Table of Contents for Near Eastern Archaeology 87.4 (2024) - American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR)

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Table of Contents for <em>Near Eastern Archaeology</em> 87.4 (2024)

Table of Contents for Near Eastern Archaeology 87.4 (December 2024)

Pp. 220–230: “Dealing with and Analyzing Legacy Data: An Interdisciplinary, GIS-based Approach to Study the French Excavations at Enkomi (Cyprus),” by Enrico De Benedictis and Francesca Meneghetti

This article focuses on using GIS to analyze legacy data from the French excavations at the Late Bronze Age site of Enkomi (Cyprus). Despite being a major site for the protohistory of the island, its excavations were never fully published, while the only available publications are partial and nonorganic. Given their unreliable nature, scholarship can only partially use the results of the French mission. However, our multidisciplinary approach that uses GIS, archival data, and museum archaeology may contribute to bringing back these data again by removing the reasons that caused their dismissal. We tackle the issues of legacy data related to the site, its archaeological documentation and study, followed by the interdisciplinary methodology adopted and a case study from Quarter 3 East of Enkomi that confirms the validity of the method proposed.

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Pp. 232-242: “A Reconstruction of the Niche in Building 7050 at Hazor,” by Jennie Ebeling and Laura Mazow

In this article we offer new evidence in support of the function of Building 7050 at Tel Hazor as a temple. One criterion the excavators use to argue its function as a palace is a clay installation they describe as a “bathtub” or “bathtub-like structure” built into the rear niche of the building. Our analysis, however, suggests a storage function is more likely. We then offer a new reconstruction of Building 7050 and the features in the rear niche, including the storage bin, a previously ignored stone base, and a bench, proposing their ritual significance. We further demonstrate the architectural parallels between Building 7050 and Hazor’s Orthostat Temple in Stratum 1B, with which Building 7050 is contemporary. This new analysis of Building 7050 contributes to our understanding of the religious landscape of the Late Bronze Age Levant.

Pp. 244-250: “Two Unpublished Pot Marks of Dynasty 3 from the Necropolis of Beit Khallaf (Abydos, Egypt),” by Ilaria Incordino

This article introduces two previously unknown pot marks on ceramics from the Third Dynasty (ca. 2686–2613 BCE) necropolis of Beit Khallaf (Abydos, Egypt). The analysis and publication of the funerary equipment of the five burials from this site is the main objective of a wider project that dealt more generally with the chronological problems of this period. The documentation of the funerary equipment of the tombs from Beit Khallaf, (mostly unpublished) focuses on a better understanding of the characteristics of grave goods of mastabas from the Early Dynastic period, and on the possibility that the main burial of the site, tomb K1, may be considered a royal tomb.

Pp. 252-263: “The Petroglyphs of Qeydu Valley in Teymare, Central Iran: New Findings, Stylistic Analysis, and Relative Dating,” by Ebrahim Karimi and Hassan Gharagouzloo

Situated within the Teymare region, Qeydu Valley comprises one of the largest concentrations of petroglyphs in central Iran. The fieldwork conducted by the authors resulted in the identification of a large number of petroglyphs that had not been previously identified. The previously reported sites were also reidentified and systematically recorded. Some abstract markings in Qeydu resemble those known as Tamgas in Central Asian and Mongolian rock art. Stylistic features of the petroglyphs are analyzed, and relative dating approaches suggest that some engravings were made during the Islamic and historical periods.

Pp. 264-275: “Ancient Cave Habitation of Kuy-e Keyvan, Azna, East Central Zagros, Iran,” by Behzad Hoseyni Sarbisheh, Samer Nazari, and Fatemeh Zeynali Khaledabadi

In 2018, parts of an underground building were unearthed during excavations at Kuy-e Keyvan, located in the city of Azna, Lorestan province, Iran. The site was destroyed and leveled in considerable portions as part of the city’s urban development plan. Work commenced on an archaeological rescue project to identify the architectural spaces, prepare a plan, and investigate the site function in June 2019. It covered an area larger than one and a half hectares and yielded twenty-five spaces—containing rooms and communication pathways—with pottery sherds, bones, and metal artifacts dating to the Parthian, Sassanid, and early–mid Islamic periods. The use of these underground structures is unknown, but the location of underground structures beneath the Kuy-e Keyvan site, along with the existence of rooms and corridors where pottery has been discovered, suggest that they served as a residential and shelter area. However, it is possible that some underground structures served a (temporary?) religious purpose.

Pp. 276-285: “An Incised Decorated Bone Inlay from the Hittite Empire Period Found at Boğazköy/Hattusa,” by Andreas Schachner

During new excavations carried out since 2022 on the B¨y¨kkale Northwest Slope, which connects the two poles of the Hittite capital Hattusa—the palace area on B¨y¨kkale and the Lower Town—a unique ivory inlay was found in 2023. The antithetical depiction shows a sphinx and a lion in front of a tree of life. Per numerous iconographic details, this find provides unprecedented first-hand insights into the cultural relations between the states in the eastern Mediterranean, Anatolia, the Aegean, and Mycenae in the Late Bronze Age. As this piece can be well dated to the late phase of the Hittite Empire, both iconographically and through radiocarbon dating, it provides unexpected evidence for the integration of the Hittite heartland into this network of relationships as well as to the end of the Late Bronze Age international network of states.

Pp. 286-292: “Shared Motifs among Neighbors: Small-Scale Objects, Hegemony, and Cultural Influence in the Late Bronze and Iron Age Levant,” by Shane M. Thompson

This article examines the presence of small-scale objects (i.e., pottery, scarabs, seals, etc.) in the Late Bronze and Iron Age Levant as a means by which to measure the impact of foreign rule on the nonelites. It concludes that these objects are not useful to discussions of Assyrian, Egyptian, or Hittite hegemony, but rather that they are additional support for the interconnectivity of the Late Bronze and Iron Ages. In fact, these objects are expected to appear in the archaeological record of neighbors. This article, then, cautions against using material culture, especially small-scale material culture, as a means by which to draw large conclusions.

Pp. 294-299: “A Late Period Model Block Headrest from the Northeastern Nile Delta,” by Nicky Nielsen

Headrests made from various materials and in a variety of shapes were used throughout the pharaonic civilisation and across social classes. Aside from their functionality in life, headrests formed a core component of funerary assemblages. During the Late period, the full-size functional headrests were replaced (or augmented) in private tombs assemblages by smaller amuletic and model headrests. This article presents a newly discovered rare type of model block headrest carved from limestone and found at the site of Tell Nabasha in the northeastern Nile Delta. The argument is made that the model headrest was carved during the fourth century BCE from limestone gathered from a disused temple structure at the site, and that the artifact was intended for deposition within the large Late period necropolis also associated with Tell Nabasha.

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Table of Contents for Near Eastern Archaeology 87.4 (December 2024)

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