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Facing an Empire
Recent archaeological discoveries within the Upper Tigris region in Anatolia (Southeastern Turkey) offer the unique opportunity to understand the dynamics of the Assyrian Empire borderland and the interaction with and between its indigenous communities. The material culture yielded by Hirbemerdon Tepe and other nearby settlements is now playing a major role in bringing back to light the socio-economic and historical traits of the ancient past of these lands.
We must bear in mind that within a few years most of the region will be irreversibly submerged, due to the construction of the Ilisu dam, the biggest hydroelectric power plant project in Turkey. It is then of paramount importance to understand and record as much data as possible about the local communities and the foreign connections that flowered in this area. Therefore, the book intends to briefly analyse these local cultures, in particular between the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age (ca. 13th-10th century BCE), and the dramatic changes introduced by the Neo-Assyrian Empire in the following centuries (ca. 10th-7th century BCE). These aspects will be explored mainly by means of the case study offered by the Hirbemerdon Tepe Iron Age settlement.
The network that is emerging, formed by different economic and social components such as pastoral nomadism, chiefdoms and city-states, together with the strong Assyrian influence from the south, create a lively multiracial, correlated and dynamic environment, that so much is contributing to the better-known Mesopotamian Low-lands and that only now is revealing its importance within the ancient Near Eastern general landscape.
We must bear in mind that within a few years most of the region will be irreversibly submerged, due to the construction of the Ilisu dam, the biggest hydroelectric power plant project in Turkey. It is then of paramount importance to understand and record as much data as possible about the local communities and the foreign connections that flowered in this area. Therefore, the book intends to briefly analyse these local cultures, in particular between the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age (ca. 13th-10th century BCE), and the dramatic changes introduced by the Neo-Assyrian Empire in the following centuries (ca. 10th-7th century BCE). These aspects will be explored mainly by means of the case study offered by the Hirbemerdon Tepe Iron Age settlement.
The network that is emerging, formed by different economic and social components such as pastoral nomadism, chiefdoms and city-states, together with the strong Assyrian influence from the south, create a lively multiracial, correlated and dynamic environment, that so much is contributing to the better-known Mesopotamian Low-lands and that only now is revealing its importance within the ancient Near Eastern general landscape.
222 pages, Hardcover
First published April 24, 2012
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