Early Empires in West Asia and the Mediterranean | Quizlet

Consolidated Empires

Succesful Empires

Aspirational empires

Lasted just for a few decades

Empires as participatory systems

They only operate if people actually become part of it

Empire definition by Smith and Montiel 2001

"states incorporating several previously independent and culturally distinct nations the ruler of which could style himself as 'kings of kings'"

Empire definition by Tilly 1994

"Concatenating central military organizations, thin regional administrations, trading networks, and organizations of tribute in which local and regional rulers - often maintaining cultural identities distinct from that of the empire's centre - enjoyed great autonomy in return for collaboration in the collection of tribute and support in the empire's military campaigns."

Institutionalized perspective on empires

Standardized weights, distances, people and taxes

The imperial capital

A feature of an empire

- Large complex urban centre with proclamations of imperial ideology

Domination of territory

A feature of an empire

- Economic control with exchange between capital and provinces and the political and military control

Projection of influence in a larger international context

Economic influence through trade with extraimperial regions

Political and military influence along enemy borders

Cultural influence by adoption of imperial gods or rituals

Hegemonic empire

Remains in hands of original rulers who become vassals.

Less expensive, less stable.

No need to create an entirely new infrastructure

Territorial control

High investment and high revenues

Bootom-up perspective on empires

The new imperial histories

Shift to local and embedded research

Can territorial empires have vassal states?

Yes

The model put forward by Smith and Montiel

contains many criteria that are not unique to empires

Why do network models of ancient empires compare well with examples from the modern world?

Transnational military infrastructures tend to take the form of networks

In the new imperial history empires are studied as

produced in the course of daily interactions in imperial provinces and peripheries

Impact by colonial rule on

Family structures, sexual practices gender roles

Imperial power

Shift from homogenously run centrist states to heterogeneous and dynamic patchworks of imperial configurations

Self-evident empires

Empires with written source context

Study of Empires in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica

Difficult to study

Hegemonic in character

Definition of empire and imperialism by Doyle (1986)

Behavioural definition of empire as effective control, whether formal or informal of a subordinated society by an imperial society.

4 intersecting sources account for the imperial relationship

The Metropolitan Regime

The peripheral political society

The transnational system

The international context

The Hittites

Major state of Anatolian people between 1400 - 1180 BC

Akhenaton

Charismatic leader who moves the Egyptian capital to Amarna

The Amarna letters

International correspondence between the Great kings (Hittites, Babylonians, etc.)

Letter from Mittani to Pharaoh of Egypt

Marriage between families

Pleasant letter

Letter from King of Byblos to King of Egypt

Showing respect

The Battle of Kadesh

1275 BC - Ramses II vs Muwatallis

Big battle between Egypt and Hittite Forces

Engineering Metropole in Hittite Empire

> circular fortifications

> The development of Hattusa

Hattusa

capital of Hittite empire

Land of a thousand gods

Continuous settlement with profound structural and functional changes

Old Assyrian Trade routes

Between Upper-Mesopotamia, Assur and central Anatolia

> Metals, textiles

Karum-Hatus houses

Courtyard buildings and trading station

Citadel of Büyükkale

Steep natural fort

Godnapping in Hattusa

Taking statues of gods to take them to Hattusa

Temples of Hattusa

Major economic institution

Supply rooms for goods and huge granaries

Structure of Hittite Temples

Modular rooms arranged

Central courtyard for offerings

Back of temple for statues

Rituals in a small room

Hittite Fortification problem

Upper city on flat terrace, walk in from south to north

Poterne

Little tunnel made of stone

For passage use when at peace

The Gates at Hattusa

Statuary iconography

Lions Gate/ Kings Gate

Mountain God

Son of Main God

Seal of King Muwatallis

Close link between king and deities

King responsibilities in cult and has special connection

Hittite abandonment of cities

Decrease in LBA in settlement numbers

Harvesting people by conquering areas

Taking people back to Hittite land for farming

Kusakli-Sarissa

New centre built of 18 ha with c. 5000 people?

Temples, fortifications, gates, large monumental structures

Local administration by Hittites

LBA-NCA ceramics

Anatolian ceramics

At various sites found

Mainly in central highlands

Hittite Seals

At Troy, Levant and Cyprus

Do they represent only the Hittites or further as well?

Engineering Subsistence Hittites

> Large-scale granaries

> Low-intensity farming

> Taxed yields

Hittite: Large Granary

capacity of 7000-9000m3

Landscape Change in Hittite Period

Oaks present in landscape with drop in LBA

Steppic herbs and grass increased in LBA

Engineering Space: Hittites

> Rock art monuments

> Design of religious and public spaces to reflect and enforce Hittite cultural and religious norms.

> Significant changes in landscape to support the agricultural and religious needs.

The Amarna archive is of great importance because

it provides us the correspondence between the pharaoh and his vassals as well as his peers

The first attestation of the Hittites occurs in

the trade archives at Kanesh

The site of Hattusa was chosen for

its historical importance

The Hittite capital was

a religious nexus for the empire

The Hittite Empire (quiz)

had diverse practices of rule

The Great Temple (Hittite)

Bogazköy

Constructed in the early Old-Hittite period

Symbolises the unification of the Hittite pantheon

Settlement sites (Hittite)

Typically on high plateaus or mountainous areas

Supra-regional exchange system

Vitaly for settlements in Hittite empire

> Extended influence beyond immediate constraints

Urban developments in Hittite

Rugged terrains needed new urban structures

13th c. BC changes in Hittite Empire

Major refurbishment and transforming central temple areas into representative quarter

The Assyrian Empire period

From c. 1350-612 BCE

The Assyrian Empire

First empire that doesn't have any competitors at the same level

Replaced by the Mitanni

The Assyrian Empire range

Assur - Sabi Abyad - Babylon - Memphis - Thebe

Augustan threshold

The point where an empire begins to stabilize through bureaucracy and integration

Propaganda used by the Assyrians

Orthostats

The Bible

Obelisks

Royal Annals

Orthostat

Slabs of stone with low relief with themes such as war scenes

The bible in Assyrian propaganda

Depopulation, the moving of people from one place to another

Assur

Ancient city of the Assyrian Empire

60 ha in total

Trade centre

Northern side had official monumental buildings

Southern side was the residential part

Distinct cultural traditions

Assur meaning

City/god/land (Assyria) / People (Assyrians

Anu-Adad temple

Key temple in Assyria

Only foundation is left

Middle Assyrian Palace

Remained central to kingship

Royal tombs for Assyrian kings

City layout of Assur

Buildings on open squares

Densely build up

Capitals of Assyrians

Needed bigger place so new capitals are being build

Kar-Tukulti-Ninurta

Capital of Assyria from 1229 - 1207 BC

240 ha

Failed only lasts 22 years

Has a city centre

Kalhu (Nimrud)

Capital of Assyria from 880 - 706 BC

Lasted the longest

was 300 ha

Dur Sarruken

only lasted one year from 706 - 705 BC

Ninuwa

Capital in the last years of Assyria from 705 - 612 BC

700 ha

Engineering Space: Assyrian Empire

> Establishment of fortified cities

> The use of monumental art to depict the power of the Assyrian state, reinforcing the empire's dominance over its territories.

The land of Assur and the yoke of Assur

Work by Nicholas Gate

The land of Assur - The heartland of Assyrian Empire

The Yoke of Assur - Broader imperial reach of Assyria

Engineering Society: Assyrian Empire

> Massive depopulation policies

> Resettlement of conquered peoples, which helped to integrate diverse groups into the empire and secure its borders.

Chariots in Assyrian Empire

Lightweight with 2 horses in front

Speed of transporting military personnel and trade

Engineering subsistence: Assyrian Empire

> Sophisticated irrigation systems

> Canals and aqueducts to support agriculture in the arid regions of the empire.

Agricultural system in the Upper Tigris (Assyrian)

Areas previously barren were cultivated

3 fundamental traits of empires

> Resource control

> Rapid expansion and decline

> Consolidation for stability

2 strategies used by imperial authorities in administering subject territories

Invasive restructuring

Coercive exploitation

3 overarching themes of Neo-Assyrian model of Imperialism

> Agricultural colonies establishment

> Use or enforcement of buffer zones between frontier provinces and hostile neighbours

> The discontinguous nature of imperial control

Assyrian Imperial Period

900 - 600 BC

Early Iron Age (1050-882 BC) Tigris River Valley

10 villages, 9 hamlets

Evenly spaced out villages

Loosely integrated villages

Early Iron Age Corrugated Wares (Assyrian)

Corpus of Ceramics

Handmade, low-fired

Bag-shaped jars

Local workshops

Ashurnasirpal besieged two sites of Upper Tigris River Valley before reaching town of Tusshan

Village of Mariru where assyrians carried off oxen and sheep

Town of Tela where Assyrians received oxen and cat

The Rassam Obelisk

Made by Ashurnasirpal

Visual representation of inhabitants of region

Tribute in form of textiles, cauldrons, logs

Kenan Tepe

Early Iron Age, Indigenous Anatolian small village

High mound with large stone structure

animal husbandry and cereal cultivation

Gre Dimse

Tell of 4 ha mound

Loose internal organization

Metalworking evidence and two EIA burials

Ziyaret Tepe

EIA occupation high mound (32 ha)

Substantial fortifications

Two monumental buildings

Tax collector room

Boztepe

Low mound

Part of domestic structure

House with several rooms centred around central courtyard

Liverani's network model

Empire is not a spread of land but a network of communications over which the material goods are carried

Postgate's territorial model

Inner core of provinces surrounded by vassal states

Parker's study on Upper Tigris

Assyrian impact varied greatly depending on agricultural potential and pre-existing social structures

Non-Assyrian participations

Non-Assyrian elites often adopted Assyrian identities to secure their status

Deportees in Assyria

Not seen as slaves but as dependents with certain rights and responsibilities

The Roman Empire start

509-27 BCE