306 research outputs found
Tell Tuqan and the Matkh Basin in a Regional Perspective. Thoughts an Questions Raised by the International Conference.
No full textRiflessioni sui contenuti delle relazioni presentate dai partecipanti alla Conferenza Internazionale e relativi alle diverse fasi insediative in Siria, dal Bronzo Antico IV a l Periodo Persian/Ellenistico
Early Bronze IVA weights at Tell Mardikh-Ebla. Archaeological associations and context
No full textThe peculiar condition of the Royal Palace G at Tell Mardikh-Ebla, which was destroyed at the end of the EB IVA period by the Akkadians, allows fruitful contextual analyses of the materials found in situ. The spatial distribution and stratigraphic position of the cuneiform documents inside the archive L.2769 have revealed interesting data on the internal organization of the royal archive, recording criteria and original position on the shelves. The study of the raw materials collected on the floors and in collapsed debris directly related to architectural structures has allowed to reconstruct a complex pattern of commercial interregional and international exchanges of the Early Syrian kingdom of Ebla. The evidence of several kilograms of raw lapis lazuli together with quartz, steatite and tridacna shells, used to manufacture precious objects such as the numerous inlays discovered in the palace, can be used to underline the main commercial routes towards the Iranian plateau across Northern Mesopotamia, or southwards along the Euphrates valley, and finally the relations with the coastal centers and the Egyptian cities. More than forty stone weights were found inside the royal palace; they represent a coherent group of administrative instruments, which were used either for local exchanges or for more distant economic relations, according to different systems linked to a common mina of c. 470 g with ratios 60 - 50 - 40. The recent discovery of a conical limestone pierced weight together with the remains of the wooden beam of the balance on the floor of L.2982 near several pieces of raw lapis lazuli indicates that these type of weights have been used to check the quantity of the precious blue stone
Un peso ad anatra in agata dall’Area del Tempio della Roccia (HH) a Tell Mardikh-Ebla, Siria
No full textConclusions: Late Chalcolithic Northern Mesopotamia. Setting the Agenda in the Debate on the Rise of Urbanization in the Ancient Near East
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Mašqaltum kittum. Questioni di equilibrio: Bilance e sistemi di pesatura nell’Oriente antico
No full textIl contributo presenta una analisi critica dei sistemi di pesatura impiegati nel Vicino Oriente, dal Bronzo Antico all’età del Ferro. Viene elaborata una tipologia di bilance, che potevano essere sostenute in mano o su piede e sono discusse in prospettiva diacronica tutti i ritrovamenti editi di piatti di bilance, provenienti soprattutto da contesti funerari. Il ruolo della pesatura sul piano economico e procedurale e il valore simbolico e ideologico sono valutati nella discussione finale
Guerre e alleanze in epoca paleobabilonese : il peso di Inibshina, figlia di Dadusha di Eshnunna
No full textBalance weights with royal inscriptions are attested in Mesopotamia since the second half of the 3rd mill. BC, and especially during the Ur III Period the duck-shaped type should be considered as an official administrative tool of the royal bureaucracy. Few inscribed specimens are at present known dating to the Old Babylonian period, although the continuity of the tradition is testified by some Kassite and Isin II weights. The weight inscribed with the name of Inibšina, daughter of Daduša, king of Ešnunna, is particularly interesting because it was found at Assur and could be considered as a clue for an interdynastic marriage between the reigns of Ešnunna and Assyria/Subartu. This evidence is analyzed taking into account the Old Babylonian and Old Assyrian metrology and its historical implications are discussed as a contribution for the reconstruction of the policy of Ešnunna and the complex pattern of political relationships during the 17th century BC in the ancient Near East
Chronological aspects of cultural interrelations between Syria and the Persian Gulf during the Late Third and Second Millennium BC
No full textL’articolo analizza le produzioni sfragistiche dilmunite in prospettiva cronologica e nello specifico sono discussi gli elementi iconografici di matrice o influsso siro-mesopotamico presenti sui sigilli a stampo di tipo dilmunita classico. Le figure di divinità e di esseri semi-divini, gli stendardi e alcuni particolari arredi culturali, come la tavola offertoria a zampe taurine, sono interpretati come iconografie derivate dal mondo mesopotamico e da quello siriano, dimostrando la forte componente della cultura paleobabilonese nell’elaborazione della glittica dilmunita agli inizi del II millennio a.C
Balance weights from Tell Mardikh-Ebla and weighting systems in the Levant during the Middle Age Bronze
No full textDuring the 40 years of excavations at Tell Mardikh-Ebla almost 200 balance weights from the Middle Bronze I-II (c. 2000-1600 BC) levels were found. They actually represent the most important corpus of weights from Syria dating from the Old Syrian Period. Since other important contemporary groups of specimens (such those from Hama, Alalakh, Mari and Kultepe) are still unpublished or only partially published, we must look at the Eblaic metrological material as the key-reference to investigate the weighing systems and procedures employed in the region during that period. Moreover, the presence of several weights from the Royal Palace G (c. 2400-2300 BC) and the data related to the economic activities collected from the thousands of cuneiform tablets found in the archive allow us to follow the inner evolution of the systems during the IIIrd and IInd Millennium BC. Most of the MB weights are in hematite, barrel-shaped, usually with flattened base, albeit hemispherical, conical and spherical specimens are also attested. Other materials employed are limestone, basalt, and pyrite. Only one zoomorphic weight is attested: it is lion-shaped and it was found inside the Western Palace, the Crown’s Prince residence. The analysis of the masses clearly reveals that the Western mina of c. 470 g is still largely used, with the linked system of sub-multiples reckoned at 60 (shekel of 7.8 g), 50 (shekel of 9.4 g), 40 (shekel of 11.4 g), which permitted an easy conversion of the weighed goods between Anatolia, Inner Syria and the coastal regions. However, the major difference with the past (Early Bronze IV) is the introduction of the Mesopotamian system, based on a shekel of 8.4 g, and on an heavier mina of c. 504 g. The Eblaic weights were found in defensive, private, cultic and palatial buildings, indicating the widespread use of weighing procedures in the town. Here we will present in particular the evidence from Western Fort, Temple N (probably dedicated to Shamash), Western Palace and from the large quarter of private houses in Area B, taking into account the context and the relation with other broad functional classes of materials (unworked pieces of stones, tools, clay sealings, etc.). Specific findings, such as two remarkable small hematite sphendonoids discovered directly over the floor of Temple N, also suggest the symbolic value of weights in relation to cultic activities, others imply the presence of balance sets stored in rooms of public buildings, albeit no bronze balance pans were found insofar at Ebla. Finally, the evidence from private houses seems to indicate that few weights (usually two or three; ranging from one to ten shekels) employed for different types of economic transactions and/or handicraft activities were normally present in the Eblaic dwellings
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