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Cultural Identity, Archaeology, and the Amorites of the Early Second Millennium BCE: an Analytical Paradigmatic Approach

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Cultural Identity, Archaeology, and the Amorites of the Early Second Millennium BCE: an Analytical Paradigmatic Approach Cultural Identity, Archaeology, and the Amorites of the Early Second Millennium BCE: An Analytical Paradigmatic Approach By Madeline Lawson Pruitt A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Near Eastern Studies in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Benjamin Porter, Co-Chair Professor Aaron Brody, Co-Chair Professor Nicolaas Veldhuis Professor Christine Hastorf Spring 2019 Abstract Cultural Identity, Archaeology, and the Amorites of the Early Second Millennium BCE: An Analytical Paradigmatic Approach by Madeline Lawson Pruitt Doctor of Philosophy in Near Eastern Studies University of California, Berkeley Professor Benjamin Porter, Co-Chair Professor Aaron Brody, Co-Chair Ancient Near Eastern textual sources portray the Amorites as a group that arose in the span of a century at the beginning of the second millennium BCE from being obscure pastoral nomads on the periphery of Mesopotamian civilization to establishing a dynasty that ruled the region for four hundred years. Yet, according to a commonly-held scholarly view, they left no archaeologically discernible cultural imprint. This paradoxical understanding contributes to widely varied speculations about the nature of their group identity and has generated a lack of consensus that impedes the development of further insights about the group and, consequently, other aspects of Ancient Near Eastern history and cultures. The interpretation of archaeological evidence for cultural identity is in itself a problematized issue. Consideration of the factors involved in the Amorite scenario indicates the need for an analytical approach to cultural identity that will provide a foundation from which the multiple evidentiary dimensions can be considered on common ground. Drawing upon interdisciplinary insights from such fields as social psychology, cognitive science, and sociology, in addition to anthropology, this project develops a relational approach to identity at four levels—personal, individual, group, and categorical. From that perspective, cultural identity is found to be a categorical identification with a matrix of interrelated features that is greater than the sum of its constituent elements. In combination with the theoretical lenses of materiality, social memory, and landscape theory from the social archaeology toolkit, the Self Other approach advanced in this thesis allows the various compositional aspects of cultural identity to be analyzed holistically. It provides a framework through which the textual, visual, and material evidence can be considered in light of the underlying identity processes at work. In application to the singularly complex Amorite paradox, the efficacy of the framework is validated by revealing—on an analytical basis grounded in established theory and methods—that there is more than sufficient evidence for viewing the Amorites as an ethnic group. These results, which are derived from applying the paradigm to the data set of Amorite identity markers, provide a starting point for more contextualized studies of the evidence from specific sites and assemblages in both synchronic and diachronic cases. The paradigm is proposed as an analytical tool that will allow for a grounded commonality that can move the field closer toward consensus and to continued advancements in understanding the history of the Ancient Near East. Additionally, it has the potential to facilitate research into the cultural identity of other groups in different places and times. 1 Table of Contents Abstract ..............................................................................................................................1 Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... i List of Figures .................................................................................................................. iii List of Tables .................................................................................................................... v List of Abbreviations ........................................................................................................ vi Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 The Problematic Amorites: A Paradox .........................................................................5 1.2 The Archaeology of Cultural Identity: A Multi-Faceted, Multi-Disciplinary Problem ..6 1.3 The Archaeology of Cultural Identity and the Amorites: Consequential Problems........9 1.4 Towards a Solution: Proposal, Methods, and Evidence .............................................. 11 1.5 Project Overview ....................................................................................................... 13 Chapter 2 The Amorite Problem in Context............................................................................... 16 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 16 2.2 The Historical Background ........................................................................................ 16 2.3 Situatedness at the End of the Third Millennium ........................................................ 18 2.4 Amorite Studies ......................................................................................................... 23 2.5 The Amorite Problem ................................................................................................ 26 2.6 The Amorite Identity Issue ........................................................................................ 34 2.7 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 67 Chapter 3 Cultural Identity in an Archaeological Research Perspective ..................................... 70 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 70 3.2 Identity ...................................................................................................................... 70 3.3 Culture and Cultural Identity ..................................................................................... 93 3.4 An Archaeological Approach to Cultural Identity .................................................... 100 3.5 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 101 Chapter 4 The Amorites in Self Other Paradigm ......................................................................... 102 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 102 4.2 Theoretical Foundations........................................................................................... 103 4.3 Amorite Evidence in Analytical Paradigm ............................................................... 107 4.4 Conclusions and Synthesis ....................................................................................... 152 Chapter 5 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 155 5.1 The Self Other Paradigm ............................................................................................. 155 5.2 New Insight on the Amorites ................................................................................... 157 5.3 Opportunities for Future Research on the Amorites .................................................. 158 5.4 Other Benefits of the Paradigm ................................................................................ 161 Works Cited ............................................................................................................................ 163 Appendix A Primary Texts ...................................................................................................... 194 A-1. Primary Text Excerpts ........................................................................................... 194 A-2. The Marriage of Martu .......................................................................................... 211 A-3. A.328 = ARM 28 25 ............................................................................................... 213 A-4. M.12803 Kispum Ritual Text ................................................................................ 214 A-5. TA 1930, 615 An Old Babylonian List of Amorite Names ..................................... 215 Appendix B Amorite Material Culture .................................................................................... 216 B.1. Carinated Bowls ..................................................................................................... 216 i B.2. Shaft Tombs ........................................................................................................... 217 B.3. Bent-Axis Temples ................................................................................................ 218 B.4. Fenestrated 'Duckbill' Axes .................................................................................... 219 B.5. Levantine Painted Ware ........................................................................................
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