This fifth volume of a collection devoted to the interdisciplinary meetings held one every two years at Kultepe, ancient Kane, brings together eighteen contributions dedicated to the archaeology and history of this Central Anatolian site and its surroundings. Each chapter within the volume presents the results of current research into Kultepe, thus continuing the holistic approach first demonstrated in earlier volumes of the Kultepe International Meetings sub-series of revitalizing one of the most important cultural centres of early Anatolia and of emphasising its importance as a pilot site for interdisciplinary studies. Drawing on Kultepe's unique textual and archaeological data, the studies gathered here are organized into four key thematic sections devoted respectively to politics, law and religion; women, family and correspondence; human and animal skeletons; and to the most recent archaeological excavations in Kultepe covering a period from the Chalcolithic to Hellenistic times.

This third volume of the Kultepe International Meetings (KIM) series draws together multidisciplinary approaches to the archaeology and history of complex urban sites using Kultepe-Kanesh as a case study, with particular emphasis on Bronze Age material. The 3rd Kultepe International Meeting aimed at exploring multidisciplinary approaches to the archaeology and history of complex urban sites using Kultepe-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 Kultepe 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 Kultepe and its environment. The 3rd KIM more than fulfilled this goal, demonstrating once again how Kultepe 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 Kultepe and Central Anatolia.

Tell Boueid II is one of many sites submerged by the completion of the Middle Khabur dam, northeastern Syria. Salvage excavations by Antoine Suleiman (DGAM) in 1997 and 1998 exposed a small (about 0.12 ha) settlement dated on the basis of the ceramics to the Late Neolithic period. More specifically, comparisons with Tell Sabi Abyad and Tell Chagar Bazar suggest a date at the end of the Pre-Halaf era and the beginning of the Transitional stage between pre-Halaf and Early Halaf. During this crucial period, which remains poorly understood in Syria and northern Mesopotamia, various regional communities in Syria and northern Mesopotamia exhibit an increasingly strong cultural unity. In the report, archaeologists and specialists present the analyses of some aspects of the excavations: the architecture, the small finds, the Late Neolithic ceramics, the faunal remains, the obsidian, two clay sealings and the contents of two Late Chalcolithic pits. The ceramics show strong relationships with the so-called Hassuna and Samarra traditions known from Iraq. The obsidian tools, too, show affinities with the Samarra tradition but also with local, Syrian traditions. Of particular significance are two sealings with stamp seal impressions, which are similar to sealings recently excavated at Tell Sabi Abyad. In a concluding chapter the authors bring together their viewpoints in a joint discussion of Tell Boueid II.

The ancient Anatolian city of Kanesh (present-day Kültepe, Turkey) was a continuously inhabited site from the early Bronze Age through Roman times. The city flourished c.2000–1750 BCE as an Old Assyrian trade outpost and the earliest attested commercial society in world history. More than 23,000 elaborate clay tablets from private merchant houses provide a detailed description of a system of long-distance trade that reached from central Asia to the Black Sea region and the Aegean. The texts record common activities such as trade between Kanesh and the city state of Assur, and between Assyrian merchants and local people. The tablets tell us about the economy as well as the culture, language, religion, and private lives of individuals we can identify by name, occupation, and sometimes even personality. This book presents an in-depth account of this vibrant Bronze Age Anatolian society, revealing the daily lives of its inhabitants.

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.

From Neo-Assyrian winged lions of the 9th century BC to the stunning silver head of a 4th-century AD Sasanian king, this beautifully photographed book from the Metropolitan Museum of Art explores the art of Egypt and the Near East through close examinations of 118 outstanding pieces, illustrated with large color plates. -- Provided by publisher.

This volume is a tribute to the career of Professor Mirjo Salvini on the occasion his 80th birthday, composed of 62 papers written by his colleagues and students. The majority of contributions deal with research in the fields of Urartian and Hittite Studies, the topics that attracted Prof. Salvini most during his long and fruitful career.