Review of A. Faust, The Neo-Assyrian Empire in the Southwest: Imperial Domination and Its Consequences (original) (raw)
Related papers
The policy of the Neo-Assyrian empire in the Levant has been extensively debated, and at least three different views have been suggested. Some scholars have argued that the empire invested in the Levant after it was annexed and that most of it prospered due to the imperial policy. However, others have claimed the opposite, suggesting that the Assyrians neglected the area and did not have any real interest in its economic rehabilitation. A third view holds that Assyrian investment was partial and that prosperity due to deliberate imperial policy can be seen mostly in the north. In the current paper I will present each of these views, which will then be challenged based on the degrees of prosperity evident from archaeological excavations in different provinces. Finally, an updated interpretation for Assyrian imperial policy in the Levant will be suggested.
The history of the Middle-Assyrian Empire
This article aims to re-evaluate the history of the Middle Assyrian Empire by looking at new archaeological data and by critically re-examining the textual evidence. Special attention will be given to concepts like ‘Empire’, the ‘rise’ and ‘fall’, and related models of social organisation. It argues that while the territory controlled by the Assyrian kings remained more constant than normally argued, its internal organisation was more flexible.
The Rise and Consolidation of Assyrian Control on the Northwestern Territories
Understanding Hegemonic Practices of the Early Assyrian Empire. Essays dedicated to Frans Wiggermann. (PIHANS 125). Edited by B. Düring, 2015
Flanking the western and northwestern boundaries of the territorial nucleus of Assyria, the Khabur Triangle in northeastern Syria and the Upper Tigris River Valley in southeastern Turkey represented areas of great value for the Assyrians, and were targeted in the expansion that took place in the Late Bronze Age. These territories were part of the area known as Hanigalbat in Assyrian sources, and constituted the heartland of the Mittani kingdom. To understand the nature and meaning of the Assyrian impact, as well as the ways in which territorial and hegemonic control was exercised over the subjugated lands, we need to analyse changes in settlement systems and material culture. In previous articles. The aim of the paper is to highlight what archaeological evidence may tell us about the rise of Assyrian power in the territories beyond the steppes.