Damaged Representation: the Figurines from Bronze Age Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria, and the Archaeology of Disregard
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DAMAGED REPRESENTATION THE FIGURINES frOM BRONZE AGE TELL SABI ABYAD, SYRIA AND THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF DISREGArd Noah Wiener Cover photos both taken at Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria in 1992 (background image) and 2003 (figurine). The background image shows the 1992 field campaign’s excavation of the Late Bronze Age architecture, and the figurine in the center is object S03-810, a ‘stone spirit’ discussed extensively in this paper. Damaged Representation: The Figurines from Bronze Age Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria, and the Archaeology of Disregard. Noah Wiener Course: Master Research and Thesis Course Code: ARCH 1044WY Student Number: s1053795 Supervisor: Professor Dr. Peter Akkermans Specialization: Archaeology of the Ancient Near East University of Leiden, Faculty of Archaeology Leiden, November 2011 Noah Wiener [email protected] Noah Wiener 114 Jefferson Rd. Princeton, NJ 08540 The United States of America (+1) 609-240-2669 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE 1. INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................5 1.1. A GEOGRAPHICAL, HISTORICAL, AND CHRONOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK .............................5 1.2. THE SITE AND HISTORY OF BRONZE AGE TELL SABI ABYAD..............................................6 1.3. OBJECTS EXAMINED ...............................................................................................................9 1.4. RESEARCH METHODS .............................................................................................................9 1.5. PREVIOUS SCHOLARSHIP ......................................................................................................11 1.6. RESEARCH AIMS AND QUESTIONS .......................................................................................12 2. THE STONE SPIRIT TYPOLOGY .......................................................................................15 2.1. THERESA HOWARD CARTER’S ‘THE STONE SPIRITS’ .........................................................16 2.2. ‘STONE SPIRITS’ NOT INCLUDED IN CARTER’S STUDY ......................................................21 2.3. CONCERNS WITH TYPOLOGICAL ANALYSIS ........................................................................26 2.4. DISTRIBUTION AND PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS.....................................................................28 3. THE ‘STONE SPIRITS’ FROM TELL SABI ABYAD ......................................................33 3.1. CATALOG ..............................................................................................................................33 3.2. ANALYSIS..............................................................................................................................43 4. THE OTHER REPRESENTATIONAL SMALL FINDS ...................................................50 4.1. THE COLLECTION .................................................................................................................51 4.2. CHALLENGES ........................................................................................................................51 4.3. THE CATALOG ......................................................................................................................53 4.4. DATA ANALYSIS ...................................................................................................................94 4.5. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................95 4.6. FUNCTIONAL AND INTERPRETIVE ANALYSIS ......................................................................96 5. DISCUSSION ...........................................................................................................................100 5.1. ADDRESSING THE INITIAL RESEARCH QUESTIONS...............................................................100 5.2. METHODOLOGICAL DISCUSSION...........................................................................................102 5.3. TELL SABI ABYAD AS A COSMOPOLITAN DUNNU ................................................................104 5.4. AGAINST A STATIC VIEW OF THE PAST ................................................................................106 ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................................110 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................111 LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................................121 3 Preface This thesis began as an exciting opportunity to work directly with the material from Leiden University’s esteemed excavation at Tell Sabi Abyad in Syria. In doing so, it represented a major academic step from synthesizing and critiquing existing scholarship to making a direct contribution with unpublished data. As the project moved forward, it evolved from mere presentation and contextual analysis to touch on some broader themes at the site that can be extended to the whole discipline of archaeological interpretation. While the study was hampered by the political circumstances that did not allow me to excavate at the site, or to see, analyze, and photograph the studied objects firsthand, it did bloom into a fascinating project that I am proud to submit to Leiden’s scholarly community. This project would never have been possible without the help of several individuals. First and foremost, I would like to thank Dr. Peter Akkermans, first for directing such a fascinating project, but mostly for his guidance, his depth of knowledge of the site and comparable materials, his supportive additions to my analyses, and his jargon-free, conversationally interpretive, and friendly attitude to archaeology, which will forever shape my approach to the subject. In addition to Professor Akkermans, this project would never have been possible without Merel Brüning’s ready support and friendship at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, with her inexhaustible knowledge of the site documentation, stratigraphy, and excavation materials. Finally, in the professional sphere, I would like to thank all of those academics that took the time to meet with me to discuss comparable sites or my data set; in paticular, I would like to thank Dr. Frans Wiggermann of the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, Hans-Ulrich Onasch and Friedhelm Pedde of the Assur Projekt in Berlin, and Diederik Meijer of Leiden University. Most importantly, I would like to thank my family for their commentary and editing, but moreover for their eternal encouragement and support of their son/brother’s academic progress despite his having moved over 5000 km away from home. Finally, I would like to thank Kathryn and my Leiden community for an incredible year and learning experience, and for bearing with me through one too many conversations about ancient Syria and figurines. 4 1. Introduction This thesis is a presentation and discussion of unpublished figurines excavated from the Late Bronze Age occupation of Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria, and considers objects excavated between 1988 and 2007. The majority of the figurines fall into two categories: a larger body of clay figurine fragments, both zoo- and anthropomorphic, as well as six crude basalt and limestone anthropomorphic figurines. These six are a type dubbed ‘stone spirits’ by Theresa Howard Carter in 1970; a typology widely attested but poorly understood. While the primary intentions of the study are the documentation and contextualization of new material, by examining typologies, contexts, functionality, and inter- and intra- site distribution, it also considers issues of the Middle Assyrian occupation of Tell Sabi Abyad, the ‘stone spirit’ category, themes of neglect and material detachment, and the broader implications of multiple periods of occupation and the archaeology of re-usage in the Near East. Before a detailed examination, this introduction presents Tell Sabi Abyad, a brief history of its Late Bronze Age occupation, the objects under examination, and concludes with a presentation of the research aims, methods, and questions of this thesis. 1.1. A Geographical, Historical, and Chronological Framework Tell Sabi Abyad is located in Northern Syria in the upper Balikh valley, roughly 30 km from the Turkish border. Fig. 1 maps the site’s location along contemporary and modern political borders, and fig. 2 displays it in a comparison with the broader ancient Near East. This thesis considers its Late Bronze Age occupation,1 a time characterized by shifting power balances in the region studied (fig. 3, Tell Sabi Abyad indicated in red). For the purposes of this thesis, the Bronze Age in the Near East is divided into the following chronology: The EBA is considered to last from the mid/late fourth millennium until 2000 BCE, the MBA from 2000 until the middle of the 16th century BCE, followed by the LBA, lasting until the end of the 12th century BCE. This paper notes that the arbitrary nature of these dates does not reflect regional varieties in development (e.g., iron production took place in Anatolia before the end of the LBA), but considers a referential chronological framework a necessary tool. Fig. 3 shows the changing power dynamic of the LBA as the Mitanni Empire was swallowed by the expanding powers of the Hittites to the west, and Middle Assyrian Empire to the east. The Mitanni Empire is the most poorly understood power