Formation of the Phrygian state: the Early Iron Age at Gordion

2000 ◽  
Vol 50 ◽  
pp. 37-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary M. Voigt ◽  
Robert C. Henrickson
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Eighth Century ◽  
Central Anatolia ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
European Language ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Documentary Sources ◽  
History Of ◽  
The City

A brief history of archaeological research at Gordion Piecing together documentary sources from areas to the east and west of Anatolia, historians agree that in the eighth century BC, central Anatolia was dominated by people who spoke an Indo-European language, Phrygian (Mellink 1991: 621; Muscarella 1995: 92 with refs). From historical sources we also know the location of the Phrygians' capital, Gordion: Quintus Curtius (Hist Alex III.1–2) states that the city lay on the Sangarios River ‘equally distant from the Pontic and Cilician Seas’. Using this description, Gustav and Augustus Körte travelled across Turkey more than a century ago looking for the physical remains of Gordion and Phrygia. They eventually focused on a mound lying adjacent to the Sangarios or modern Sakarya. The mound, now called Yassıhöyük, is large relative to others in the region, and lies in the proper geographical setting for ancient Gordion; a series of artificial mounds or tumuli scattered across nearby slopes provides additional evidence of the settlement's importance.

The Political History of Megiddo in the Early Iron Age and the Ambiguities of Evidence

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Political History ◽  
The Political ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Iron Age I ◽  
History Of ◽  
Historical Developments

Abstract This article reviews the major problems in the political history of Megiddo during the early Iron Age (Iron Age I–IIA), at the time of the early monarchic period in Israel (eleventh–ninth centuries BCE). Megiddo has been central to an ongoing debate over the nature of the early monarchic period in Israel and the exact chronology of the Iron Age I–IIA periods. This importance derives both from the extensive excavations of the relevant strata at Megiddo (VIA, VB and VA-IVB) as well as Megiddo’s appearance in relevant historical sources, namely the Hebrew Bible, which claims that Solomon “built” Megiddo, and its appearance in the campaign list of pharaoh Sheshonq I. Though the fragment of a stela of Sheshonq I was found at Megiddo, it was only found after having been discarded and so its stratigraphic attribution is unclear. Radiocarbon dating from these strata has assisted to some degree but still left dating and historical questions quite open. This article will demonstrate that the political history of Megiddo during the early Iron Age is beset with ambiguities in the evidence, which have been divided into seven ambiguities for the purpose of the discussion here. When these ambiguities are taken into account, it becomes clear that the interpreter has much latitude in making their reconstruction, specifically in how they date strata and associate them with putative historical developments. Different cases can be made for associating particular strata and their termination with Solomon, Sheshonq or even later kings, but none can claim to objectively be the correct or superior reconstruction.

EXPLORATION OF THE EASTERN GATE AND FORTRESS WALLS OF THE MEDIEVAL CITY OF SYGANAK

2021 ◽  
pp. 30-40
Author(s):  
K ZHETIBAYEV ◽  
B SYZDYKOV ◽  
M BAKHTYBAYEV ◽  
M GURSOY
Keyword(s):  
Field Data ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Research Work ◽  
The Political ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Architectural Features ◽  
History Of ◽  
The City ◽  
Syr Darya

The article, based on medieval historical sources and research conducted on the medieval city of Sygnak, provides a brief overview of the role and significance of the city in the history of the Kazakh nation.One of the major centers on the Great Silk Road, the most important city on the Syr Darya, Sygnak has long been a well-developed culture, economy, crafts and trade, agriculture and cattle breeding.In the XI–XIII centuries it was known as one of the centers of the Kypchak Khanate, in the XIV–XV centuries it was the capital of Ak Orda, and in the XV–XVI centuries it was the capital of the Kazakh Khanate, becoming the political and economic center of the khanate. The defensive system of the medieval city of Sygnak, including the fortified walls with gates, has not been sufficiently studied, therefore, within the framework of this topic, we decided to conduct research work, identify the specifics of the city's defensive system and introduce it into scientific circulation.The article examines the results of archaeological research carried out at the medieval settlement of Syganak, analyzes the architectural features of the eastern gates and fortress walls of the city, manufacturing technology and building materials. In addition, a comparative analysis of the Signak gate with the gates of medieval cities in the region was carried out and additional scientific conclusions were drawn. Based on field data obtained during the excavations, the chronology of the eastern gate and fortress walls was determined.

The Swedish Jordan Expedition 2009 and 2010 at Tall Abu al-Kharaz. Preliminary results from the Early Iron Age occupation in Area 9

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 165-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter M. Fischer ◽  
Teresa Bürge ◽  
A. Gustafsson ◽  
J. Azzopardi
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Jordan Valley ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Central Jordan ◽  
History Of ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
The City

Tall Abu al-Kharaz, in the central Jordan Valley, was occupied during approximately five millennia. A walled town, which had a dominant position in the Jordan Valley, existed already in the Early Bronze Age IB, viz. before 3050 BC. Walled settlements also flourished at the end of the Middle Bronze Age (around 1600 BC), during the Late Bronze Age (roughly 1500–1200 BC) and throughout the entire Iron Age (roughly 1200–600 BC). It is most likely that Tell Abu al-Kharaz is identical with Jabesh Gilead: this city is mentioned frequently in the Old Testament. During earlier seasons most of the Early Iron Age remains were found to have been disturbed by later settlers. It is, therefore, essential for the documentation of the settlement history of this city, that the expedition of 2009 unearthed an extremely well-preserved city quarter dating to the 12/11th century BC (according to high-precision radiocarbon dates). The excavations were extended in autumn 2010 and a stone-built, architectural compound was uncovered. Fourteen rooms (state October 2010), with walls still upright and standing to a height of more than 2 m, were exposed. The inventories of these rooms, which comprised more than one hundred complete vessels and other objects, were remarkably intact. Amongst the finds were numerous imports from Egypt and Lebanon. There are also finds which should be attributed to the Philistines, according to several Aegean-style vessels. The find context points to a hasty abandonment of the city. In the past, the beginning of the Iron Age has often been described as “the Dark Ages”—a period of cultural regression: this categorization is not relevant to the find situation at Tall Abu al-Kharaz where the remains of a wealthy society, which had far-reaching intercultural connections, can be identified.

The Swedish Jordan Expedition 2011 and 2012 at Tall Abu al-Kharaz. Preliminary results from the early Iron Age occupation in Area 9

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 307-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter M. Fischer ◽  
Teresa Bürge ◽  
D. Blattner ◽  
M. Alrousan ◽  
A. Abu Dalo
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Jordan Valley ◽  
Settlement History ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
The Past ◽  
Dark Ages ◽  
Central Jordan ◽  
History Of ◽  
The City

Tall Abu al-Kharaz, a twelve hectare-large tell in the central Jordan Valley, was occupied for approximately five millennia. In earlier excavation seasons most of the early Iron Age remains were found to have been disturbed by later settlers. Between 2009 and 2012 excavations revealed an extremely well-preserved city quarter dating from around 1100 BC, which represents an essential part of the settlement history of this city. The stone-built architectural compound consists of 21 rooms, with walls still standing to a height of more than 2 m. The inventories of these rooms, which comprised more than 200 complete vessels and other objects, were remarkably intact. Amongst the finds were imports from Egypt and Phoenicia. There were also finds which are associated with the culture of the Sea Peoples/Philistines, such as several Aegean and Cypriote-style vessels and other objects. The find context points to a hasty abandonment of the city. In the past, the beginning of the Iron Age has often been referred to as “the Dark Ages”, a period of cultural regression: this categorization is not appropriate to the find situation at Tall Abu al-Kharaz where the remains of a wealthy society, with far-reaching intercultural connections, can be identified.

VI. History of the City and Times

1938 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 134-141
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
The Other ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Many ◽  
The City ◽  
The Bronze Age

The period to which the occupation of Karphi belongs is clearly the dark age which follows the end of the Bronze Age. This period is often known indiscriminately as the Sub-Minoan or as the Proto-Geometric Period, that term being used which seems to fit best the results at the particular site to which it is applied. Neither term, however, is satisfactory when applied to the period as a whole.Sub-Minoan pottery is clearly contemporary with Proto-Geometric. It would be absurd to apply the term Proto-Geometric to a city like Karphi, where only one or two sherds of the true Proto-Geometric style have appeared. On the other hand, the term Sub-Minoan takes no account of the very considerable non-Minoan elements which have crept into the architecture and other manifestations of culture. In the same way, it would be absurd to apply the term Sub-Minoan to the Early Iron Age cemeteries of Knossos. Here the term Proto-Geometric is more excusable, though it still takes no account of the many Minoan features which survived there.

III. Villanovan Veii

1961 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 20-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. B. Ward-Perkins
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Long Period ◽  
The Social ◽  
Precise Relationship ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The City

The roads and gates described in the previous section are of very varied dates, and many of them were in use over a long period. They have been described first because they constitute the essential framework for any serious topographical study of Veii. Within this framework the city developed, and in this and the following sections will be found described, period by period, the evidence for that development, from the first establishment of Veii in Villanovan times down to its final abandonment in late antiquity.Whatever the precise relationship of the Villanovan to the succeeding phases of the Early Iron Age in central Italy in terms of politics, race or language, it is abundantly clear that it was within the Villanovan period that the main lines of the social and topographical framework of historical Etruria first took shape. Veii is no exception. Apart from sporadic material that may have been dropped by Neolithic or Bronze Age hunters, there is nothing from the Ager Veientanus to suggest that it was the scene of any substantial settlement before the occupation of Veii itself by groups of Early Iron Age farmers, a part of whose material equipment relates them unequivocally to the Villanovan peoples of coastal and central Etruria.

scholarly journals THE LATE HELLENISTIC WINE PRESS EXCAVATIONS FROM KNOSSOS: THE EARLY IRON AGE, HELLENISTIC AND EARLY ROMAN CONTEXTS

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-56
Author(s):  
Conor P. Trainor
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Early Archaic ◽  
Current Article ◽  
The City

The remains of an exceptionally well-preserved Hellenistic wine press were uncovered during a rescue excavation at Knossos in 1977. The architecture, stratigraphy and faunal remains from this campaign were published in BSA 89 (1994) by J. Carington Smith (the excavator) and S. Wall. The artefact assemblages from this excavation, however, have remained unstudied and unpublished until now. The current article presents the artefact assemblages from the wine press excavation and considers them within their urban context at Knossos. The key findings from this excavation relate to the Late Hellenistic wine press and its associated material, which enables us to consider both the ancient winemaking process at Knossos and the economic topography of the city in the decades around the Roman conquest of the island in 67 bc. In addition to the Late Hellenistic phase, material of Minoan, Early Iron Age–Early Archaic, earlier Hellenistic and Early Roman dates is also presented and discussed.

Trakhtemirov: A Fortified City site on the Dnieper

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
YU. V. BOLTRIK ◽  
E. E. FIALKO
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Central Place ◽  
The Other ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
The West ◽  
Trade Routes ◽  
Scythian Period ◽  
A Site ◽  
The City

This chapter focuses on Trakhtemirov, one of the most important ancient settlements of the Early Iron Age in the Ukraine. During the ancient period, the trade routes and caravans met at Trakhtemirov which was situated over the three crossing points of the Dneiper. Its location on the steep heights assured residents of Trakhtemirov security of settlement. On three sides it was protected by the course of the Dnieper while on the other side it was defended by the plateau of the pre-Dneiper elevation. The ancient Trakhtemirov city is located around 100 km below Kiev, on a peninsula which is jutted into the river from the west. Trakhtemirov in the Early Iron Age was important as it was the site of the Cossack capital of Ukraine. It was also the site of the most prestigious artefacts of the Scythian period and a site for various items of jewellery, tools and weaponry. The abundance of artefacts in Trakhtemirov suggests that the city is a central place among the scattered sites of the middle course of the Dneiper.

The Archaeology of Medieval Nubian Kingdoms

2021 ◽  
pp. 828-846
Author(s):  
Artur Obłuski
Keyword(s):  
Church Architecture ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Limited Data ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Settlement Systems ◽  
Dynamic Perspective ◽  
History Of ◽  
Medieval Nubia ◽  
Regional Perspective

The following chapter approaches the archaeology of medieval Nubia from a regional perspective. First, it presents the nomenclature used for chronology, then the history of archaeological research in Nubia determined by construction of dams on the Nile. The focus of the paper are the settlement systems of two medieval Nubian kingdoms: Nobadia and Makuria. Alwa is treated lightly due to the limited data. They are discussed in a static (settlement hierarchy) and dynamic perspective (integration of settlement systems in time). Church architecture as an indicator of regionalism is also debated. Some topics integrally associated with archaeology of Nubia like historical sources (Ruffini, this volume), languages (Łajtar and Ochała, this volume), capitals of the states (Żurawski, this volume), art and pottery (Zielińska, this volume) are generally absent here but are tackled by other authors in the same volume.

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