This study identifies and analyzes Aramaic loanwords occurring in Neo-Assyrian texts between 911 and 612 B.C. As two Semitic languages, Neo-Assyrian and Aramaic are sibling-descendants of a postulated common ancestor, Proto-Semitic. The work provides information about the contact between the two languages and about the people who spoke them.

To achieve this scholarly objective, a total of 9,057 Neo-Assyrian texts of different genres were utilized. The study discusses 166 proposed Aramaic loanwords in Neo-Assyrian, which are evaluated according to phonological, morphological, and semantic criteria. The findings demonstrate that only 69 words are confirmed loanwords, and 50 are possible loanwords. Additionally, 47 words are rejected as possible Aramaic loanwords in Neo-Assyrian. The majority of the confirmed loanwords are attested in letters and legal and administrative documents from the seventh century B.C., stemming from the major Assyrian cities of Nineveh, Assur, and Calah. Most of the confirmed loanwords are nouns.

Aramaic was the lingua franca of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the mid-eighth century B.C. onwards, and the loanwords analyzed provide evidence for the use of Aramaic in Assyria proper as well. The relatively small number of certain and possible loanwords, however, fails to support the impression that Aramaic was widespread as a vernacular language in Assyria proper, especially towards the end of the period studied. The evidence also corroborates the conclusion, based on the extant prosopographical data, that the predominantly Assyrian character was maintained in Assyria proper until the very end of the Assyrian Empire.

This groundbreaking, five-volume series offers a comprehensive, fully illustrated history of Egypt and Western Asia (the Levant, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and Iran), from the emergence of complex states to the conquest of Alexander the Great. Written by a diverse, international team of leading scholars whose expertise brings to life the people, places, and times of the remote past, the volumes in this series focus firmly on the political and social histories of the states and communities of the ancient Near East. Individual chapters present the key textual and material sources underpinning the historical reconstruction, paying particular attention to the most recent archaeological finds and their impact on our historical understanding of the periods surveyed.

The fifth and final volume of the Oxford History of the Ancient Near East covers the period from the second half of the 7th century BC until the campaigns of Alexander III of Macedon (336-323 BC) brought an end to the Achaemenid Dynasty and the Persian Empire. Tying together areas and political developments covered by previous volumes in the series, this title covers also the Persian Empire's immediate predecessor states: Saite Egypt, the Neo-Babylonian Empire, and Lydia, among other kingdoms and tribal alliances. The chapters in this volume feature a wide range of archaeological and textual sources, with contributors displaying a masterful treatment of the challenges and advantages of the available materials. Two chapters focus on areas that have not enjoyed prominence in any of the previous volumes of this series: eastern Iran and Central Asia. This volume is the necessary and complementary final component of this comprehensive series.

Table of Contents

1. Preface and Introduction
2. The North Palace in Antiquity
3. The North Palace in Modern Times
4. Structure of the North Palace
5. Ground Plan and Organisation of the North Palace
6. Mural Decoration of the State Apartments
7. Mural Decoration of Corridors and Postern Gate
8. Upper Rooms
9. Synthesis of Fallen Wall-panels
10. Chronology of Wall-panels
11. Sack of North Palace
12. Dispersal of Sculptures
13. Prospects

A unique monumental building dating to the early part of the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 1900–1700 BCE) was uncovered at the southern Lebanese coast by the joint Lebanese-German excavation project at Tell el-Burak. The impressive architecture of the building was exposed in eight excavation seasons during the years 2001–2011. Inside the largest room of the Monumental Building at Tell el-Burak the excavations brought to light the sensational discovery of Middle Bronze Age mural paintings in situ on lime plaster covering the inner faces of its completely preserved mud-brick walls. This volume edited by Jens Kamlah and Hélène Sader consists of the final publications of all excavation results concerning the Middle Bronze Age at Tell el- Burak. It furthermore includes an introduction into the joint Lebanese-German excavation project, chapters related to the site and the final publication of the excavated remains of the Late Medieval Period.

Ancient Gordion has long been recognized as a key Iron Age site for Anatolia and the eastern Mediterranean. Archaeological research has revealed much about its sequence of occupation. However, as yet no study has explored the underlying drivers of political and economic change at this site. This volume presents an overview of the political and economic histories supporting emergent elites and how they constructed power at Gordion during the Iron Age (1200-300 BCE). Based on geochemical and typological analysis of nearly 2000 Late Bronze Age to Hellenistic ceramic samples, the volume contextualizes this primary dataset through the lens of ceramic production, consumption, exchange and emulation. Synthesizing site data sets, the volume more broadly contributes to our understanding of the pivotal role of groups and their economic, social, and ritual practices in the creation of complex societies.

The fourth volume of the Oxford History of the Ancient Near East covers the period from the end of the second to the middle of the first millennium BC, ca. 1100-600 BC, corresponding with Egypt's "Third Intermediate Period". Fifteen chapters present the history of the Near East during "The Age of Assyria," from the formative period of the Assyrian Empire to this influential state's disintegration. Several of the chapters discuss the challenges of reconstructing the sequence of local rulers and the various sources and diverse strategies harnessed in order to overcome these difficulties, notably for Egypt, for Elam, for Urartu and on northern Syria and southeastern Anatolia. This volume offers new and complementary perspectives on the history of northeastern Africa, the eastern Mediterranean, and the Middle East from the 11th to the 7th century BC.

A new history of Assyria, the ancient civilization that set the model for future empires At its height in 660 BCE, the kingdom of Assyria stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. It was the first empire the world had ever seen. Here, historian Eckart Frahm tells the epic story of Assyria and its formative role in global history. Assyria’s wide-ranging conquests have long been known from the Hebrew Bible and later Greek accounts. But nearly two centuries of research now permit a rich picture of the Assyrians and their empire beyond the battlefield: their vast libraries and monumental sculptures, their elaborate trade and information networks, and the crucial role played by royal women.Although Assyria was crushed by rising powers in the late seventh century BCE, its legacy endured from the Babylonian and Persian empires to Rome and beyond. Assyria is a stunning and authoritative account of a civilization essential to understanding the ancient world and our own.

Die vorliegende Monographie von Teresa Bürge widmet sich der materiellen Kultur der Stadt Tell Abu al-Kharaz im nördlichen Jordantal. Ausgangspunkt ist ein einzigartig gut erhaltenes Gebäude aus der frühen Eisenzeit – eine der im Ostmittelmeerraum am heftigsten debattierten Perioden: nach dem politischen und wirtschaftlichen Zusammenbruch in der Spätbronzezeit lassen sich Restrukturierungen der politischen und sozialen Organisation beobachten, die aufgrund der Quellenlage bislang hauptsächlich in Bezug auf die spätere Eisenzeit belegt sind. Neben einer detaillierten Untersuchung der Architektur, des Fundmaterials, der Kontexte, der relativen und absoluten Chronologie sowie der möglichen Funktion des Gebäudes, hat die Studie zum Ziel, die Befunde aus Tell Abu al-Kharaz in einen weiteren Kontext zu integrieren. Dies geschieht vor allem in Bezug auf Wirtschaft und soziale Organisation der früheisenzeitlichen Stadt, wobei Aspekte von Tradition versus Innovation sowie Handelskontakte und Migration behandelt werden. Die Studie trägt daher zu einem tieferen Verständnis von Prozessen von Kontinuität und Wandel in der sozialen und politischen Organisation und von transkulturellen Kontakten in prä- und protohistorischen Gesellschaften bei.

The Two Houses of Israel: State Formation and the Origins of Pan-Israelite Identity bridges the gap between the biblical narrative of the great united monarchy ruled by David and Solomon and archaeological and historical reconstructions of a gradual, independent formation of Israel and Judah. Based on a thorough examination of the material remains and settlement patterns in the southern Levant during the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age and on a review of the relevant historical sources, this book provides a detailed reconstruction of the ways in which Israel and Judah were formed as territorial polities and specifically how the house of David rose to power in Jerusalem and Judah. Omer Sergi further situates the stories of Saul and David in their accurate social and historical context in order to illuminate the historical conception of the united monarchy and the pan-Israelite ideology out of which it grew. Sergi provides a new history of the early Israelite monarchies, their formation, and the ways in which these social and political developments were commemorated in the cultural memory of generations to come

This volume brings together the final reports of salvage excavations carried out in the vicinity of Tel Qashish in the northern Jezreel Valley, Israel, from 2010 to 2013. These include the Middle and Epipaleolithic flint workshops at Tel Qashish West and Tel Qashish South, the early Early Bronze Age I settlement at Tell el-Wa‘er, the late Early Bronze Age I features and the Late Bronze Age II cultic repository at Tel Qashish, as well as some early Roman remains. Twenty-nine chapters by twenty-five authors present the context, stratigraphy, finds, and analyses of these four major aspects of the excavations.

The importance of the site of Shengavit, which is located in the neighborhood of the same name within the Armenian capital city of Yerevan, is its relations to the Kura-Araxes cultural tradition and societal form. The Kura-Araxes, which lasted from 3500 to 2500 BCE, is one of the cultural traditions in the very dynamic fourth and early third millennia BCE. During this time to its south in Mesopotamia the first state-level societies arose with evidence of kings with authority and their bureaucracies, writing as an auditing technique, social stratification evidenced in graves and buildings, mass production of goods, and the earliest formal system of trade (the Uruk expansion). That system brought the raw materials and goods like metals, lumber, semi-precious and chipping stone from the surrounding mountains and highlands. North of the Caucasus mountains in Eurasia pastoral nomadic societies were beginning to be replaced by settled populations with domesticated horse and advance metallurgical technologies. Between the northern steppe and the southern alluvial plains lay the mountains of the lesser Caucasus. It was there at about 3500 BCE that a new cultural tradition arose among small societies of settled farmers and herders in the South Caucasus.

למַגְיָה היה תפקיד מכריע בתרבות מסופוטמיה הקדומה. מאות רבות של לחשים באכדית ובשומרית, כתובים בכתב יתדות, הגיעו לידינו מבבל ומאשור: לחשים נגד מחלות ותאונות, שדים ושדות, חיות רעות, חלומות לילה וביעותים, לחשים לניצחון במאבק משפטי או לעימות עם בעל שררה, לחשים ללידה קלה, להחזרת אהבות קודמות או להגברת האון הגברי, כמו גם המון לחשים נגד כישוף ועין הרע.

אולי יותר מסוגות ספרותיות אחרות, חושפים הלחשים את עולמם הפנימי של אנשי מסופוטמיה הקדומה על חששותיהם ועל תקוותיהם, ומעידים על מאמציהם להתמודד מול איומים ופגעים.

אסופה זו מביאה, לראשונה בעברית, מגוון רחב של לחשים מסוגים שונים – כולם תורגמו ישירות מן האכדית והשומרית, תוך הסתמכות על ספרות מדעית עדכנית.
טקסטים חד־פעמיים אלה מרתקים את הקוראים בלשונם העשירה, בדימוייהם המפתיעים וברגישותם האנושית, והם נקראים לא רק כתעודות היסטוריות אלא כספרות של ממש.את הלחשים מלווים איורים מעשה ידיה של מרים וילנר.