Anth.340 Ppt. lecture-7: EB II-III Syria-Palestine, part-2: International relations: Egyptian &...

ANT 340 / 640:

The Archaeology and History of the “Bible Lands”:

Ancient (Syria)-Palestine.Notes and images compiled by Greg Mumford © 2020

Lecture 7:

Early Bronze Age II-III (Part-3).

Table of contents: continued …

8. EB II-III international relations: Exports to Egypt … 4

9. EB II-III international relations: Imports from Egypt 8

10. EB II-III international relations: General artworks and reliefs 16

11. EB II-III Syria: regional-international relations with its world … 28

12. EB II-III burial customs 35

13. EB II-III mortuary population data 40

14. EB II-III characteristics of urban Syro-Palestinians 42

15. EB II-III characteristics of Bedu Syro-Palestinians 59

16. EB II-III geo-political landscape in Palestine 66

17. The “collapse” of EB III 76

18. Other factors concerning 2300-2200 BCE events (later EB IV) 84

19. EB II-III: What else might we know about the EB Age? 90

20. Summary of main points 92

21. Other data: Response to questions; some sources … 95

Instructor tips for lectures, etc.:

(1). Attend class regularly (& listen) …→ Many clarifications, tips, announcements,

reinforcement & reviews of materials/concepts.

(2). Take notes on lectures, etc. …→ The act of writing down notes, even with

most course materials and instructions online,

serves as an invaluable aid to one focusing on

a class topic and retaining information better.

(3). Complete the required textbook

readings, and/or review the ppt.,

prior to the specific class day …→ This will provide greater clarity and

comprehension of the material, and will enable

asking focused questions where something

may be less clear (in the textbook or lecture).

(4). Ask questions during the class if

you are confused/wish more data→ The class is an ideal place to ask for more

clarity or further information not contained in

the textbook, ppt., and/or lecture (If nobody

asks questions, the lecture proceeds …).

(5). Complete optional materials:→ Additional reinforcement, studying & bonus?

https://howtostudyincollege.com/how-to-get-good-grades/note-taking-strategies/

https://howtostudyincollege.com/how-to-get-good-grades/note-taking-strategies/

Early Bronze Age:

EB Age II-III

(3,050–2,650/2,500 BCE)

International relations:

Exports to Egypt.

Early Bronze II-III: c.3050-2650/500 BC

EB II international connections:

• EB II Levantine pottery appears in

Dyns.1-2 contexts (ca.3000-2900 BC):

- Abydos royal tombs

- Saqqara elite tombs

• Levantine pottery types included:

a. Painted jars and jugs

b. Red slipped & burnished “metallic”

vessels (“Abydos Ware”)

• These vessels & other items included:

- Olive oil (Levant)

- Wine (Levant)

- Copper (South Sinai)

- Bitumen (Dead Sea)

- Salt (Dead Sea)

EB II-III “Abydos Ware” vessel at Arad.

EB II-III “Abydos Ware” metallic vessels.

EB II trade items from Palestine

appear in Egypt in Dyns.1-2

(i.e., when few Egy. Items → Pal.)


EB III international connections:

• In EB III, Egyptian trade with Palestine

definitely decreases dramatically to

virtually no Egyptian material remains

in Palestine,

• The North Sinai overland route displays

minimal activity and no Egyptian items,

• In contrast, Egyptian Dyns.3-6 artifacts

attest to both continuous & intensified

maritime contact with Lebanon & Syria:

E.g., Byblos and Ebla.

• In turn, EB III Syrian pottery continues

to appear in Egypt in the Old Kingdom

• An Egyptian relief from King Sahure’s

mortuary temple displays a maritime

expedition to Lebanon, recording the

the obtaining and transport to Egypt of

various things: Pottery, wine, bears, &

Asiatic men, women, and children.

Dyn.5: Sahure

Ships bringing

jars, bears, and

Asiatics to Egypt

During EB III: …

- Syrian pottery continues to

appear in Egypt

- Egyptian royal monuments

record maritime trade

with Syria …

SYRIA: ca.3100-2250 BC

Early Bronze Age I-IVA:

(Predyn.–Old Kingdom Egypt)

• EBLA (Tell Mardikh): IIB1-city

Trade relations with Egypt via

BYBLOS port (= major port city)

Tell Mardikh IIB1 Palace

PROSPEROUS cities

Ebla stratum IIB-1: Palace GEBLA mound plan

Early Bronze Age:

EB Age II-III

(3,050–2,650/2,500 BCE)


Imports from Egypt.


EB II international connections:

• Egyptian Dyns.1-2 exports to Syria-

Palestine included:

- Pottery jars (EB II Arad)

- Stone vessels (EB II? ‘Ai)

• This two-way trade parallels a definite

cessation of the intense Egyptian

presence in SW Palestine, but forms

a continuation of cross-cultural

interactions between both regions.

• Some minimal Egyptian contact is

attested in South Sinai during Dyn.1,

amounting to about 1% of the pottery

assemblage a several sites near the

copper and turquoise mining region.

• The interaction in South Sinai could

easily be indirect, but it seems to

cluster in South Sinai and not along

the route between Arad & South Sinai.

Egyptian vessels from Azor (Palestine)

Dyn.1 Egyptian storage

jar found in EB II temple

Egyptian jar with

incised name of

Narmer (Arad)

Some Dyns.1-2 Egyptian trade items

appear in Palestine in EB II

(i.e., albeit relatively few Egyptian

items)

Early Bronze II-III: c.3000-2300 BC

EB I-II international connections:

• Egyptian Dyns.1-2 exports to Syria-

Palestine included:

- Pottery jars (EB II Arad)

- Stone vessels (EB II? ‘Ai)

• This two-way trade parallels a definite

cessation of the intense Egyptian

presence in SW Palestine, but forms

a continuation of cross-cultural

interactions between both regions.

• Some direct Egyptian contact is now

attested in South Sinai in early Dyn.1,

amounting to about 1% of the pottery

assemblage at several sites near the

copper and turquoise mining region,

PLUS a few Dyn.1 rock-cut texts.

• Some interaction in South Sinai could

easily be indirect, but it seems to

cluster in SW Sinai and NOT along

the route between Arad & South Sinai.

Recent discovery in SW Sinai:

A few Dyn.1 rock-cut texts attest

to a direct Egyptian presence,

plus 1% pottery at several sites.

→ Implies early direct exploitation

of turquoise & copper mines

(maybe followed by a hiatus)

Note: Egyptian presence is absent from

Sinai in EB II (Late Predyn-early Dyn.1 = EB I)





‘virtually no’ Egyptian material remains

in Palestine,

• North Sinai overland route displays











return of pottery, wine, bears, and


Egyptian materials from “EB III” Ai

are debated as being EB II heirlooms

?

Later Egyptian Dyns.3-6:

- apparently > ceases overland

ties with EB III Palestine …

BUT new dates reduce length &

timing of Old Kingdom re EB III

- While intensifying direct

exploitation of copper and

turquoise from S. Sinai

(in EB III)

• Dyns.3-6 = EB III+: 2,900+ BC

Early Bronze II-III: c.3000-2300 BC





in Palestine,













Asiatic men, women, and children.Dyn.6 jar of Pepi I from Ebla (Syria)

Later Egyptian Dyns.3-6:

- Intensifies maritime trade

with Lebanon and Syria.

- Presumably using ports

along coast of Palestine,

whilst sailing north/south,

but with a focus in trade to

the north.

Egyptian exports continue to Syria

during EB III (and early EB IV) …,

But the new dates for EB III-IV (albeit

especially for the Southern Levant)

require much assessment …

Much EB III-(early EB IV) trade between Egypt and Syria (N. Levant) …






in Palestine,














Dyn.5: Sahure

Ships bringing

jars, bears, and

Asiatics to Egypt

During EB III: …

- Egyptian royal monuments

record maritime trade

with Syria …

SYRIA: ca.3100-2250 BC

Early Bronze Age I-IVA:

(Predyn.–Old Kingdom Egypt)

• BYBLOS port: KIV/III-city levels

Overland travel to EBLA (Mardikh)

PROSPEROUS cities

BYBLOS city plan

Early Bronze Age:

EB Age II-III

(3,050–2,650/2,500 BCE)


Gen. artworks & motifs.

Early Bronze II-III: c. 3050-2650/500 BC

EB II-III international connections:

Artworks and motifs:

• EB Age Palestine has far less evidence

of artistic expression via material

remains than the Chalcolithic period.

• The figurines that do appear usually

represent rough clay models of

domesticated animals.

• One exception includes a set of five

miniature ivory/stone bull heads dating

to EB III & similar to Mesopotamian art.

• A rough stone slab (“stele”) from Arad

portrays the incised schematic figures

of an anthropomorphic person/being

standing with hands upraised in front

of a similar person lying horizontally in

the same posture of a rectilinear frame:

- Amiran: death & reincarnation of a

fertility/grain-deity: Mes. Dumuzi myth.

EB II

EB II

EB IIIEB Age

Art:

- The surviving art from

EB II-III Palestine

is usually far less “elegant”

than Chalcolithic art

(i.e., from our perspective

versus needs of artists &

their clients & functions …)





















Some exceptional art does

survive in EB III Palestine …

(Mesopotamian-derived)





















Some “exceptional art” does

survive in EB III Palestine …

(Mesopotamian-derived):

i.e., Once again, this reflects

our biased perspective, but it

also indicates an observed, rel.

greater skill, effort, etc. in art.




• Although Syro-Mesopotamian cylinder

seals cease sooner in Egypt (*Dyn.1),

they remain present in EB II Palestine.

• Arad has produced a few cylinder &

stamp seals made locally in EB II, but

portraying similar motifs to Byblos,

North Syria and North Mesopotamia:

- Various geometric designs

- Glyptic influence from Jemdet Nasr

and Early Dynastic I Mesopotamia.

• EB Age Syria-Palestine introduced

wooden seals to apply impressions to

pottery jars prior to firing, which reflects

a non-Mesopotamia practice, but has

some EB II geometric and animal

procession motifs derived from / similar

to Byblos and Elam (SE Mesopotamia).

Jemdet Nasr – style cylinder seal

Mesopotamian links:

- Cease with/in Egypt in EB II-III

(i.e., = not in Dyns. mid-1 to 6)

- BUT links continue in EB II

Palestine (with Mesopotamia)




• Although Syro-Mesopotamian cylinder

seals cease sooner in Egypt (Dyn.1),

they remain present in EB II Palestine.

• Arad has produced a few cylinder and

stamp seals made locally in EB II, but

portraying similar motifs to Byblos,

North Syria, and North Mesopotamia:

- Various geometric designs

- Glyptic influence from Jemdet Nasr

and Early Dynastic I Mesopotamia.

• EB Age Syria-Palestine introduced

wooden seals to apply impressions to

pottery jars prior to firing, which reflects

a non-Mesopotamian practice, but

has some EB II geometric and animal

procession motifs derived from / similar

to Byblos and Elam (SE Mesopotamia).

Fake

wooden

seal

“Dyn.3

2700

BC

EB III”

Impressing designs in wet clay

EB II-III Palestine:

- Introduces its own spin-off,

modified art from Mesopotamian-

and South Syrian- inspired

forms/origins.




• North Palestine has produced EB III

cylinder seal impressions with animals,

buildings & schematic anthropomorphic

figures in a row holding hands:

- “Palace façade”? Temple? Other?

- Ritual dancing? Festival? Other?

• This style & motifs yield some parallels

in Syria & Mesopotamia.

• EB III Palestine itself lacks such seals,

demonstrating its relative isolation from

Mesopotamia (and Egypt) in EB III.

• Hence, most EB II-III artworks in Pal.

reveal local manufacture with minimal

influence from Syria-Mesopotamia.

• Even Ebla’s rise (2400-2200 BC) in

Syria yields little contact with Palestine.

Syro-Mesopotamian-inspired(?)

cylinder seal motifs in EB III

Northern Palestine → influences

via Direct trade

Other interaction

(e.g., emissaries)




• North Palestine has produced EB III

cylinder seal impressions with animals,

buildings & schematic anthropomorphic

figures in a row holding hands:

- “Palace façade”? Temple? Other?

- Ritual dancing? Festival? Other?

• This style & motifs yield some parallels

in Syria & Mesopotamia.

• EB III Palestine itself lacks such seals,

demonstrating its relative isolation from

Mesopotamia (and Egypt) in EB III.

• Hence, most EB II-III artworks in Pal.

reveal local manufacture with minimal

influence from Syria-Mesopotamia.

• Even Ebla’s rise (*2400-2200 BC) in

Syria yields little contact with Palestine

(maritime traffic; little dispersed in Pal.).

EB II-III Palestine itself:

= further removed from Syria-

Mesopotamia →

a. = Minimal influence (only a bit

in the archaeological record)

b. = Perhaps a “backwater”

Ebla: 1st Kingdom period ca. 3000–2300 BCE

• Dominating Syria-(Palestine) during EB Age II-III

• Archive Period ("Mardikh IIB1”) ca.2400-2300 BC

Palestine’s contact with Ebla (Syria):

YES, there is some definite contact & influence,

BUT at only a relatively minimal level in the

archaeological remains: In reality maybe = more via

non-preserved organic materials: e.g., textiles, etc.




• ‘Ai has produced 2 polished stone axes

that are well-attested in Anatolia.

• A tomb at Beth-Yerah contained a

decorated gold disk that also finds

similarities with items from the royal

tombs of Alaca Huyuk (central Anatolia)

• The U-shaped bastions in EB II town

fortifications in Palestine find parallels

in Early Helladic Lerna (Greece).

• The use of wooden seals to place

impressions on jars occurs in Greece,

while three sealings from N. Palestine

resemble ones from Lerna (e.g., spirals)

• EB III items from N. Palestine & Syria

(incised bone tubes & animal headed pin)

also have parallels in Cycladic Islands.

Some Anatolian influence in

EB II-III Palestine:

- Polished stone axes at Ai

- Gold disk at Beth-Yerah

- …

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiZwbbF8qDPAhVGLyYKHfV8CBQQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.archatlas.dept.shef.ac.uk%2Fworkshop09%2Fworks09-massa.php&psig=AFQjCNHmGnQM3u69stuHs6Z6YQ89pDc2Ig&ust=1474562172407326











fortifications in Palestine find “parallels”





resemble ones from Lerna (e.g.,spirals)




Early Helladic Lerna

Some poss. “Aegean” influence

in EB II-III Palestine:

- U-shaped bastions(?)

(BUT, also see this in Egypt)

GM: Such potential “Aegean”

influence(s) are likely minimal











fortifications in Palestine find parallels





resemble ones from Lerna (e.g., spirals)




GM: Such potential “Aegean”

influence(s) are likely minimal

in EB II-III Palestine.

Cyclades

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiZwbbF8qDPAhVGLyYKHfV8CBQQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.archatlas.dept.shef.ac.uk%2Fworkshop09%2Fworks09-massa.php&psig=AFQjCNHmGnQM3u69stuHs6Z6YQ89pDc2Ig&ust=1474562172407326

Early Bronze Age:

EB Age II-III

(3,050–2,650/2,500 BCE)

Syria: reg-international

relations with its world…

Ebla: 1st Kingdom period ca. 3,000 – 2,300 BCE• Dominating Syria-(Palestine) during EB Age II-III

• City: 56 hectares → 138.64 acres (13,864+ min. pop.)

Texts suggest pop. of 40,000(!)

Tell Mardikh = Ancient EBLA:

• Very few known relations with Palestine:

There is contact, but little is dispersed in Pal.

(much may not be preserved: e.g. organic items)

• However, Anatolian & Mesopotamian influences

did enter Palestine via Ebla and/or its territory …

Ebla’s Economy during Early Bronze Age II-III: *less contact with Palestine

In Ebla’s First Kingdom period

(ca. 3000-2300 BCE), the state (i.e.,

palace/king) directed the kingdom’s

economy to a large extent (Ebla’s

ranking = similar to Sumer).

However, Ebla’s affluent elite had

sufficient freedom to participate

significantly & separately in the

economy: i.e., elite private sector’s

role in the kingdom’s economy.


Ebla’s economic system,

like other EB Age states,

involved the redistribution of

many types of resources:

E.g., Flora & fauna; byproducts;

metals; minerals; manufactured

items, etc.

E.g., The palace redistributed

food to its employees (seasonal

& full time), who numbered

approximately 40,000 persons.


Ebla’s hinterland (i.e., villages)

retained control over its/their land,

unlike Mesopotamia, sending

a % of the produce, as tax,

to the state (i.e., palace) at Ebla.

The palace also ran a pastoral

economy outside Ebla (i.e., in its

the hinterland):

E.g., Massive herds of cattle and

sheep & goats (+byproducts)

The residents of Ebla also owned

many animals (via archival texts):

Totals: 140,000 sheep & goats;

9,000 cattle.


Ebla’s export/trade items:

Textiles (from herds);

Lumber from adjacent hills;

many handicrafts (i.e., finished

products); etc.

Ebla’s trade network:

E-W from Afghanistan to Cyprus

(+Aegean?) (e.g., Eblaite textiles),

but mainly South via Euphrates

to/with Mesopotamia (esp. Kish).

Some maritime contact with Egypt:

E.g., Dyns. 4-early 6 Khafre+Pepy

Very little confirmed trade with Pal.

Ebla (Tell Mardikh) and Byblos:

Cross-cultural trade with Syria,

Mesopotamia, Iran-Af, Anatolia,

Cyprus, *Palestine, and Egypt.

Less trade known

with Palestine

Early Bronze Age:

EB Age II-III

(3,050–2,650/2,500 BCE)

Burial customs.


Burial customs:

• Secondary burials & shaft-tombs are

mostly abandoned (briefly) in EB II-III:

ca. 3050-2650/500 BC

• I.e., The EB II-III urban settings tend

to reflect primary burials in natural,

or artificial, caves near settlements.

• E.g., Kinneret EB II tomb:

(located near Kibutz Kinneret)

- Square courtyard: 2.3 x 3 m

- Elliptical burial chamber: 2 x 3.4 m

- 3 successive burials + sand layers

Note: partly burned / charred bones

perhaps initially burnt (defleshing)

• In contrast, the succeeding EB IV

period reverts to more nomadic forms

of burial (see next lecture):

EB II-III primary burials in

chambers near settlements:

E.g., Caves and/or rock-cut or

subterranean chambers …


Burial customs:

• Secondary burials and shaft-tombs are

mostly abandoned (briefly) in EB II-III:

ca.3000-2300 BC.

• I.e., The EB II-III urban settings tend

to reflect primary burials in natural, or

artificial, caves near settlements.

• E.g., Kinneret EB II tomb:

(located near Kibutz Kinneret)

- Square courtyard: 2.3 x 3 m

- Elliptical burial chamber: 2 x 3.4 m

- 3 successive burials + sand layers

Note: partly burned / charred bones

perhaps initially burnt (defleshing)

• In contrast, the succeeding EB IV

period reverts to more nomadic forms

of burial (see next lecture):Kinneret burial chamber: great wealth

• 50 pottery vessels (late EB II); 2 = Syrian

• 300+ beads; 2 gold beads; 2 ruby beads;

• Bone & gold plaques; limestone pestle.

EB II-III primary burials in

chambers near settlements:

E.g., Caves and/or rock-cut or

subterranean chambers …


Burial customs:

• EB II-III burials are normally placed in

groups in rock-cut or artificial caves,

which house many bodies, pottery

vessels, and other funerary offerings.

• These group burials probably reflect

successive generations of family

interments.

• An EB II-III cemetery at Bab edh-Dhra‘

contained rectilinear rooms (‘charnel

houses’) to house multiple burials.

- The pottery from these tombs differed

from elsewhere (perhaps reflecting

specific mortuary offerings?)

• Other EB Age settlements, such as

Arad and Yarmuth, have yet to reveal

their cemeteries (despite searches),

suggesting more distant burial grounds

EB II-III group burials:

= successive family burials

over generations.


Burial customs:

• EB II-III burials are normally placed in

groups in rock-cut or artificial caves,

which house many bodies, pottery

vessels, and other funerary offerings.

• These group burials probably reflect

successive generations of family

interments.

• An EB II-III cemetery at Bab edh-Dhra‘

contained rectilinear rooms (‘charnel

houses’) to house multiple burials.

- The pottery from these tombs differed

from elsewhere (perhaps reflecting

specific mortuary offerings?)

• Other EB Age settlements, such as

Arad and Yarmuth, have yet to reveal

their cemeteries (despite searches),

suggesting more distant burial grounds

Bab edh-Dhra ‘charnel house”: Jordan

Various EB II-III

burial practices

Early Bronze Age:

EB Age II-III

(3,050–2,650/2,500 BCE)

Mortuary

population data.


Population data for Chalc. – EB Age:

• Following Patricia Smith (1995):

- Inadequate data for EB II-III mortuary

populations (most data from S. Pal.).

- No significant genetic differences seen

amongst peoples in var. parts of Pal.

- Minimal change from Chalc.–EB Age

a. Males average 168 cm high

b. Females average 155 cm high

- Significant tooth size reduction from

Natufian-Neolithic to Chalc.-EB I,

with further deceases by EB IV:

- 90% of study population had dental

hypoplasia in Chalc. → implying very

high environmental stress in childhood

(diet? vs. disease from sedentism?)

- Slight decrease in dental hypoplasia

in EB IV (= less environmental stress!)* Hypoplasia = imperfect enamel formation (via diet?).

EB I burial at Bab edh-Dhra‘

EB I burial at Bab edh-Dhra‘

Early Bronze Age:

EB Age II-III

(3,050–2,650/2,500 BCE)

Characteristics of

urban Syro-Palestinians.

EB I artwork showing indigenous

people (in Megiddo temple paving)

Features (mainly males):

• Head gear: cloth, caps,

• Bare-headed

• Bearded often; some shaven?

(adolescents?; females?)

• Broad collar?; necklace? Other

• Tunic/robe; bare-chested

• Belt; sash; hem of garment

• Kilt; loin cloth; other(?)

• Accessories:

Bow and arrows

Spear

Shield

Axe

Lyre

Nothing …Selected examples

EB I artwork showing indigenous

people (in Megiddo temple paving)

Features (mainly males):

• Head gear: cloth, caps,

• Bare-headed

• Bearded often; some shaven?

(adolescents?; females?)

• Broad collar? necklace? Other

• Tunic/robe; bare-chested

• Belt; sash; hem of garment

• Kilt; loin cloth; other(?)

• Accessories:

Bow and arrows

Spear

Shield

Axe

Lyre

Nothing …Selected examples


EB I-III population’s appearance:

“Asiatic” males (via Egyptian sources):

Adult males:

• Usually bearded + shoulder-length hair

• Often wearing a headband / fillet

• Usually bare-chested

• Wearing a short kilt

• Sandals? (burial caves: Chalc.-EB I)

• Walking stick/staff (for elite/elderly)

• Warriors weaponry:

- Bow and arrows (depicted & found)

- Axes

- Spears/javelins

- Daggers

- Macehead(?)

Children:

• Usually naked (shoulder-length hair)

Late Dyn.5:

Egyptians attacking Asiatics

(= late Early Bronze III in date)

Egyptian

stereotypes

(versus

realities?)




Adult males:









- Axes

- Spears/javelins

- Daggers

- Macehead(?)

Children:


Dyn.5 mort.-temple of Raneferef

wooden statue of Asiatic chief




Adult males:









- Axes

- Spears/javelins

- Daggers

- Macehead(?)

Children:

• Usually naked (shoulder-length hair) Young male(?): kilt + fillet

Dyn.5 Sahure

Mort.-temple




Adult males:









- Axes

- Spears/javelins

- Daggers

- Macehead(?)

Children:


Late Dyn.5

EB III

Egyptian

stereotypes

(versus

realities?)




Adult males:









- Axes

- Spears/javelins

- Daggers

- Macehead(?)

Children:

• Usually naked (shoulder-length hair) Dyn.5 Sahure Mortuary temple

Egyptian stereotypes

(versus realities?)




Adult males:









- Axes

- Spears/javelins

- Daggers

- Macehead(?)

Children:


Late Dyn.5

EB III


(versus realities?)




Adult males:









- Axes

- Spears/javelins

- Daggers

- Macehead(?)

Children:


Late Dyn.5

EB III




Adult males:









- Axes

- Spears/javelins

- Daggers

- Macehead(?)

Children:


Late Dyn.5:



Egyptian maceheads




Adults:









- Axes

- Spears/javelins

- Daggers

- Macehead(?)

Children:


Late Dyn.5:




(versus realities?)



Asiatic females (via Egyptian sources):

Adult females:

• Longer than shoulder-length hair

• Hair free-flowing

• Wearing a mid-calf-length tube-dress

• Sandals?

• No associated items:

- Other than in Egyptian propagandistic

scenes of turmoil breaking out in a

besieged city in which woman also

seize weaponry during civil strife.

Children:

• generic naked infants – children

• Adolescents clothed in ankle-length

dresses (still smaller than adults)

Late Dyn.5

EB III


(versus realities?)




Adult females:




• Sandals?






Children:




Dyn.5 Sahure mortuary temple

Egyptian stereotypes (versus realities?)




Adult females:




• Sandals?






Children:



dresses (still smaller than adults) Late Dyn.5:




(versus realities?)




Adult females:




• Sandals?




besieged city in which women also


Children:




Late Dyn.5

EB III




Adults:




• Sandals?






Children:




Late Dyn.5

EB III

Early Bronze Age:

EB Age II-III

(3,050–2,650/2,500 BCE)

Characteristics of

Bedu Syro-Palestinians.



Bedouin/“Sand-dwellers” via Egy. eyes:

Often portrayed with:

- Long hair

- Sometimes bearded; other times not

- Usually very thin (like modern Bedu)

- Sometimes with a fillet

- Sometimes naked; other times clothed:

E.g., kilt, fillet.

Weaponry:

- Bow and arrows

- Throw-stick / club

- Etc.

Dyns.3-6 portrayal of Bedu in Sinai

= EB III-(IV) ca.2900-2200 BC

Later

in

Egy.

M.K.

(MB

Age)





- Long hair





E.g., kilt, fillet.

Weaponry:

- Bow and arrows


- Etc.

Late Dyn.5 King Unas Causeway

Later in

Egyptian

M.K. …

(= MB

Age)





- Long hair





E.g., kilt, fillet.

Weaponry:

- Bow and arrows


- Etc.


= EB III-(IV) ca.2900-2200 BC

Later in the Egyptian Middle Kingdom

(= Middle Bronze Age Canaan)





- Long hair




-Sometimes naked; other times clothed:

E.g., kilt, fillet.

Weaponry:

- Bow and arrows


- Etc.


= EB III-(IV) ca.2900-2200 BC





- Long hair





E.g., kilt, fillet.

Weaponry:

- Bow and arrows


- Etc.


= EB III-(IV) ca.2,900-2,650/500 BC




200-300 years later, portrayed with:

- Long hair

- Men usually bearded

- Average to thin (like modern Bedu)

- Women wearing a fillet (vs. not in EB3)

- Male child with kilt

- Adults kilt-full garment(multi-dyed wool)

- Sandals and barefoot

Weaponry:

- Bow & arrows; throw-stick/club; spears

Dyns.12 portrayal of the Asiatic

sand-dwellers (EB IV/MB 2A)

Early Bronze Age:

EB Age II-III

(3,050–2,650/2,500 BCE)

Geo-political

landscape in Palestine.


Society, politics, and economy:

• The absence of historical documents

from EB Age Palestine has robbed us

of the ability to realize the complexity

of society, economy, & government,

from an individual level to broad view.

• The surviving, excavated, & published

archaeological record, however, has

allowed some general observations:

- Palestine appears to contain about

20-25 city-states located in individual

geographic regions containing various

smaller satellite communities & an

agricultural and rural hinterland.

- The similarity in material culture across

Palestine & some neighbouring areas

to the north suggests quite close

material & physical connections

between different regions & peoples.

Early Bronze I – III settlements

= EB I settlements

= EB II-III settlements



• The absence of historical documents

from EB Age Palestine has robbed us

of the ability to realize the complexity

of society, economy, & government,

from an individual level to broad view.

• The surviving, excavated, & published

archaeological record, however, has

allowed some general observations:

- Palestine appears to contain about

20-25 city-states located in individual

geographic regions containing various

smaller satellite communities & an

agricultural and rural hinterland.

- The similarity in material culture across

Palestine & some neighbouring areas

to the north suggests quite close

material & physical connections

between different regions & peoples.

Early Bronze I – III settlements

= EB I settlements

= EB II-III settlements



• There is no evidence for a unified state

throughout Palestine:

- The multiple city-states appear fairly

uniform & designed to combat local

unrest: i.e., strife between neighbours

- Palestine lacks any obvious national

capital or central administration.

• The public works evident within each

city-state & hinterland suggest a

simple hierarchy from local leadership

in satellite communities to an elite and

presumably hereditary ruling family at

each regional city-state.

• Such regional governments had

sufficient power & resources to plan &

implement various public-elite projects:

fortifications, temples, palaces, water

reservoirs, and public granaries.

Many city-states:

Presumably autonomous polities,

but sized and ranked according to

resources, wealth, rank?, etc.

Perhaps 3 tiers(?):

Small / poorer

Medium / sufficient

Large / wealthier

May have small & wealthy polities

May have large & poorer polities.



• There is no evidence for a unified state

throughout Palestine:

- The multiple city-states appear fairly

uniform and designed to combat local

unrest: i.e., strife between neighbours

- Palestine lacks any obvious national

capital or central administration.

• The public works evident within each

city-state & hinterland suggest a

simple hierarchy from local leadership

in satellite communities to an elite and

presumably hereditary ruling family at

each regional city-state.

• Such regional governments had

sufficient power & resources to plan &

implement various public-elite projects:

fortifications, temples, palaces, water

reservoirs, work shops, public granaries.

Palace

Beth Yerah granary Megiddo shrines

Fortification (gate) Reservoir

Definite community leadership:

- Local elders?

- Chieftain?

- King / ruler?

- Other type(s)?



• Specialized craftsmen = less evident,

but are implied via metalworking, seal

cutting, pottery production, & artwork.

• Writing is not in evidence, but may

have used a more perishable format

such as in and papyrus (imported and

used commonly in Pal. In later periods)

• A reliance on an oral transmission

would have required many messengers

and instructors to relay commands &

teachings (states are usually literate).

• The rise of an EB II-III urban society in

Palestine is logical given its placement

between the established & interlinked

complex societies of Egypt and Syria-

Mesopotamia.

• Palestine is relatively less connected

in EB III & experiences more warfare.

Specialized crafts persons:

- Definitely for many items:

pottery; metal; engineering+

Household level crafts person:

- Could produce other things:

Textiles; various products; etc.

Both specialists & household:

- Both could be present:

Textiles; olive oil; carpentry+

Central/regional “factories”:

- Mass produced pottery(!); oil



• Specialized craftsmen are less evident,





such as ink and papyrus (imported and





teachings (states are often literate).

• The rise of an EB II-III urban society in




Mesopotamia.

• Palestine is relatively less connected

in EB III & experiences more warfare.

Writing = ??? in Pal.

Writing definitely existed in …

(a). Syria-Mesopotamia to N & NE

(b). Egypt to SW

May be used so minimally in

Palestine that no trace has been

found/survived



• Specialized craftsmen are less evident,





such as in and papyrus (imported and





teachings (states are usually literate).

• The rise of EB II-III urban society in




Mesopotamia.

• Palestine is relatively less “connected”

in EB III; it experiences more warfare.

Palestine:

• Is it simply following urbanization in

Egypt & Mesopotamia? (i.e., directly)

• Or is it a continuous, open interactive

system of neighbouring regions that

feed each other with new ideas,

technology, products etc. (i.e., flow …)

EGYPT

MESOPOTAMIA

SYRIA

ANATOLIA

Palestine

ARABIA

Full “urbanization”

occurs in EB II-III

Palestine

after it appeared

in Egypt and

Syria-Mesopotamia

Ebla: 1st Kingdom period ca. 3,000 – 2,300 BCE• Dominating Syria-(Palestine) during EB Age II-III

• City: 56 hectares → 138.64 acres (13,864+ pop.)

some estimate pop. of 40,000(!)

Tell Mardikh = Ancient EBLA:

• Some scholars call it an early “empire”

• Others emphasize its separate role from Mesop.

• It has very few known relations with Palestine:

Presumably much is lost: e.g., organic materials: e.g., textiles

THE COLLAPSE / DESTRUCTION OF EBLA

Green = Akkadian Empire and sphere of influence (other states)

Palestine

Late in Early Bronze Age III: ca. 2,300 BCE

Early Bronze Age:

EB Age II-III

(3,050–2,650/2,500 BCE)

The “collapse” of

Early Bronze III.


Collapse of EB urban culture:

• The changes in economic & political

relations between Palestine and its

neighbours in EB II may have altered

its internal economic-political stability.

• Some cities decline & disappear in late

EB II: E.g., Arad lost trade with Egypt.

• Other cities suffered destructions, but

retained their basis for existence and

were rebuilt, lasting until ca.2500 BCE.

• However, the end of EB III marks a

dramatic disappearance of towns and

shift in settlement pattern from a mostly

urban lifestyle to a semi-nomadic

existence throughout most of Palestine:

- E.g., Megiddo, Beth-Yerah, ‘Ai,

Yarmuth, and other sites →

destroyed and/or abandoned.

*Dyns.3-6 = EB III+ (2700-2300 BC)

• Egypt directly mining copper and

turquoise from/in South Sinai.

→EB II semi-nomadic camps now

disappear from S. Sinai – Negev

→ Arad & Sinai links disappear(!)

In general,

life continues

in EB III Palestine,

… much as before

Urban life ends prior to 2,300-2,200 BC



• The changes in economic and political

relations between Palestine and its

neighbours in EB II may have altered

its internal economic-political stability.

• Some cities decline & disappear in late

EB II: E.g., Arad lost trade with Egypt.

• Other cities suffered destructions, but

retained their basis for existence and

were rebuilt.

• However, the end of EB III marks a

dramatic disappearance of towns and

shift in settlement pattern from a mostly

urban lifestyle to a semi-nomadic

existence throughout most of Palestine:

- E.g., Megiddo, Beth-Yerah, ‘Ai,

Yarmuth, and other sites →

destroyed and/or abandoned.

Ca. 2300-2200 BC (4.2 k BP event):

• Ice cores & C14-dated lake sediments

reveal dramatic global changes

• Drier climate in many parts of globe

• Less water → fewer crops → famine

• Political turmoil etc.

→ Egypt = politically fragmented

→ Palestine mostly deurbanized

→ Syria = gen. declining urban centres

At the end of EB III

Palestine, …

life changes

dramatically

throughout Palestine

(and beyond)

Urban life ends prior to 2,300-2,200 BC



• Many ideas have emerged to explain

how Palestine shifted from urban life to

mostly semi-nomadic pastoralists: EB4

1. Increasing late Old Kingdom Egyptian

raids depopulated Palestine, recorded

in private texts from Egyptian tombs:

E.g., late Dyn.5: Egyptian siege of

Asiatic-style fortified town with

U-shaped bastions & bearded

peoples (Asiatic stereotypes)

E.g., Dyn.6: General Weni leads 5

attacks against ‘sand-dwellers’

- destroying fortifications,

- cutting down orchards

- taking ‘1000s’ of prisoners

Egyptian motive = less obvious:

- Retaliating against “rebels”

- Security & trade interestsLate Dyn.5 tomb of Inti at Deshasheh:

Scene of siege of Asiatic fortified town



2. 1960s’ theory of invasion by West

Semitic ‘Amorite’ tribes from Syria

= now discounted(!) (mostly)

3. Over-population → deforestation and

overuse of land (a possible aspect)

4. Global climatic change and impact

upon the regional-local environment:

- A gradual decline in rainfall (EB Age)

→ Drier climate: reaching critical point

→ Lower water table (→ disastrous)

→ Reduction/cessation of crops and

drinking water (cisterns not in use)

→ Increased internal fighting between

city-states over reduced resources

→ Starvation, disease, & turmoil.

• However, there is some continuity of

settled life in Transjordan: –a marginal

region sensitive to climate changes!

“Amorites”

(???)



2. 1960s’ theory of invasion by West

Semitic ‘Amorite’ tribes from Syria

= now discounted!

3. Over-population → deforestation and

overuse of land (a possible aspect)

4. Global climatic change and impact

upon the regional-local environment:

- A gradual decline in rainfall (EB Age)

→ Drier climate: reaching critical point

→ Lower water table (→ disastrous)

→ Reduction/cessation of crops and

drinking water (cisterns not in use)

→ Increased internal fighting in & btw

city-states over reduced resources

→ Starvation, disease, & turmoil.

• However, there is some continuity of

settled life in Transjordan: –a marginal

region sensitive to climate changes!

Less rain → drier

Less water flow

Fewer crops

Starvation → widespread strife

CLIMATE CHANGE (?):

Sufficient decline prior to

2,300 BCE in Palestine



• Hence, Mazar and others argue more

for human agency behind the collapse

of the city-state society in Palestine:

- Internal warfare

- Egyptian raids

5. The multi-factor cause seems most

appropriate (see above; Dever, etc.):

- Environmental decline

- Socio-economic difficulties

- Destruction of city-states in many

parts of Palestine via civil war and

semi-nomadic Bedu attacks.

- Egyptian raids (perhaps partly to

restore stability in a warring region

that retained some importance for

Egypt’s E. frontier security & access

to Sinai & Syria via Pal. ports).

Late Old Kingdom: Egyptian attack and siege of “Asiatic” fortified town

i.e., Unidentified location in Palestine during EB III … (Tomb of Inti, late Dyn.5)

Early Bronze Age:

EB Age II-III+

(3,050–2,650/2,500 BCE)

Other factors regarding

2,300-2,200 BC events.

ca.

2,350

to 2,200

cal. years BC:

Possible change in

circulation of Atlantic currents

may have induced weak monsoons

contributing to “decline”/”collapse” within

Egypt, Syria-Palestine, Turkey, Mesopotamia, etc.

c.2200 BC global climatic event → var. effects

Ca.2170 BC +/- 30 = late OK drought

Ca.3000-2200 BC: increasingly drier environmentLess rain in

Ethiopia

Lower Niles

Fewer crops

Famine

SYRIA: ca. 2250-2000 BC

Early Bronze Age IVB:

(Late Old Kingdom-FIP Egypt)

• BYBLOS J1/2 & EBLA IIB2 cities

Cities re-occupied (immediately),

albeit less prosperous & some diff.

CITIES “decline”

EBLA (Tell Mardikh) IIB2 city declines

BYBLOS city plan

Continuity

& different

material

culture

Early Bronze

IV sites in

Palestine

ca.2350-

2000 BC

PALESTINE: ca.2350-2000 BC

Early Bronze Age IV (“MB I”)

(Late OK-FIP Egypt: Dyns.6-11)

• Most settlements abandoned!

- Now seasonal campsites, etc.

• Nomadic / Pastoral existence:

- Different material culture.

Beer Resisim seasonal campsite

CITIES “disappear”

Different

material

culture

Dyn.6 (advent of Early Bronze IV):

• 1,000+ Bedouin seasonal camps

• Some Asiatic settlements in Sinai

• Egyptian raids into Sinai-Palestine

• Massacres of Egyptian expeditions

(e.g., Red Sea; Lower Nubia)

• E. Frontier forts (Km-wr L. Timsah)

• S. Sinai fort (Ras Budran)Km-wr

Ras Budran

Repelling

Fenkhu

Late Old Kingdom:

Troubles along E. Frontier

?

Early Bronze Age:

EB Age II-III

(3,050–2,650/2,500 BCE)

What else might

We know about EB Age?


Early Bronze Age & the Bible:

• EB Age predates the biblical narrative

= difficult to relate to later perceptions.

• Some scholars have attempted to link

this period with the Book of Genesis

- E.g., genealogical data (= tricky!)

• Others have argued for the Canaanite

oral transmission of information that is

adopted by the later Israelites:

• E.g., Genesis 14 discusses five Jordan

Valley cities (i.e., Sodom, Gemorrah,

Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar), which are

destroyed & abandoned for centuries.

→ possibly a “memory” of late EB III?

• Israelite legends may have arisen

from the visible remains of abandoned

EB Age fortifications & conquest stories:

E.g., Arad, ‘Ai, & Yarmuth.

SUMMARY

OF MAIN

POINTS:

Early Bronze Age II-III:

- Date: ca. 3050 – 2650/2,500 BC (recent end dates based on 14C dating)

- Lifestyle: Rise of more complex urban society characterized by fortifications

(EBII-III):

- City planning: socially stratified housing (broad room+); “palaces”,

shrines-temples; reservoirs; granaries; workshops, kilns,

streets; fortification walls with gates, bastions, and glacis.

Some plateau-top enclosures (settlements vs. stock-breeding

paddocks?)

EB II (only) circular camps in Negev en-route to South Sinai

Rise/intensification of horticulture: grapes, fruit, wine, etc.

Autonomous city-states = political structure (albeit varied “rankings”)

NO evidence for indigenous writing in Palestine (elsewhere!!!).

- Religion: Broad-room temples/shrines continue (massive size =

key role in economy); a few sites have several temples …

- Technology: EB II “Abydos” ware pottery = Palestinian (= exported abroad:

e.g., Abydos, Egypt)

EB III Khirbet Kerak ware = black slipped with red rim

Copper production & recycling (Kafr Monash hoard).

Early Bronze Age II-III:

- Trade: EB II Arad (3000-2900 BC) access to South Sinai copper; EB III = no

EB II has broader relations (pottery → Egypt; some Egyptian items

in Palestine [albeit relatively low in quantity])

EB III marked by virtually no Egyptian material remains in Palestine

(but still present).

Egyptian texts and illustrations reveal late Old Kingdom raids

into Palestine.

EB II-III some relations with and influences from Syria, Anatolia,

and Mesopotamia (albeit at a small scale …).

- Artwork: Cylinder seals and other artwork (with some possible

foreign inspirations: Syria, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Aegean?).

- Burials: EB II-III has extramural primary burials in natural,

or artificial, caves near settlements.

Other practices in fringe areas: EB II charnel houses in Transjordan.

Early Bronze Age:

EB Age II-III

(3,050–2,650/2,500 BCE)

Other data:

Response to questions

Additional responses to in-class questions:

Regarding EB II-III Tell Yarmuth and its fortifications:

Israel Antiquities Authority / Heritage Conservation website discussion:

"The Principal Finds

The excavations uncovered a magnificent system of fortifications of unparalleled scope

around the site. The fortifications include a city wall that was constructed in phases and

a series of platforms that together reach a width of 38.5 m and an entrance gate

defended by a bastion. An impressive palace was also discovered that is 6,000 sq m

in area and enclosed by walls that are meticulously built with perfect angles. The eastern

part of the palace served as the official and public center and in the middle part there

were storehouses, some of which were paved. It is apparent that part of the palace

comprised a second story as alluded to by the remains of stairs. The palace functioned

for a period of only one hundred years until it was conquered and no longer used.

The remains at the site are impressive both in their scope and in the level of preservation

representing the building technology of the period. The fortification system consists of

several phases: first, a stone wall 5.6 m thick preserved to a height in excess of 4 m that

dates to the third millennium BCE. The wall was later reinforced by glaçis-like stone

supports in front of which was built a terraced slope 30 m wide. A second line of

fortifications was built along the end of the slope at the end of the Early Bronze Age 2,

when a cyclopean retaining wall was erected to a height of one to two meters, and the

area between the walls was filled with small stone terraces with interior partition walls

that were covered with plastered floors.”

http://iaa-conservation.org.il/Projects_Item_eng.asp?site_id=25&subject_id=6&id=46

http://iaa-conservation.org.il/Projects_Item_eng.asp?site_id=25&subject_id=6&id=46

Measurement conversions:

1 acre = 4,840 square yards (0.405 hectares)

1 square mile = 640 acres (259 hectares)

1 square yard = 9 square feet 0.836 square metres

Measurements in simplified terms:

1 acre = 4,046.23 sq. metres 63.61 x 63.61 metres

10 acres = 40,462.3 sq. metres 201.15 x 201.15 metres

20 acres = 80,924.6 sq. metres 284.47 x 284.47 metres

100 acres = 404,623 sq. metres 636.1 x 636.1 metres

1 hectare = 2.469 acres 1.57 x 1.57 acres

= 9,990.69 sq.metres 99.95 x 99.95 metres

(approx. 100 x 100 m)

10 hectares = 25.69 acres 5.069 x 5 .069 acres

= 99,906.9 sq. metres 316.08 x 316.08 metres

Updating our dates & knowledge of Early Bronze Age Levant:

Multi-authored, 480 page book:Publisher : Eisenbrauns; Illustrated

Edition.Date: June 29, 2020

Amazon description:“The “radiocarbon revolution” has profoundly altered traditional historical frameworks in the Near East. Addressing the ramificationsof the new, higher radiometric (14C) chronology, as well as the impact of new excavations and expanded data sets on third-millennium BCE studies, this volume brings together twenty-three essays covering a diverse array of topics, such as urbanism, heterarchy, nomadism, ruralism, terminology, and cultural continuity/discontinuity. Along with the radical two-hundred-yearshift to a higher chronology for the southern Levant, the fast pace of discoveries throughout the Levant and Egypt necessitates constant updating and reevaluation. The principal consequence ofthese data for scholarship is the realignment of historical correlations between the southern and northern Levant in the EBIII–IV periods, and between the southern Levant and the EgyptianLate Dynastic and Old Kingdom periods. But the contributions to this volume also detail new and tantalizing information from excavated sites that may not fit into traditional models of the Early Bronze III–IV periods. As this collection of articles attests, in light of new data, scholarly views on EB III urbanism and the rise of cities and states and on EB IV pastoral nomadism in the southern Levant need to be reevaluated. Bringing together cutting-edge scholarship from an international group of specialists in the Early Bronze Age in the northern and southern Levant, this volume is an essential handbook for Early Bronze Age studies.”


Single-authored, 426 page bookPublisher : Cambridge University PressDate: January 2, 2020Amazon description:“The Levant - modern Lebanon, southern Syria,Jordan, Israel and Palestine -is one of the mostintensively excavated regions of the world. This richly documented and illustrated survey offers a state-of-the-art description of the formative phase of Levantine societies, as they perfected the Mediterranean village economy and began to interact with neighboring civilizations in Egypt and Syria, on the way to establishing their first towns and city-state polities. Citing numerous finds and interpretive approaches, Greenberg offers a new narrative of social and cultural development, emulation, resistance and change, illustrating how Levantine communities translated broader movements of the Near Eastern and Mediterranean Bronze Age - the emergence of states, international trade, elite networks and imperial ambitions – into a uniquely Levantine idiom.”


Multi-authored, 676 page book.Publisher : Cambridge University Press Date: February 7, 2019Amazon 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 bio-anthropology, 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.”

Date post:	23-Feb-2023
Category:	Documents
Upload:	ua-birmingham
View:	0 times
Download:	0 times

Anth.340 Ppt. lecture-7: EB II-III Syria-Palestine, part-2: International relations: Egyptian &...

Documents