The British Museum | Middle East

There are few ceramic studies that have sought to extend data analysis beyond the creation of chronologies and archaeological cultures. The investigation of ceramic style, however, can offer signifi cant opportunities to assess social... more

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- by Alan Greaves and +1
  Alexandra Fletcher
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Fragments of possible fired clay found at Boncuklu Höyük, central Turkey, appear to derive from rudimentary vessels, despite the later ninth- and early eighth-millennium cal. bc and thus ‘Aceramic’ dates for the site. This paper will... more

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- by Alexandra Fletcher
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- 19
  Ancient History, Geography, Archaeology, Stable Isotopes

During the third millennium BC, Mesopotamia (the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, in modern Iraq-Syria), was dominated by the world’s earliest cities and states, which were ruled by powerful elites. Ur, in present-day... more

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- by Qaisra Khan
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- 2
  Dentistry, Medicine

Since the advent of Islam, Hajj has been one of the most remarkable religious gatherings in the world. A compulsory act for Muslims, if they are able, the annual observance of Hajj has always had a great impact on the Muslim world, and... more

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- by Qaisra Khan
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- 3
  Art History, Islamic Art, Hajj and Umrah

This in-depth examination of the life, history, and influence of Muhammad as discussed by leading scholars provides a wide-ranging look at the prophet's legacy unlike any other in the field of Islamic and culture studies. Within the... more

The Ka‘ba Orientations: Readings in Islam’s Ancient House, by Simon O’Meara; Islam and the Devotional Object: Seeing Religion in Egypt and Syria, by Richard J. A. McGregor; and Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage, by Qaisra M. Khan

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- by Qaisra Khan
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- 4
  Art History, Hajj and Umrah, Hajj Pilgrims, History of Hajj

This paper explores connections between infant mortuary rites and strategies of wealth transmission in Mesopotamia prior to urban expansion. By considering the social roles of infants in relation to lineage and household reproduction, it... more

The accumulation of capital is a widely recognised, but little studied, feature of early urbanisation in Mesopotamia during the fourth-millennium BC. Current research links the concentration and mobilisation of capital in urban centres to... more

The accumulation of capital is a widely recognised, but little studied, feature of early urbanisation in Mesopotamia during the fourth-millennium BC. Current research links the concentration and mobilisation of capital in urban centres to the expansion of cross-regional trade routes. However, the social and cultural mechanisms through which primary accumulation took place remain poorly understood. A related aspect of urban growth is the virtual disappearance of human burials from the archaeological record. This contrasts with earlier traditions where burials were routinely incorporated into domestic contexts. Adapting Weber’s insights regarding the origins of modern capitalist accumulation in changing modes of religiosity, this research investigates the changing relationship between funerary rituals and wealth consumption. Detailed study of burial practices over the long-term (Late Neolithic through to Late Uruk) will isolate major trends in funerary consumption over time. This will situate the phenomenon of large-scale accumulation within a wider social matrix. The analogous treatment of human remains and artefacts in Late Neolithic funerary contexts highlights complex relationships between persons and objects. Late Neolithic funerary consumption suggests that acquisitive behaviour was morally sanctioned by interaction with the dead. The decreasing importance placed on funerary consumption during the fifth-millennium is reflected in the separation of the adult dead from habitation areas, inhibiting contact with the living. Goods were now channelled through households, and underwent ritually mediated (intramural infant burials) processes of transformation into new commodity forms. Trajectories of accumulation reinforced through provisioning ancestral cults and personal display in death developed during the Early-Middle Uruk period, only to be reversed with the onset of the Urban Revolution. The profound social changes that accompanied the urban expansion transformed conceptions of persons and things. The dead were expelled from the context of the living and the flow of commodities was now regulated by new forms of religious institution.

The large-scale accumulation of goods is a widely recognized, but little studied, feature of early urbanization in Mesopotamia. Current research links the mobilization of goods in early cities to the expansion of cross-regional trade... more

Gurga Chiya and Tepe Marani are small, adjacent mounds located close to the town of Halabja in the southern part of the Shahrizor Plain, one of the most fertile regions of Iraqi Kurdistan. Survey and excavation at these previously... more

Gurga Chiya and Tepe Marani are small, adjacent mounds located close to the town of Halabja in the southern part of the Shahrizor Plain, one of the most fertile regions of Iraqi Kurdistan. Survey and excavation at these previously unexplored sites is beginning to produce evidence for human settlement spanning the sixth to the fourth millennia, c. 5600–3300 cal. B.C. In Mesopotamian chronology this corresponds to the Late Neolithic through to Chalcolithic periods; the Halaf, Ubaid, and Uruk phases of conventional culture history. In Iraqi Kurdistan, documentation of these periods—which witnessed many important transformations in prehistoric village life—is currently very thin. Here we offer a preliminary report on the emerging results from the Shahrizor Plain, with a particular focus on the description of material culture (ceramic and lithic assemblages), in order to establish a benchmark for further research. We also provide a detailed report on botanical remains and accompanying radiocarbon dates, which allow us to place this new evidence in a wider comparative framework. A further, brief account is given of Late Bronze Age material culture from the upper layers at Gurga Chiya. We conclude with observations on the significance of the Shahrizor Plain for wider research into the later prehistory of the Middle East, and the importance of preserving and investigating its archaeological record. Introduction With a Mediterranean climate and 700–900 millimetres of annual precipitation, the Shahrizor Plain—which lies in Sulaimaniyah Province, close to the town of Halabja—is one of the most fertile areas of Iraqi Kurdistan. This preliminary report documents new archaeological fieldwork in this relatively unexplored part of the Middle East. The focus of these new investigations is on the later prehistory of the Shahrizor, between the sixth and fourth millennia B.C. In broader regional terms this corresponds to the long period between the establishment of Neolithic farming settlements and the emergence of the earliest cities, although the nature of these processes in Iraqi Kurdistan remains very poorly documented. In neighbouring parts of the Middle East, the periods in question have traditionally been divided into a series of broad cultural phases (Halaf, Ubaid, Uruk), reflecting associated changes in material culture and settlement patterns. In recent decades the utility of these broadly defined phases for any wider reconstruction of social evolution has been repeatedly brought into question. Partly this is the result of sustained research in areas such as the Syrian Euphrates and southern Turkey, bringing to light the complexity of local developments in village, and later urban, life and leading to a wider

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- by Dorian Q Fuller and +4
  Robert Carter
  Lara González Carretero
  Gareth Brereton
  Mary Shepperson
- •
- 2
  Near Eastern Archaeology, Archaeobotany

Gurga Chiya and Tepe Marani are small, adjacent mounds located close to the town of Halabja in the southern part of the Shahrizor Plain, one of the most fertile regions of Iraqi Kurdistan. Survey and excavation at these previously... more

Gurga Chiya and Tepe Marani are small, adjacent mounds located close to the town of Halabja in the southern part of the Shahrizor Plain, one of the most fertile regions of Iraqi Kurdistan. Survey and excavation at these previously unexplored sites is beginning to produce evidence for human settlement spanning the sixth to the fourth millennia, c. 5600–3300 cal. B.C. In Mesopotamian chronology this corresponds to the Late Neolithic through to Chalcolithic periods; the Halaf, Ubaid, and Uruk phases of conventional culture history. In Iraqi Kurdistan, documentation of these periods—which witnessed many important transformations in prehistoric village life—is currently very thin. Here we offer a preliminary report on the emerging results from the Shahrizor Plain, with a particular focus on the description of material culture (ceramic and lithic assemblages), in order to establish a benchmark for further research. We also provide a detailed report on botanical remains and accompanying radiocarbon dates, which allow us to place this new evidence in a wider comparative framework. A further, brief account is given of Late Bronze Age material culture from the upper layers at Gurga Chiya. We conclude with observations on the significance of the Shahrizor Plain for wider research into the later prehistory of the Middle East, and the importance of preserving and investigating its archaeological record. Introduction With a Mediterranean climate and 700–900 millimetres of annual precipitation, the Shahrizor Plain—which lies in Sulaimaniyah Province, close to the town of Halabja—is one of the most fertile areas of Iraqi Kurdistan. This preliminary report documents new archaeological fieldwork in this relatively unexplored part of the Middle East. The focus of these new investigations is on the later prehistory of the Shahrizor, between the sixth and fourth millennia B.C. In broader regional terms this corresponds to the long period between the establishment of Neolithic farming settlements and the emergence of the earliest cities, although the nature of these processes in Iraqi Kurdistan remains very poorly documented. In neighbouring parts of the Middle East, the periods in question have traditionally been divided into a series of broad cultural phases (Halaf, Ubaid, Uruk), reflecting associated changes in material culture and settlement patterns. In recent decades the utility of these broadly defined phases for any wider reconstruction of social evolution has been repeatedly brought into question. Partly this is the result of sustained research in areas such as the Syrian Euphrates and southern Turkey, bringing to light the complexity of local developments in village, and later urban, life and leading to a wider

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- by David Wengrow and +4
  Robert Carter
  Lara González Carretero
  Gareth Brereton
  Mary Shepperson
- •
- 4
  Mesopotamian Archaeology, Uruk Period, Ubaid culture, Halaf culture

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- by Gareth Brereton
- •
- 5
  Assyriology, Ancient Near East, Assyrian archaeology, Assyrian Empire

Middle East

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