December 2015
Vol. 3, No. 12
Welcome to The Ancient Near East Today Vol. III, No. 12! In this issue we go from Israel to Rhodes, from Turkey to Denmark, with a stop in Syria.
We begin with Richard Freund’s discussion of the ancient and modern Jewish presence on the island of Rhodes. Mara Horowitz then brings us up to date on the renewed excavations at the enormous site of Alalakh in Turkey, then Flemming Kaul and Jeanette Varberg discuss tiny finds – glass beads – that open entirely new perspectives on trade, between Denmark and Egypt.
As part of our continuing coverage of the cultural heritage crisis in Syria and Iraq, we present a page of important new reports and news links. We also are proud to link to ASOR’s journals, and, as always, to reports from students supported by ASOR scholarships.
As always, please forward articles from The Ancient Near East Today to family and friends, post links to Facebook, and be in touch with the editor. Remember, being a Friend of ASOR is free!
(Very) Long Distant Trade – Egyptian, Mesopotamia and Denmark in the Late Bronze Age
By: Flemming Kaul and Jeanette Varberg
Archaeologists frequently talk about ‘long distance trade.’ But sometimes those distances are very long.Early glass was a rare and expensive luxury that was traded along the coasts of the Mediterranean between Egypt, the Near East and Mycenaean Greece in ships like the Uluburun shipwreck, excavated off the coast of Turkey, dating to the late 13th Century BCE.
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New Excavations in the Plain of Antioch
By: Mara T. Horowitz
The vibrant Bronze Age city of Alalakh on the Plain of Antioch may not have been among the largest cities of the ancient Near East, but its strategic importance and unique character made it a star. Ongoing excavations and research directed by K. Aslıhan Yener and sponsored by Koç University are revealing the extraordinary history of ancient Alalakh (Tell Atchana)
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The Ancient Near East Today features contributions from diverse academics, a forum featuring debates of current developments from the field, and links to news and resources. The ANE Today covers the entire Near East, and each issue presents discussions ranging from the state of biblical archaeology to archaeology after the Arab Spring.
