Ancient West & East

The Foundation Charter of the Kamanas' Town Fortifications

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 09:45:16 GMT

The well-preserved Luwian hieroglyphic inscription on a stele from Cekke in northern Syria deals with the foundation of Kamanas� town and its fortifications, named after Kamanas, country-lord of Karkamis and Malatya, who ruled in the years about the middle of the 8th century BC. As a preparatory act to the foundation land has been bought from the Kanapuweans, and officials and their deputies stationed in places along the frontiers of the newly founded fortification works are sworn in to preserve the borders set for it. Thanks to the Cekke text, we get a unique insight in the many-layered structure of the Karkamisian governmental machinery. As usual, the inscription ends with a damnation formula in which possible violators of Kamanas� town fortification works, its borders or the monument commemorating its foundation are warned for inevitable divine retribution.

'Do you See a Man Skillful in his Work? He will Stand before Kings'

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 09:50:34 GMT

This paper explores motivations for the transmission of architectural styles between Late Bronze Age Cyprus and the Aegean. The possibilities evaluated include colonisation, ethnicity and the role of architecture in creating identity through orchestrating daily routines, elite competition, cultural memory, modified diffusion, evidence for itinerant workers, the effect of catastrophes, and mechanisms for the transfer of ideas based on ethnographic analogy. It is concluded that a combination of possible modes of transmission can best serve to understand the spread of ideas, while local expertise and motivations also play a significant role in this process.

The Median 'Empire', the End of Urartu and Cyrus the Great's Campaign in 547 BC

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 09:55:22 GMT

The focus of this paper is, first, the reading of the toponym in Nabonidus Chronicle II 16 of which only the first character is preserved, and, second, an historical reassessment according to which the territory loosely controlled by a Median �confederation� cannot be called an �empire�. Contrary to the generally held view the first character cannot be read as �LU� which would require us to restore the text as lu-[ud-di], i.e. Lydia. Collation shows beyond doubt the character represents �ڒ and the only plausible restoration is �-[raš-ṭu], i.e. Urartu. Urartu was therefore not destroyed by the Medes at the end of the 7th century BC but continued to exist as an independent political entity until the mid-6th century BC. Thus Nabonidus Chronicle II 16 shows that it was the conquest by Cyrus the Great which brought about the end of Urartu.

The Indian Ocean and the Globalisation of the Ancient World

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 09:57:28 GMT

Evidence from the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea in the ancient period suggests that longdistance trade led to cultural standardisation and economic interdependence across vast distances. Such processes closely resemble those labelled �globalisation� with regard to the contemporary world. Social scientists and historians have preferred to reserve this term for the modern period. While the ancient world was never global in a geographical sense, I argue that such processes, ancient or modern, are always studied within perceived rather than physical worlds, and that if the ancient world was not globalised, it certainly was �oikoumenised�.

Sinopeans Abroad and Foreigners at Sinope

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 09:59:55 GMT

Sinope was connected, through the travels of her citizens as well as through the arrival of foreigners, chiefly to cities across the Black Sea and to those along the main sea route connecting the Straits to Egypt; less important are cities on the Greek mainland. Politics seems to have had but limited influence on the movements of people; the one major change was brought about by the coming of Rome, which opened up spaces previously untouched, such as the Anatolian hinterland and Europe beyond Greece.

Das Schwarze Meer in der geokartographischen Tradition der Antike und des fr�hen Mittelalters III

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:05:28 GMT

This paper continues the series of works on the historical geocartography of the Black Sea countries in antiquity. It is devoted to the river connection between the Black Sea and the Baltic in ancient, early mediaeval European and Islamic maps and geographical descriptions based on maps. The author comes to the conclusion that there always existed the idea of the possibility of reaching the Baltic by river(s). Begining from ancient Greek cosmological theories about the origin of rivers from the ocean and mythological beliefs connected with the return journey of argonauts, this concept was alive in many Greek and Roman geographical descriptions as well as in cartography. This phenomen was inherited by mediaeval cartography in Western and Eastern Europe and in some Islamic cartographical schools.

Social Status and Cultural Identity in Roman Thrace

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:08:26 GMT

Study of grave monuments shows that the basis of ancient provincial society was the nuclear family. The erection of a stele for a deceased child indicates the same level of urbanisation and also reveals the existence of very few middle to large towns. Relations of friendship between soldiers are often related to the right of inheritance; relations of dependence are rarely in evidence. Most of the grave monuments are in honour of military men, gladiators and craftsmen � people who formed the middle-class of provincial urban society. Before AD 212 the status of civis Romanus is rarely mentioned, and mostly related to military men. The onomastic data reveals a predominance of Greek and Roman names. This study of cultural identity through grave epigrams confirms the subjects� integration into the urban cultural model.

The North-Western Region of the Black Sea during the 6th and Early 7th Century AD

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:12:08 GMT

Early Byzantine authors knew very little about the north-western region of the Black Sea. 6th- to 7th-century archaeological assemblages display a remarkable polarity of distribution. This has often been viewed as an indication of distinct ethnic groups (Slavs in the north and nomads in the south), but a closer examination of the archaeological record suggests a different interpretation. Burial assemblages in the steppe represent the funerary monuments of individuals of prominent status from communities living in settlements on the border between the steppe and the forest-steppe belts.

The Iranian Iron III Chronology at Muweilah in the Emirate of Sharjah

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:18:17 GMT

The site of Muweilah in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, has been published by its excavator Peter Magee over a number of years as having flourished during the Iron II period of the UAE/Oman, Arabian chronological system, ca. 1100/1000-600 BC. He has further asserted that within this long period, Muweilah�s existence can be dated to the time of the north-western Iranian Iron II period, which terminated ca. 800 BC, dating his site specifically to ca. 920-770 BC. Evidence used to affirm the Iranian Iron II chronology includes Iranian and local architecture and pottery parallels, and C 14 data. I rejected the viability and relevance of these parallels in print in 2003, to which Magee responded, reaffirming his 10th-early 8th-century BC chronology. Here I respond to the excavator�s ongoing defence, and argue for a considerably later north-western Iranian Iron III date for Muweilah.

Perceptions on the Morphology and Style of Artefacts vs the Carbon Cycle

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:20:56 GMT

In a paper in this issue of Ancient West & East, O.W. Muscarella suggests an alternative chronology for the Iron Age site of Muweilah in the United Arab Emirates. In this paper we explore the basis for this reappraisal and conclude that not only is it not based on an analysis of relevant archaeological data but that it takes no account of the numerous C 14 dates from Muweilah and other Iron Age II sites in south-eastern Arabia.

A Cypro-Phoenician Oinochoe in Attic Black-Figure

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:23:20 GMT

This paper deals with an Attic black-figure oinochoe found in a tomb at Marion but held at Nicosia, Cyprus. It is the opinion of the author that this oinochoe, and the fragments of oinochoai of the same type found on Cyprus, are clearly derived from Cypro-Phoenician jugs, which are themselves very late in a particular tradition of jugs in the Levant. The Marion oinochoe displays an extreme point in that development soon to be superseded by purely Greek forms. The features of this vase conform to the characteristics of Cypro-Phoenician jugs, showing distinct metallising features, but there are no exact parallels in East or West.

King Midas' Ass's Ears Revisited

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:25:43 GMT

On several occasions the Phrygian King Midas was portrayed with donkey�s ears in Greek literature and art. There is no text that offers a plausible explanation of Midas� strange appearance and later commentators provide many competing stories to account for his animal ears. A new interpretation can be offered on the grounds of a pre-Phrygian Anatolian tradition. The revised reading of the Luwian hieroglyphs on the so-called �Tarkondemos Seal� reveals the donkey as an old Anatolian royal symbol. The Phrygians might possibly have adopted this kind of symbolism which later was lost or misunderstood. Greeks who provided their own interpretations of Midas� ass�s ears only reinterpreted the original myth creating several aitia. Anatolian and Aegean Bronze Age survivals in Phrygian culture are being discussed as well.

Geophysical Research at Akalan

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:28:57 GMT

Akalan, situated 2 km south of Yenik�y in the village of �atmaoluk near the town of İlkadım, is a fortress-type settlement established on the steep slope of a plateau. At Akalan geophysical research was carried out in 2002 and 2003 by a team under the direction of Emin. U. Ulugergerli of the Geophysical Engineering Department of Ankara University. The project was based on the use of measuring instruments in conjunction with electromagnetic and electrical methods. Using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and direct current resistivity (DCR) the aim was to obtain accurate information on the depth, extent and position of the building remains expected to be found below the surface. In the first stage reflection data was taken from points at intervals of 0.10 m along parallel lines on average 20 m long and 0.50 m apart. The details were processed to obtain information on the area underground. In the second stage, as well as making geo-electrical cross-section of the general profiles, the remains of another large structure were located.

A Kushan King in Parthian Dress?

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:30:52 GMT

The statue of a seated Kushan king in the museum in Mathura has never been described in detail. An important feature of the king�s outfit has therefore escaped notice. The analysis of the garment permits a comparison between it and the costume of images of western Asian gods and royalty which can be dated between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD.

Les fleuves de la partie orientale du bassin de la mer Baltique dans des sources �crites d'Antiquit�s tardive et quelques d�couvertes sur le fleuve de Louga

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:37:02 GMT

The note is dedicated to identifying the Chesinus river in the eastern part of the Baltic basin, mentioned in the Geography of Ptolemy (2nd century AD), the Periplus of Marcian (early 5th century AD), and the Roman History of Ammianus Marcellinus (second half of the 4th century AD). Ptolemy and Marcian place the river east of the Turuntus river, identified by V.A. Bulkin as the Western Dvina and its tributaries. In this case, the Chesinus can correspond to some channel east from the Dvina. The concentration of finds of Late Roman period weapons of Western origin on the Luga river points to the importance of this artery. Thus identification of the Luga with the Chesinus looks plausible.

Reviews

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:37:58 GMT

Book reviews

Books Received

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:38:53 GMT

Books received

In the Next Volume

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:40:02 GMT

Contents of volume 8 (2009).