Near Eastern Archaeology Research Papers (original) (raw)

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- Egyptology, Near Eastern Archaeology, Biblical Archaeology

The nature of the relationship between the Assyrian state and the Syro-Hittite states is often represented in the writings of archaeologists and ancient historians under the rubric of imperialism, Assyrian sovereignty, and the Syro-Hittite resistance, an unchanging formula largely based on center-periphery models. This structuralist model of fixed relationships is thus characterized as a firmly-set trajectory of power relations and a teleological narrative of conquest, ending without exception with the eventual and complete submission and subjugation of Syro-Hittite states to Assyrian military power. While Syro-Hittite states are represented as vulnerable and politically weak entities, the Assyrian state is referred as an “expansionistic imperial power” or “superior invading force”. Had they escaped direct Assyrian sovereignty, these peripheral communities were at least deemed “Assyrianizing” in their material culture. This a priori qualification of Syro-Hittite-Assyrian relationships as an imbalanced power distribution is an outcome of the preponderance of studies of Assyrian sovereignty with an obsession with the (cosmic) image of the sovereign in his visual and verbal manifestations. Secondly it is often assumed that the study of Assyrian imperialism has always operated through coercion and military violence. Alternative forms of engagement between the Neo-Assyrian state and the Syro-Hittite kingdoms such as diplomacy, political negotiation, trade, exchange of ideas, politics of settlement, land management, taxation or traveling craftsmen and circulation of technology and knowledge are much more rarely discussed. In this paper, I suggest that historical perspectives on the unchallenged Assyrian imperialism are often driven by the alluring, yet biased perspectives offered by the sumptuous, if not excessive corpus of Assyrian annalistic accounts, state sponsored texts, and imperial monuments. Therefore such perspectives prioritize short-term political histories of conquest and domination over other longer term and more horizontally distributed aspects of the past such as cultural practices, ecological histories, political landscapes, socialization, or material worlds. The historicist accounts of the Near Eastern past can be challenged and perhaps balanced by evidence offered by archaeological, material, and environmental research, which present alternative and often contrasting perspectives on these particular histories. Prioritizing textual evidence often leaves out the material flows, delicate negotiations of power, dynamics of trade and exchange and the politics of resource extraction. Attending to other forms of evidence allows us to reflect on the complexity of the relationships between Assyria and the Syro-Hittite states. In this article, I pay particular attention to such interactions and encounters that are other than military in nature, and give priority to material evidence that challenge standard imperialist narratives of Assyrian textual accounts.

- by Ömür Harmansah
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- History, Ancient History, Cultural Studies, Archaeology

More than 30 years ago the American anthropologist-archaeologist William Adams wrote a seminal article on the interpretation of material culture change in ancient Nubia entitled ‘Invasion, Diffusion, Evolution?’ (1968). In it the author laid bare the inadequacies of invoking population movement to explain changes that could just as easily be attributed to cultural diffusion or evolution. A decade later Adams co-authored another article that took an even dimmer view of ‘migrationism’ (Adams, van Gerven and Levy 1978). In this latter article the authors offered up the Philistines as an example of a ‘historical migration’ – that is, a migration known from texts or through philology, but largely indiscernible through excavation. Although many of their points are well taken, the case of the Philistines should have been exempted from this sweeping criticism of the migrationist tendencies of culture-history. In addition to the textual evidence that attests to the movement and settlement of Philistines and other Sea Peoples along the Levantine coast, there is a burgeoning corpus of supportive archaeological data. Indeed, the Philistines, based on extensive excavations at three of their capital cities (i.e., Ashdod, Ashkelon and Tel Miqne-Ekron), provide a superb case study of migration from an archaeological perspective.
The main purpose of this paper, however, is not to address Adams’ passing dismissal of the Philistine migration as an archaeologically observable event; but, rather, to counter the more focused and sustained revisionist thinking of the past decade regarding the Sea Peoples phenomenon. First, though, it is necessary to present a brief history of how the Philistines and their fellow Sea Peoples have been regarded over the past 150 years.

The bronze crescent moon with Etruscan dedication to the lunar deity Tiur is a remarkable epigraphic document associated with Città della Pieve by virtue of its long collecting history, which sees it at the center of attention of exponents of the antiquarian and archeology world starting from the very early nineteenth century. Found halfway between Cetona and Chiusi, the inscribed crescent was purchased by Filippo Becchetti, bishop of Città della Pieve, who soon after donated it to cardinal Stefano Borgia; this gift, which thus will enrich the encyclopedic collection of the
cardinal at the twilight of his existence, represents an episode on the margins of eighteenth-century collecting. The bronze will only come into the Vatican collections in 1925, after it had even lost the memory of its location. In addition to the perspective of the history of the studies, the monument is now reconsidered starting from the new data emerged from the close examination and from the information supplied by archival documents, which also allow us to clarify the provenance context, in the light of recent acquisitions on the Etruscan religion and cult practices. The crescent, referable to a sanctuary, is confirmed as an extraordinary testimony for the archaic age on the astral cults in Etruria and on their connections with the chthonic and water ones. His relationship with the obelisk of Città della Pieve is also clarified, to which it has been related somehow, with notes on the subject of the reception in Etruria of this monumental class.

[The paper “Visual Grammar in South Asia: Meaning of Mathematics in Antiquity” on the occasion of Science and Technology in Premodern Asia: Coffee Break Conference, Oxford 2018, was presented for the session Mathematics & Astronomy chaired by Matt Kimberley, Research Curator, Asian & African Collections, The British Library.]
Design defines a culture’s aesthetic. In ancient South Asia, society and craftsmen understood the value of mathematical adornment for cult purpose. Through learned skill the mathematically defined space on pottery, seals and sculpture display geometric patterns. The Flower of Life pained on the funerary pottery and the Hagal Rune incorporated in the hieroglyphic text on the Indus Valley tablet seals are repeated on the offering trays of Gandhara. From Swastika to series of Vesica Pisces, the arrangement of space extend to elaborate arrangement of symbolic motifs on disc stones, Pi-disks, homage tablets and seals, which are by themselves marvels in mathematical precision. The geometric elements on wide range of votive objects communicate faith in celestial spheres. The link between mathematics and astronomy is particularly discernible in the arched entrance to Lomas Rishi cave on the Barabar Hills in Bihar, India, which is similar to the first-century CE ivory torana gateway found in the royal stash in Begram, Afghanistan. The imagery on the Syrian arch high on symmetry and balance comparable to the Grand Royal Arch of the Freemasons not only convey meaning but the different moods of astronomical body in movement. By questioning the cognitive foundation on which such exceptional sacred objects were produced it is possible to uncover prior knowledge.

"This book is the first-ever monograph on the family of royal converts from Adiabene including the broader perspective of the cultural and political environment of Hellenistic and Parthian Adiabene. It collects, arranges and discusses all available sources on the topic.
The study consists of three parts. Part 1 (chapters 1-5) is devoted to the longest ancient account on the Adiabene royalty from all ancient literature – Josephus, Ant. 20:17-96 (“the Adiabene Narrative”). It examines the Adiabene narrative as Josephus’ conscious literary product with all its rhetorical features and ideological agendas.
Part 2 (chapters 6-7) deals with other sources about the family of royal converts from Adiabene. Chapter 6 is devoted to Rabbinic traditions about Queen Helena and King Munbaz. Chapter 7 discusses all Jewish and non-Jewish literary sources which refer to the resting place of Queen Helena and to the palaces of the Adiabene royalty in Jerusalem, what is more, it also provides an updated discussion of relevant archaeological sites in Jerusalem (Le Tombeau des Rois and the Givati Parking Lot).
Part 3 (chapters 8-13) presents the material and political environment of Adiabene from the third century BCE to the third century CE. It discusses all available kinds of sources: geographical and ethnographical texts (chapter 8), archaeological sites (chapter 9), epigraphic and numismatic material (chapter 10), as well as onomastic evidence (chapter 11). Furthermore, chapter 12 provides a basic chronology of the Adiabene royalty in the Hellenistic and Parthian periods, and chapter 13 presents the political environment of Adiabene and Judea in the context of the international relations between Rome and Parthia."
P.S.
So far reviewed by K. Atkinson, Biblica 96 (2015) 635-638; D.M. Jacobson, Palestine Exploration Quarterly 147 (2015) 169-170; E. Kettenhofen, Anabasis. Studia Classica et Orientalia 6 (2015) 297-307; E. Lipiński, Polish Journal of Biblical Research 14 (2015) 201-207; D.M. Downing, Journal of American Oriental Studies 137 (2017) 428-430; E. Nodet, Revue Biblique 122-124 (2015) 634-635; K. Berthelot, Syria 94 (2017) 415-416; J.-S. Caillou, L’Antiquité Classique 86 (2017) 517-519.

- by Jorrit Kelder
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- Near Eastern Archaeology, Greek History, Greek Archaeology, Ancient Greek History
- by Emanuele Castelli
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- Religion, Christianity, History, Ancient History

In the 5 th and 4 th millennia BC, complex societies developed in Eastern Anatolia, Northern (Upper) Mesopotamia, and Southern (Lower) Mesopotamia. This paper examines the available evidence for the emergence of complex societies in Upper Mesopotamia from the Ubaid through the LC4 periods at key sites in the Euphrates, Balikh, Khabur, and Tigris drainages. Evidence from the sites of Hacınebi and Tell Zeidan is compared with data from Tell Brak, Hamoukar, Gawra, and Grai Resh. The currently available evidence suggests two main conclusions. First, the development of complexity was a gradual process, beginning with economic ranking and incipient stratification in the Ubaid period, and reaching its culmination with the emergence of true urbanism and centralized leadership in the LC2 and LC3 periods. Second, the development of complexity in Upper Mesopotamia took place in a time of minimal interaction with southern Mesopotamia, strongly suggesting that urbanism and centralized political leadership in Upper Mesopotamia developed independently and by pathways different from those in the south. Tab 1 -Comparative Chalcolithic chronology of Upper Mesopotamia.

- by Gil Stein
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- Near Eastern Archaeology, Urbanization, Syria (Archaeology), Early state societies

Bronze weapons from the cemetery of al-Nasim in the oasis of Tayma, can be paralleled with late 3rd / early 2nd millennium BCE specimens from so-called warrior graves in the Levant. Long-lasting cultural and technological transfer have... more

- by Arnulf Hausleiter and +2
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- Near Eastern Archaeology, Arabian Peninsula in Antiquity, Archaeology of the Levant

The chronology of the Late Bronze Age (second half of the 2nd millennium BC), a key period characterised by a flourishing development of urban civilisation, is well known in western Syria, especially on the coast at Ugarit. However, the Late Bronze Age chronology in inner Syria and in particular in the middle Orontes valley still needs to be clarified. Recent excavations and archaeological surveys conducted at the site of Qatna and its surroundings have revealed new challenging data inducing a review of the Late Bronze Age chronology. This paper presents preliminary results of my PhD research on new ceramic findings from the Late Bronze Age excavations carried out in different operations by the Syrian team at Qatna from 2005 to 2010. An innovative approach is suggested that will allow the revision of chronological issues by establishing a new baseline reference for the stratigraphic sequences from Qatna through the examination of ceramic material. This examination based on traditional pottery studies is enhanced by petrographic analyses of ceramic sherds from Qatna and is accompanied by a comparative study of other Late Bronze Age sites in the Orontes valley region.

- by Shadi SHABO
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- Near Eastern Archaeology, Levantine Archaeology, Archaeometry, Syria
- by Ilan Sharon
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- Archaeology, Near Eastern Archaeology, Geochemistry, Zooarchaeology

Community detection is a major issue in network analysis. This paper combines a socio-historical approach with an experimental reconstruction of programs to investigate the early automation of clique detection algorithms, which remains one of the unsolved NP-complete problems today. The research led by the archaeologist Jean-Claude Gardin from the 1950s on non-numerical information and graph analysis is retraced to demonstrate the early contributions of social sciences and humanities. The limited recognition and reception of Gardin’s innovative computer application to the humanities are addressed through two factors, in addition to the effects of historiography and bibliographies on the recording, discoverability, and reuse of scientific productions: 1) funding policies, evidenced by the transfer of research effort on graph applications from temporary interdisciplinary spaces to disciplinary organizations related to the then-emerging field of computer science; and 2) the erratic careers of algorithms, in which efficiency, flaws, corrections, and authors’ status, were determining factors.

Thoroughly rewritten 7th edition of a textbook for freshmen students of history, classics, archaeology, ancient studies and a general readership interested in the history of ancient Near East and the Graeco-Roman world. The new edition contains chronological tables and 'boxes' on special topics, such as the Ancient Near Eastern economy, Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek and Roman gods, forms of dependent and independent labour. Kristin Kleber, Ben Haring, Jan Paul Crielaard and Jaap Jan Flinterman read parts of the book and provided various new paragraphs. The authors profited also from advice of a number of users of the book. Both authors bear the sole responsibility for the final result. Training tools are available on the website of the publisher. An English and a German edition of this book are in press at Routledge and Steiner. More information and parts of the book to be inspected here: https://uitgeverij-coutinho.cld.bz/9789046905876-2017-SPEC

- by R.J. (Bert) van der Spek and +1
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- History, Ancient History, Economic History, Archaeology

This Forum discussion aims to explore the topic of repatriation from a variety of viewpoints considering twenty-first century realities in the region. The contributions
fall into three main categories addressing general background matters, presenting case studies and offering future directions. We hop that the differing perspectives assembled in this issue of JEMAHS will contribute to the ongoing debate regarding repatriation, curation and ownership of artifacts, some now housed far from their places of origin.

- by Ann E. Killebrew
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- Ancient History, Archaeology, Near Eastern Archaeology, Museum Studies

In this book I endeavour to offer a concise account of Islamic archaeology as it has developed and is today in the region of
geographical Syria-Palestine. The region offers the archaeologist particular attractions in dealing with an Islamic past as a result of the tremendous advances made in relevant archaeological research in the last few decades. This work proposes new ways of understanding and interpreting the first Islamic centuries in Syria-Palestine, based on clear and verifiable information gleaned from a range of archaeological discoveries.

An anthropological approach to a culture extrapolates social structures, traditions, and general organizing principles of that culture from the careful observation of patterns of behaviour as described in case studies. In the absence of a living culture to record, archaeologists extrapolate this information from behaviour reconstructed from spatially determined patterns in the deposition of material remains and from patterns found in the general organizing principles of historically documented cultures, using arguments based on analogy. This contribution builds on our previous research on the “Sea Peoples” as a piratical culture in order to apply an anthropological approach to understanding the cultural identities of the various tribal groups involved in maritime activities at the end of the Bronze Age who are popularly known as the “Sea Peoples”, and place this within the broader context of the current discussions on the transition between the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age in the Mediterranean.

- by Aren M . Maeir and +1
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- Ancient History, Archaeology, Egyptology, Maritime Archaeology

Temples were nearly ubiquitous across the ancient Near East. Rather than serving as a gathering place for a worshipping congregation, a temple served as a terrestrial divine abode. In it, the god(s) lived amid society, yet carefully sequestered from it behind walls and doors. While primarily a residence, the temple also granted people limited access, usually for the purpose of divine service. The people believed that gods dwelt outside of the realm of human experience. Temples bridged the gap between human and divine, allowing regulated access to the deity, usually present in the form of a cult statue, and giving people the opportunity to influence the gods. Through this mutually beneficial interchange, the gods received the service they desired, while the people hoped their service would elicit divine protection and blessing. Protection and blessing, though, were conditional. The gods would remain and stay favorably disposed only if they were satisfied with their accommodation and service. Temples then, at least in theory, were lavishly and fastidiously constructed and maintained in order to keep the gods happy. This article focuses on the major temples, especially those from 1500–500 BCE, in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Hittite Anatolia, and Syria-Palestine. The article also focuses on the structure and ideology of the temples, not the rituals performed within them. For the most part, biblical and Israelite references will be kept to a minimum, as they are numerous enough to warrant their own article. Too numerous to include, archaeological reports generally have been excluded, yet they are referenced in the works cited and may be found with a Google web search.

- by Joost Blasweiler
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- History, Ancient History, Egyptology, Near Eastern Archaeology

The Syrian civil war has resulted in over 250,000 deaths and several million displaced refugees within Syria and abroad. In addition to this human toll, the conflict has resulted in the devastation of the country’s acclaimed cultural heritage sites and the historical fabric that composed the country’s social landscape and the identity of its population. In this article, we consider the reaction of the international heritage community to this moment of crisis. To date, the international heritage community has developed three kinds of projects: site documentation projects; public-awareness-raising projects; and emergency training and mitigation projects. Most of these undertakings have prioritized the collection and dissemination of information about heritage loss. Less attention has been given to emergency interventions to support Syrians inside the country and the at-risk heritage. A significant gap exists between international knowledge about heritage in this crisis and the immediate needs of Syrian heritage professionals. Here, we consider some of the reasons for the divergence between on-the-ground-need and international response, along with the intended and unintended outcomes resulting from the documentation and public-awareness-raising projects. In terms of tangible results, there is no substitute for efforts conducted within a humanitarian framework. The challenge is in encouraging the international heritage community to embrace such an approach.

- by Giacomo Bardelli
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- Near Eastern Archaeology, Ancient Near East, Etruscan Archaeology, Etruscology
- by Irene Winter
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- Near Eastern Archaeology, Art History, Ancient Near East
- by Christina Tsoraki
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- Archaeology, Near Eastern Archaeology, Archaeomalacology, Anatolian Archaeology

A collection of over 60 small objects of unbaked clay was found in a Khabur Ware period layer at Tell Arbid. The assemblage included a variety of object types: “spools”, “tokens” and discs (some decorated with the same cross-and-dots motif, some with punctuations), tetrahedrons, round model tables and others. The objects were found in situ and had clearly been used together as a set. Parallels for individual objects and an overview of interpretations of other sets of unbaked clay objects from Northern Mesopotamia and neighboring regions are considered in an attempt at establishing the function of the discussed assemblage. However, its interpretation remains open to discussion.

Invited talk - University of Vienna (18 January 2022)
From the Adriatic Sea to the mountainous borders with Iran and from the Black Sea to the scorched shores of the Red Sea, the Ottoman domains were home to myriad locations of archaeological importance. The multitude of prehistoric, ancient and medieval civilisations that had left their imprint on Ottoman lands was bound to attract the interest of Europeans. Ottoman subjects were not in themselves left uninterested. Visits, digs, illicit traffic, museums and many more activities attest to this.
As the 19th century was progressing with the number of manifestations of an interest in ancient finds rising, the Ottoman state decided to take it upon itself to regulate this area of human activity. This presentation discusses the legal responses of the Ottoman state to this rising interest and, more specifically, the laws on antiquities of 1869, 1874, 1884 and 1906. It traces their origins, such as the incidents or other factors that motivated the state to promulgate the laws. It aims to shed light on the topics these laws covered, such as definitions on antiquities, the ownership of finds, stipulations on the import and, significantly, export of antiquities, any protective measures, and the regulation of excavations. It also provides a comparison between Ottoman archaeological legislation and that of the Greek kingdom in an attempt to identify points of convergence and divergence. To what extent was Ottoman policy inspired by Greece’s treatment of antiquities? Finally, this presentation does not fail to investigate the reasons for replacing one law with another. In this, a discussion of how each law was implemented in the vast domains of the empire remains crucial.
In all, this presentation aims to provide a comprehensive picture as to the Ottoman legal approaches to antiquities that, together with the development of Ottoman museums, encapsulate Ottoman archaeological policy. In discussing the laws, we shall see how the Ottoman state evolved from being largely a bystander into a guardian of antiquities in its lands.

- by Artemis Papatheodorou
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- Archaeology, Near Eastern Archaeology, Greek History, Ottoman History
- by Zachi Dvira
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- Near Eastern Archaeology, Phoenicians, Biblical Archaeology, Archaeology of ethnicity

6 Mentioned in four tractates (Niddah 24b, Baba Bathra 73a, Šabbat 151b, ‛Erubin 100b) as a long-haired winged being. In midrashic tradition Lilit was Adam's first wife. He gendered with her the šēdim who bring plagues and afflictions on humans. Lilit wanted to rule over Adam, therefore he dismissed her. Lilit became an evil spirit, the demon of the childbed fever and infant mortality.

- by Ida Fröhlich
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- Near Eastern Archaeology, Anthropology, Qumranic Studies, Demonology
- by Judith Hadley
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- Cultural Studies, Archaeology, Near Eastern Archaeology, Multidisciplinary
- by Şevket Dönmez
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- Sumerian Religion, Archaeology, Near Eastern Archaeology, Historical Archaeology

Muslims claim that Muhammad was born in Mecca and the earliest parts of the Qur’an were revealed to him there. Indeed, without Mecca the whole story of Muhammad would have to be re-evaluated and the very foundations of Islam would have to be questioned. However, recent archaeological and historical research calls into question whether Mecca even existed in the traditional time of Muhammad (570-632 AD). There are no archaeological artifacts from Mecca until the 8th century AD, the first direct mention of Mecca in external literature occurs in 741 AD, and the first time Mecca is listed on a map of the Middle East was 900 AD. Indeed, if Mecca did not exist in the early 7th century, then who was Muhammad and from where did he come?
This paper will consider the Muslim evidence for the existence of Mecca in light of the research of a number of recent scholars who have suggested that Mecca was probably neither a center of trade nor a religious center or pilgrimage site in the 7th century. One issue for consideration is that the geographical descriptions of the city of the prophet in the Qur’an do not match up with the barren landscape of Mecca. Furthermore, the qiblas, or the direction of prayer in the mosques, did not point to Mecca until 727 AD. The evidence also may indicate that Muhammad probably did not have anything to do with Mecca, especially since it may not have even existed at that time. Finally, a mounting body of evidence suggests that the Nabataean kingdom of Petra in Northeast Arabia might have actually been the center of the origin of Islam, and Muhammad a much different religious leader than the one traditionally portrayed by Islam.

- by Daniel Janosik
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- Religion, Christianity, Archaeology, Near Eastern Archaeology

In 2018, a team from the Austrian Archaeological Institute uncovered an alphabetic inscription that was painted onto a fragment of a Cypriote White Slip II milk bowl. The significance of the Lachish Milk Bowl Ostracon (LMBO) for biblical history cannot be overstated, as this ostracon ties the Israelites of Joshua's campaign directly to Canaan at the end of the 15th century BC. This inscribed potsherd from Lachish’s destruction layer, which dates to near the end of the Late Bronze Age I, attests to Israelites in Canaan just before 1400 BC. The ostracon includes a brief but legible writing in the script of the world’s oldest alphabet, whose prior attestation is reserved almost exclusively for inscriptions from Egypt (Lahun, Wadi el-Ḥôl) and Sinai (Wadi Naṣb, Serâbîṭ el-Khâdim), which the author previously demonstrated to be written in the Hebrew language. The LMBO is possibly the most definitive form of evidence of the Israelite conquest of Canaan yet discovered by archaeologists excavating in Israel.

- by Şevket Dönmez and +1
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- History, Ancient History, Cultural History, Archaeology

During the period of unrest in the eastern Mediterranean at the turn of the thirteenth-twelvth centuries BCE, the Hittite Empire, one of the major Late Bronze Age powers in the ancient Near East, also came to an end. Until recently, the region of central Anatolia produced no material evidence that could be attributed to the period directly after the fall of the Hittite Empire. For central Anatolia, the period between 1200 and 800 BCE was referred toas a Dark Age, and the lack of any finds attributable to this period suggested that the region was either uninhabited or only used by nomads who left no archaeologically visible traces. Recent excavations at

- by Hermann Genz
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- History, Archaeology, Near Eastern Archaeology
- by Fikri KULAKOGLU
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- Archaeology, Near Eastern Archaeology, Anatolian Archaeology, Hittite

• a c t e s • d e • c o l l o q u e s • • r a p p o r t s • d e • f o u i l l e s • • t h è s e s • d e • d o c t o r a t • • m o n o g r a p h i e s • • a c t e s • d e • c o l l o q u e s • An Archaeology of Forced Migration The Content... more

• a c t e s • d e • c o l l o q u e s • • r a p p o r t s • d e • f o u i l l e s • • t h è s e s • d e • d o c t o r a t • • m o n o g r a p h i e s • • a c t e s • d e • c o l l o q u e s • An Archaeology of Forced Migration The Content This collection of papers explores whether a meaningful distinction can be made in the archaeological record between migrations in general and conflict-induced migration in particular and whether the concept of conflict-induced migration is at all relevant to understand the major societal collapse of Bronze Age societies in the Eastern Mediterranean in the late 13 th c. BCE. Helped by modern perspectives on actual and recent cases of conflict-induced migration and by textual evidence on ancient events, the different areas of the Mediterranean affected by the Late Bronze Age events are explored.

Bu tez çalışmasının amacı Protohistorya ve Önasya Arkeolojisi çerçevesinde Türkiye sınırları içerisinde tespit edilmiş seramik fırınlarının hepsini ilk kez bir araya getirerek incelemek ve tipolojisini karşılaştırmalı olarak ele almaktır. Anadolu’da seramik fırınları Kalkolitik Çağ’dan itibaren görülmeye başlamıştır. Şu anki bilgiler ışığında Anadolu’da Kalkolitik Çağ’a tarihlenen seramik fırını Tell Kurdu yerleşim yerinde bulunmuştur. Güncel kazı bilgileri ışığında ise Anadolu’da seramik fırınları sayısal olarak en çok Orta Tunç Çağı’nda gözlemlenmiştir. Tez kapsamında seramik fırınlarının tespit edildiği
yerleşim yerleri ise Tell Kurdu, Seyitömer, Gaziantep Kalehöyük, Troia, Kocabaştepe,
Panaztepe, Milet, Lidar Höyük, Şaraga Höyük, Limantepe, Boğazköy, Tell Atchana,
Ziyaret Tepe ve Kinet Höyük olmuştur. Tatarlı Höyük’te 2015 yılında gerçekleştirilen kazıda seramik fırını olduğu düşünülen bir fırın bulunmuştur, fakat henüz yapısal
durumu veya form ayrıntıları yayınlanmadığından tez çalışmasına dâhil edilmemiştir.

Renewed excavations by Rome "La Sapienza" University at Motya in the last ten years (2002-2011) provided a new set of archaeological data concerning the area of the so-called "kothon" and the nearby South Gate, with the identification of a huge sacred compound, including a monumental temple (called Temple of the Kothon, since it was connected with was proved to be a sacred pool), and several other cult installations and structures. Investigations both in the temple proper area and in the southern sector of this compound brought about the earliest layers of Phoenician occupation in the island, with a series of wells, a huge building and the earliest cult devices. Diagnostic ceramic finds, with striking comparisons in Phoenicia, hint at dating in the second quarter of the 8 th century BC for the foundation of the colony, that is roughly 50 years earlier than previous thought. 1 Una presentazione preliminare della stratigrafia e della ceramica dall'area del Tempio del Kothon dall'VIII al VI secolo a.C. è offerta in L. NIGRO, "Alle origini di Mozia: stratigrafia e ceramica del Tempio del Kothon dall'VIII al VI secolo a.C.", in L. NIGRO (ed.), Motya and the Phoenician Repertoire between the Levant and the West, 9th -6th century BC.

The cult of the so-called "Theos Hypsistos" (the Most High God) has been an intriguing and much debated religious phenomenon of the Graeco-Roman world because of its henotheistic trends and of its possible Hellenistic philosophical background and Jewish associations. In the present paper the archaeological and epigraphic data of this cult in Thessalonica of the second half of the 1st AD will be presented. These monuments will be compared to similar artifacts from the Eastern part of the Roman Empire and their possible connection to the Jewish presence in the city as well as the nature of the cult in Thessalonica and the identity (ethnic and social) of its members will be discussed. Finally, the results of this analysis will be used in order to reconstruct a fascinating part of the religious and social background of the first Christian community in Thessaloniki. SBL International Meeting (London, 3-7/7/2011) 5/7/2011 2 Draft with the gentile sympathizers that frequented the Jewish communities in the cities of Asia Minor and Greece or even with the early Christian communities of these cities. For practical and methodological reasons that will be subsequently explained a different path will be followed here: the evidence of the cult of Theos Hypsistos from a particular city, namely that of Thessaloniki, will be presented and discussed and the validity of the hypothesis of the probable association of the Theos Hypsistos cult to the Jewish or early Christian community of the city will be tested. The purpose, therefore, of this paper is threefold: a) to present the evidence regarding the cult of Theos Hypsistos in a particular local community, b) to contribute to the long lasting debate on the origins and nature of the cult and c) to use this evidence in order to reconstruct a small but perhaps significant aspect of the cultural and religious environment of the first Christian community of Thessaloniki.

The fact that the Achaemenids controlled Anatolia for two centuries provokes a question about the extent of Greek, Anatolian, and Persian contacts and exchange during this period. The growing
evidence for foreign domination has been accompanied by new and revised evidence of the region’s acculturation, which appears to have been a natural process. Archaeological finds from funerary contexts provide
a large amount of information and testify to the cosmopolitan art and culture. Artists and craftsmen spread their artistic styles far and wide along with iconographic norms closely connected to exchange networks, circulation of people, and common lifeways.

- by Lucia Novakova
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- Ancient History, Classical Archaeology, Near Eastern Archaeology, Greek History

This paper aims at highlighting a methodological flaw in current biblical archaeology, which became apparent as a result of recent research in the Aravah's Iron Age copper production centers. In essence, this flaw, which cuts across all schools of biblical archaeology, is the prevailing, overly simplistic approach applied to the identification and interpretation of nomadic elements in biblical-era societies. These elements have typically been described as representing only one form of social organization, which is simple and almost negligible in historical reconstructions. However, the unique case of the Aravah demonstrates that the role of nomads in shaping the history of the southern Levant has been underestimated and downplayed in the research of the region, and that the total reliance on stone-built archaeological features in the identification of social complexity in the vast majority of recent studies has resulted in skewed historical reconstructions. Recognizing this "architectural bias" and understanding its sources have important implications on core issues in biblical archaeology today, as both "minimalists" and "maximalists" have been using stone-built architectural remains as the key to solving debated issues related to the geneses of Ancient Israel and neighboring polities (e.g., "high" vs. "low" Iron Age chronologies), in which-according to both biblical accounts and external sources-nomadic elements played a major role.