Early Urbanizations in the Levant

Early Urbanizations in the Levant PDF Author: Raphael Greenberg
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 056711600X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 154

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Book Description
Early Urbanizations in the Levant examines the first cycle of urbanization, collapse and reurbanization in the 4th-2nd millennium BCE Levant. The core of the study is a detailed analysis of settlement fluctuations and material culture development in the Hula Valley, at the crossroads between modern Israel, Syria and Lebanon. Focusing on field data and a close reading of the material text, the book emphasizes the variety exhibited in patterns of cultural and social change when small, densely settled regions are carefully scrutinized. Using the concepts of time-space edges and shifting loci of power, the study suggests new scenarios to explain changes in the regional archaeological record, and considers the implications these have for existing reconstructions of social evolution in the larger region. The Levant is shown to be composed of a fluid mosaic of polities that moved along multiple, if often parallel, paths towards and away from complexity. This book should be of interest to anyone studying the archaeology of early state formation in the Near East, particularly in areas of secondary urbanization - Palestine, Syria and Anatolia. With its detailed consideration of settlement patterns and ceramic production, it is also indispensable for the study of the early history of the two major sites in the area, Tel Dan and Tel Hazor, being the first attempt to integrate the results of excavations at these sites with the information obtained in archaeological surveys of the valley which sustained them.

Early Urbanizations in the Levant

Early Urbanizations in the Levant PDF Author: Raphael Greenberg
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 056711600X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 154

Get Book Here

Book Description
Early Urbanizations in the Levant examines the first cycle of urbanization, collapse and reurbanization in the 4th-2nd millennium BCE Levant. The core of the study is a detailed analysis of settlement fluctuations and material culture development in the Hula Valley, at the crossroads between modern Israel, Syria and Lebanon. Focusing on field data and a close reading of the material text, the book emphasizes the variety exhibited in patterns of cultural and social change when small, densely settled regions are carefully scrutinized. Using the concepts of time-space edges and shifting loci of power, the study suggests new scenarios to explain changes in the regional archaeological record, and considers the implications these have for existing reconstructions of social evolution in the larger region. The Levant is shown to be composed of a fluid mosaic of polities that moved along multiple, if often parallel, paths towards and away from complexity. This book should be of interest to anyone studying the archaeology of early state formation in the Near East, particularly in areas of secondary urbanization - Palestine, Syria and Anatolia. With its detailed consideration of settlement patterns and ceramic production, it is also indispensable for the study of the early history of the two major sites in the area, Tel Dan and Tel Hazor, being the first attempt to integrate the results of excavations at these sites with the information obtained in archaeological surveys of the valley which sustained them.

Heartland of villages

Heartland of villages PDF Author: Steven Edward Falconer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 362

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Book Description


The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant

The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant PDF Author: Margreet L. Steiner
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191662550
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 912

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Book Description
This Handbook aims to serve as a research guide to the archaeology of the Levant, an area situated at the crossroads of the ancient world that linked the eastern Mediterranean, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and Egypt. The Levant as used here is a historical geographical term referring to a large area which today comprises the modern states of Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, western Syria, and Cyprus, as well as the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and the Sinai Peninsula. Unique in its treatment of the entire region, it offers a comprehensive overview and analysis of the current state of the archaeology of the Levant within its larger cultural, historical, and socio-economic contexts. The Handbook also attempts to bridge the modern scholarly and political divide between archaeologists working in this highly contested region. Written by leading international scholars in the field, it focuses chronologically on the Neolithic through Persian periods - a time span during which the Levant was often in close contact with the imperial powers of Egypt, Anatolia, Assyria, Babylon, and Persia. This volume will serve as an invaluable reference work for those interested in a contextualised archaeological account of this region, beginning with the 'agricultural revolution' until the conquest of Alexander the Great that marked the end of the Persian period.

The Archaeology of the Bronze Age Levant

The Archaeology of the Bronze Age Levant PDF Author: Raphael Greenberg
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107111463
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 433

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Book Description
An up-to-date, systematic depiction of Bronze Age societies of the Levant, their evolution, and their interactions and entanglements with neighboring regions.

Dolmens in the Levant

Dolmens in the Levant PDF Author: James A. Fraser
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351375423
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 557

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Book Description
When Western explorers first encountered dolmens in the Levant, they thought they had discovered the origins of a megalithic phenomenon that spread as far as the Atlantic coast. Although European dolmens are now considered an unrelated tradition, many researchers continue to approach dolmens in the Levant as part of a trans-regional phenomenon that spanned the Taurus mountains to the Arabian peninsula. By tightly defining the term 'dolmen' itself, this book brings these mysterious monuments into sharper focus. Drawing on historical, archaeological and geological sources, it is shown that dolmens in the Levant mostly concentrate in the eastern escarpment of the Jordan Rift Valley, and in the Galilean hills. They cluster near proto-urban settlements of the Early Bronze I period (3700–3000 BCE) in particular geological zones suitable for the extraction of megalithic slabs. Rather than approaching dolmens as a regional phenomenon, this book considers dolmens as part of a local burial tradition whose tomb forms varied depending on geological constraints. Dolmens in the Levant is essential for anyone interested in the rise of civilisations in the ancient Middle East, and particularly those who have wondered at the origins of these enigmatic burial monuments that dominate the landscape.

Daily Life, Materiality, and Complexity in Early Urban Communities of the Southern Levant

Daily Life, Materiality, and Complexity in Early Urban Communities of the Southern Levant PDF Author: Meredith S. Chesson
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 1575066556
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
This volume emerges from a session honoring Walter E. Rast and R. Thomas Schaub held during the 2003 Annual Meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research in Atlanta, Georgia and includes expanded versions of many of the papers presented in that session. By gathering in Atlanta, and by participating in this volume, the contributors honor the careers and scholarly passions of Walt and Tom, whose work in southern Levantine archaeology began in the 1960s when they were young scholars working with Paul Lapp. The breadth and depth of experience of the contributors’ disciplinary and theoretical interests reflects the shared influence of and esteem for Walt’s and Tom’s own scholarly gifts as archaeologists, mentors, collaborators, and intellectual innovators. The primary disciplinary “homes” for the scholars contributing to this volume encompass a broad range of methods and approaches to learning about the past: anthropological archaeology, Near Eastern archaeology, biblical archaeology, and physical anthropology. Their institutional “homes” include universities and institutes in Canada, Denmark, Israel, Jordan, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States; their theoretical “homes” include the broadly-conceived archaeological frameworks of culture-history, processualism, and post-processualism. Collectively, these papers reflect the enormous breadth of influence that Tom’s and Walt’s scholarly contributions have made to EB studies. Walt and Tom shared a gift that many have benefited from: gentle listening, questioning, and pushing for more sophisticated analyses of Early Bronze Age life. Their eager engagement of younger scholars, as well as their involvement with their peers, arises from their dedication to listening well, devoting time to others’ ideas and perspectives, and a generous willingness to give freely to others out of the rich depths of their lifelong scholarly pursuits and profound understanding of the Early Bronze Age, archaeology, and life in general. Many of the contributors to this volume have gained greater understanding because of Walt’s and Tom’s gift of listening, keen insights, and bottomless enthusiasm for learning more about the past and the present in the southern Levant. The 18 essays presented here are to honor both men for these gifts both to the discipline of archaeology and to so many of us engaged in that intellectual endeavor.

The Social Archaeology of the Levant

The Social Archaeology of the Levant PDF Author: Assaf Yasur-Landau
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108668240
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 941

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Book Description
The volume offers a comprehensive introduction to the archaeology of the southern Levant (modern day Israel, Palestine and Jordan) from the Paleolithic period to the Islamic era, presenting the past with chronological changes from hunter-gatherers to empires. Written by an international team of scholars in the fields of archaeology, epigraphy, and bioanthropology, the volume presents central debates around a range of archaeological issues, including gender, ritual, the creation of alphabets and early writing, biblical periods, archaeometallurgy, looting, and maritime trade. Collectively, the essays also engage diverse theoretical approaches to demonstrate the multi-vocal nature of studying the past. Significantly, The Social Archaeology of the Levant updates and contextualizes major shifts in archaeological interpretation.

The Levant in Transition: No. 4

The Levant in Transition: No. 4 PDF Author: P.J. Parr
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351542974
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 285

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Book Description
The latter part of the 3rd millennium BC witnessed severe dislocations in the social, economic and political structures of the lands at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea - the Levant. In the south, in what is now Israel, the Palestinian Territories and Jordan, hitherto thriving urban centres disappeared, to be replaced for several centuries

Neanderthals in the Levant

Neanderthals in the Levant PDF Author: Donald O. Henry
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1441183094
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
The volume traces the controversy that revolves around the bio-cultural relationships of Archaic (Neanderthal) and Modern humans at global and regional, Levantine scales. The focus of the book is on understanding the degree to which the behavioral organization of Archaic groups differed from Moderns. To this end, a case study is presented for a 44-70,000 year old, Middle Paleolithic occupation of a Jordanian rockshelter. The research, centering on the spatial analysis of artifacts, hearths and related data, reveals how the Archaic occupants of the shelter structured their activities and placed certain conceptual labels on different parts of the site. The structure of Tor Faraj is compared to site structures defined for modern foragers, in both ethnographic and archaeological contexts, to measure any differences in behavioral organization. The comparisons show very similar structures for Tor Faraj and its modern cohorts. The implications of this finding challenge prevailing views in the emergence of modern human controversy in which Archaic groups are thought to have had inferior cognition and less complex behavioral-social organization than modern foragers. And, it is generally thought that such behaviors only emerged after the appearance of the Upper Paleolithic, dated some 10-20,000 years later than the occupation of Tor Faraj.

A Land in Between

A Land in Between PDF Author: Melissa Kennedy
Publisher: Sydney University Press
ISBN: 1743327196
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
The Orontes Valley in western Syria is a land ‘in between’, positioned between the small trading centres of the coast and the huge urban agglomerations of the Euphrates Valley and the Syro-Mesopotamian plains beyond. As such, it provides a critical missing link in our understanding of the archaeology of this region in the early urban age. A Land in Between documents the material culture and socio-political relationships of the Orontes Valley and its neighbours during the second half of the 3rd millennium BCE. The authors demonstrate that the valley was a chief conduit for the exchange of knowledge and goods that fuelled the first urban age in western Syria. This lays the foundation for a comparative perspective, providing a clearer understanding of key differences between the Orontes region and its neighbours, and insights into how patterns of material and political association changed over time.