Mesopotamian ceramics from the burial mounds of Bahrain,c.2250–1750 BC

Among the ceramic vessels recovered from the burial mounds of Bahrain, a small percentage represents Mesopotamian imports or local emulations of such. In this paper two overall horizons are distinguished in these Mesopotamian ceramics. These are significant because both coincide with major stages in Mesopotamia’s interaction with the populations of the ‘Lower Sea’. The first import horizon is comprised of a vessel type found exclusively in the scattered mounds of Early Type which pre‐date the rise of the Dilmun ‘state’ proper. The distribution of these vessels outside their areas of production demonstrates how they circulated widely in a network elsewhere considered to reflect the orbit of Mesopotamia’s late third‐millennium ‘Magan trade’. Here it is consequently concluded that this particular type represents an important fossile directeur of the ‘Magan trade’ and pre‐Dilmun florescence. The vessels that make up the subsequent horizon of Mesopotamian imports are found exclusively in the compact mound cemeteries and thus coincide with the heyday of Dilmun. On these grounds it is argued that the two horizons are the product of, respectively, the Ur III network of ‘Magan trade’ and the contracted Isin‐Larsa network of ‘Dilmun trade’.     

An overview of bitumen trade in the Near East from the Neolithic (c.8000 BC) to the early Islamic period

The aim of the paper is to summarise the present state of knowledge concerning bitumen trade in the Near East from the Palaeolithic (70,000 BP) to the Early Islamic period. During the Palaeolithic and Early Neolithic period, bitumen utilisation was mostly concentrated in settlements close to oil seeps. From the Ubaid 3 period, bitumen from the Mosul area became more important and was traded as far as the southern Persian Gulf. The Uruk period is a turning point for Mesopotamian history as settlements evolved into city‐states. These cities had a great need for raw materials, and this marks the beginning of large‐scale exploitation of Hit bitumen. This bitumen was traded at settlements along the Euphrates, where a large trade network was established. Hit bitumen entered the Persian Gulf at the turn of the second millennium (Dilmun period). Bitumen from Iraq (Mosul and Hit) became predominantly used in most settlements along the southern coast of the Gulf. During this period Iranian bitumen was also exported and this supply tended to increase, especially during the Partho‐Sasanian period. Dead Sea bitumen had its own exchange network, which was concentrated across present‐day Israel and Egypt where it was extensively used for mummification.     

GEOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS AND SOCIOCULTURAL COMPLEXITY: A CASE STUDY FROM EARLY IRON AGE MEGIDDO (ISRAEL)*

Few archaeological sites can claim a more celebrated position than Megiddo, the Armageddon of biblical revelation. Guardian to a strategic pass on the ancient land bridge that traverses the region, it has long been known that Megiddo played a prominent role in the emergence of the Iron Age nation‐states of biblical fame. Given its pivotal location, Megiddo provides an ideal opportunity to examine the experience of a community that found itself at the centre of these developments. The archaeological and textual evidence indicates a community that enjoyed extensive contact with an array of culturally distinct sociopolitical groups emerging in its hinterland. To further explore the nature and extent of this interaction, an assemblage of 86 ceramic sherds was analysed by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). This paper presents the results of this analysis, together with an evaluation of potential geochemical and archaeological interconnections. Based on this comparative analysis, implications are drawn regarding Megiddo's role in the changing cultural and political landscape of this formative period in the history of the region.     

Social Stratification in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages: An Intra‐Site Investigation at Megiddo

The article presents an intra‐site investigation of the Strata VIIA and VIA faunal remains at Megiddo, Israel, which date to the LB III and late Iron I respectively. We examined social disparity between the populations of two areas of the city. Our finds indicate a difference in social status and division of labour: a dichotomy between producer‐consumers and consumers, who most probably interacted. Viewed in light of other types of remains at Megiddo, these findings reveal that the inhabitants of one sector engaged in agriculture and cottage industries, while the people in the other part of the city, close to the palace, were more affluent – related to the local ruler and administrators. Our study demonstrates the potential in intra‐site investigation at large, multi‐period sites.     

From ‘ovoid jars’ to ‘torpedo jars’: Investigations into bitumen-lined transport containers in the Gulf and the Indian Ocean in antiquity (second century BCE–third century CE)

Research into bitumen-lined ‘torpedo jars’, widely distributed throughout the Gulf and the Indian Ocean between the third and ninth centuries CE, has developed considerably in recent years, shedding new light on maritime trade connections during the Sasanian and early Islamic periods. Based on pottery finds from Failaka (Kuwait) and Thaj (Saudi Arabia), recently studied by the author, this article draws attention to an earlier type of bitumen-lined jar characterised by an ovoid profile and a greenish fabric, including vegetal temper. These ovoid jars, presumably of Mesopotamian origin, are commonly found on ‘Classical’/pre-Sasanian sites located along the Gulf’s shores, and their specific fabric has also been identified recently in Oman and southern India. They provide evidence for the existence of extensive Mesopotamian trade, probably in wine, with the Gulf region and more broadly with the Indian Ocean during the late Seleucid and Characenian periods.     

The Uruk Expansion: Culture Contact,Ideology and Middlemen

The Mesopotamian landscape was shaped by urbanization, population growth and trade during the 4th millennium bc. The Uruk expansion, an expansion of south Mesopotamian material culture to nearby and far-off regions started about 3700 bc. North Mesopotamian and Anatolian settlements formed a network with south Mesopotamia, which collapsed about 500 years later. This period has puzzled archaeologists for a century with different explanations being given for what this expansion was, how it happened and for what reasons. In this article I will focus on the interconnection between the two regions and how this may have created the expansion. I will use the archaeological material to study possible ideological changes. To explain how this happened I will show how the north Mesopotamian settlements functioned as middlemen in a trading network where they connected the resource-rich areas in Anatolia with the alluvial plains. The north Mesopotamian settlements exploited their position between the two regions where they could control the trading routes. This led to a lot of changes in the northern regions that do not necessarily mean that this was an occupied region or a region where decisions were dictated by leaders in south Mesopotamia.     

Aspects of the Production of Cobalt‐blue Glass in Egypt

Cobalt‐blue glass of the Near and Middle Eastern Late Bronze Age has long been recognized as compositionally distinct from other contemporary glasses (Sayre 1967; Lilyquist et al. 1993). It has been suggested recently by Shortland and Tite (2000) that this chemical distinction reflects the use of Egyptian raw materials for making these glasses, different from those used to make glass in Mesopotamia, or its manufacture by Mesopotamian workmen, possibly in Egypt. This assumed that cobalt‐bearing alum from the Western Oases and mineral natron from the Wadi Natrun were used for the cobalt‐blue glass, while the other, probably Mesopotamian, glasses were made using plant ash as the main alkali source. This note discusses some technical aspects of the possible ways in which the cobalt could have been added to the glass, and how this relates to the likely raw glass used in its making. Combining earlier suggestions by Noll (1981) and Brill in Lilyquist et al. (1993), an alternative explanation of the chemical characteristics is suggested, maintaining that all the glasses under discussion were made using plant ash. Differences in alkali concentrations probably reflect different soil and plant chemistries, and the colorant was probably added to the glass after being precipitated from the alum as a complex cobalt aluminium hydroxide.     

Lead isotope and chemical signature of copper from Oman and its occurrence in Mesopotamia and sites on the Arabian Gulf coast

Lead isotope data, together with an evaluation of previously published results for the chemical composition of Omani ores and copper‐base artefacts are used to define a material signature of Omani copper. Absent from our group of Bronze Age metal (Umm an Nar and Wadi Suq periods) are the signature of ores from Masirah Island and also from the vast deposits in north Oman inland from Suhar. Contemporaneous copper from Bahrain and from Tell Abraq on the Gulf coast is consistent in its material signature with Omani copper; a derivation from Omani ores of this copper is highly likely. A few exceptions at Tell Abraq point to Faynan/Timna in the southern Levant as a possible source region. Among Mesopotamian artefacts the signature of Omani copper is encountered during all cultural periods from Uruk at the end of the fourth millennium BC to Akkadian 1000 years later. Oman/Magan appears to have been particularly important during Early Dynastic III and Akkadian when about half of the copper in circulation bears the Omani signature.     

LA-ICP-MS analysis of Late Bronze Age blue glass beads from Gurob,Egypt

Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) analysis was undertaken on 37 blue glass beads excavated from a tomb in the southern Faiyum region of northern Egypt. The tomb was undisturbed, contained the remains of seven females and two children, and dated between the reigns of Amenhotep I (1525–1504 bce ) and Tuthmosis III (1479–1425 bce ). The glass beads were coloured by copper and the trace element concentrations were compositionally consistent with glasses from Mesopotamia rather than from Egypt. Therefore, these glass beads represent a rare example of Mesopotamian glass to be discovered in Egypt, in addition to being some of the earliest glass found. Gurob is known to have been the site of a ‘harem palace' established in the reign of Tuthmosis III, the implication being that these beads represent luxury items transported to Egypt by high-ranking foreign women, possibly in connection with the harem palace.     

Glass and glass production in the Oman peninsula in antiquity reconsidered – chemical and mineralogical investigation of sands

A batch of green‐ and amber‐coloured glass chunks and unguentaria dating from the first century CE was found in 2007 at Dibba al Hisn, a site on the Arabian Sea coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Its elemental and isotopic composition revealed the glass to be of a previously unknown plant ash glass type, different from known contemporary Roman, Mesopotamian, and Indian glass. The Sr isotopic composition of the glass corresponds to locally available plants, pointing to the possible existence of a first‐century CE local glass production centre. To explore this possibility, sands from around the UAE were analysed to establish their suitability for glass making and correspondence with the Dibba finds. This paper presents the results of the elemental analysis of fourteen sands. The analysis, performed using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP‐OES), revealed all sands to be rich in lime and alumina. X‐ray diffraction revealed the presence of calcite and other carbonate minerals, as well as antigorite and quartz. Comparison of the sand compositions to average first‐century CE non‐Roman glass found at Dibba showed them to be unsuitable as raw material for producing the glass of Dibba. The evidence thus identifies this glass batch as imported, contrary to what was suggested before. This paper also reviews the occurrence of thick‐walled unguentaria in the region.     

INSIGHTS INTO NORTH MESOPOTAMIAN ‘METALLIC WARE’*

With the aim of shedding new light on the still poorly understood North Mesopotamian metallic ware, ceramic and soil samples from Tell Beydar (northeastern Syria, third millennium bc ) were investigated using a range of analytical techniques, including optical microscopy, SR–XRD and SEM–EDX. The objective of this work was to differentiate calcareous metallic ware from non‐calcareous ware without the aid of chemical analyses and to find further validation of the existing hypothesis that the former group is an imitation of the latter. A third group of metallic wares from Tell Beydar is believed to be of non‐local, still regional origin.     

New light on Schumacher’s Südliches Burgtor at Megiddo

The Südliches Burgtor is a massive structure that was uncovered by Gottlieb Schumacher on the southern edge of the mound of Megiddo in the early twentieth century. Its vicinity was partially excavated by the Oriental Institute team in the 1930s. Still, the stratigraphic affiliation of the building as well as its date and function remained unclear. Here we present evidence from the southwestern sector of Area Q of the renewed excavations at the site, which shed light on these issues. The Südliches Burgtor was originally built in Stratum VII, probably in its later phase (VIIA), of the Late Bronze III, and continued to be in use until the devastation of the city in Stratum VIA at the end of the late Iron I. The building did not disclose clear evidence of its function, but circumstantial considerations based on finds in Area Q to its east point to possible cultic usage.     

Initial results from the programme of petrographic analysis of Iron Age pottery from the United Arab Emirates

This article presents the results of petrographic analyses of a collection of sixty potsherds from various sites of the Iron Age period in south‐eastern Arabia. Several macroscopic groups were identified during previous research. The fine red painted ware and the sandy buff ware appear to be homogeneous in composition and might represent two groups of production. Compositionally, fine red painted ware recalls Bronze Age pottery groups in Oman. Sandy buff ware could have been produced in the oasis of Al Ain, in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Both groups are represented at several sites, which indicates regional exchange. One sherd from Rumeilah could be related to Mesopotamian ceramics and is probably a Mesopotamian import.     

Books Reviews

Abstract

The author underscores the uniqueness of the situation which produced a text but also the process of rewriting and interpretation which followed later applications of the same text. Laato's belief in seeking for historically fixable ideological contexts of prophetic texts is, however, unjustified in light of the unhistorical nature of this context as presented by the OT. Any recurrence to the tradition process of Mesopotamian epic texts in this connection is wrong, as the Mesopotamian tradition was very different from the Palestinian one. Instead of looking for a fixed redactional pattern for all prophetic texts, we should reckon each book to have its own history.     

Exchange networks of the Early Bronze Age Gulf: The imported ceramics from Kalba 4 (United Arab Emirates)

Imported ceramics from Early Bronze Age contexts in southeast Arabia illustrate a complex multidirectional network of material and social interactions at this time. Significant socioeconomic changes that occurred in the Hafit (3200–2800 B.C.) and Umm an-Nar (2800–2000 B.C.) periods have been linked to external demand for copper, which is argued to have stimulated a change in subsistence patterns. Similarly, disruption to long-distance exchange networks by external factors has been cited as driving change at the end of the Umm an-Nar period. Archaeological evidence from the region suggests a shift in the direction of exchange from Mesopotamia to the Indus occurred around the middle of the third millennium B.C. However, a recent analysis of Mesopotamian historical sources has highlighted the scale of state-organised textile production for export to the lower Gulf in the later third millennium B.C. The site of Kalba 4 has a stratified sequence of occupation deposits dating from the Umm an-Nar and Iron Age (1300–300 B.C.). In this study, a typological analysis of imported ceramics is used to locate the Kalba in the chronological framework of the region and discuss the changing networks of long-distance exchange that were operating. The imported pottery at Kalba 4 indicates that the inhabitants of the site were exchanging goods with a range of polities, including southern Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley (Meluhha), southeast Iran (Marhashi) and Bahrain (Dilmun). A significant quantity of Late Akkadian ceramics at the site suggests it became an important location for Mesopotamian trade at this time.     

Food Rituals and Their Social Significance in the Mid‐Second Millennium BC in the Southern Levant: A View From Megiddo

Ceremonies involving intentional burial of animals with humans are acknowledged to bear religious, social and political connotations, and we explored both the ritual activity and the social trajectory of these activities. To date, these ceremonies have rarely been examined within the context of nearby daily activities. We studied faunal remains associated with intramural burials in comparison with contemporaneous daily life in the midsecond millennium bc at Tel Megiddo, as well as comparison with concomitant extramural burials and locations of public feasts. Our study highlights the human interaction with animals that are not often treated as bearing social meaning or having interrelationships with human, the livestock animals. We demonstrate that livestock animals in the second millennium bc had a significant social role as well as economic value. The choice of animals consumed and sacrificed in these rituals is strongly related to the animal's symbolic potency and is based on the desired social message that the population aims to convey. Finally, the form of luxury food that is found in the Megiddo funerary rituals supports the hypothesis regarding the intramural burials' role in creating and enhancing social family bonds. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The urban ecology of Iron Age Tel Megiddo: using microvertebrate remains as ancient bio-indicators

The potential of microvertebrate remains for reconstructing the paleoecology of urban sites remains largely untapped except for extensive research carried out at Roman and medieval sites in Britain. We apply taphonomic and ecological approaches to analyzing an assemblage of microvertebrate remains from the Iron Age IIA of Tel Megiddo, Israel. Sampling in a dense residential area including house floors and various fills produced 1080 identifiable specimens including fish, mammal, reptile and bird remains. The mammalian remains show a number of distinct patterns pointing to accumulation from the community of small animals which lived and died on-site. These patterns include evidence for fragmentation due to trampling and presence of burned specimens. The mammalian remains also differed in their taphonomy from an assemblage from Early Bronze Age II Megiddo which originated from predator accumulation during a period of abandonment. These analyses point to an especially low taxonomic diversity in the Iron Age residential assemblage suggesting that the urban environment of Megiddo supported a unique community of small mammalian animals. This differs markedly from ecological conditions in modern day cities which in some cases show greater than background levels of diversity and suggests a dense, homogenous urban environment. We suggest that reconstructing the evolution of urban fauna in greater detail will provide a sensitive tool for tracing historical processes of growth, decline and increasing complexity of urban sites in the Near East as well as other regions of the world.     

Lasting Alliances and Emerging Competition: Economic Developments in Early Mesopotamia

In this paper, I argue that archaeologists have overlooked variability within the category of "prestate Mesopotamian societies" by focusing exclusively on political organization. If economic and not only political criteria were used to evaluate developments in early Mesopotamia, a different perception of prehistory and history would result. Mesopotamian societies in the 6th millennium B.C. can be shown to be politically "stable" but economically changing. The analysis of economic processes is based on the structural Marxist concept of "modes of production."     

Trace element discriminants between Egyptian and Mesopotamian Late Bronze Age glasses

The origins of Late Bronze Age glass artefacts found throughout the Mediterranean and Near and Middle East remain controversial. Previous analyses of major and minor elements in both Egyptian and Mesopotamian glasses have proven equivocal, revealing no significant compositional differences between glasses from these two regions. Here we present new Laser ablation-ICPMS analyses of 32 trace elements in 54 samples of both Egyptian and Mesopotamian blue and colourless glasses. Our results show that there are consistent differences between these two suites, which are not related to the colorant and clearly indicate the use of different raw materials and/or manufacturing processes. Compositional variations are related to geological controls, hence this method holds promise for the development of a minimally destructive technique for discriminating between archaeological glasses of different provenance, which will be essential in the interpretation of ancient trade patterns and contacts.     

Identifying Threshing Floors in the Archaeological Record: A Test Case at Iron Age Tel Megiddo,Israel

Abstract

The identification of activity areas in archaeological sites is an important part of archaeological research contributing to the reconstruction of past ways of life. The threshing floor is an activity area that relates to subsistence practices in agricultural societies, yet identifying threshing floors in the archaeological record is difficult. We present a geoarchaeological study conducted at an Iron Age layered feature unearthed in 1998 at Tel Megiddo, Israel, in which we tested a previous assumption that it represents the remains of a threshing floor. Using micromorphology, mineralogy, elemental analysis, phytoliths, and dung spherulites, we show that the materials comprising the bulk of the layers in the Megiddo feature include large amounts of wood ash and the inorganic remains of livestock dung. Based on these results, coupled with ethnographic data on threshing floors and observations on the macroscopic traits of the feature under consideration, we conclude that the layered feature at Megiddo does not represent a threshing floor but a single-household trash heap. We suggest that the interpretation of similar features at other archaeological sites as threshing floors be reevaluated.