PUBLICATIONS

Lagash I: The Ceramic Corpus from Al-Hiba, 1968–1990
A Chrono-Typology of the Pottery Tradition in Southern Mesopotamia during the 3rd and Early 2nd Millenium BCE

Author: S. Renette

XXIV+450 p., 228 b/w ill. + 1 colour ill., 366 b/w tables, 216 x 280 mm, 2021
ISBN: 978-2-503-59020-2
Language: English
Retail price: EUR 95,00 excl. tax

Six seasons of excavations (1968-90) at the southern Mesopotamian site of al-Hiba, the ancient city of Lagash, retrieved one of the largest datasets of pottery spanning the entire third and early second millennium BCE.

Between 1968 and 1990, Donald P. Hansen and Vaughn E. Crawford directed six seasons of excavations at al-Hiba, the ancient Sumerian city-state Lagash. Overseen by Edward L. Ochsenschlager, the team documented one of the largest ceramic datasets from a southern Mesopotamian site spanning the entire third and the early second millennium BCE. With the availability of digital tools and relational database technology, the Al-Hiba Publication Project, led by Holly Pittman at the Penn Museum, can now analyze these results in preparation of final publication. As a case-study in the difficulties of working with legacy data, the publication project also assesses how the original recording methodology structures and limits the interpretation of these datasets. This first volume of the Lagash publications presents the ceramic corpus organized in a chrono-typology that traces the development of the pottery tradition through the Early Dynastic, Akkadian, Ur III, and Isin-Larsa periods. Often confirming well-established trends in general Mesopotamian ceramic development, this dataset from the south-eastern part of the Mesopotamian alluvium also introduces an underappreciated degree of regional variation.

Link: https://www.brepolsonline.net/action/showBook?doi=10.1484/M.ARATTA-EB.5.120688

XXIV+450 p., 228 b/w ill. + 1 colour ill., 366 b/w tables, 216 x 280 mm, 2021
ISBN: 978-2-503-59020-2
Language: English
Retail price: EUR 95,00 excl. tax

The Historical and Cultural Memory of Babylon
Collecting Fragments from the ‘Centre of the World’

Editor: M. Ramazzotti

In the study of the ancient world, Babylon can be considered as the most impressive representation, historically, archaeologically, and in literature, of urbanism in the Near East. This first example of an urban centre and its cultural heritage — both tangible and intangible — provides a focal point for discussions of historical and cultural memory in the region. The eleven contributions gathered here draw together multidisciplinary research into Babylonian culture, exploring the epistemic foundations, contacts, resilience, and cultural transmission of the city and its milieu from ancient times up until the modern day. Through this approach, this volume is able to support conversations concerning the historical and cultural memory of Babylon and promote a dialogue that cuts across, and unites, both cultures and academic disciplines.

Link: http://www.brepols.net/Pages/ShowProduct.aspx?prod_id=IS-9782503595368-1

VIII+193 p., 28 b/w ill. + 5 colour ill., 2 b/w tables, 216 x 280 mm, 2022
ISBN: 978-2-503-59536-8
Language: English
Retail price: EUR 75,00 excl. tax

Befund und Historisierung
Dokumentation und ihre Interpretationsspielräume

Editors: S. Heinsch, W. Kuntner, R. Rollinger

The contributions focus on the difficult correlation between the political demise of ruling dynasties and the development of material culture in the Ancient Near East during the Iron Age.
Archaeological periodization schemes of material culture development in Northern Mesopotamia from 7th to 5th centuries BCE traditionally refer to the sequence of dynasties. In particular, they highlight historical events related to distinguished members of the royal houses of the Sargonids, Urartians, Medes, Teispids, and Achaemenids. However, whereas the repercussions these Iron Age empires had on the history of the Near East are undeniable, the impact they had on the material culture and its development is not always equally tangible in the archaeological findings. The latter are not infrequently characterized by continuity rather than by incisive changes, as recent studies and re-evaluations of key sites in Syria, Iraq, Iran and Armenia show. This publication uses case studies to address problems that arises when the archaeological (relative concept) and historical (absolute concept) methodology use different intrinsic values of time to reconstruct history and to understand cultural material development.

Link: https://www.brepolsonline.net/action/showBook?doi=10.1484/M.ARAXES-EB.5.121555

304 p., 161 b/w ill. + 73 colour ill., 8 b/w tables, 216 x 280 mm, 2021
ISBN: 978-2-503-59147-6
Languages: German, English
Retail price: EUR 110,00 excl. tax

L’architecture de Mésopotamie et du Caucase de la fin du 7e à la fin du 5e millénaire

Author: E. Baudouin

Un ouvrage original portant sur les relations culturelles entre les communautés de Mésopotamie et du Caucase au travers les échanges techniques en architecture à l’aube du phénomène proto-urbain.
Cet ouvrage invite à retracer l’histoire des relations culturelles entre les communautés de Mésopotamie et du Caucase durant le Néolithique et le Chalcolithique par une étude des mécanismes d’innovation et de transmission des connaissances en architecture. Le premier objectif est de caractériser ces échanges techniques pour déterminer si les communautés du Caucase se sont installées de manière autonome ou si elles ont profité de l’expérience de celles de Mésopotamie. Le second objectif est de comprendre l’évolution de l’architecture “complexe” au Samarra et à l’Obeid et de mesurer l’impact social de l’expansion obeidienne. Ces recherches montrent que le milieu du sixième millénaire marque un tournant dans les échanges techniques et les relations culturelles entre ces deux régions. Auparavant, ces échanges apparaissent diffus dans les régions situées au nord de la Mésopotamie centrale. Ensuite, l’expansion obeidienne entraîne une homogénéisation progressive des techniques dans l’ensemble du bassin syro-mésopotamien, à laquelle se sont greffés emprunts techniques et adaptations régionales.

Link: https://www.brepolsonline.net/action/showBook?doi=10.1484/M.ARAXES-EB.5.122699

XXVIII+358 p., 115 b/w ill. + 28 colour ill., 157 b/w tables, 216 x 280 mm, 2021
ISBN: 978-2-503-59368-5
Language: French
Retail price: EUR 100,00 excl. tax

Bassit 2 (Syrie) – Fouilles Paul Courbin (1971–1984)
Le tell du XVIe siècle av. J.-C. au VIe siècle ap. J.-C.

Author: F. Braemer & Pascal Darcque

À 50 km au Nord de Lattaquié, le site côtier de Bassit a été étudié sous la direction de Paul Courbin : après l’acropole (1971–1972) (périodes hellénistique et romaine), et la nécropole du Fer (1973–1974), le « tell » a été fouillé de 1972 à 1984. Sont présentés ici une description détaillée de la stratigraphie et de l’architecture du « tell », des ensembles céramiques associés, ainsi que le corpus du mobilier datant du Bronze Récent I et II. Bassit est installé aux marges Nord du royaume d’Ougarit à partir du milieu du XVIe s. av. J.-C.. Les importations chypriotes sont nombreuses durant tout le Bronze Récent, mais la céramique égéenne apparaît très rare. Le site est détruit bien avant le passage des « peuples de la mer » (vers 1200). A l’âge du Fer, la fonction constante de Bassit est de contrôler l’accès maritime depuis Chypre et le cabotage littoral. Le commerce de la céramique chypriote domine le Fer I et II, celui des céramiques égéennes et étrusques, puis attiques, le Fer III. À l’époque hellénistique, la production d’amphores et de monnaies confirme l’identification de Posideion avec Bassit. L’époque romaine est également marquée par une importante production de céramique.

Link: https://www.brepols.net/products/IS-9782503593227-1

XII+394 p., 1809 b/w ill., 59 col. ill., 15 tables b/w, 3 maps b/w, 216 x 280 mm, 2022
ISBN: 978-2-503-59322-7
Language: French
Retail price: EUR 180,00 excl. tax

Conceptualizing Bronze Age Seascapes
Concepts of the Sea and Marine Fauna in the Eastern Mediterranean in the Second Millennium BCE

Author: Mari Yamasaki

The Mediterranean has, for millennia, formed the heart of an intensive trading network of ideas, goods, and people. For the ancient populations of the Levant, Cyprus, and Southern Anatolia, interactions with the sea — from fishing to seafaring, and from trade to dye production — were a constant presence in their life. But how did the coastal peoples of the Bronze Age understand the sea? How did living on the shore influence their lives, from daily practices to mythological beliefs? And what was the impact on their conceptual world? This volume seeks to engage with these questions by addressing the relationship between environment, diet, material production, perception, and thought formation through a combination of archaeological analysis and engagement with primary sources, and in doing so, it offers unique insights into the conceptual world of the ancient Mediterranean maritime cultures of the 2nd millennium BCE.

x + 218 p., 20 b/w ill., 7 col., 13 tables b/w., 3 maps b/w
216 x 280 mm. Language: English, 2023.
Price: € 85 excl. VAT, ISBN: 978-2-503-60647-7

Link: https://www.brepols.net/products/IS-9782503606477-1

Sarazm. A Site along the Proto-Silk Road at the Intersection pf the Steppe and Oasis Cultures.
Results from Excavation VII

Author: B. Mutin

Sarazm, in modern-day Tajikistan, is rightly famous as an archaeological site. A Chalcolithic and Bronze Age settlement, it formed part of a cultural and economic network that stretched from the steppe of Central Asia across to the Iranian Plateau and the Indus. Between 1984 and 1994, fieldwork led by a joint Tajik-French project took place at Excavation VII, yielding unique archaeological contexts and materials that shed light on Sarazm’s multicultural nature, its evolution through time, and the varied activities that took place at the site. Now, in this new volume, the first comprehensive description and analysis of all available data from Excavation VII is presented, and the data from this excavation contextualized both at site level and within the broader setting of the Steppe and Oasis cultures of the IVth and IIIrd millennia BCE. The author offers functional, cultural, and chronological conclusions about the exposed occupations, as well as putting forward new interpretations and hypotheses on this important settlement.

xxvi + 258 p., 20 b/w, 181 col., 74 tables b/w., 8 maps color, :216 x 280 mm, 2024
ISBN: 978-2-503-60294-3
Language: English
Retail price: EUR 110,00 excl. tax

Link: https://www.brepols.net/products/IS-9782503602943-1

Circular Cities of Early Bronze Age Syria

Editors: C. Castel, J.-W. Meyer & P. Quenet

This volume is the first dedicated to the urbanism of pre-classical Syria.

This volume corresponds to the acts of a conference that closes the international interdisciplinary research project Badiyah, directed by Corinne Castel and Jan-Waalke Meyer (Directors of the Tell Al-Rawda and Tell Chuera archaeological missions). Both sites illustrate the importance of the 3rd millennium BCE ‘circular cities’ discovered in today’s Syria. These pre-planned cities were fortified and organized following a concentric and radial urban pattern. They represent a particular form of the endogenous process of urbanization that appeared in this region when the first cities and territorial states emerged. The main results obtained from these two sites are compared to other Syrian ‘circular cities’ of the Early Bronze Age. Twenty-nine contributions enable us to reassess the process of urbanization in the Near East and to question the Southern Mesopotamian model as the unique cradle of urban civilization.

XXVI+398 p., 133 b/w + 36 col. ill., 16 b/w tables, 216 x 280 mm, 2020

ISBN: 978-2-503-55183-8
Paperback: € 100
Series: Subartu, vol. 42
Available

Link: http://www.brepols.net/Pages/ShowProduct.aspx?prod_id=IS-9782503551838-1

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After the Harvest
Storage Practices and Food Processing in Bronze Age Mesopotamia

Editors: N. Borrelli, G. Scazzosi
II+146 p., 53 b/w ill., 14 b/w tables, 216 x 280 mm, 2020
ISBN: 978-2-503-58378-5
Languages: English
Retail price: EUR 75,00 excl. tax

After the Harvest explores how grain and its by-products – bread and beer – defined multiple aspects of the Mesopotamian society and economy. The volume examines dynamics of food storage and food processing, using different field of analysis, comparing diverse methodologies and integrating datasets.
The reliance on grain and grain products is a key feature of many past societies, and this is particularly true of the Ancient Near East. The necessity of storing and processing foodstuffs encompassed political and social boundaries: food shaped identities and it was not by chance that, for the Mesopotamian mindset, civilization started with the consumption of bread and beer. At any managerial level, storage practices and food processing reflect the economic organization of a society, its control mechanisms, and its interdependent social structures. This volume includes eight papers by scholars of the Ancient Near East, who draw on a wide range of sources and methodologies, from (bio-)archaeological evidence to cuneiform texts, in order to explore what actually happened after the harvest in the shared horizon of Bronze Age Mesopotamia. The different case-studies gathered together here examine the impact of continuity — and crucially, of change — in the technical, economic, and social solutions that were adopted by people in response to the common needs of everyday life. This volume represents a dialogue between different perspectives and disciplines that simultaneously opens up new paths of research, at the same time as seeking to narrow the gaps in our understanding of this subject.

Link: http://www.brepols.net/Pages/ShowProduct.aspx?prod_id=IS-9782503583785-1

Die chalkolithische Siedlung von Giricano am Oberen Tigris
Die Ausgrabungen in Giricano II

Author: A. Schachner
XX+206 p., 167 b/w ill., 58 b/w tables, 216 x 280 mm, 2020
ISBN: 978-2-503-57536-0
Languages: German, Turkish
Retail price: EUR 75,00 excl. tax

Die spät-chalkolithischen Siedlungsschichten in Giricano vermitteln einen ununterbrochenen Überblick über die kulturelle Entwicklung im Tal des Oberen Tigris von der Obed-Zeit bis in die erste Hälfte des 3. Jahrtausends v. Chr. Die materielle Kultur der noch in der Phase Late-Chalcolithic (LC) 1 gegründeten Siedlung zeigt, dass die bisher hauptsächlich im heutigen Nordirak dokumentierte Kultur bis zum Fuß des Taurus reichte. Kurz vor der Wende vom 4. zum 3. Jahrtausend v. Chr. erreichte die Siedlung in der Phase LC 5 den Höhepunkt ihrer Entwicklung. Dieser ist durch ein monumentales Gebäude dokumentiert, das wahrscheinlich durch ein Erdbeben zerstört wurde. Eine Nachbesiedlung in der so genannten Nineveh 5-Periode ist wesentlich kleiner, bevor der Fundort aufgegeben wurde. Die Darstellung folgt der Entwicklung der Architektur, der Keramik und der Kleinfunde. Sie wird durch eine Diskussion der Integration der Siedlung in die überregionale Kulturentwicklung ergänzt.

Link: http://www.brepols.net/Pages/ShowProduct.aspx?prod_id=IS-9782503575360-1

Integrative Approaches to the Archaeology and History of Kültepe-Kaneš. Kültepe, 4–7 August 2017
KIM 3 (Kültepe International Meetings 3)

Editors: F. Kulakoğlu, C. Michel, G. Öztürk
XX+258 p., 173 b/w ill. + 12 colour ill., 20 b/w tables, 216 x 280 mm, 2020
ISBN: 978-2-503-58559-8
Languages: English
Retail price: EUR 85,00 excl. tax

This third volume of the Kültepe International Meetings (KIM) series draws together multidisciplinary approaches to the archaeology and history of complex urban sites using Kültepe-Kanesh as a case study, with particular emphasis on Bronze Age material.

The 3rd Kültepe International Meeting aimed at exploring multidisciplinary approaches to the archaeology and history of complex urban sites using Kültepe-Kanesh as a case study. As a result, the conference proceedings involve a wide variety of disciplines: archaeology, ceramics, paleobotany, paleoecology, palynology, archaeometallurgy, geo- and archaeo-magnetism, art history, philology, history, computer science, and last but not least, videogame design. Indeed, the aim of the Kültepe International Meetings (KIM) is to facilitate the dialogue between these different disciplines and to combine their data in order to build an accurate view of Kültepe and its environment. The 3rd KIM more than fulfilled this goal, demonstrating once again how Kültepe functions as an international experimental laboratory in which disciplines and sub-disciplines can be tested, improved, and developed. All the contributions presented here provide a good overview of the ongoing multidisciplinary studies being carried out at Kültepe and Central Anatolia.

Link: http://www.brepols.net/Pages/ShowProduct.aspx?prod_id=IS-9782503585598-1

Cultural Exchange and Current Research in Kültepe and its Surroundings
Kültepe, 1–4 August 2019

Editors: F. Kulakoğlu, G. Kryszat, C. Michel

This fourth volume in a collection based on the biennial interdisciplinary meetings held in Kültepe, ancient Kaneš, draws together sixteen contributions that explore the archaeology and history of this site, with the ongoing aim of taking a holistic approach to revitalizing this important early Anatolian cultural centre. The papers gathered here present both current research and recent important results derived from research in Kültepe and its wider surroundings through four key thematic strands: cultural exchanges between this site and its environs; material culture; sealings, writings, and history; comparisons with other sites across Central Anatolia. Through this approach, this volume is able to explore not only the historical importance of Kültepe, but also to highlight the settlement’s future importance as a pilot site for interdisciplinary studies, thanks to its unique textual and archaeological data.

XVI+336 p., 117 b/w ill. + 24 colour ill., 17 b/w tables + 1 colour tables, 216 x 280 mm, 2021

ISBN: 978-2-503-59152-0
Language: English
Retail price: EUR 105,00 excl. tax

Link: http://www.brepols.net/Pages/ShowProduct.aspx?prod_id=IS-9782503591520-1

Interdisciplinary Research on the Bronze Age Diyala
Proceedings of the Conference Held at the Paris Institute for Advanced Study, 25–26 June, 2018

Editors: C. Gonçalves, C. Michel

The Diyala region in eastern Iraq has long been a focal area of study for scholars of the Bronze Age, thanks both to its long history of human occupation, and its position as a site of strategic importance. Drawing on this strong tradition of scholarship and the results of numerous excavations and collections in the area, the seven contributions gathered in this volume aim to offer new insights into the cultures and societies of the Bronze Age Diyala by proposing new questions, problems, and approaches. Exploring subjects as widespread as architecture and iconography, cultural and economic history, the study of social networks, historiography, and the identification of ancient cities, these chapters explore the richness of the Bronze Age Diyala from a range of perspectives, and together offer important new insights into our understanding of the area.

122 p., 23 b/w ill. + 16 colour ill., 2 b/w tables, 216 x 280 mm, 2021
ISBN: 978-2-503-59534-4
Languages: English, French
Retail price: EUR 60,00 excl. tax
Link: http://www.brepols.net/Pages/ShowProduct.aspx?prod_id=IS-9782503595344-1

Late Chalcolithic Northern Mesopotamia in Context
Papers from the Workshop held at the 11th ICAANE in Munich, April 5th 2018

Editors: J. S. Baldi, M. Iamoni, L. Peyronel & P. Sconzo

Many of the debates that have until recently driven research into Mesopotamia’s proto-urban phase (5th – 4th millennia BCE) have now been reassessed thanks to new fieldwork in Iraqi Kurdistan and new data into the relationships between the north and south of the Alluvium from hitherto poorly-documented regions. These debates were re-examined in the light of this new material during a workshop held at the ICAANE in 2018 in Munich, leading to unprecedented perspectives on the patterns of early urbanization, social mobility, and the organization of Late Chalcolithic communities. Drawing on research first presented at ICAANE, and building on the most recent data from surveys and excavations, this volume engages with one key question from different angles: namely, how can we reconcile detailed analysis of the multifaceted local variations of proto-urbanism with the supra-regional, intricate, and more widespread nature of this same phenomenon across Mesopotamia?

XXII+263 p., 52 b/w ill. + 16 colour ill., 9 b/w tables, 216 x 280 mm, 2022
ISBN 978-2-503-59604-4 (PB) / eISBN 978-2-503-59605-1
Language: English
Price: € 95 excl. VAT
Link:

Settlement, Mobility, and Land Use in the Birecik-Carchemish Region
(Fifth–Third Millennium BCE)

Author: Andrea Ricci

This volume investigates settlement trajectories and systems of movement in the Birecik-Carchemish sector of the Euphrates River Valley from the fifth to the third millennium BCE. Integrating remote sensing analyses, published data of individual surveys and excavations, and the original results of the ‘Land of Carchemish Project’, this multi-scalar study shows the significant longevity of settlement choices and the role of small sites in shaping the cultural landscape of the region, both along the Euphrates and in the uplands. Attention is paid to the dynamics behind settlement creation and continuity, while the author also provides a reassessment of the radiocarbon dates from sites in the area of study.

xvi + 384 p., 227 b/w ill., 22 col., 10 tables, 14 maps b/w, 25 maps color
216 x 280 mm, 2023
Language: English
Price: € 90 excl. VAT,
ISBN: 978-2-50355508-9
Link: https://www.brepols.net/products/IS-9782503555089-1

Tell ‘Atij, Moyen Khabour (Syrie). Rapport final de fouilles (1986-1993)

Author: Michel Fortin

Tell ‘Atij est un site archéologique de moins d’un hectare situé sur la rive gauche de la rivière Khabour, en Syrie, le plus important affluent de l’Euphrate. Les fouilles réalisées par une mission canadienne dirigée par l’auteur, entre 1986 et 1993, dans le cadre des opérations de sauvetage des antiquités au sud de Hassaké, ont montré qu’il ne fut occupé que pendant une courte période de trois siècles : entre 2900 et 2600 av. J.-C (Early Jezirah 1-2/Ninive 5). Le présent rapport final rend compte des résultats de ces fouilles qui ont porté sur environ 6% seulement de la superficie préservée de ce site mais qui ont permis d’identifier treize niveaux d’occupation dans neuf mètres d’accumulation de débris. Une cinquantaine de personnes habitaient de manière permanente ce hameau caractérisé par ses multiples dispositifs d’entreposage protégés par un impressionnant mur d’enceinte. Des études des données botaniques et zoologiques complètent les analyses des différentes catégories d’éléments de la culture matérielle qui y furent trouvés. La question controversée de la relation entre les habitants sédentaires de Tell ‘Atij et les populations nomades de la région est abordée en conclusion.

xxxvi + 720 p, 1446 b/w, 14 col., 156 tables b/w., 11 maps b/w
216 x 280 mm, 2024
Languages:French, English
Price: € 150 excl. VAT,
ISBN: 978-2-503-60209-7
Link: https://www.brepols.net/products/IS-9782503602097-1

Identity, Diversity & Contact
from the Southern Balkans to Xinjiang, from the Upper Palaeolithic to Alexander

Editor: M. Lebeau

This volume presents peer-reviewed contributions based on papers first presented at the biennial International Congress ‘The East’ (ICE). Dedicated to the archaeology and history of a region that spans from the Southern Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean, via the Near and Middle East, the Persian Gulf, and the Caucasus, across to Central Asia, Pakistan, and Xinjiang, the ICE series encourages the publication of research that cuts across not just geographical and chronological boundaries, but also the borders that exist between disciplines. The first ICE Conference chose as its theme ‘Identity, Diversity, and Contact’, and the papers drawn together in this volume comprise several sub-topics, including evolution and resilience, movement, mobility, and migration, long distance and the longue durée, and cultural and economic contacts.

XVI+360 p., 130 b/w ill. + 18 colour ill., 8 b/w tables, 216 x 280 mm, 2021
ISBN: 978-2-503-58949
Language: English
Retail price: EUR 100,00 excl. tax

Link: http://www.brepols.net/Pages/ShowProduct.aspx?prod_id=IS-9782503589497-1