7

ûsslriolagiqueinternationøle,Miünchen,zg.Juni bisj.J:ulirgTo,ed.DierzO.Edzard, zo9-t6. Munich: Verlag der Bayerischen Akadamie der \ffissenschaft. Zaccagnini, Carlo. 1989. "Asiatic Mode of Production and : Notes towards a Discussion."In Production and Consumption in the AncientNear Eøst,ed. Carlo Zaccagnini, r-126. Budapest: University of Budapest. Zadok Ran. 1995. "The Ethno-Linguistic Character of the Jezireh and Adjacent Regions in the 9th7th Centuries ( Proper vs. Periphery)." In Me o-,l.ssyrian Geography, ed. Mario Liverani, zt7-8z.Rome: IJniversità di Roma "LaSapienza.,' 2 Zeh.nder, Markus. zoo5. Umgang mit Fremden in Israel und Assyrien: Ein Beitrag zur Anthropologie des "F¡emden" im Licht antiker Q¡ellen. Stuttgart: arglrably the first world- Åt the Root of the Møtter Kohlhammer. The Neo-Assyrian Empire, often presented by scholars as a fundamen- Zehnder,Markus. zoo7."Die Aramaisierung'Assyriens als Folge der Expansion des empire, is phenornenon. Here, I will argue that the The Middle Assyrian assyrischen Reiches." In In . . . der seine Lust hat øm Wort des flerrn! FætscÌrift tally new of Neo-Assyrian success reach back in Prelude ta Ernpire fiir ErnstJenni zum 8o: Geùartstag, ed.Jürg Luchsinger, F{ans-Peter Mathys, and foundations preceding Middle Assyrian Markus Saur,417-39. Münster, Germany: Vedag. D^rt iîto the short-lived state. This continuity can be seen in a range Zimansl

CONCEPTUALIZING THE MIDDLE TO NEO-AS SYRIAN TRANSITI ON The idea that the Neo-Assyrian Period is separate and distinct in character from the preceding Middle Assyrian Period is found in many studies (Roaf r99o; Bedford zoog; Cline and Graham zorr; Herrmann and Tyson, this volume). Arguments for drawing such a distinction between the two periods can indeed be found in both philological and archaeological data sets. In particular, textuai data arc plentiful in the twelfth century ncn and from the ninth-sixth centuries ¡c¡ but are much less abundant in the intervening period

(Postgate 1992; RadneÍ zoo4,53). Likewise, in many D Ol: rc.587 6 / 97816 o7 3z8z3o.co o z

4O VTRGINIA R. HERRMANN AND CRAtc W.TYSON 4t regions in Upper , the archaeological sequence shows a gap sep- ,¿L arating Middle Assyrian and Neo-Assyrian occupation, This is true, for exar¡- ple, for the UpperTigris region, the Balikh Valle¡ and parts of the Khabu¡ Tiiangle (Parker zoor; Szuchma:n zooT;Tenu zoog;Matney zoro). At the same time, we now have many archaeological sequences that suggest a greater degree of continuity from the Middle Assyrian Period to the Neo* Assyrian Period than previously thought in much of the Assyrian heartland and the central and southern Habur region, at sites such as Sheikh Hamad, , andTellTaban (D'Agostino zoog;Kühne zor3; D'Agostino zor5). Further north and west, in the Upper Habur, the UpperTigris, and the Bali[]¡, I is some evidence from sites as and there such Tell Fekheriye that r50 50û km (} Assyrian material culture continued deep into the lron Age and was used by groups who would self-identi$r as as late as the tenth century BcE extent of the Axyrian Empire in the Middle Assyrian Frcunn z,r. Juxtøpasition of the (Novak by Tijm Lønjouru. zor3). periatJ and the ea.r4) ?ørt of the Neo-Asyrian Period. Produced Furthermore, the dunnu (a privately owned agriculturai estate, the owners of which usually lived elsewhere and used the proceeds as a source of income) within of Giricano had Assyrian texts dating to between toTj and ro56 rcn, rnore state and its expansion into the first world-empire arguably took place from than a century after the Late "collapse" of ca. rrSo ¡ce (Cline the Neo-Assyrian Period, starting with the reign of Tiglath-pileser III fel| zor4).There is little to suggest unstable conditions at Giricano, and the trans- 1^L BcE and lasting until 6rz BcE) when the Neo-Assyrian Empire finally one could therefore actions the estate was involved in point to business as usual (Radner zoo4,73). ipostgate r99z; Kühne zor5). From a historical perspective Giricano, at least, evidences continuity of Middle Assyrian traditions of the argue that the early Neo-Assyrian state-that is, before the expansion under Late Bronze Age on into the lron Age. Ti*glath-pileser III-was not only consciously modeled on its Middle Assyrian Eventuall¡ the Upper Tigris, Upper Habur, and the Balikh were lost to prJd...rro, but also very similar in its scale and aspirations (figure z'r)' Assyria for about tvyo centuries, during which period regional states domi- In the end, the assessment of the degree to which the Middle Assyrian state nated these areas (Szuchman zooT). The memory of these lost former Middle is perceived as similar to or different from the succeeding Neo-Assyrian state Assyrian territories seems to have been an important tz?os in Assyria in the depends on both the data set one focuses on and the phenomena one is ìnter- Iron Age, and the initial wars of conquest in the Neo-Assyrian Period were ested in. In this chapter the focus is the Assyrian "repertoires of ru1e" in both presented as a reconquistø inwhich Assyrian lands and Assyrian communities periods and the degree to which they are different or similar. "Repertoires were liberated from their oppressors (Liverani 1988; Postgate rgg2; Fales zorz). of ru1e" (Burbank and Cooper zorc, 6) are the practices appiied by imperial So from an Assyrian perspective, the Middle Assyrian Period was perceived as states in conquered territories to create and maintain their dominance. Are an ideal representing the essence ofthe Assyrian project rather than a qualita- there, then, specifrc repertoires of rule that appear first in the Middle Assyrian tively distinctive period in history. imperial state which might explain the remarkable longevity and success of To most scholars who argue for a disjunction between the Middie and Neo- the Assyrian state in the Late Brorøe and Iron Ages? Assyrian Periods, the crux of the matter appears to be that the Neo-Assyrian state qualifies as an empire-because it was an expansive state that domi- nated a large number of vassal states that were not provincialized-whereas COMPARING REPERTOIRES OF RULE INTHE the Middle Assyrian state was much smaller in scale and as a rule converted MIDDLE AND NEO.AS SYRIAN PERIODS conquered territories into provinces (Postgate zoro,zo; Koliírski zor5; Kühne In the long-term pefspective of ancient Near Eastern history, the Assyrian zor5,59). However, the real disjunction between Assyria as a relatively small Empire, ca. .,35o-6rz BcE, appears to represent a decisive turning point.

42 BLED,{ s. DüRING AT THE ROOT OF THE MATTER 43 7

regions previously little cultivated by means Whereas earlier empires were relatively short-lived, here a state emerged that " Asriculrural development of estates, colonization, lasted for about seven centuries, rose from humble origins, and uitimately '' ,,-,".1., as the establishment of agricultural agricultural came to dominate much of the ancient Near East. How, then, did the Assyrian and the construction of (complex) irrigation systems in which existing population centers are in part state become so successful, and in what ways did it differ from other polities 4. Demographic policies in the ancient Near East? replaced by new ones and populations are broken up through deportation If one were to compare Assyrian repertoires of rule with those of contempo- a,.ð colonizafion policies that frustrate the cultural capacities of conquered rary empires of the ancient Near East, such as those ofMitanni, the Kassites, the populations to form an alternative to the imperial system , and the Egyptians, the most striking are of an imperial road and relay system to facilitate communica- differences not to be found 5. Construction in the core areas or metropolitan regions (Doyle 1986). All of these empires dons, trade' and military campaigns invested heavily in the construction of large monumental capitals, developed refers to changes in cu1rure promoted by the empire and the prac- elaborate courts, and undertook considerable efforts toward the development Software that help consolidate imperial hegemony. These include: of an imperial ideology. The Assyrians stand out, however, for how they dealt tices of government with conquered territories and how they transformed provinces and peripheries. 1. Techniques of administration, such as the development of a homogeneous Thus, while other empires in the ancient Near East operated in a hegemonic system of administration that facilitates control by the imperial core and fashion (Higginbotham 2ooo; GTatz zoog zor3;Heinz zorzlVon Dassow zor4), , the deployment of administrators throughout the imperial lands ruling a series ofvassals through a system of indirect rule, the Assyrìans used a z. Organîzation of the imperial elite territorial system of domination (Parker zoor; Koliriski 2or5), annexing neigh- , 3. Use ofa vassal system boring regions as provinces. While it is possible to quali$' this distinction, for the dominators 4. An ideology that legitimized imperial domination to both example, Egypt also used territorial repertoires of rule in Nubia (Smith zoo3; and the dominated, and investment in propaganda media zor3) and the Hittites appe r to have done the same in their heartland (Glatz 5. A policy of co-opting local elites ìnto the interests of empire by providing 2oog, 2or3), the systematic way territorial repertoires of rule were put to use by them with clear incentives for coliaboration the Assyrians is quite exceptional in the ancient Near East. 6. A culture af empire in which the imperial culture is distinguished from and So how did the Assyrian Empire achieve and maintain its control over the consìdered superior to that ofdominated societies. In this system there are conquered territoriesl To what degree are repertoires ofrule continuous from possibilities and incentives for outsiders to opt into imperial culture and the Middle to the Neo-Assyrian Period? To facilitate this discussion, is it associate with the emPire.l useful to distinguish between "hardware" and "software" types of hegemonic ,'hardware" practices.These categories are for heuristic purposes only and are not intended The fepeftoires of rule for the Middle and Neo-Assyrian as a new interpretive framework. Periods are remarkably similar. In both periods we can document the devel- ÍIørdutøre refers to changes in infrastructure, landscapes, and societies opment of the imperial core region through the construction of large canals that were effected to serve the (perceived) needs of the empire (table z.r). fãr agricultural development and the foundation of new capitals (Bagg zooo; These include: Wilkinson et a7. zoo5;Mühl zor5). The construction of the large new capital of KarrTukulti-Ninurta in the Middle Assyrian Period, estimated to have mea- r. Development of the imperial core through policies of agricultural con- sured ca. 48o hectares (Dittmann zorr) and for which major canals were development, settlement of populations, and the creation of monumental stfucted, has striking similarities to later construction of the capitals of Kalhu capitals (which in fact seems to have had a Middle Assyrian predecessor fBagg zooo, z. Modification of existing setdement systems, including the destruction of 3Ir]) and Dur-Sharrukin in the Neo-Assyrian Period (Bagg zooo;Wilkinson some cities, the modification of others, the foundation of new cities, and et a1. zoo5; Altaweel zoo8). the construction offorts and systems, to facilitate the control Moving beyond the core region, in both periods v/e can document Assyrian ofalien territories and to control access to imperial lands efforts to modiS' existing settl€ment systems' for example, through the

44 BLEDA S. DÛRING AT THE ROOT OF THE I\4ATTER 45 7

T¡¡l¿ z. ¡. Overview of hardware tlpe repertoires of rule in the Middle and Neo-Assyriap in which grouPs r¡/ere pro- -^r¡ernents consisted of voluntary colonizations Empires n'i"i *it¡, ciear incentives (Parker 2oot,2oo3;Düring,Visser, and Akkermans Middle n 1:; F"t example, at Tell Sabi Abyad the migrants included both siluhlu (setfs, Development of imperial core '1.'li^øttpredominantly ) and ølaju (free men with Assyrian names), y Destruction of cities )^ *ri luttet *ete free to move elsewhere (Wiggermann zooo). While the Modification of cities ./ T)i,nn a¡a not have this freedom, it is possible that at least some of them Foundation of cities 'Ïi^n¿r¿agricultural colonization as an attractive opPortunity. In any case' the clearly an instrument to change Creation of rural settlements iínogruphi, policies of the Assyrians were regions' Agricultural colonization ,,"alities on the ground in specific imperial road system, complete with relay stations' seems to have Deportations Finall¡ an cfeated ûrst in the Middle Assyrian Period and been further expanded Road networks been Ne"-Assyrian Period (Pfi1zner 1993; Kessler ry97;Faist zoo6; Kühne 'roU).Fo,in the any empire the construction of such a road system' facilitating fast -rt destruction or abandonment of major existing settlements, such as íti"gof information over large distances and the swift transport of military in the Middle Assyrian Period and Babylon in the Neo-Assyrian Period, and o.rro*.t, is essential to maintain control over large territories (Taagepera the creation or redevelopment of new centers, such as Dur-Katlimmu and iozS; Colburn zor3). Kulushinas (Tell ) and Tuðhan (Ziyaret Têpe) in Middle Assyrian "In ulI these "hardware" repertoires of rule, we can draw clear parallels times and cities such as and Till Barsip in the Neo-Assyrian Period ür*""n the Middle and Neo-Assyrian Empires, displaying strong continuity. would (Wilkinson et a1. zoo5; Szuchman zooT;Tenu 2oog, zar;; Harman¡ah zorz; trurther, the similarities are not of the generic type-in that any empire Assyria. Here, Kühne zor3). In both the Middle and Neo-Assyrian Periods we can document make use of the se repertoires of rule-but they are specific to the creation of a series of forts along the frontiers and in the newly occupied for example, we could compare and Middle Assyrian repertoires (Parker territories rg g7;Teîu,Feno11ós, and Caramelo zotz;Tenu zor5). of rule to illustrate this point. Unlike the Assyrian state, the Mitanni state For both periods we can document significant investments in the agricultural appears to have preferred to rule through indirect means. Most of Mitanni's development of previously marginal or uncultivated territories. Major canals tiiitory consisted of a series of vassal polities that were ruled by either a for irrigation purposes were built in the Middle and Neo-Assyrian Periods king or a council. Only in exceptional cases did the Mitanni state convert (Bagg zooo; Wilkinson et al. zoo5; Kühne zor5), and this is true even if one conq,rered territories into provinces, for example, when a vassal Proved unre- excludes the controversial Lower Habur canal from consideration. Further, liable, as was the case with the polity of (Von Dassow zor4, zo-zz). we have clear data for agriculturalcolonization in both periods, for example, The Mitanni state did not have a standardized bureaucracy; instead, rather along the Balikh and in the Upper Tigris (Wiggermann 2ooo; Parker zoor, different recording procedures wefe used in Ugarit and Arrapha (Postgate zoo3; Radner zoo4).ALthough the scale of the "infilling of the landscape" was zor5). Institutions such as the dinttu (a privately owned agricultural estate, the much more pronounced in the Neo-Assyrian than in the Middle Assyrian owners of which usually lived elsewhere and used the proceeds as a source of Period (Wilkinson et al. zoo5), the same process can be documented in the income) denoted radically different forms of estates in the empire; in they were royal area close to the capital in the Middle Assyrian Period (Postgate tgïz, 3oB; they were owned by wealthy absentee families, but in Ugarit Mühl zoi3), estates owned by the loca1 dynasty (Koiiriski zoor). Thus, the Mitanni state The deportation of populations from one part of the empire ro another is had a diversity of political forms and institutions across its territories, lacked well attested in both the Middle and Neo-Assyrian Periods (Wiggermann an overarching state system, and was not engaged in practices such as deporta- zooo; Postgate zo4) and can be regarded as one ofthe key Assyrian strategies. tion, agricultural colonization, or the creation of new cities. Similar arrafige- While deportations are often portrayed as repressive, divide-and-ru1e policies ments seem to have characterized Hittite and Egyptian rePertoires of rule in (Na'aman rg93,rt7), it is also possible that at least some of these population the , as well as those of the Kassites in . In short,the Assyrian

46 BLEDA s. DùRII."c AT THE ROOT OF THE X{ATTER 47 -

T i'st E z, z. Overview of software type repertoires of rule in the Middle and Neo-Assyrian (Shibata 2or5), and in the Neo-Assyrian Period local ¡¡l15e through marriages Empires )i¡eswere co-opted through ideological means and through incentives for the Repertoires ofrule-software Midd/e -4sslrian oftheir positions and careers (Parker zorr;Pongratz-Leisten zor3). "äprovernent Provincial system Fro* the beginning of the Middle Assyrian Period, the Assyrian repertoires Great families something that for want of a better word I will call a "culture nf rule include Vassal system ; ernpire," by which I mean something different from state propaganda and ^f that Incorporation into the land and cult ofAðður i, id*t"gi.ul justification. Instead, the focus is on a cultural framework a less discursive (or subconscious) leve1 and structured Co-optation of local elites wouldhave operated at between Assyrians and with others. At the core of this is Culture of empire sesi2l interaction between an Assyrian "high" culture, on the one hand, and ver- Ideological propaganda r,i a distinction - was elaborated. This norma- n',")Iar ffaditions, on the other, which culturally enormously to the legitimation of the empire. The tive distinction contributed of civilization is repertoires of rule u¡ere exceptional in the degree to which landscapes and association among an empire, a cultural idiom, and concepts societies were actively reengineered. In part, these social engineering practices well-known from many empires (Zimansky 1995; Stein zoo5; Mattingly zorr). explain Assyrian successes. In administrative and legal documents, being Assyrian was a clearly demar- For the "softurare" repertoires of rule, the situation is somewhat different cated status that entitled the person in question to certain rights and entailed (table z.z). Some of the elements are present in both the Middle and Neo- obligations that set the individuaT apart from non-Assyrians (Postgate zor3, Assyrian Periods, but in others we see clear transformations. The creation of 12-27).In the newly conquered territories in the west, Assyrians were usu- the provincial system starts in the Middle Assyrian Period and continues into ally {ree men and non-Assyrians were often serfs (Wiggermanî 2oao, t74). the Neo-Assyrian Period (Llop zorr). At least in the areas conquered in the Assyrian status seems to have been independent of class. Apart from Assyrian Middle Assyrian Period, the standard policy was to provincialize tbe occupied administrators there is evidence for Assyrian agricultural colonists in the territories rather than to rule by indirect means (Koliúski 2or5). Largely the western tefritofies, as atTell Sabi Abyad, where roo Assyrian farmers settled same region was ruled through the provincial system in the Neo-Assyrian with their families (Wiggermann zooo), and atTêil Chuera, where there were Empire, except for its fina1 stages, when it was expanded far beyond (Bedford similarly designated settlers (Jakob zoo9, 98). These latter Assyrians might zoog;Barjamovic zor3, r48). These provinces were also symbolically incorpo- have included both poorer members of Assyrian society and groups that had rated into the land and cult of Aðður, as demonstrated by the Aðður temple gradually opted into an Assyrian identity (Postgate 2o4,38), The fact that offerings, which were brought from all provinces (Postgate r99z). However, this "opting in" occurs suggests that being Assyrian was considered a desirable as Pongratz-Leisten (zorr) has argued, there was no homogeneous religious status in contemporary society. system across the Assyrian provinces, and local religious practices remained With the emergence of the Middle Assyrian Empire' we can also document dominant in most places. In her view there was a significant accommodation the spread of a particular type of material culture.This includes Middle Assyrian to local religious systems by the Assyrians, an accommodation that is not evi- pottery (Pfilzner 1997;D'Agostino zoo8, zor5; Tenu zor3; Duisterma"at 2or5), dent from the official state propaganda. house forms (Bartl and Bonatz zor3; Akkermans and Wiggermann 2or5)' and In both periods small vassal kingdoms were tolerated by the Assyrians within burial traditions (Sauvage eoo5; D'Agostino zooS; Tênu zoog; Bonatz zor3l and between their provinces, as exemplified by the examples of the Land of Düring, Visser, and Akkermans zor5). These 'Assyrian" tlpes co-occur with ver- Mari in the Middle Assyrian Period and Guzana in the Neo-Assyrian Period nacular ceramic repertoires, burial traditions) and house forms (Sauvage zoo5; (Novak zor3; Shìbata zor5). The prevailing consensus on Assyrian tolerance Tenu zor3; Düring, Visser, and Alkermans 2or5; D'Agostino zor5; Jakob zor5). toward these vassals in the land of Aðður is that the local dynasties switched The spread of Assyrian artifacts and traditions can be most convincingly allegiance to Aðður at critical moments in history and were rewarded for their linked to the presence of Assyrian colonists across the Middle Assyrian continuing loyalty. Local dynasties appear to have been linked to the royal Empire. In part, the spread of Assyrian artifacts and customs was a function

48 BLEDA s. DúRING AT THE ROOT OF THE À,IATTER 49 7

of necessity, especially where empty landscapes were colonized, but such as processions and proclamations (Parkef 2oII, 2o¡'5; it should . ^^"ríal ideology, also be explained in part by the desire of Assyrians to distinguish themselvsg 2 o r 2, 2 ot3i P o ngr atz -L eì,s te n z o r3 ). t'"gneI Ïrl*unç "¡ in how they lived, cooked, ate, and buried their dead, and througli the style q¡ ç^nask, however, what the efficacy of this imagery and associated prac- even the artifacts they used. -2"", t¡tas, who the target audiences tvere, and whetherwe can quali$r within the palace and Assyrian-style artifacts and practices might have been associated with and :;;; propagand.a.Much of the imagery was placed ^r important to Assyrian elites in particular, who occupied the key positìons ie -,,. only to a small segment of Assyrian society, that is, the elite "^,"Á ^...rribl. the conquered lands of Hanigalbat (Harrak r98Z,tg1-zo5).lndeed, typicalþ outur. personnel. It is an open question whether elite visitors would have Assyrian material culture seems to have been concentrated mainly in admin- ir¿itt possibiliry or the inclination to take in the rich totality of images and istrative centerswhere the elite tended to settle (Tenu zor3; D'Agostino zor5. ,,n¿.rsta"d the messages they were meant to convey. In ail likelihood, few zor5). would have been able to read the inscriptions placed on the Jakob Jf ,h.r. visitors does mean entire This is best illustrated by the famous boast of King Ashurbanipal This not the elite of the Assyrian Empire consisted sf ãrthostarc. stock, (which was probably true zooll). people from Assyrian but it entails that in their officiai capacity they thutlr., could read and write flivingstone among the Assyrian elite. would have needed to present themselves as Assyrians. Interestingl)¿, we have lhe boast suggests that such skilis were exceptional in extremely some evidence for non-Assyrian elites taking up Assyrian names and pr¿ç- Likewise, the eficacy of Assyrian rock art monuments-often (Shibata statements can be questioned. Whatever our tices zors) and for Assyrian elites who buried themselves in decid- remote locations-as propaganda type edly non-Assyrian fashion (Wicke zor3; Düring, Visser, and Akkermans interpretation of the efficacy of the Neo-Assyrian visual programs, this zor5). In contrast, non-elite Assyrians demonstrably adhe¡ed to Assyrian ways of investment in visual imagery is almost completely absent in the Middle in how they ate, dressed, and were buried (Wicke zor3; Düring, Visser, and Ârryriun Period (Pittman ry96,35o-y), and this difference ìs significant. Akkermans zor5). In conclusion, in the "software" repertoires of rule, there is some continuity the Assyrian The concept of a "culture of empire" might help explain why Assyrians felt as well as a number of transformations and innovations within it was legitimate to reengineer conquered territories and societies and what tradition. Nonetheless, the overarching picture ìs that of a historical devel- motivated participants to contribute to this project. Further, by giving poor opment in a continuous Assyrian tradition rather than a fundamentally new members of Assyrian society and even non-Assyrians the possibility to associ- development in the Neo-Assyrian Period' ate with and benefit from the Assyrian project, the allegiance of such groups could be obtained. In contrast to these patterns of continuiry the role of great families appears DEALINGWITH DIVERSITY to have changed significantly. Whereas in the Middle Assyrian Period the In the discussion so far,Ihave argued, first, that most of the repertoires of execution of government was deiegated largely to the major Assyrian houses, ruie found in the Neo-Assyrian Period have clear antecedents in the Middle in the Neo-Assyrian Period the king assumed a much more central position, Assyrian Period and, second, that there ï\¡ere a number of innovations in the and the military apparatus was used to cr€ate a state administration in which Neo-Assyrian period.To structure this discussion, I have followed a checklist written bureaucracy was less important (Postgate zooTa).Ihe attempt to elim- approach, noting whether particular fepertoires of rule are present or absent. inate alternative powerful lineages seems to have been largely successful and to The danger of such an approach is that we might reduce imperial systems to a have led to a situation in which the collapse of the court equaled the collapse listof blanket strategies.In this section I would like to highlight (r) the het- of the empire (Liverani zoor). erogeneity of the Assyrian Empire in both the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Another significant difference between the Middle and Neo-Assyrian Age and (z) the parallels between the patchwork solutiorts used in both periods. repertoires of rule is in the realm of state propaganda. Neo-Assyrian elites Recent studies of European colonial empires-the Ottoman, Habsburg, and went to great efforts to communicate imperial ìdeology through visible means Russian Empires and that of ancient Rome-have demonstrated that empires such as victory stelae, rock monuments, statues, and elaborately carved and were not administrated homogeneousiy (Maier zoo6; Burbank and Cooper inscribed palace decor. They may also have used other means to communicate zoto; Bang and Bayly zorr; Mattin gly zon).Instead, they were constituted b)¡

50 BLEDA s. DüR]NG AT THE ROOT OF THE MATTER 5I 7 I

a patch\¡/ork of institutions and personnel that differed gteatly froni one par¡ research has been done at a range of sites, such as ZiyarctTepe, ^,1àjúonal of the empire to the next. The particular situation in any regìon was the result of ä*ror, Kavuçan Höyuk, Giricano, Boztepe, Salat Tepe, Kenan Tepe, Gre specific historical circumstances and was determined in part by the activities ç¡ åLil, Mtirlümantepe, Hirbernerdon, and Hakemi Use. As a result, Matney key individuals. Thus, while it appears that these empires had a homogeneous í^ro), building on earlier work by Parker (zoo3, zoo6)' recently reconstructed system of administratìon, there were great differences in the forms imperial ',1 ,onfrgotution of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in the Upper Tigris, showing government took on the ground as a result of local factors (a1so Herrmann ¿q¿ ."lor*irtrn.. of Assyrian-dominated urban settlement with small Assyrian Tyson, this volume). i*irultrrt.l colonies-probably consisting mostly of deportees-and local Thirty years ago, Liverani (1988,86) stated that the Assyrian Empire w¿s and pastoral communities that ï/ere incorporated into the Assyrian ärmine'rro"oÃy.Matney's "not a spread of land, but a network of communications over which material reconstruction suggests that this Assyrian province was a goods are carried." Liverani envisaged the empire as consisting of a serìes that the hegemony of the Assyrian state was precari- of multiethnic society and Assyrian strongholds in essentially aiien landscapes and populations, and zor3). he 6us (a1so Wicke argued that military campaigns were primarily undertaken to support and A similar situation of a precarious hegemony can be documented in the expand this network of Assyrian settlements. In a very similar vein, Bernbec[ (zorr) has demon- Middle Assyrian Empire. As mentioned,Pongratz-Leisten (zoro) has recently cornpared the Assyrian Empire to that of the United sffatedthatMiddle Assyrian religious practices and iconographic conventions States, arguing that both are systems in which military bases were instrumenr standards and that local in the provinces did not fol1ow mainstream Assyrian tal in controlling alien territories. By contrast, Postgate (1992) responded (zor5, how to sods rernained important. Jakob I8o-82) has recently illustrated Liverani's characterization by arguing that the area of Hanigalbat. was under ire.arious Assyrian control in the western provinces really was at that time the direct territorial control of the Assyrians and was considered part of the iy discussing a number of letters from Harbe (). These letters land Aðður, the regions of unlike beyond, which were controlled through vas- describe the repeated attacks of enemy troops descending from the mountains sals. Postgate argued that while Assyrian presence was necessarily concen- to rhe north on the cities of Harbe and Nibrija and the Assyrian official Sîn- trated in certain nodes, the provinces were homogeneously administrated.2 muddameq without troops to halt them. These raiding troops from the moun- Since Liverani and Postgate formulated their ideas, a massive amount of new tains also plundered trading caravans when the opportunify presented itself. data has become available and many systematic studies dealing with Assyria In these ways they posed a real threat to the power of local Assyrian officials. have appeared (Parker zoor; Szuchm î 2ao7; Tenu zoog; Postgate 2oo7b, Interestingl¡ the evidence of patchy control coexists with evidence for for- zor3; Düring 2or5). As a result, we are in a much better position to evaluate midable changes in settlement and demography in specific regions. In the how homogeneous or heterogeneous Assyrian repertoires of rule were in con- Balikh Valley, for example, significant changes in the settlement pattern have quered provinces and peripheries. been subjected to a detailed analysis by Lyon (zooo; also Kolióski 2or5). In For the Neo-Assyrian Period we have a number of archaeological studies the Mitanni Period (ca. r5oo-r35o BcË)' there were a substantial number of that investigate the variable impact of the Assyrian Empire in provincial and settlements in the valley. At some point in the Late Brooze Age, most of the peripheral regions. Parker (zoor, zoo3,2or5) has argued for a modified ver- sites appear to have been abandoned. When the Middle Assyrian state took sion of Luttwa,Vs begemonic empire in which regions brought under the direct control of the area, many of the sites in the southern Balikh were not reoc- control of the Assyrians need not have been spatially contiguous. For example, cupied. It is possible that the southern Balikh functioned as a buffer zone with the Assyrians imposed direct territorial control over the Upper Tigris and the Hittites, who were entrenched further west along the (Luciani the northern Habur and Balikh, but the intervening Tìrr Abdin Mountains rggg-2oor; Lyon zooo).3 In the northern Balikh ValIey, where rain-fed agri- remained outside the effective control of the Assyrians, for reasons that were culture is possible, there were clear shifts in the settlement system: many large in part strategic, in part logistic, and in part economic. "urban"sites were not reoccupied, and new settlements vøere mostly small rural Parker's work in the Upper Tigris region was based primarily on dara places (Lyon zooo). obtained in the extensive reconnaissance survey undertaken by -ùIgaze and coi- One clear example of an important rural settlement is theTêll Sabi Abyad leagues (zorz) ahead ofdam construction projects. In subsequent years, much dunnu (Ê,gure z.z). This was an agricultural estate to which 9oo people were

52 BLEDA s. DúRING AT THE ROOT OF THE I4ATTER 53 7

G H l( NO

level6A f ruew ] rrom ffi ¡¿o.t

6 \ \ : ,:' r

I a'Teil.UÅn.'Aqrehe Kau¡¡niíu 'Ì i, 1û

É.* l q and âgricultural engineering

Vassãl stêles

13 .:: 100 2O0 km t) tå ...: Frcunn 24. Map of the Middk Assyrian Ernpire tþitb ,narious rePertoires of rule used by Ássyria indicøted

FrcunB z.z. Late Bronze zllge oæupation at Tell Søbi Abyad in level 6A (ca. noo-tt94 tcn) The Balikh is not, however, representative of the broader situation in the \ryestern provinces (compare Kolióski zor5) (figure 2.3)' In some areas, such as attached, only a few of whom lived in the central settlement (Wiggermann the Balikh and the Lower Habur-at Dur-Katlimmu-the Assyrians went zooo). From the dunnu a large landholding was farmed, measuring about 36 km, to gfeat efforts to develop agricultural surpluses and settlements in previ- and producing about 3oo tons of barley per annum. Thus, large-scale farming ously marginal territories (Ktihne zoI5). In areas such as the Upper Habur, took place for surplus production in a landscape previously little cultivated.This the Assyrians largely superimposed their administration uPon the existing was made possible through the deployment of a large labor force and the invest- settlements and agricultural practices (Szuchman zooT;Tenu 2oo9,2or5). As ment of substantial resources. The cultu¡al landscape was profoundly altered. a result, settlement continuity can be shown for sites such as Tell Barri and The existing settlement system was reshuffied. Large numbers of people were Tell Fekheriye (D'Agostino zooS; Tenu zoog; Bonatz zo4). The Assyrians brought into the area, creating a new demographic reality, and large-scale farm- even incorporated previously independent polities, such as "the Land of Mari," ing estates were established. Given thatTêll Sabi Abyad was only one of a series centering on Tell Taban, with a local dynasty serving under the Assyrian king of dunnu estates established in the valley-although probably the largest-what (Shibata zor5). Finall¡ in the Assyrian heartland, there apPears to have been happened can best be described as social and landscape engineering. expansion or intensification of agricultural production, with the construction

54 BLED,{ S, DÜRING AT THE ROOT OF THE MATTER 55 7

of new canals and the foundation of local elites. An important ingredient of of new settlements (Miglus 2orr; Mühl zor5), .r., Aðður temple; and the co-opting The Assyrian repertoires of rule outlined here suggest that neither Li.'et¿[¡' l'^.,**n irnperialism consisted of a normative distinction between Assyrian n^,'ilrur,on nor Postgate was right because both argued that Assyrian repertoires of r¡[s the one hand, and normative traditions, on the other, that we find statuses in both the Late were relatively standardized, More recent data and syntheses point to a flg)r. li"."rr.a in things such as burial habits and legal ible approach toward controlling conquered territories, in which what happe¡s¿ il,^", 1':g, and the Iron Age. There are also some differences in the reper- on families was reduced the ground depended on a range ofpractical and strategic consideratio¡s, i;r", of r"l. betr,veen these two periods, The role of great In both the Middle and Neo-Assyrian Periods we can see similar patter¡1s¡ i'rfr. N"o-,tssyrìan Empire, and (investment in) propaganda became much first, with heavy investments in the (agricultural) development of the Assyri¿¡ inre significanr in the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Nonetheless, there ìs strong heartland, including the construction of major canais that enabled between the practices of the Middle Assyrian Empire and the the cultiva. .onrinuiry tion of previously little-cultivated zones, facilitating a more densely populated Neo-Assyrian EmPire. imperiai core; second, the development of peripheries with agricultural poten- 1þe Assyrian Empire was not a homogeneously administrated territorial tial, such as the Balikh in the Middle Assyrian Period and the upper Tigris cmÐiÍe,nof was it a network empire. Instead, it is better described as a patch- in the Neo-Assyrian Period; third, the depopulation or neglecr repertoires of rule were applied in a flexible manner (Sinopoli of peripheral *ort , in which or buffer zoîes at the edge of empire, as was depending on a r3:nge of strategic, logistical, the case initially in the Balikh in 1qq4; Burbank and Cooper zolo), the Middle Assyrian Period, in the Neo-Assyrisan Period in the northern part ,ld e.onornic considerations, as well as the nature of the preexisting society of the southern (Faust, made serve the needs of the Levant this volume), and in buffer zones such as the ¿nd economy and how well they couid be to rules were applied Garzan and Bohtan River valleys (Parker zoor). Finally, in some regions the empire, Importantly, the manner in which the repertoires of are similar in the Assyrian administrators accommodated preexisting densely populated and in áif.r.n, p"rts of the empire is structured in ways that very productive regions and intervened relatively little, as in the Upper in Middle and Neo-Assyrian Periods. I argue, then, that the imperial practices the Middle Assyrian Period or the Levantine Phoenician cities in the Neo- thú geîefeLted the unprecedented Neo-Assyrian territorial expansion and Assyrian Period (Bagg zorr, zïr-g4). Thus, although we see heterogeneous consolidation are rooted in an Assyrian cultural-political repertoire that first effects of Assyrian domination in both the Middle and Neo-Assyrian Periods, took shape in the fourteenth century ncn. this heterogeneity is spatially distributed (what repertoires of rule are applied where) similarly. NOTES I would like to thank Craig Tyson and Virginia Herrmann for the oPportunify to DISCUS SION AND CONCLUSION contribute to this book, and I thank the nvo anonymous reviewers for their feedback' To what degree can we trace rhe origins of the highly successful Neo- The research presented here was part of the ERC-funded project (zSz7S5) Consolidat- Assyrian Empire back to its more obscure predecessor in the Late Bronze ing Empire: Reconstfucting Hegemonic Practices of the Middle Assyrian Empire at Agel In this chapter I have argued that if we focus on the repertoires of rule the Late Bronze Age Fortified Estate of Tell Sabi Abyad, , ca. rz3o-rr8o nco at used by the Assyrians in the Middle Assyrian Period and the Neo-Assyrian Leiden University. Period, we can document clear continuities in changes effected on the ground, r. Some of the elements mentioned here also occur in Smith and Montiel (zoor), including elements such as the destruction of cities, the modification of cit- but in a different ordering. ies, the foundation of new settlements, agricultural development of previously 2. Postgate's model, in which a distinction is made among a core terlitory that is uncultivated regions, deportations, the construction ofroad nefworks, and the incorporated into the metropolitan state, the land of Aõõur, atrd an outer zone under development of relay systems. Likewise, the ways in which the administration the yoke of A5õur, mirrors an influential distinction between territorial and hegemonic was organized were parallel in many respects, including institutions such as rule put forward byLutwakftgTí). the provincial system; the occasional use of for some vassals; the cultic incorporation of 3. Although it is possible thatTutul/Tell Bi'a was under Assyrian control conquered territories into the land of Aðður, symbolized in food offerings to time (Tênu zor5).

56 BLEDA s. DüRrNc ATTHE ROOTOFTHEMATTER 57 7

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6z BLEDA S. DÜRING ,4,T THE ROOT OF THE N4ATTER 63 Recontre Assyrio/ogique Internationale, ed. Lluis Feliu, Jaume Llop, Adelina Millet A1bà, andJoaquín Sanmartin,575-84. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. Tenu, Aline. zor5. "Building the Empire: Settlement Patterns in the Middle Assyrr ian Empire." I n Understanding Hegemonic Prøctices qt the Early Empire, '4ssyrian sd. Bleda S. Dunng,75-87. Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten. Tenu, Aline,Jean-Louis Montero !ènollós, and Francisco Caramelo. zorz. "liempirs Assyrien au XIIIe siècle av.J.-C.:Tê11 Qgbr Abu al-'Atiq sur le Moyen Euphrats., 3 In Du Village Néolithigue à lø Ville Syro-Més0?0tamienne, ed.Jean-Louis Mon- terro Fenollós,143-6r. Ferrol, Spain: Sociedad Luso-Gallega de Estudios Mesopotámicos. discusses the characteristics and behavior of Empire of Confict, Von Dassow; Eva. zot4. "Levantine Polities under Mittanian Hegemony."In Constit- This srudy Empire in the Upper Tigris Borderland Empire of Compromise uent, Confederøte, and Canguered Space:Zhe Emergence of the Mittani State, ed.Eva ,i, Asytiun and the relationship established with the Cancik-Kirschbaum, Nicole Brisch, and Jesper Eidem, rr-32. Berlin: De Gruyter. iñn r" l.ù the region.l This relationship The Middle and Neo-Assyrian https://doi.or g/ rc.r5t5/ gTguoz664rz.t. ìoíut .o.-rnities of at an eatly stage of the imperial growth. Landscape and Interøctian Wicke, Dìrk. zor3. "Iti niseþ.ur Ássar Amusunuti: Zr den Leuten Assyriens zählte Ich commenced chapter also take into account the usith the Local Cammunities of Sie: Beobachtungen zum kulturellen Austausch am Oberen Tigris in neuassyr- Thereforc, this will Period (MAP) (ca. fourteenth-tenth the Upper Tigris Borderlønd ischer Zeit."In Patterns of Urban Soci.eties,ed.Thomas R. Kämmerer and Sabine Middle Assyrian nce) in addition to the Late or Neo-Assyrian Rogge, %3-54. Münster: Ugarit Verlag. benturies (NAP) (ca. tenth-seventh centuries BcE)' Wiggermann, Frans A.M. zooo.'Agriculture in the Northern Balikh Valley: The Period betvr¡een the Assyrians and the loca1 Guioo Guan¡uccl Case of Middle Assyrian Tell Sabi Abyad ." In Røinfall and in Northern The interaction 'llgriculture is into two main approaches, one (CAMNES; lJxlvpnsrrv Mesopotamia, ed. Remco M.Jas, r1r-232. Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Dopulation divided These two strate- ol ReaorNc) Nabije Oosten. if'.onfli.t and one of compromise. necessarily form a chronological sequence' Wilkinson,TonyJ.,Jason Ur, Eleanor Wilkinson, and Marc Altaweel. zoo5. "Land- gies do not both sides will adopt one or the other repeatedly scape and Settlement in the Neo-Assyrian Empire." BASOR 34o:4-56. since the centuries under examination, with constant Zimansl

territory, Second, once delineated, this relationship is D OI: rc. 587 6 / 97816 o73z84o.co o3

64 BLEDA s. DûRING 65 IMPERIAL P ERI PHERIES IN THE I{E O -ASSYRIAN PERIOD

Edited by CRAIG W. TYSON ønd VIRGINIA R. HERRMANN

UNIVERSITY PRESS OF COLORADO Louiseille