters Related to the Site and to the Mamluk-Ottoman Period, eds. Kamlah, Jens; Sader, Helene, 2019

This chapter of the book on Area I of Tell el Burak deals with the Mamluk-Ottoman remains (dating... more This chapter of the book on Area I of Tell el Burak deals with the Mamluk-Ottoman remains (dating from the 13th to the 18th cent. C.E.). They have provided a modest contribution to our understanding of rural settlements from the Mamluk- Ottoman Periods. As their poor state of preservation has allowed for tentative dating only, the Tell el-Burak remains have contributed limited new information on the vernacular architecture (Houses I and II) and material culture (pottery, lamps and clay pipes) of the period. The chapter also includes a short report on a Child Burial found in this excavation area.

Ancient Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Palaces, Volume II ( Proceedings of a workshop held at the 10th ICAANE in Vienna, 25–26 April 2016), 2019

Studia Eblaitica 3, 2017

More than twenty structures dated to the Middle Bronze Age have been so far excavated in the Le- ... more More than twenty structures dated to the Middle Bronze Age have been so far excavated in the Le- vant and identi ed as palaces. Although at rst glance they might seem to di er greatly and share just a few common features, they are through their physical and visual form a manifestation of social and political practices. This paper explores how the architecture of these palaces could have been used as a tool by the ruling class and as a means of communication. By focusing on speci c case-studies and examining their architecture, the aim is to identify the kind of messages these constructions could convey about the political authority and ideology, and how the architecture, was used to create local traditions and to produce a Levantine elite identity.

2010

The site of Tell el-Burak is located on the Lebanese coast on the shores of Addusieh 9km south of... more The site of Tell el-Burak is located on the Lebanese coast on the shores of Addusieh 9km south of Sidon. A joint expedition by a Lebanese (American University of Beirut) German (University of Tubingen and the German Archaeological Institute) team was launched in 1997 to investigate its occupational sequence. During 5 excavation seasons (2001, 2002, 2003, 2005 & 2008) five areas have been excavated and three major building periods have been identified: Mamluk/Early Ottoman, Iron Age II and Middle Bronze Age II. --This study deals with the detailed stratigraphic analysis of the soundings that were made in squares 29/27, 29/28, 30/27 & 30/28 in Area I. The analysis of the excavation results followed the guidelines established by Edward C. Harris in his work Principles of Archaeological Stratigraphy (1989). As a result a matrix illustrating the physical relationship between the excavated contexts was created. In total, six phases of building, occupation and abandonment have been identified in the four squares under study. The thesis also examined the pottery and artifacts retrieved in these squares to establish the dating of the occupational phases.--As a result of this study the two construction and occupation phases of the mudbrick structure, and in the light of the new evidence, are dated to the Middle Bronze Age IIA. Furthermore, two later phases were dated to the Mamluk period. This thesis contributed to a better understanding of the occupation history of Area I of Tell el-Burak.

Conference and web talks by Nathalie Kallas

ANEE Forum meeting - Helsinki, 2024

This talk presents the excavation results of the ongoing project at the site of Tell Ushayer in J... more This talk presents the excavation results of the ongoing project at the site of Tell Ushayer in Jordan, with a focus on the substantial Iron Age fortification system. It highlights the architectural features of this massive construction project. By reflecting on our current understanding of the socio-political developments in the north Jordanian plateau between the end of the Late Bronze Age (LBA) and the Iron Age (IA), the talk explores the historical context in which this fortress was constructed.

ARWA AAA lectures - Levant, 2024

This talk presents the ongoing archaeological project at Tell Ushayer in Jordan, by a team from t... more This talk presents the ongoing archaeological project at Tell Ushayer in Jordan, by a team from the Freie Universität Berlin. Situated west of Irbid, the mound is characterized by an almost round shape and visible remnants of a fortification wall. Recent excavation findings reveal the construction of a substantial fortification system during the early Iron Age, significantly altering the site's morphology. Evidence suggests continuous occupation throughout the Iron Age period. The talk also highlights the documentation methodology, which combines traditional analog methods with digital solutions for recording excavation progress and findings. The work emphasizes the importance of integrating technology in both fieldwork and post-excavation analysis to advance research results effectively. Through its balanced approach, the project aims to fill gaps in understanding the region's history during the Iron Age, specifically the socio-political situation of the north Jordanian plateau.

The 13th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, 2023

An archaeological site in northern Jordan, close to Irbid, with massive stones from a fortificati... more An archaeological site in northern Jordan, close to Irbid, with massive stones from a fortification wall poking out of its surface led visitors to believe the remains are fairly recent, the inhabitants of the nearby village are convinced it is modern. Yet, the investigations of the Freie Univestität Berlin at Tell Ushayer, started in 2018, are telling another story. What seemed to be at first sight a defensive wall surrounding the top of the mound, is turning out to be part of a complex and monumental fortification system. The circular wall alternates with massive buttresses, a gate opens to the east shielded by an outer bastion that also limits the course of the ramp, which in turn is further protected by a second wall and watch rooms. Theexcavated remains indicate an continuous use and modification of the fortification system during the Iron Age, yet the foundation date of this impressive structure remains so far elusive. This paper will present the recent results from the ongoing project at the site and thought about its role and function.

15th International Conference on the History and Archaeology of Jordan (ICHAJ 15), 2022

Recent excavations of the Freie Universität Berlin at Tell Ushayer, located only 3 km to the west... more Recent excavations of the Freie Universität Berlin at Tell Ushayer, located only 3 km to the west of Irbid, have started to expose the impressive remains of a heavily fortified settlement founded in the Late Bronze Age and occupied well into the Iron Age. Erected on a prominent, and partly artificially raised mound, the massive stone fortifications enclose a circular area of 0.6 ha. Despite this rather modest settlement size, the complex defensive system consisted of a wide double stone walls reinforced with projecting bastions at regular intervals as well as towers in front of the city-gate. This imposing structure is indicative of an intentionally planned fortress that obviously had the potential to protect its inhabitants and the stored goods, as well as to control the surrounding area. In this respect, the geostrategic salient location of the site at the border to the north of the Jordan Plateau and along an important caravan route that connected the Jordan Valley with Damascus has to be discussed. The paper, therefore, provides a comprehensive summary of the new excavation results from Tell Ushayer accompanied by a discourse on the socio-political landscape of the Late Bronze-Iron Age in the southern Levant from which such an outstanding monument arose.

In the last years several web services emerged that manage and make accessible place thesauri for... more In the last years several web services emerged that manage and make accessible place thesauri for the archaeologies and historical sciences. By making use of semantic technologies these applications are able to act as linked data hubs thereby making possibe the linkage of multiple datasets of varying thematic focus and of different structural properties. Another common denominator of archaeological data resources, besides geo-spatial properties, is the temporal classification of research objects. One of the applications that try to assume a role similar to that of gazetteers but for temporal concepts and cultural periods is developed in the chronOntology project.

In this project, funded by the German Research Foundation, the German Archaeologial Institute (DAI) together with the i3mainz are developing a system for storing, managing, mapping and making accessible descriptions of temporal concepts. The core of this endeavor is a rich semantic modeling of various existing terminological systems for cultural periods using a data model based on the CIDOC-CRM and its extensions. The use of the rich ontological model provided by the CRM on the one hand permits representing the measurable temporal extent (with the possibility for fuzzy edges) while also making it possible to embed temporal concepts in a network of semantic relationships to other temporal concepts, connected historical regions and thematic contexts.

Besides documenting the general architecture and data model of the project the paper will present possibilities of querying different heterogeneous data resources collected throughout various digitization and digging activities inside the DAI with the help of concepts defined in chronOntology. We will also point out the potential and problems of reasoning over geographically and temporally connected datasets.

The Levant witnesses an unprecedented growth of strong polities during the MBA II that was trigge... more The Levant witnesses an unprecedented growth of strong polities during the MBA II that was triggered on the one side by the rise to of the Mesopotamian powers during the 20-19thc BCE and on the other by the intense contact with Egypt during one of its greatest eras, the Middle Kingdom followed by the foreign rule of the “Hyksos”. These kingdoms or city-states spread from north to south during the MBA, following the main trade routes: the Levantine coast from Ugarit to Ashkelon, and inland route from Aleppo to Hazor. This further led to the establishment along the cost of commercial ports, which eventually developed into kingdoms in their own right. Unfortunately, the picture about Lebanon during the MBA is not so complete, due to the low quality of the records of the old excavations by today’s standards, the lack of modern excavations of major sites and a general paucity in the field in studying and synthesizing or publishing available information. Despite the scarcity of information, this paper intends to examine the role of the MBA Lebanese coastal cities in regional politics and trade; shedding some light on the balance of power in the area. This is achieved through compiling and analyzing the published material, including written record and with a focus on the more recent archaeological evidence.

During the MBA, numerous polities rose in the Levant as a result of internal and external trigger... more During the MBA, numerous polities rose in the Levant as a result of internal and external triggers. The material culture and finds from this area, which had no fixed boundaries or clear identity, reveals a continuous and vibrant interaction and exchange with the stronger surrounding cultures. This is clearly reflected in the architecture of the excavated palaces. A mélange of local and foreign features could be identified: Aegean frescoes, Egyptianizing wall paintings, Mesopotamian architecture and Anatolian building technique. But what was the intention and motivation of the various elites to integrate selected foreign features in the architecture and decoration of their palaces? This paper seeks to answer this question by identifying the preferences and the choices of foreign styles and features. Through defining the local or regional trends, some insight might be gained about the nature of the relationship between the Levantine polities and their neighbors, and the various zones of influence.

The Middle Bronze Age is a periods of great exchange involving the different culture of the anci... more The Middle Bronze Age is a periods of great exchange involving the different culture of the ancient Near East. This resulted sometimes in the use of a combination of various traditions, which in turn led to novel entwined trends. This interchange is quite evident in the material culture of the Levant, due to the area’s location between Egypt, Mesopotamia, Anatolia and the Aegean. This presentation examines the impressive MBA palaces, found at several sites stretching all over the Levant, focusing on cases which would allow to trace the different influences that shaped their architecture and identify the local tradition that survived within.

The palatial architecture of the Middle Bronze Age Levant clearly reflects how it has been used a... more The palatial architecture of the Middle Bronze Age Levant clearly reflects how it has been used as a tool by the ruling class and as a means of communication. The visual properties of some of the palaces were employed by the builders to express their political authority and dominance in their territory. On the other hand, some more refined architectural features reveal aspects of peer-polity interaction, namely the desire to create a shared identity paralleled with intra-elite competition.

BAAL Bulletin d'Archólogie et d'Architecture Libanaises, 2020

Das Sonderheft der ANTIKE WELT "Im Feld – Wie Grabungsalltag wirklich aussieht", 2020

Broadening Horizons 5. Civilizations in Contact: From the Prehistory of Upper Mesopotamia to the Bronze and Iron Age Societies of the Levant, ed. Marco Iamoni, 2020

Full Article Downloadable from: https://www.openstarts.units.it/handle/10077/30215 The Middle ... more Full Article Downloadable from: https://www.openstarts.units.it/handle/10077/30215

Tell el-Burak 1: The Middle Bronze Age: With Chapters Related to the Site and to the Mamluk-Ottoman Period, eds. Kamlah, Jens; Sader, Helene, 2019

Ancient Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Palaces, Volume II ( Proceedings of a workshop held at the 10th ICAANE in Vienna, 25–26 April 2016), 2019

Studia Eblaitica 3, 2017

2010

ANEE Forum meeting - Helsinki, 2024

ARWA AAA lectures - Levant, 2024

The 13th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, 2023

15th International Conference on the History and Archaeology of Jordan (ICHAJ 15), 2022

An introduction to the major architectural traditions of the Ancient Near East. Explores how monu... more An introduction to the major architectural traditions of the Ancient Near East. Explores how monuments can be used to study the history and culture of the ancient world. Focuses on Levantine architectural traditions from the late Chalcolithic to the Late Bronze Age, the development of urban and architectural traditions in their socio-cultural and economical context. Examining key sites and key monuments, the use of building materials and innovative architectural technologies, and the development and circulation of construction materials and techniques, as well as architectural knowledge.

Abhandlungen des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins , 2019

A unique monumental building dating to the early part of the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 1900–1700 BCE... more A unique monumental building dating to the early part of the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 1900–1700 BCE) was uncovered at the southern Lebanese coast by the joint Lebanese-German excavation project at Tell el-Burak. The impressive architecture of the building was exposed in eight excavation seasons during the years 2001–2011. Inside the largest room of the Monumental Building at Tell el-Burak the excavations brought to light the sensational discovery of Middle Bronze Age mural paintings in situ on lime plaster covering the inner faces of its completely preserved mud-brick walls.
This volume edited by Jens Kamlah and Hélène Sader consists of the final publications of all excavation results concerning the Middle Bronze Age at Tell el- Burak. It furthermore includes an introduction into the joint Lebanese-German excavation project, chapters related to the site and the final publication of the excavated remains of the Late Medieval Period.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF EGYPT, NUBIA AND THE LEVANT 8, 2019

This collection of studies on Ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian palaces is the result of a work... more This collection of studies on Ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian palaces is the result of a workshop organised by the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei for the 10th ICAANE, held in Vienna from the 25th to the 26th of April 2016.
Its objective was especially to present and increase our knowledge about Ancient Near Eastern palaces in comparison to those in Egypt. It becomes clear that while concepts of axial plans and symmetry in Egyptian palaces reflect the pharaonic mind, Ancient Near Eastern architects were more flexible in planning. Besides the canonical principles exhibited by the core of palaces as witnessed in Mesopotamia in the times of the great empires, the modular construction process, as particularly found in Syria, allowed the adaptation of architecture to the needs of changing palatial households.
The size and type of architecture demonstrate the kind of representation of the ruler towards his world. Some features were adopted from temples in order to stage the appearance of the ruler like a divine epiphany. The size of the throne room and the number of columns could be taken as a yardstick for the importance of a ruler. The number of columns of porticos and halls within different units of a palace shows us a hierarchy in the use of spaces within the building complex, while the capacity of storerooms gives us an impression about the economic power that stands behind it.
This workshop followed the most successful conference on Ancient Egyptian palaces organised by the Austrian Academy, the University of Würzburg and the Egypt Exploration Society in June 2013 in London, which is published in the volume “Ancient Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Palaces I” (Vienna 2018). Together, these two volumes will contribute to a better understanding of the architectural canon and diversity of palaces in Ancient Egypt and the difference in concept to their Ancient Near Eastern counterparts, but highlight as well mutual influences between the two worlds.

BH7 Conference - Rome, February 10-14, 2025 - Call for Paper 1st circular

The conference will be held at Sapienza University of Rome (Italy), February 10-14, 2025, jointly... more The conference will be held at Sapienza University of Rome (Italy), February 10-14, 2025, jointly hosted by the departments: Istituto Italiano di Studi Orientali (ISO), Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità (ScAnt), Dipartimento di Storia Antropologia Religioni Arte e Spettacolo (SARAS).

Broadening Horizons (BH) is a series of international conferences organized by and dedicated to graduate, postgraduate students, and early-career researchers dealing with the broad field of the human past in Western Asia and Egypt, including pre-Classical and Classical periods.
The seventh edition - Broadening Horizons 7 (BH7) - has as its overall theme "Changes, Challenges and New Frontiers" and will be hosted at Sapienza University of Rome, February 10-14, 2025. The 5-day conference will take place in a hybrid format, both in-person and online.
The conference is structured in five parallel thematic sessions, which promote the scientific exchange between scholars from different fields, including archaeological, anthropological, historical, philological, and cultural heritage studies, as well as related interdisciplinary fields.

Broadening Horizons is a series of international conferences dedicated to students and early-stag... more Broadening Horizons is a series of international conferences dedicated to students and early-stage researchers, studying the Ancient Near East from the prehistoric period to the Islamic era. The conference intends to promote the exchange of scientific information between scholars of different disciplines, including archaeological, anthropological, historical, philological and cultural heritage studies, as well as related interdisciplinary fields.
The 6th Conference of Broadening Horizons took place at the Freie Universität in Berlin from the 24th to the 28th of June 2019, hosted by the Institute for Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology and the Institute for Ancient Near Eastern Studies.