Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents Summary for Volumes 1, 2 and 3
- Contents
- Volume 1 Maps
- Volume 2 Maps
- Volume 3 Maps
- About the Contributors
- Volume 1
- Volume 2
- Volume 3
- VII. Western and Central Asia
- 3.1 The Early Prehistory of Western and Central Asia
- 3.2 Western and Central Asia: DNA
- 3.3 The Upper Palaeolithic and Earlier Epi-Palaeolithic of Western Asia
- 3.4 The Origins of Sedentism and Agriculture in Western Asia
- 3.5 The Levant in the Pottery Neolithic and Chalcolithic Periods
- 3.6 Settlement and Emergent Complexity in Western Syria, c. 7000–2500 bce
- 3.7 Prehistory and the Rise of Cities in Mesopotamia and Iran
- 3.8 Mesopotamia
- 3.9 Anatolia: From the Pre-Pottery Neolithic to the End of the Early Bronze Age (10,500–2000 bce)
- 3.10 Anatolia from 2000 to 550 bce
- 3.11 The Prehistory of the Caucasus: Internal Developments and External Interactions
- 3.12 Arabia
- 3.13 Central Asia before the Silk Road
- 3.14 Southern Siberia during the Bronze and Early Iron Periods
- 3.15 Western Asia after Alexander
- 3.16 Western and Central Asia: Languages
- VIII. Europe and the Mediterranean
- Index
- References
3.10 - Anatolia from 2000 to 550 bce
from VII. - Western and Central Asia
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents Summary for Volumes 1, 2 and 3
- Contents
- Volume 1 Maps
- Volume 2 Maps
- Volume 3 Maps
- About the Contributors
- Volume 1
- Volume 2
- Volume 3
- VII. Western and Central Asia
- 3.1 The Early Prehistory of Western and Central Asia
- 3.2 Western and Central Asia: DNA
- 3.3 The Upper Palaeolithic and Earlier Epi-Palaeolithic of Western Asia
- 3.4 The Origins of Sedentism and Agriculture in Western Asia
- 3.5 The Levant in the Pottery Neolithic and Chalcolithic Periods
- 3.6 Settlement and Emergent Complexity in Western Syria, c. 7000–2500 bce
- 3.7 Prehistory and the Rise of Cities in Mesopotamia and Iran
- 3.8 Mesopotamia
- 3.9 Anatolia: From the Pre-Pottery Neolithic to the End of the Early Bronze Age (10,500–2000 bce)
- 3.10 Anatolia from 2000 to 550 bce
- 3.11 The Prehistory of the Caucasus: Internal Developments and External Interactions
- 3.12 Arabia
- 3.13 Central Asia before the Silk Road
- 3.14 Southern Siberia during the Bronze and Early Iron Periods
- 3.15 Western Asia after Alexander
- 3.16 Western and Central Asia: Languages
- VIII. Europe and the Mediterranean
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
Traditionally, the term Middle Bronze Age (MBA) is applied to the rise and fall of Anatolian city-states during the first three centuries of the 2nd millennium bce, designating a period lasting one-fifth of the timespan allotted to the early part of the Bronze Age. This is an indication of the speed of developments that led to changes in social organisation when compared to earlier millennia. The arbitrary application of the tripartite divison of periods derived from the European archaeological tradition defines the label of MBA. On the other hand, a justification for distinguishing a new era is given by the many destruction levels all over Anatolia at the end of the 3rd millennium followed by new socioeconomic developments. Along the same lines, the end of the period, too, is marked by a series of widespread destructions ushering in a new political development, the territorial state. The Anatolian MBA is roughly contemporary with the Isin-Larsa Period followed by the Old Babylonian Kingdom in southern Mesopotamia, the Old Assyrian Period in northern Mesopotamia, the Syrian Middle Bronze I–II Period characterised by urban centres such as Ebla (Tell Mardikh III A–B), Mari (Tell Hariri) and the kingdom of Yamkhad, and the Middle Kingdom to Second Intermediate Period in Egypt. Close contacts were preserved with these neighbouring regions as indicated by imported artifacts, imported practices such as writing in cuneiform script, and connections in cult and culture tangible in architecture and iconography. Other contemporary cultures are the state of Elam, stretching south from the Susiana Plain to the Zagros highlands including Anshan (Tepe Malyan) along the Persian Gulf, and the Cretan Middle Minoan and Aegean Middle Helladic Period (roughly equal to the First Palace Period).
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- Information
- The Cambridge World Prehistory , pp. 1545 - 1570Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014