Exploring The Rural Landscape Of The Neo-Assyrian Empire

Fig. 4.8Iron Age site surface areas in the Cizre-Silopi Plain212Fig. 4.9Logarithmic curves for the Cizre-Silopi Plain212Fig. 4.10Early Iron Age sites in the Upper Tigris Valley213Fig. 4.11Middle Iron Age sites in the Upper Tigris Valley213Fig. 4.12Middle Iron site surface areas in the Upper Tigris Valley 214Fig. 4.13Logarithmic curves for the Upper Tigris Valley214Fig. 4.14Iron Age sites in the Bohtan Valley215Fig. 4.15Iron Age sites in the Garzan Valley216Fig. 4.16Site surface areas in the Bohtan Valley217Fig. 4.17Site surface areas in the Garzan Valley217Fig. 5.1Map of the Land of Carchemish Project area218Fig. 5.2Fieldwalking Extent in the Land of Carchemish Project219Fig. 5.3Middle and Late Bronze sites in the Land of Carchemish 220Fig. 5.4Iron Age sites in the Land of Carchemish220Fig. 5.5Site map of Carchemish221Fig. 5.6Iron Age site surface areas in the Land of Carchemish222Fig. 5.7Logarithmic curves for the Land of Carchemish Project222Fig. 6.1Late Bronze Age sites in the North Jazira region223Fig. 6.2Iron Age sites in the North Jazira region223Fig. 6.3Site surface areas in the North Jazira region224Fig. 6.4Logarithmic curves for the North Jazira region224Fig. 7.1Map showing all sites in the Tell Beydar region225Fig. 7.2Iron Age sites in the Tell Beydar region226Fig. 7.3Size groups for Late Bronze sites in Tell Beydar region227Fig. 7.4Size groups for Iron Age sites in Tell Beydar region227Fig. 8.1Topographical Divisions, Southern Samaria Survey228Fig. 8.2Southern Samaria Survey Late Bronze Period229Fig. 8.3Southern Samaria Survey Iron I Period229Fig. 8.4Southern Samaria Survey Iron II Period230Fig. 8.5Site surface areas for Southern Samaria in Late Bronze 231Fig. 8.6Site surface areas for Southern Samaria in Iron I231Fig. 8.7Site surface areas for Southern Samaria in Iron II232Fig. 8.8Logarithmic curves for the Southern Samaria region232Fig. 9.1Map of northern Syria showing location of Tille Höyük233Fig. 9.2Tille Höyük ‘Burnt’ Level234Fig. 9.3Tille Höyük Trenches 7358 and 7458235Fig. 9.4Tille Höyük Level I, NW Sector236Fig. 9.5Tille Höyük Level I, SW Sector237Fig. 9.6Tille Höyük Level II, NW Sector238Fig. 9.7Tille Höyük Level II, SW Sector23912

Fig. 9.8Tille Höyük Level III, NW Sector240Fig. 9.9Tille Höyük Level III, SW Sector241Fig. 9.10Tille Höyük Level IV, NW Sector242Fig. 9.11Tille Höyük Level IV, SW Sector243Fig. 9.12Tille Höyük Level IV, Eastern Sector244Fig. 9.13Tille Höyük Level V, NW Sector245Fig. 9.14Tille Höyük Level V, SW Sector246Fig. 9.15Tille Höyük Level V, Eastern Sector247Fig. 9.16Tille Höyük Level VI, NW Sector248Fig. 9.17Tille Höyük Level VI, SW Sector249Fig. 9.18Tille Höyük Level VI, Eastern Sector250Fig. 9.19Tille Höyük Level VII, NW Sector251Fig. 9.20Tille Höyük Level VII, SW Sector252Fig. 9.21Tille Höyük Level VIIIa, NW Sector253Fig. 9.22Tille Höyük Level VIIIa, SW Sector254Fig. 9.23Tille Höyük Level VIIIa, Eastern Sector255Fig. 9.24Tille Höyük Level VIIIb, NW Sector256Fig. 9.25Tille Höyük Level VIIIb, SW Sector257Fig. 9.26Tille Höyük Level VIIIb, Eastern Sector258Fig. 9.27Middle Assyrian dunnu at Tell Sabi Abyad259Fig. 10.1Map of the Ilisu Dam Construction Area260Fig. 10.2Site plan of Zeviya Tivilki261Fig. 10.3Plan of Building A at Zeviya Tivilki262Fig. 10.4Plan of Building B at Zeviya Tivilki263Fig. 10.5Plan of Building C at Zeviya Tivilki263Fig. 10.6Plan of Building D at Zeviya Tivilki264Fig. 10.7Plan of Building E at Zeviya Tivilki264Fig. 10.8Plan of Building F at Zeviya Tivilki265Fig. 10.9Waterway and Oven at Zeviya Tivilki265Fig. 10.10Cylinder Seals from Zeviya Tivilki266Fig. 10.11Map of Kilokki Rabiseki showing excavation areas266Fig. 10.12Trenches A1 to A5 at Kilokki Rabiseki267Fig. 10.13Trenches A6 and A8 at Kilokki Rabiseki267Fig. 10.14Map of Boztepe showing excavation areas268Fig. 10.15Plan of Trenches A-2 to A-5 and A-7 at Boztepe269Fig. 10.16Reconstructed four-footed vessel from Boztepe269Fig. 10.17Map of Hirbemerdon Tepe showing excavation areas270Fig. 10.18Area A and Step Trench AB-AC at Hirbemerdon Tepe271Fig. 10.19Modern structure partly built of perishable materials271Fig. 10.20Phase IVA in Area D at Hirbemerdon Tepe27213

Fig. 10.21Phase IVB in Area B at Hirbemerdon Tepe272Fig. 11.1Map of northern Mesopotamia273Fig. 11.2Sketch plan of the site of Bir el-Haddad274Fig. 11.3Sketch plan of Grand Bâtiment 1 at Bir el-Haddad275Fig. 11.4Neo-Assyrian sealing from Bir el-Haddad275Fig. 11.5Topographic map of Khirbet ed-Diniyeh276Fig. 11.6Map of Khirbet ed-Diniyeh showing excavation areas277Fig. 11.7Western part of Chantier A at Khirbet ed-Diniyeh278Fig. 11.8Eastern part of Chantier A at Khirbet ed-Diniyeh279Fig. 11.9Eastern part of Chantier B at Khirbet ed-Diniyeh280Fig. 11.10Walls built on top of the casemate at Khirbet ed-Diniyeh 280Fig. 11.11Eastern part of Chantier C at Khirbet ed-Diniyeh281Fig. 11.12Chantier J at Khirbet ed-Diniyeh281Fig. 11.13Vertical section of Warrior’s Tomb at Khirbet ed-Diniyeh 282Fig. 11.14Bronze rhyton from Khirbet ed-DiniyehFig. 11.15Map showing Khirbet al-Qasr in relation to Tell al-Hawa 283Fig. 11.16Photograph of Khirbet al-Qasr283Fig. 11.17Map of Eastern Syria284Fig. 11.18Inset map showing the location of Tell Boueid285Fig. 11.19Schematic diagram of the Tell Boueid building286Fig. 11.20Axonometric view of the Tell Boueid building286Fig. 12.1Tell Qudadi in the Yarkon Valley287Fig. 12.2Stratigraphy of Tell Qudadi287Fig. 12.3Site plan of Tell Qudadi288Fig. 12.4Plan of the fortress at Tell Qudadi289Fig. 12.5Schematic diagram of the ‘Assyrian Palace' at Til Barsib 289Fig. 12.6Map of Tel Hadid in the Assyrian province of Samerina290Fig. 12.7Site plan of Squares 1 to 6, 8 and 10 at Tel Hadid291Fig. 12.8Plan of Squares 4A-4C at Tel Hadid292Fig. 12.9Jar handle with lmlk seal impression from Tel Hadid293Fig. 12.10Cooking Pot from Tel Hadid29328214

CHAPTER 1INTRODUCTIONThe Neo-Assyrian Empire as it existed from the 9th to the 7th centuries BCE was alarge and complex polity that extended at its zenith from the Elamite foothills in theeast to the Anatolian plateau in the west and the Nile delta in the south (Parpola2003: 99). This empire was not just made up of provinces that were directly ruled byAssyrian governors, but also of indirectly ruled areas that were controlled by a varietyof methods. These included city-states that recognised the king of Assyria as theirsovereign, territorial states ruled by client kings who recognised him as their overlordand semi-nomadic tribes that functioned as his proxies in less hospitable regions(Thareani 2016: 93-95, also cf. Bagg 2013: 125, Postgate 1992: 251-255).Recent scholarship has proposed that the Assyrian Empire instituted a deliberateprogramme of resettlement that was designed to increase agricultural production inits subject provinces during the Iron Age (Parker 2001, Wilkinson et. al. 2005; alsocf. Gitin 1995, 1997). This view is based primarily on survey evidence from regionsthat had come under Assyrian control at this time. These surveys have shown thatthere was an increase in the number of settlements in these areas, as compared tothe preceding Late Bronze Age, and this increase has been interpreted as the resultof Assyrian policy. This picture of a planned policy to increase productivity on thepart of the Assyrians has contributed to the development of the notion of a PaxAssyriaca during the 8th and 7th centuries BCE, at which time there was thought tohave been an efflorescence of trade, cultural exchange and artistic productionthroughout the Eastern Mediterranean region (Gitin 1995: 61).The concept of a Pax Assyriaca, however, is quite different from the traditionalperception of the Assyrians as a highly aggressive and militaristic nation, and hasnot been universally accepted (Faust and Weiss 2005, cf. Frahm 2006: 93-94). It istherefore worth examining some of the assumptions on which this model is based. Itis not possible to be certain, for example, whether the observed increase insettlements represents a concurrent increase in the total number of people living inthem, as suggested by some scholars (cf. Wilkinson and Tucker 1995: 62), or merely15

a redistribution of their population. It is also difficult to establish from the survey dataalone whether this increase in settlement only took place after Assyrian rule hadbeen imposed on these regions or at an earlier point in the Iron Age, because theceramic corpus for the Early Iron period in these regions is not properly understood(Wilkinson et al. 2005: 40). This thesis will attempt to resolve these uncertainties byexamining evidence from surveys and excavations that have been conducted inthese areas and correlating this evidence with the available textual sources, in orderto provide a more elaborate picture of the rural landscape of the Neo-AssyrianEmpire. In addition, it will also consider whether the Pax Assyriaca model providesa plausible explanation for the changes that have been noted in settlement patterns.1.1 R ESEARCH Q UESTIONSThe principal research questions addressed in this thesis will be the following: -1) To explore changes in settlement patterns in the Near East duringthe Iron Age.2) To obtain a clearer picture of the rural landscape of the NeoAssyrian Empire.3) To consider whether the Pax Assyriaca model provides a validinterpretative framework for the observed changes in settlement.To answer the first question, I will examine the survey evidence used to support the‘agricultural colonisation’ hypothesis proposed by Bradley Parker (Parker 2001),which was obtained from the Tigris-Euphrates Archaeological ReconnaissanceProject. I will also look at several surveys from other parts of the Middle East,including one from the southern Levant, where survey evidence can be used todistinguish between the earlier and later sub-phases of the Iron Age. This part of thestudy will look to test whether the survey data does in fact show an increase insettlement during the period of Assyrian control, and if this increase is seen indifferent parts of the Assyrian Empire. It will also examine critically the interpretationsoffered by other scholars, and consider whether the increase in settlement numberscould have been the result of the resettlement of deportees from other parts of theAssyrian Empire.16

The second part of the study will go on to look at the archaeological evidence froma number of excavations that have been conducted within the relevant surveyregions. This evidence will be explored in correlation with the textual sources with aview to testing some of the conclusions arrived at from the survey data, and toelucidating the nature of the rural landscape in the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The studywill conclude by discussing the roles played by newly established settlements in theAssyrian countryside and considering whether the Pax Assyriaca hypothesis fits theavailable data.1.2 T HE P AX A SSYRIACA M ODELThe Pax Assyriaca model has been developed over the last three decades, and isfar removed from the traditional perception of the Assyrians, which viewed them asa particularly destructive people (Fales 2008: 18, Frahm 2006: 93-94). This modelpostulates that the Neo-Assyrian Empire imposed in the Near East by force of armsa system similar to the Pax Romana that was established several centuries laterthroughout the Mediterranean world by the Romans. Although this model has beenput forward as an explanation for the findings from surveys, it is also based to someextent on the self-representation of a number of Assyrian kings (cf. Parker 2001: 83).1.2.1 A NTECEDENTSThe original impetus for the Pax Assyriaca hypothesis did not come from thosedisciplines traditionally associated with the study of Assyria, but from Classicalscholarship. While it has long been accepted that cultural connections had existedbetween Greece and the Near East in antiquity, it is only in the last three decadesthat the case for a sustained literary and artistic transmission into Greece from theNear East has been convincingly put forward. It was the publication in 1984 by WalterBurkert of The Orientalizing Revolution, which has been called ‘a superb work’ witha ‘seismic’ effect (Bernal 1996: 146), that first catalogued the numerous culturalborrowings into ancient Greece from the Near East. Burkert attributed the bulk ofthese to the Early Archaic Period (750-650 BCE), and linked them to the expansion17

of the Assyrian Empire, which he described as a ‘change of world-historicalproportions’ (Burkert 1992: 11-14).There was at the same time a growing realisation among biblical scholars that therehad been something extraordinary about the 8th century BCE, which culminated inan address in 1988 to the Society of Biblical Literature titled “The Eighth, the Greatestof Centuries?” by its president, Philip King. Citing the work of both biblical scholarsand Assyriologists, as well as the findings from excavations in Lachish and TelMiqne-Ekron, King suggested that ‘the eighth was the century of resurgence’,although his own interest as a biblical scholar was focused primarily on theappearance of the first classical prophets - Isaiah, Hosea, Amos and Micah (King1989: 13-15).This was followed by the work of Simo Parpola, who published a number of articleson Assyria’s contribution to the cultural and intellectual development of the territoriesthat came under its control (Parpola 1993, 2003, 2004). Among other things, Parpolatried to trace the concept of the Sephirotic Tree of Life, which is a fundamental ideain Jewish mysticism, to an Assyrian antecedent (Parpola 1993: 184-190), and evensuggested that the Jewish concept of a single God had been ‘heavily indebted’ toAssyrian religion and royal ideology (Parpola 2003: 104-105; cf. Halpern 2003: 7476).1.2.2 ‘A GRICULTURAL C OLONISATION ’?It was only a matter of time before these two propositions, that there had been acultural and intellectual transmission from Assyria to other territories and thatdramatic changes had taken place during the period of the Assyrian Empire’s mostrapid expansion, were brought together to formulate the hypothesis that Assyrianexpansion had not only been concurrent, but had also served as the cause of theefflorescence of cultural and intellectual energy that occurred at this time. Theexcavations at Tel Miqne (which has since been identified as the ancient city ofEkron) had unearthed a large number of olive oil producing installations in StratumIC in the lower city, which had been assigned to the first half of the 7th century BCE.These findings were interpreted as the result of an expansion in the olive oil industry,and it was suggested that this expansion must have been the result of theincorporation of this site into an ‘Assyrian international trading network’, which waspart of a so-called Pax Assyriaca (Gitin 1995: 61, 1997: 77-85). It must be noted,18

however, that the dating of Stratum IC to the Neo-Assyrian period has beenchallenged by some scholars (Stager 1996: 70-71, cf. Na’aman 2003: 87-88).This postulated ‘trading network’ was conceived of as a regional system in which theAssyrian core exploited a periphery consisting of its subject provinces and clientstates by intimidation and, when required, by military intervention (Gitin 1997: 7779). This model was expanded upon by Bradley Parker in his study of the TigrisEuphrates Archaeological Reconnaissance Project, which consisted of five separatesurveys in the Upper Tigris and Upper Euphrates regions. Using textual evidencethat the Assyrians had conducted resettlement programmes that had transferredlarge numbers of people from one part of their empire to another to support hisargument, Parker suggested that the increase in settlement shown in the data fromthese surveys had been the result of a policy of ‘agricultural colonisation’ that hadbeen carried out by the Assyrians in order to achieve an ‘agricultural surplus’ as ameans of adding to their own wealth (Parker 2001: 263). To support this argument,Parker cited the claim made by Adad-Nirari II that he had ‘piled up more grain thanever before’ (Parker 2001: 83; cf. Grayson 1991 A.0.99.2 ll.120-121). However, it isworth noting that Parker did not envisage a uniform imperial policy that wasimplemented throughout the Assyrian Empire, but recognised that the Assyriansutilised different strategies of control in different subject territories (Parker 2003: 552553).Further support for the ideas put forward by Parker was provided by the work of TonyWilkinson. The results of the North Jazira Survey, which had been carried out innorth-western Iraq from 1986 to 1989, had shown a similar increase in the numberof settlements during the Iron Age, and it was suggested that a potential explanationfor this phenomenon may have been a ‘programme of resettlement’ conducted bythe Neo-Assyrian Empire (Wilkinson and Tucker 1995: 62). Similar increases insettlement had also been noted in a number of other surveys that had been carriedout in Syria, and it was observed that many of the new settlements that had beenestablished in the Iron Age were located in areas that had not been settled duringthe preceding Late Bronze period, a pattern that was later described as ‘infilling’(Wilkinson et. al. 2005: 40-41). It was proposed that Assyrian expansion had led tothe ‘deliberate resettlement’ of entire communities, resulting in the reorganisation ofthe ‘landscape of a vast region’ (Wilkinson et. al. 2005: 50).19

1.2.3 Q UESTIONING THE M ODELThe suggestion that the extraordinary changes that occurred in the 8 th and 7thcenturies BCE were not just related to, but had been directly caused by, Assyrianexpansion has been most strongly resisted by biblical scholars, some of whom haveargued that the Assyrians were ‘not interested in maximising productivity’ in theirsubject provinces (Faust 2011: 70-71, cf. Faust and Weiss 2005, Faust and Weiss2011). This is not surprising, since the traditional conception of the Assyrian Empireas a destructive entity, which had previously been accepted as accurate by mostscholars, was based largely on their overwhelmingly negative portrayal in the OldTestament.It is important to p

Exploring the Rural Landscape of the Neo-Assyrian Empire: Settlement Increase in the . four small sites in the Upper Tigris valley, four other small sites in Syro-Mesopotamia and two small sites in the southern Levant. These sites . applied to the study of other ancient empires, in order to provide us with a more .