Exploring the Rural Landscape of the Neo-Assyrian Empire: Settlement Increase in the Iron Age Near East Parthiban Yahambaram UCL Institute of Archaeology Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for Doctor of Philosophy in Near Eastern Archaeology July 2018 I, Parthiban Yahambaram, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would never have been written without the guidance, teaching and support given to me by my supervisor, Dr. Rachael Sparks. I would also like to thank my beloved wife Sophie for her love and support, and especially for being patient with me. 2 ABSTRACT The Neo-Assyrian Empire was a complex political entity that controlled most of the Near East from the 9th to the 7th centuries BCE. This empire has been described in recent scholarship as having made a unique imprint on the regional landscape. This thesis is a re-examination of the archaeological evidence that explores the changes in settlement patterns that have been noted in surveys carried out in various parts of the Near East. It also examines excavation evidence from a number of sites in former Assyrian provinces in order to obtain a clearer picture of the rural landscape of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, and to consider whether the Pax Assyriaca hypothesis provides a valid interpretative framework for the survey and excavation evidence. The thesis will reconsider the survey data from the Tigris-Euphrates Archaeological Reconnaissance Project, which was used to support the ‘agricultural colonisation’ hypothesis proposed by Bradley Parker, and compare this with evidence obtained from other surveys conducted in Syro-Mesopotamia and the southern Levant. It will then examine excavation evidence from a series of sites – a medium-sized tell in the upper Euphrates region, four small sites in the Upper Tigris valley, four other small sites in Syro-Mesopotamia and two small sites in the southern Levant. These sites have been selected to provide a sample of the different kinds of settlements that were established in the Assyrian countryside. The examined evidence will show that there was a definite increase in settlement in the Neo-Assyrian period, which means that these changes are likely to have been the result of Assyrian policy. The thesis will then conclude with a discussion of the different roles (either agricultural or military) played by these sites, and of the potential function of the larger buildings discovered in some of them. These findings will provide a better understanding of the countryside during this period, and a more elaborate picture of the landscape of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. 3 IMPACT STATEMENT The archaeological evidence considered in this thesis shows that there was an increase in settlement across the Near East during the Iron Age and broadly substantiates the arguments put forward by those scholars who have suggested that there was a kind of Pax Assyriaca in the Near East during the 8th and 7th centuries BCE. This model is at variance with the traditional perception of the Assyrian Empire as a brutal and destructive polity, which derives partly from its overwhelmingly negative portrayal in the Old Testament. This thesis will therefore contribute to the development of a more nuanced perception of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, which regards it as a complex political entity that impacted its neighbouring regions in a variety of ways. Such a shift in our perception can benefit investigations about the Assyrian Empire by providing a more comprehensive understanding of this polity and a more realistic context for future studies of regional patterns. The evidence considered in this dissertation also raises a number of interesting questions that further investigation (including both surveys and excavations) might be able to resolve. First, the evidence from some of the smaller sites examined in this thesis demonstrates a pattern in which a number of smaller structures are dominated by a single large building, which may imply that the increase in settlement detected in this region by surveys could have been driven by wealthy families (or individuals). This highlights the need for further excavations of smaller sites in this region in order to explore whether this might be a recurring pattern, as well as for excavations of small sites in the Assyrian heartland itself, to investigate whether the same pattern is present there. In addition, the evidence discussed in this thesis also suggests that there is a need for more controlled stratigraphic excavations of larger mounds (like Tille Höyük), which can help to refine our understanding of the ceramic corpus of the Early Iron period in both the Upper Tigris and the Middle Euphrates regions. The research methodology used in this thesis, which involves examining settlement patterns and then correlating these with excavation evidence from small- and medium-sized sites, also demonstrates the benefit of exploring the impact of Assyrian expansion across a number of different regions, as it shows that the response to imperial expansion can vary according to the nature of the interaction between conquered and conquering peoples. This approach could also be usefully applied to the study of other ancient empires, in order to provide us with a more thorough understanding of the nature of ancient imperialism, which appears to have differed quite substantially from its modern counterpart. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations 11 Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 15 1.1 Research Questions 16 1.2 The Pax Assyriaca Model 17 1.2.1 Antecedents 17 1.2.2 ‘Agricultural Colonisation’? 18 1.2.3 Questioning the Model 20 1.2.4 Methodological Issues 20 1.3 Outline of Chapters 21 Chapter 2 HISTORICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL ISSUES 23 2.1 Historical Outline 23 2.1.1 The Middle Assyrian Kingdom 24 2.1.2 The Late Bronze Collapse 25 2.1.3 The Neo-Assyrian Empire 26 2.1.3.1 Ashurnasirpal II 26 2.1.3.2 Shalmanaser III 27 2.1.3.3 Tiglath-pileser III 28 2.1.3.4 Sargon II and Sennacherib 29 2.1.3.5 Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal 29 2.1.3.6 The Fall of the Assyrian Empire 30 2.2 Historical Sources 31 2.2.1 The Assyrian Sources 31 2.2.2 The Biblical Text 33 2.3 Conclusion 34 Chapter 3 POTTERY 35 3.1 The Neo-Assyrian Assemblage 35 3.1.1 Bowls 37 3.1.1.1 Shallow Bowls 37 3.1.2.2 Deep Bowls 37 3.1.2.3 Carinated Bowls 38 3.1.2.4 Smaller Sized Bowls 39 3.1.2.5 Miscellaneous Types 40 5 3.1.2 Chalices 40 3.1.3 Tripods 40 3.1.4 Cooking Pots 41 3.1.5 Kraters 41 3.1.6 Storage Jars 41 3.1.7 Beakers 42 3.1.8 Bottles 42 3.1.8.1 Goblets 43 3.1.8.2 Bottles with Globular or Ovoid Bodies 43 3.1.8.3 Bottles with Elongated Bodies 44 3.1.8.4 Bottle with Squat Body 44 3.1.9 Spouted Vessels 44 3.1.10 Miniature Vessels 44 3.1.11 Stands 45 3.1.12 Lamps 45 3.1.13 Palace Ware 45 3.2 The Middle Assyrian Assemblage 46 3.3 Grooved Ware 48 3.4 Iron Age Pottery of the Southern Levant 49 3.4.1 Carinated Bowls 49 3.4.2 Kraters 50 3.4.3 Cooking Pots 50 3.4.4 Storage Jars 50 3.4.5 Jugs 51 3.5 Conclusions 52 Chapter 4 THE TIGRIS-EUPHRATES ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE PROJECT 53 4.1 Background 54 4.1.1 Survey and Processing Methodology 54 4.1.2 Ceramics 55 4.1.2.1 The Neo-Assyrian Assemblage 56 4.1.2.2 The Middle Assyrian Assemblage 57 4.1.2.3 Grooved Ware 58 4.1.2.4 ‘Indigenous’ Ceramic Forms 58 4.2 The Cizre-Silopi Plain 60 4.2.1 Geography 60 4.2.2 Settlement Patterns 60 4.2.3 Discussion 62 4.3 The Upper Tigris-Batman Region 63 6 4.3.1 Geography 64 4.3.2 Settlement Patterns 64 4.3.3 Discussion 65 4.4 The Bohtan and Garzan Valleys 66 4.4.1 Geography 67 4.4.2 Settlement Patterns 67 4.4.2.1 The Bohtan Valley 67 4.4.2.2 The Garzan Valley 68 4.4.3 Discussion 68 4.5 Discussion 69 4.5.1 Evidence for Resettlement 69 4.5.2 The Process of ‘Agricultural Colonisation’ 71 4.5.3 Conclusions 72 Chapter 5 THE LAND OF CARCHEMISH PROJECT 75 5.1 Background 76 5.2 Geography 76 5.3 Settlement Patterns 77 5.4 Discussion 79 Chapter 6 THE NORTH JAZIRA SURVEY 81 6.1 Background 81 6.2 Geography 82 6.3 Settlement Patterns 83 6.4 Discussion 84 Chapter 7 THE TELL BEYDAR SURVEY 87 7.1 Background 87 7.2 Geography 88 7.3 Settlement Patterns 88 7.4 Discussion 89 Chapter 8 THE SOUTHERN SAMARIA SURVEY 91 8.1 Background 91 8.2 Geography 92 8.3 Settlement Patterns 94 8.4 Discussion 95 8.5 Conclusions 97 Chapter 9 TILLE HÖYÜK 99 7 9.1 Background 100 9.2 Historical Context 101 9.3 Stratigraphy and Architecture 101 9.3.1 Late Bronze-Iron Transitional Period 102 9.3.2 Early Iron Age 103 9.3.3 Middle Iron Age 104 9.3.4 Neo-Assyrian Period 107 9.4 Discussion 109 9.4.1 A Separation of Function? 109 9.4.2 An Agricultural Establishment? 111 9.4.3 Conclusion 114 Chapter 10 SMALLER SITES IN THE UPPER TIGRIS REGION 115 10.1 Zeviya Tivilki 115 10.1.1 Background 116 10.1.2 Findings 116 10.1.2.1 Building A 116 10.1.2.2 Burials 118 10.1.2.3 Building B 118 10.1.2.4 Building C 118 10.1.2.5 Building D 119 10.1.2.6 Building E 119 10.1.2.7 Building F 120 10.1.2.8 Canal and Oven 120 10.1.3 Discussion 120 10.2 Kilokki Rabiseki 122 10.2.1 Background 122 10.2.2 Findings 123 10.2.3 Discussion 123 10.3 Boztepe 124 10.3.1 Background 124 10.3.2 Findings 124 10.3.3 Discussion 126 10.4 Hirbemerdon Tepe 127 10.4.1 Background 127 10.4.2 Findings 128 10.4.2.1 Area A and Step Trench AC 128 10.4.2.2 Area D 129 10.4.2.3 Area B 129 10.4.3 Discussion 130 8 10.5 Conclusions 130 Chapter 11 SMALLER SITES IN SYRO-MESOPOTAMIA 133 11.1 Bir el-Haddad 133 11.1.1 Background 134 11.1.2 Findings 134 11.1.3