Anatolia from 2000-550 BC (original) (raw)
Related papers
Southern and Southeastern Anatolia in the Late Bronze Age
Oxford Handbooks Online, 2011
This article presents data on the Late Bronze Age of southern and southeastern Anatolia. Southern and southeastern Anatolia present three contrasting zones, differentiated by topography, elevation, climate, soils, and connectivity to neighboring regions. In the Late Bronze Age, as at other times, they offered varied options for human exploitation and settlement, and reflected different cultural and political inclinations. The Late Bronze Age cities, towns, and forts in southern and southeastern Anatolia endured various fortunes in the twelfth century BCE, but all experienced the eventual termination of this cultural, political, and economic phase. Most were destroyed and lay deserted for centuries, or their ruins were reoccupied by squatters and migrants, then abandoned.
When worlds collide. Cultural developments in Eastern Anatolia in the Early Bronze Age
Arslantepe (Malatya - Turkey) excavations revealed a good deal of EB building levels. The paper discusses for the first time the sequence and change of building structures side by side with the development of the main time-marker, the Malatya-Elazig pottery, both painted and burnished. Chronology at macro-regional level is a second issue. The third matter is the occupation of riverine and highland areas in Malatya-Elazig region. The authors' work in more recent years went far beyond but as a general outline of the Malatya Elazig EB 2-3 this paper is still a valid contribution.
CULTURAL CHANGE IN THE POST-URARTIAN, MEDIAN AND ACHAEMENID PERIODS OF EASTERN ANATOLIA
Achaemenids, which is the world’s biggest empire for more than 200 years between 550 and 331 BC. The main settlement is the territory, which is equal to Persian province today, in the northwest of Persia high plateau, Parsa, in the north of the Persian gulf. The major capitals such as Persepolis, Ecbatana, Susa, Behistun and Babylonia, and the inscriptions found in significant kingdom centers reveal that Achaemenid Kingdom is the heir to thousands-year history of Mesopotamia. We define Late Iron Age (LIA) as a period including the dates of the fall of Urartu and Achaemenid dynasty (645/625-330 BC). It consists of two phases; the first phase known Post-Urartian and Media (645/625-550 BC) and the second phase defined as Pers-Achaemenid domination (550-330 BC). LIA ceramics show peculiar characteristics in surface processing, technic and form. The potteries are the products of a new tradition and culture. Urartu’s monochrome and shiny red lining ceramics give place to a new type of pottery which has got thick cream lining and which can be designed in different forms such as monochrome, bichrom and polychrome. However, we do not know much about the relationships between the end of one’s ceramic tradition and the other’s beginning because of few data between the fall of Urartu state and the period when dyed pottery rises with Achaemenid.
The period denominated as Early Bronze Age(henceforward EBA) in Anatolia corresponding approximately to the millennial period between3000-2000 B.C. represents a significant period with some major turning points in the history of the mankind. Beside radical changes observed in cultural, social, economical and political structures this period is characterized by a series of events such as the appearance of large, fortified settlements reflecting the central authority, the development of different crafts, innovations and developments in the field of metallurgy, the appearance and wide distribution of different pottery types and long-distance trade activities (Şahoğlu, 2005:339). The increasing need on raw materials and the efforts on gaining ascendancy over trade routes triggered the conflicts between different political entities. If we consider Anatolia as a single landmass, it is not possible to mention a homogenous structure during any period throughout the history. The topographic structures, geographical features and climatic conditions shaped on such features resulted in the formation of distinct regions delineated with natural geographical barriers and the appearance of divergent cultures with different characteristics flourished in such cultural zones. The cultures that evolved in distinct regions of Anatolia in the 3 rd Millennium B.C. not only reflect unique characteristics, but also presented close relations and interactions with the adjacent cultural zones. The impressions of such mutually developing interactions can be observed on all archaeological materials, from architecture to pottery, from burial traditions to the small finds. Although the developments and advancements experienced during this period can be observed throughout Anatolia comprehensively, Western Anatolia has been represented with limited number of centres for many years. Yet the excavations at Troia, started at an early date in 1870s, laid the foundations of Prehistoric Aegean Archaeology, it remained as an isolated centre for many years regarding the Anatolian coast, while this region rather came into prominence with the splendour and monumental remains of the cities of Classical periods. Beside the limited number of researches, the magnificence of the powerful Classical cultures in the region and the notion that the region lacked strong preceding cultures and that its actual potential emerged and advanced through the migrations in the 1 st Millennium B.C. further influenced this view. In spite of this, the excavations and researches conducted at the other side of the Aegean and at the islands continued with an increasing pace. Starting from 1980s, however, the ever increasing number of excavations and studies initiated throughout Western Anatolia, both at the coastline and inland zones, started to reveal the cultural development