Ritual and Identity in Rural Mesopotamia: Hirbemerdon Tepe and the Upper Tigris River Valley in the Middle Bronze Age

Abstract

nicola laneri, mark schwartz, jason ur, anacleto d'agostino, remi berthon, mette marie hald, and anke marsh field report www.ajaonline.org Excavations at the relatively small but strategically placed site of Hirbemerdon Tepe, located along the west bank of the upper Tigris River in modern southeastern Turkey, have yielded significant results. During the Middle Bronze Age (2000-1600 B.C.E.), the site was situated in an ecologically stratified landscape that included river terraces suitable for agriculture as well as forested uplands ideal for pastoral and hunting activities. A significant result of these excavations, which were conducted by the Hirbemerdon Tepe Archaeological Project, was the discovery of a well-preserved architectural complex with associated ritual artifacts on the northern side of the high mound. This report describes and situates this Middle Bronze Age site within its geographic, cultural, and ecological context. It examines the emergence of this small regional center and investigates the role of ritual activities in the development of socially integrated communities in the frontier zone of northern Mesopotamia during the beginning of the second millennium B.C.E. 1 introduction Over the last 20 years, archaeologists have incorporated the detailed study of small-scale rural communities into their analyses of large-scale urban societies. These efforts are critical to a holistic understanding of regional social complexity. 2 Furthermore, these investigations have established new research trajectories that emphasize the social organization of societies lacking major urban centers. The complex relationships between domestic, ceremonial, and economic elements have been highlighted in studies of ancient smallscale societies in both the Old and New Worlds. 31 We would like to thank the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey for its support and the permit for archaeological work at Hirbemerdon Tepe since 2003. The project was jointly planned with the Archaeological Museum of Diyarbakır as part of the Ilısu Dam Rescue Project. To the project's director, Mehmet Çelebi, go our warmest acknowledgments. The Hirbemerdon Tepe Archaeological Project has been financially supported by the University of Catania, the Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente, Grand Valley State University, Harvard University, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Curtiss T. and Mary G. Brennan Foundation, the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, the Credito Siciliano, and other private donors. Finally, we would like to thank Seth Richardson and the anonymous reviewers for the AJA for their comments, which were useful for revising this report. Figures are from the Hirbemerdon Tepe Archaeological Project archive unless otherwise noted.

Regional exchange and exclusive elite rituals in Iron Age central Anatolia: dating, function and circulation of Alişar-IV ware

“…As an example, its symbolism at the Middle Bronze Age feast context excavated at Hirbemerdon Tepe is possibly connected with the sphere of wildlife and the hunt (fig. 8; Laneri et al 2015;Laneri 2016: 61), while a specific link with the later gods of the Hittite pantheon appears less secure. While the silhouette design adopted in the Alişar-IV set displays a continuity with the imagery of the stag particularly from the Early Bronze Age, as known from the Alaca Höyük standard (fig.…”

History of Grape in Anatolia and Historical Sustainable Grape Production in Erzincan Agroecological Conditions in Turkey

“…On the other hand, the ruins in Central Anatolia, which belonged to the Hittites, who had one of the most exceptional places in Anatolian history, shed light on the history of grapes in Anatolia. Grape remains dated to 2 and 1 BC were identified in the results of the research bearing archaeobotanical identity [64]. In wine production, the Hittites concentrated on places with years of experience in grape growing.…”

The formation of collective, political and cultural memory in the Middle Bronze Age: foundation and termination rituals at Toprakhisar Höyük

“…Foundation and termination rituals as collective performances are known from the Neolithic onwards (Garfinkel 1994;Meskell et al 2008); they become textually evident from the third millennium BC onwards in the Near East, Egypt, the Levant and Anatolia, and were often performed in relation to temples or other sites of ritual significance (Ellis 1968;Ünal 1999;Soysal, Süel 2007;Ambos 2010;Romano 2015;Valentini 2015;Karkowski 2016;Laneri et al 2016;Türkteki, Başkurt 2016;Müller 2018). The nature of such activities varied across these regions and reveals a diverse choice of material practices ranging from artefact placement to animal and human sacrifice in votive contexts (for example, see Ellis 1968;Morandi Bonacossi 2012;Porter 2012a;Schwartz 2012;Laneri et al 2015;Soldado 2016). However, archaeological research often tends to separate artefacts of exclusive significance from their contextual and cognitive contexts, stressing the object itself rather than the moment of its use in its temporal and spatial settings (Hodder 1986;Meskell 2004: 14;Knappett 2011: 137).…”