Dirk Wicke | Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main (original) (raw)

Papers by Dirk Wicke

Proceedings of the 11th ICAANE, Munich, Vol. 2, 2020

The field-project at the site of Gird-î Qalrakh in the Northeastern corner of the Shahrizor-Plain... more The field-project at the site of Gird-î Qalrakh in the Northeastern corner of the Shahrizor-Plain (Iraqi-Kurdistan) started in 2015 with two excavation seasons taking place in 2016 and 2017. Despite its small size of about 3.5 ha, the rather steep and high mound covers a long occupational sequence from the early 3rd mill. BC into the Islamic period. Of major
significance are results from Sasanian layers, which are indicative of centralised textile production. This ties into the overarching research question of an impact of the changing 'world-politics during the 2nd and 1st mill BC to AD in the rather peripheral area of the Shahrizor-Plain.
‘world-politics’ during the 2nd and 1st mill. BC to AD within the rather peripheral area of the
Shahrizor-Plain.

Levant 48:2, 197-207, 2016

The site of Assur produced some 700 finds of worked and unworked bone and ivory during the initia... more The site of Assur produced some 700 finds of worked and unworked bone and ivory during the initial German excavations. They received attention in a special study by the author as part of the Assur-Project that sought to restudy the 1903-1914 excavations at Assur. In accordance with the extensive occupation at the site, the finds of ivory and bone range from the late 3rd millennium BC to the Parthian period and cover all types of objectsfrom figural carvings, through decorative inlays, to utilitarian items. For stylistic reasons, some of the objects are clearly recognizable as imports from the Levant or Babylonia, but others are carved in Assyrian style, which hints at a local manufacture. Moreover, finds of unworked and semi-worked material, blanks and cutoffs suggest active workshops for bone and ivory in Assur, at least during the Middle Assyrian period. This paper pulls together the evidence in order to put forward the suggestion of bone and ivory craftsmen in Assyria during the late 2nd millennium BC.

Ivories, Rock Reliefs and Merv. FS Georgina Herrmann, 2022

Ivory carvings and bronze vessels are generally considered as two rather different categories of ... more Ivory carvings and bronze vessels are generally considered as two
rather different categories of objects. They not only differ in their
use, but considerably more so in their material, and hence
working and production. However, they share a large number of
iconographic and stylistic details – and the largest collections of both
derive from the same place: Nimrud. Numerous cross-references
in motifs can be found between the two categories of objects and
within the different stylistic groups. This indicates a use not as
mere decorative patterns, but a deliberate choice of iconography.
Moreover, a comparison calls for a new look at the interactions
between craftsmen, not only between wood- and ivory-carving, but
also metalsmiths and other crafts. This contribution adds to the
suggestion that such interaction allows for mutual support in date
and place of origin, hotly debated issues in particular for the
Levantine craftwork during the Early Iron Age.

Altorientalische Variationen. FS Eva Strommenger, 2021

The paper summarizes the evidence for late Assyrian free-standing sculpture and discusses the app... more The paper summarizes the evidence for late Assyrian free-standing sculpture and discusses the appearance of colossal statues in Assyria in relation to similar phenomena in Syria. It concludes with brief remarks on issues of monumentality in Assyria in comparison to, above all, Egypt.

Von Syrien bis Georgien. FS Felix Blocher, 2021

This paper discusses issues about the term and concept of the ancient Mesopotamian "ziqqurat". Th... more This paper discusses issues about the term and concept of the ancient Mesopotamian "ziqqurat". The use of the term in ancient documents is different from modern archaeology and contains some fallacies. Although Urnamma appears to have standardised the building plans, there are forerunners, which must not be neglected. At the end, a suggestion is made for a more neutral terminology and a clear cut division between Assyrian and Babylonian "towers", the latter still perpetuating the long-running Ur III tradition.

MDOG, 2021

The field-project at the small site of Gird-î Qalrakh in the northeastern corner of the Shahrizor... more The field-project at the small site of Gird-î Qalrakh in the northeastern corner of the Shahrizor-Plain (Iraqi-Kurdistan) started in 2015. The major aim of the project was the establishment of a local pottery sequence and to conduct microarchaeological research in combination with archaeobotanical analyses on a rural settlement. The site was chosen, because the rather steep and high mound despite of its small size of about 3.5 ha covers a long occupational sequence from the early 3rd mill. BC into the Islamic period. Three excavation seasons took place in 2016, 2017 and 2019 excavating a step trench from top to bottom and exposing a larger area on the top of the mound. A Sasanian occupation at the top turned out to be of major significance, with evidence for a probably centralised textile production. This ties into the overarching research question of the impact of the changing 'world-politics' during the 2nd and 1st mill. BC an the 1st mill. AD within the rather peripheral area of the Shahrizor-Plain.

East and West 4, 2020

This paper reviews the results of the archaeological investigations at Ziyaret Tepe, located on t... more This paper reviews the results of the archaeological investigations at Ziyaret Tepe, located on the river Tigris 60 km east of Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey. Known in antiquity as Tušhan, the site was a provincial capital and garrison town of the Assyrian Empire. While the project originally expected to have only a few years to conduct operations, we were in the end able to work at the site for a period of almost two decades. The approaches involved included surface collection, geo-physical prospection, large-scale excavation, targeted soundings and material, epigraphic and environmental analyses pursued through multiple techniques. The architecture uncovered included the remains of a palace, an administrative building, the defensive wall, a city gate and both high and low status housing. Key finds included cremation burials, an archive of cuneiform texts dating to the end of the empire, another tablet hinting at the existence of a previously unknown language, and evidence for the use of clay tokens in administration in the first millennium BC. Together these finds have helped us to document the occupation and utilisation of ancient Tušhan across the whole span of Neo-Assyrian rule, from its (re-)founding by Ashurnasirpal II in 882 BC to its abandonment as the empire collapsed in 611 BC.

The provincial archaeology of the Assyrian empire, 2016

This paper discusses a group of stamp-seals, which it is suggested were made by the same range of... more This paper discusses a group of stamp-seals, which it is suggested were made by the same range of Northeast-Syrian workshops during the late ninth until the seventh century BC. These seals display a limited, quite distinct iconography and are generally made of 'frit'. The stamp-seals can be linked to certain types of scarabs and beads made of similar composite material and employing the same range of motifs. These items were likely produced in a number of closely related, if not the same workshops. Stylistically influenced by earlier Assyrian cut-style seals, the iconography of this group eventually finds its way back into Assyria and became distributed throughout the Assyrian realm.

STAR: Science & Technology of Archaeological Research, 2019

A series of pottery samples from the Iranian site Tol-e Kamin, ranging from pre-historical period... more A series of pottery samples from the Iranian site Tol-e Kamin, ranging from pre-historical period to the New Elamite, were analyzed in order to study the geochemical variability of the pottery assemblage. A total amount of 168 measurements were obtained using a portable XRF device and were statistically handled. The results could successfully distinguish the geochemical composition of potteries from the Chalcolithic to the New Elamite periods in the Kur River Basin. A major shift in the use of different clay sources could be detected since the Proto-Elamite period and afterwards, in which the carbonated and marl content clays represented by Ca, Ba and Sr shifted to clay sources with a tendency to non-carbonate silty clay Al, Ti, and Fe from a different geological background. The results stress the importance of further provenance studies to address issues of trade and exchange possibilities in southwestern Iran.

Übergangszeiten. FS Reinhard Dittmann, 2018

The discovery of a piece of late Assyrian scale armour at the site of Ziyaret Tepe (SE-Turkey) ha... more The discovery of a piece of late Assyrian scale armour at the site of Ziyaret Tepe (SE-Turkey) has incited some new considerations on the distribution and use of scale armour in the Ancient Near East. This paper provides a brief summary on the evidence from the 2nd millennium to the late Assyrian time.

This article presents the results of excavations at Ziyaret Tepe, the Late Assyrian city of Tušha... more This article presents the results of excavations at Ziyaret Tepe, the Late Assyrian city of Tušhan in the Diyarbakır Province of southeastern Turkey during the summers of 2011-2013, as well as from a study season in 2014. Excavation in nine operations is briefly summarized, and the preliminary results of zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical studies in three operations are presented. Major public buildings of the Late Assyrian period (c. 882-611 BC) were recovered in Operation AN (palace), Operation W (administrative building), and Operation Y (city fortification), while an exposure of domestic architecture was revealed in Operation K. Also of importance from these field seasons was the documentation of a Late Roman, or Late Antique, occupation in Operations T and U. Zooarchaeological evidence from earlier excavations in Operation K reveal the subsistence practices of commoners during the Late Assyrian period. Likewise, the use of plants for human food and animal fodder are discussed for the Late Assyrian (Operation Q, the city gate excavated earlier) and the Late Antique (Operation T, domestic housing) periods. These combined reports outline the importance of animal husbandry, as well as agricultural production of grain, as key economic aspects of the Late Assyrian settlement, and complement existing cuneiform documentation.

Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 2014

ABSTRACT The study of clay tokens in the Ancient Near East has focused, for the most part, on the... more ABSTRACT The study of clay tokens in the Ancient Near East has focused, for the most part, on their role as antecedents to the cuneiform script. Starting with Pierre Amiet and Maurice Lambert in the 1960s the theory was put forward that tokens, or calculi, represent an early cognitive attempt at recording. This theory was taken up by Denise Schmandt-Besserat who studied a large diachronic corpus of Near Eastern tokens. Since then little has been written except in response to Schmandt-Besserat's writings. Most discussions of tokens have generally focused on the time period between the eighth and fourth millennium bc with the assumption that token use drops off as writing gains ground in administrative contexts. Now excavations in southeastern Turkey at the site of Ziyaret Tepe — the Neo-Assyrian provincial capital Tušhan — have uncovered a corpus of tokens dating to the first millennium bc. This is a significant new contribution to the documented material. These tokens are found in association with a range of other artefacts of administrative culture — tablets, dockets, sealings and weights — in a manner which indicates that they had cognitive value concurrent with the cuneiform writing system and suggests that tokens were an important tool in Neo-Assyrian imperial administration.

Fostered by the Assyrian military campaigns into Syria, Anatolia, and towards the Mediterranean c... more Fostered by the Assyrian military campaigns into Syria, Anatolia, and towards the Mediterranean coast, the Assyrian political and cultural impact naturally grew in time during the early first millennium B.C. in these areas. However, besides the obvious military occupation of peripheral territories and the imposition of Assyrian rule in these conquered regions, Assyrian influence simultaneously spread through other, much more tranquil means.
Local sculptures and reliefs discovered in Western Syria and Southeastern Anatolia display various grades of Assyrian inspiration. Yet, Assyrian iconography and style is not confined to images of local rulers – always more prone to Assyrian royal imagery – but can be detected in representations of local deities and private funerary stelae, too. These provide clear examples of elite emulation, a phenomenon that is well attested in the case of countries or political entities in asymmetrical power relations. This paper follows the appearance of Assyrian artistic traits in Western Syria and Southeastern Anatolia and considers these changes in front of the political background.

Turkey. From the inception of the excavations, zooarchaeological data have been integrated into c... more Turkey. From the inception of the excavations, zooarchaeological data have been integrated into conventional methods of analysis. is has contributed to a better understanding of the use of rooms and specific activity areas within the palace. Areas for food processing, consumption, and the disposal of animal remains and their by-products not detected by previous architectural or other evidence can now be identified. e building's open courtyard in particular was used for butchering of domesticated animals, mainly bovids (sheep, goats, and cattle) and to a lesser extent pigs. In contrast, the reception room was devoid of any animal bones, thus kept clean. Surprising is the evidence for wild birds in Room 4/8, the main room of the northern apartment, and Room 1, suggesting a special use of those animals.

This brief contribution summarizes the most intriguing ivory and bone finds from Assur.

in: T.R. Kämmerer, S. Rogge (eds.), Patterns of Urban Societies, 2013

The Upper Tigris Region represents a frontier zone between the Assyrian empire and its northern n... more The Upper Tigris Region represents a frontier zone between the Assyrian empire and its northern neighbours, but at the same time – like every frontier – a zone of cultural contact. The excavations of the international Ziyaret Tepe Archaeological Project unearthed the remains of the Assyrian provincial capital of Tušḫan, a city which must have had a major cultural impact on the local cultural Environment along the Upper Tigris region. However, this impact did not affect the area as a single event, but appears to have been a slow process of cultural exchange. In particular primary cremation burials - alien to Assyrians - in an Assyrian palatial context seem to illustrate the persistence of local cultural elements for a long time in addition to a mutual exchange. The picture that emerges argues for a much less aggressive Assyrian influence in the region than previously thought.

Bioarchaeology of the Near East 7, 2013

The integration of architectural and faunal remains increases our understanding of social and eco... more The integration of architectural and faunal remains increases our understanding of social and economic activities at archaeological sites in the Near East. This paper presents the results of recent analyses from the excavations of the Late Assyrian palace found
in the provincial capital of Tušhan (Ziyaret Tepe) along the upper Tigris River in Southeast Turkey. From the inception of the excavations, zooarchaeological data have been integrated
into conventional methods of analysis. This has contributed to a better understanding of the use of rooms and specific activity areas within the palace. Areas for food processing, consumption, and the disposal of animal remains and their by-products not detected by previous architectural or other evidence can now be identified. The building’s open courtyard in particular was used for butchering of domesticated animals, mainly bovids (sheep,
goats, and cattle) and to a lesser extent pigs. In contrast, the reception room was devoid of any animal bones, thus kept clean. Surprising is the evidence for wild birds in Room 4/8, the main room of the northern apartment, and Room 1, suggesting a special use of those animals.

in: D. Kertain & P.M. Miglus (eds.), New Research on Late Assyrian Palaces. HSAO 15 (2013) pp. 63-82, 2013

This papers gives a brief account on the most recent excavations of the late Assyrian 'Bronze Pal... more This papers gives a brief account on the most recent excavations of the late Assyrian 'Bronze Palace' at Ziyaret Tepe, the former late Assyrian capital of Tushan. Besides general observations on room-functions, first results from the faunal analyses are added, which shed additional light on the building and its use over time.

in: W. Orthmann - P. Matthiae - M. al-Maqdissi (Hrsg.), Archéologie et Histoire de la Syrie I., 2013

This paper focuses on ivory carving in Syria during the Iron Age. The main stylistic groups, whic... more This paper focuses on ivory carving in Syria during the Iron Age. The main stylistic groups, which can be assigned to Syrian workshops are discussed in their main examples. Their repertoire of motifs and the range of object-types are presented. Despite a number of Syrian findspots, there is hardly any evidence for local ivory-working. Indirect evidence can be gathered from comparisons to monumental sculpture as in Tell Halaf or Zincirli. Likewise the dating remains open for debate.

Proceedings of the 11th ICAANE, Munich, Vol. 2, 2020

The field-project at the site of Gird-î Qalrakh in the Northeastern corner of the Shahrizor-Plain... more The field-project at the site of Gird-î Qalrakh in the Northeastern corner of the Shahrizor-Plain (Iraqi-Kurdistan) started in 2015 with two excavation seasons taking place in 2016 and 2017. Despite its small size of about 3.5 ha, the rather steep and high mound covers a long occupational sequence from the early 3rd mill. BC into the Islamic period. Of major
significance are results from Sasanian layers, which are indicative of centralised textile production. This ties into the overarching research question of an impact of the changing 'world-politics during the 2nd and 1st mill BC to AD in the rather peripheral area of the Shahrizor-Plain.
‘world-politics’ during the 2nd and 1st mill. BC to AD within the rather peripheral area of the
Shahrizor-Plain.

Levant 48:2, 197-207, 2016

The site of Assur produced some 700 finds of worked and unworked bone and ivory during the initia... more The site of Assur produced some 700 finds of worked and unworked bone and ivory during the initial German excavations. They received attention in a special study by the author as part of the Assur-Project that sought to restudy the 1903-1914 excavations at Assur. In accordance with the extensive occupation at the site, the finds of ivory and bone range from the late 3rd millennium BC to the Parthian period and cover all types of objectsfrom figural carvings, through decorative inlays, to utilitarian items. For stylistic reasons, some of the objects are clearly recognizable as imports from the Levant or Babylonia, but others are carved in Assyrian style, which hints at a local manufacture. Moreover, finds of unworked and semi-worked material, blanks and cutoffs suggest active workshops for bone and ivory in Assur, at least during the Middle Assyrian period. This paper pulls together the evidence in order to put forward the suggestion of bone and ivory craftsmen in Assyria during the late 2nd millennium BC.

Ivories, Rock Reliefs and Merv. FS Georgina Herrmann, 2022

Ivory carvings and bronze vessels are generally considered as two rather different categories of ... more Ivory carvings and bronze vessels are generally considered as two
rather different categories of objects. They not only differ in their
use, but considerably more so in their material, and hence
working and production. However, they share a large number of
iconographic and stylistic details – and the largest collections of both
derive from the same place: Nimrud. Numerous cross-references
in motifs can be found between the two categories of objects and
within the different stylistic groups. This indicates a use not as
mere decorative patterns, but a deliberate choice of iconography.
Moreover, a comparison calls for a new look at the interactions
between craftsmen, not only between wood- and ivory-carving, but
also metalsmiths and other crafts. This contribution adds to the
suggestion that such interaction allows for mutual support in date
and place of origin, hotly debated issues in particular for the
Levantine craftwork during the Early Iron Age.

Altorientalische Variationen. FS Eva Strommenger, 2021

The paper summarizes the evidence for late Assyrian free-standing sculpture and discusses the app... more The paper summarizes the evidence for late Assyrian free-standing sculpture and discusses the appearance of colossal statues in Assyria in relation to similar phenomena in Syria. It concludes with brief remarks on issues of monumentality in Assyria in comparison to, above all, Egypt.

Von Syrien bis Georgien. FS Felix Blocher, 2021

This paper discusses issues about the term and concept of the ancient Mesopotamian "ziqqurat". Th... more This paper discusses issues about the term and concept of the ancient Mesopotamian "ziqqurat". The use of the term in ancient documents is different from modern archaeology and contains some fallacies. Although Urnamma appears to have standardised the building plans, there are forerunners, which must not be neglected. At the end, a suggestion is made for a more neutral terminology and a clear cut division between Assyrian and Babylonian "towers", the latter still perpetuating the long-running Ur III tradition.

MDOG, 2021

The field-project at the small site of Gird-î Qalrakh in the northeastern corner of the Shahrizor... more The field-project at the small site of Gird-î Qalrakh in the northeastern corner of the Shahrizor-Plain (Iraqi-Kurdistan) started in 2015. The major aim of the project was the establishment of a local pottery sequence and to conduct microarchaeological research in combination with archaeobotanical analyses on a rural settlement. The site was chosen, because the rather steep and high mound despite of its small size of about 3.5 ha covers a long occupational sequence from the early 3rd mill. BC into the Islamic period. Three excavation seasons took place in 2016, 2017 and 2019 excavating a step trench from top to bottom and exposing a larger area on the top of the mound. A Sasanian occupation at the top turned out to be of major significance, with evidence for a probably centralised textile production. This ties into the overarching research question of the impact of the changing 'world-politics' during the 2nd and 1st mill. BC an the 1st mill. AD within the rather peripheral area of the Shahrizor-Plain.

East and West 4, 2020

This paper reviews the results of the archaeological investigations at Ziyaret Tepe, located on t... more This paper reviews the results of the archaeological investigations at Ziyaret Tepe, located on the river Tigris 60 km east of Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey. Known in antiquity as Tušhan, the site was a provincial capital and garrison town of the Assyrian Empire. While the project originally expected to have only a few years to conduct operations, we were in the end able to work at the site for a period of almost two decades. The approaches involved included surface collection, geo-physical prospection, large-scale excavation, targeted soundings and material, epigraphic and environmental analyses pursued through multiple techniques. The architecture uncovered included the remains of a palace, an administrative building, the defensive wall, a city gate and both high and low status housing. Key finds included cremation burials, an archive of cuneiform texts dating to the end of the empire, another tablet hinting at the existence of a previously unknown language, and evidence for the use of clay tokens in administration in the first millennium BC. Together these finds have helped us to document the occupation and utilisation of ancient Tušhan across the whole span of Neo-Assyrian rule, from its (re-)founding by Ashurnasirpal II in 882 BC to its abandonment as the empire collapsed in 611 BC.

The provincial archaeology of the Assyrian empire, 2016

This paper discusses a group of stamp-seals, which it is suggested were made by the same range of... more This paper discusses a group of stamp-seals, which it is suggested were made by the same range of Northeast-Syrian workshops during the late ninth until the seventh century BC. These seals display a limited, quite distinct iconography and are generally made of 'frit'. The stamp-seals can be linked to certain types of scarabs and beads made of similar composite material and employing the same range of motifs. These items were likely produced in a number of closely related, if not the same workshops. Stylistically influenced by earlier Assyrian cut-style seals, the iconography of this group eventually finds its way back into Assyria and became distributed throughout the Assyrian realm.

STAR: Science & Technology of Archaeological Research, 2019

A series of pottery samples from the Iranian site Tol-e Kamin, ranging from pre-historical period... more A series of pottery samples from the Iranian site Tol-e Kamin, ranging from pre-historical period to the New Elamite, were analyzed in order to study the geochemical variability of the pottery assemblage. A total amount of 168 measurements were obtained using a portable XRF device and were statistically handled. The results could successfully distinguish the geochemical composition of potteries from the Chalcolithic to the New Elamite periods in the Kur River Basin. A major shift in the use of different clay sources could be detected since the Proto-Elamite period and afterwards, in which the carbonated and marl content clays represented by Ca, Ba and Sr shifted to clay sources with a tendency to non-carbonate silty clay Al, Ti, and Fe from a different geological background. The results stress the importance of further provenance studies to address issues of trade and exchange possibilities in southwestern Iran.

Übergangszeiten. FS Reinhard Dittmann, 2018

The discovery of a piece of late Assyrian scale armour at the site of Ziyaret Tepe (SE-Turkey) ha... more The discovery of a piece of late Assyrian scale armour at the site of Ziyaret Tepe (SE-Turkey) has incited some new considerations on the distribution and use of scale armour in the Ancient Near East. This paper provides a brief summary on the evidence from the 2nd millennium to the late Assyrian time.

This article presents the results of excavations at Ziyaret Tepe, the Late Assyrian city of Tušha... more This article presents the results of excavations at Ziyaret Tepe, the Late Assyrian city of Tušhan in the Diyarbakır Province of southeastern Turkey during the summers of 2011-2013, as well as from a study season in 2014. Excavation in nine operations is briefly summarized, and the preliminary results of zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical studies in three operations are presented. Major public buildings of the Late Assyrian period (c. 882-611 BC) were recovered in Operation AN (palace), Operation W (administrative building), and Operation Y (city fortification), while an exposure of domestic architecture was revealed in Operation K. Also of importance from these field seasons was the documentation of a Late Roman, or Late Antique, occupation in Operations T and U. Zooarchaeological evidence from earlier excavations in Operation K reveal the subsistence practices of commoners during the Late Assyrian period. Likewise, the use of plants for human food and animal fodder are discussed for the Late Assyrian (Operation Q, the city gate excavated earlier) and the Late Antique (Operation T, domestic housing) periods. These combined reports outline the importance of animal husbandry, as well as agricultural production of grain, as key economic aspects of the Late Assyrian settlement, and complement existing cuneiform documentation.

Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 2014

ABSTRACT The study of clay tokens in the Ancient Near East has focused, for the most part, on the... more ABSTRACT The study of clay tokens in the Ancient Near East has focused, for the most part, on their role as antecedents to the cuneiform script. Starting with Pierre Amiet and Maurice Lambert in the 1960s the theory was put forward that tokens, or calculi, represent an early cognitive attempt at recording. This theory was taken up by Denise Schmandt-Besserat who studied a large diachronic corpus of Near Eastern tokens. Since then little has been written except in response to Schmandt-Besserat's writings. Most discussions of tokens have generally focused on the time period between the eighth and fourth millennium bc with the assumption that token use drops off as writing gains ground in administrative contexts. Now excavations in southeastern Turkey at the site of Ziyaret Tepe — the Neo-Assyrian provincial capital Tušhan — have uncovered a corpus of tokens dating to the first millennium bc. This is a significant new contribution to the documented material. These tokens are found in association with a range of other artefacts of administrative culture — tablets, dockets, sealings and weights — in a manner which indicates that they had cognitive value concurrent with the cuneiform writing system and suggests that tokens were an important tool in Neo-Assyrian imperial administration.

Fostered by the Assyrian military campaigns into Syria, Anatolia, and towards the Mediterranean c... more Fostered by the Assyrian military campaigns into Syria, Anatolia, and towards the Mediterranean coast, the Assyrian political and cultural impact naturally grew in time during the early first millennium B.C. in these areas. However, besides the obvious military occupation of peripheral territories and the imposition of Assyrian rule in these conquered regions, Assyrian influence simultaneously spread through other, much more tranquil means.
Local sculptures and reliefs discovered in Western Syria and Southeastern Anatolia display various grades of Assyrian inspiration. Yet, Assyrian iconography and style is not confined to images of local rulers – always more prone to Assyrian royal imagery – but can be detected in representations of local deities and private funerary stelae, too. These provide clear examples of elite emulation, a phenomenon that is well attested in the case of countries or political entities in asymmetrical power relations. This paper follows the appearance of Assyrian artistic traits in Western Syria and Southeastern Anatolia and considers these changes in front of the political background.

Turkey. From the inception of the excavations, zooarchaeological data have been integrated into c... more Turkey. From the inception of the excavations, zooarchaeological data have been integrated into conventional methods of analysis. is has contributed to a better understanding of the use of rooms and specific activity areas within the palace. Areas for food processing, consumption, and the disposal of animal remains and their by-products not detected by previous architectural or other evidence can now be identified. e building's open courtyard in particular was used for butchering of domesticated animals, mainly bovids (sheep, goats, and cattle) and to a lesser extent pigs. In contrast, the reception room was devoid of any animal bones, thus kept clean. Surprising is the evidence for wild birds in Room 4/8, the main room of the northern apartment, and Room 1, suggesting a special use of those animals.

This brief contribution summarizes the most intriguing ivory and bone finds from Assur.

in: T.R. Kämmerer, S. Rogge (eds.), Patterns of Urban Societies, 2013

The Upper Tigris Region represents a frontier zone between the Assyrian empire and its northern n... more The Upper Tigris Region represents a frontier zone between the Assyrian empire and its northern neighbours, but at the same time – like every frontier – a zone of cultural contact. The excavations of the international Ziyaret Tepe Archaeological Project unearthed the remains of the Assyrian provincial capital of Tušḫan, a city which must have had a major cultural impact on the local cultural Environment along the Upper Tigris region. However, this impact did not affect the area as a single event, but appears to have been a slow process of cultural exchange. In particular primary cremation burials - alien to Assyrians - in an Assyrian palatial context seem to illustrate the persistence of local cultural elements for a long time in addition to a mutual exchange. The picture that emerges argues for a much less aggressive Assyrian influence in the region than previously thought.

Bioarchaeology of the Near East 7, 2013

The integration of architectural and faunal remains increases our understanding of social and eco... more The integration of architectural and faunal remains increases our understanding of social and economic activities at archaeological sites in the Near East. This paper presents the results of recent analyses from the excavations of the Late Assyrian palace found
in the provincial capital of Tušhan (Ziyaret Tepe) along the upper Tigris River in Southeast Turkey. From the inception of the excavations, zooarchaeological data have been integrated
into conventional methods of analysis. This has contributed to a better understanding of the use of rooms and specific activity areas within the palace. Areas for food processing, consumption, and the disposal of animal remains and their by-products not detected by previous architectural or other evidence can now be identified. The building’s open courtyard in particular was used for butchering of domesticated animals, mainly bovids (sheep,
goats, and cattle) and to a lesser extent pigs. In contrast, the reception room was devoid of any animal bones, thus kept clean. Surprising is the evidence for wild birds in Room 4/8, the main room of the northern apartment, and Room 1, suggesting a special use of those animals.

in: D. Kertain & P.M. Miglus (eds.), New Research on Late Assyrian Palaces. HSAO 15 (2013) pp. 63-82, 2013

This papers gives a brief account on the most recent excavations of the late Assyrian 'Bronze Pal... more This papers gives a brief account on the most recent excavations of the late Assyrian 'Bronze Palace' at Ziyaret Tepe, the former late Assyrian capital of Tushan. Besides general observations on room-functions, first results from the faunal analyses are added, which shed additional light on the building and its use over time.

in: W. Orthmann - P. Matthiae - M. al-Maqdissi (Hrsg.), Archéologie et Histoire de la Syrie I., 2013

This paper focuses on ivory carving in Syria during the Iron Age. The main stylistic groups, whic... more This paper focuses on ivory carving in Syria during the Iron Age. The main stylistic groups, which can be assigned to Syrian workshops are discussed in their main examples. Their repertoire of motifs and the range of object-types are presented. Despite a number of Syrian findspots, there is hardly any evidence for local ivory-working. Indirect evidence can be gathered from comparisons to monumental sculpture as in Tell Halaf or Zincirli. Likewise the dating remains open for debate.

Diese Monographie stellt erstmals vollständig alle Kleinfunde aus Elfenbein und Knochen aus Assur... more Diese Monographie stellt erstmals vollständig alle Kleinfunde aus Elfenbein und Knochen aus Assur vor. Die behandelten Objektgruppen umfassen: Plastik, Einlagen, Behälter, Kämme, Schmuck, Rippenspatel, Astragale und Varia. Jede Objektgruppe ist mit ausführlichem Kommentar und Verweisen auf Vergleichsfunde versehen. Bemerkungen zum altorientalischen Beinschnitzhandwerk und zur Materialkunde ergänzen den Band. Die konservatorischen Maßnahmen an den Beinfunden aus Assur werden von Dipl.-Restauratorin I. Hertel beschrieben.

This publication summarises Ancient Near Eastern pyxides from the Levant to Iran made of various ... more This publication summarises Ancient Near Eastern pyxides from the Levant to Iran made of various materials (ivory, bone, stone, frit, metal, ...). Their shapes, decoration and use is discussed, based on residual analyses, iconographic studies, or philological evidence, where possible. Main concerns are: the iconography of North-Syrian pyxides (banquetting-scene), Levantine ivory pyxides, and neo-Elamite frit pyxides from Susa.

Diese Monographie stellt die Objektgruppe der Pyxiden regionenübergreifend von der Levante bis Iran zusammen. Berücksichtigt werden Behälter unterschiedlichster Materialien, ihre Form, Dekoration und Verwendung. Der Behandlung der Ikonographie nordsyrischer Pyxiden - hier besonders: die "Speisetischszene" -, der levantinischen bauchigen Pyxis aus Elfenbein und der neuelamischen Quarzkeramikpyxiden aus Susa kommen besondere Bedeutung zu.

American Journal of Archaeology, 2016

Following her first monograph on second-millennium minor arts of the Ancient Near East (Diplomacy... more Following her first monograph on second-millennium minor arts of the Ancient Near East (Diplomacy by Design: Luxury Arts and an “International Style” in the Ancient Near East, 1400–1200 BCE [Chicago 2006]), Feldman now focuses on portable luxury objects of the Iron Age Levant. She seeks to approach material culture from a new perspective and wishes to move away from the formalism of early art history mostly concerned with the object’s physical appearance toward a semiotic and contextual approach that regards objects as active agents in a dynamic process creating (social) meaning between people across time and space.
Feldman intends to unravel the social network to the reader but fails to convince in her archaeological arguments, mainly because she avoids thorough discussions of the objects and their contexts. Contrary to Feldman’s own statement to provide a richer understanding of long-enigmatic artworks through a serious commitment to their formal, stylistic, material, and physical properties, the reviewers cannot recognize such commitment in her book.

Die von Curtis und Tallis herausgegebene Publikation nimmt sich der ebenso verdienstvollen wie sc... more Die von Curtis und Tallis herausgegebene Publikation nimmt sich der ebenso verdienstvollen wie schwierigen Aufgabe an, das Manuskript des 1986 verstorbenen R. D. Barnett zu diesen Denkmälern zu vollenden und an den heutigen Forschungsstand anzupassen. Sie bildet eine Gemeinschaftsarbeit der genannten Autoren und erfüllt ein über 100-jähriges Desiderat, durch das die von Assurnasirpal II. in Auftrag gegebenen bronzenen Reliefbänder nunmehr den ihnen gebührenden Platz in der Kunstgeschichte der neuassyrischen Epoche einnehmen können, der bisher durch die besser bekannten Tore Salmanassars III. gleichsam monopolisiert war. 7 Während die bronzenen Torbänder Salamanassars III. aus dem gleichen Fundort seit über 100 Jahren einen festen Platz in der Kunstgeschichte zum Alten Orient haben, blieben die von H. Rassam entdeckten Torbeschläge aus dem Palast Assurnasirpals II. bislang nur lückenhaft publiziert. Auch das von Assurnasirpal II. in Auftrag gegebene Tor mit Bronzebändern aus dem Mamu-Tempel, welches von der British School of Archaeology in Iraq durch M. E. L. Mallowan 1956-57 freigelegt wurde, war kaum bekannt.

Feldman's claim to give a new definition and interpretation of the phenomenon called "Internation... more Feldman's claim to give a new definition and interpretation of the phenomenon called "International Style" by a multidisciplinary approach initially raises high expectations but fails to fulfill.

Reallexikon zur Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie Band 14, 3/4, 2014

Üctepe is a major, multi-period mound at the upper Tigris. This entry provides a summary about th... more Üctepe is a major, multi-period mound at the upper Tigris. This entry provides a summary about the site, its excavation and interpretation.

Reallexikon zur Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie, Band 14, 1/2, 2013

Entry on Tushan, archaeological perspective

Der Eintrag im bibelwissenschaftlichen Lexikon WiBiLex gibt einen Überblick über die Entwicklung ... more Der Eintrag im bibelwissenschaftlichen Lexikon WiBiLex gibt einen Überblick über die Entwicklung und aktuellen Diskussionen zu der vermutlich prominentesten altorientalischen Bauform, dem mesopotamischen Stufenturm.

This is an entry for WiBiLex on ancient Near Eastern ziggurats. The paper provides an overview over the development and recent discussions of their reconstruction and interpretation.

cf: https://www.die-bibel.de/ressourcen/wibilex/altes-testament/zikkurat

The mul)period site of Ziyaret Tepe (Turkey) was excavated from 1997-2014 by an interna)onal team... more The mul)period site of Ziyaret Tepe (Turkey) was excavated from 1997-2014 by an interna)onal team led by Tim Matney. Excava)ons revealed a substan)al Neo-Assyrian period seZlement iden)fied as ancient Tušhan, a provincial capital built in the 9th century. The structure on top of the mound matches architecture typical of Assyrian palaces. Greenfield, Wicke and Matney (2013) interpreted func)ons for the palace rooms using architectural and faunal data (below). We illustrate the spa)al distribu)on of newly integrated addi)onal ar)factual and microremain data to re-visit the func)ons suggested previously.