Studi Archeologici Su Qatna 01

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Studi Archeologici Su Qatna 01 STUDI ARCHEOLOGICI 01 SU QATNA URBAN AND NATURAL LANDSCAPES OF AN ANCIENT SYRIAN CAPITAL SETTLEMENT AND ENVIRONMENT AT TELL MISHRIFEH/QATNA AND IN CENTRAL-WESTERN SYRIA EDITED BY DANIELE MORANDI BONACOSSI FORUM Università degli studi di Udine Dipartimento di Storia e tutela dei beni culturali Direction Générale des Antiquités et des Musées de Syrie Missione archeologica italo-siriana a Mishrifeh STUDI ARCHEOLOGICI SU QATNA Risultati delle ricerche archeologiche italo-siriane in Siria centrale SAQ 1 DOCUMENTS D’ARCHÉOLOGIE SYRIENNE (SAQ 1 = DAS XII) Direttori Michel al-Maqdissi Daniele Morandi Bonacossi La serie ‘Studi Archeologici su Qatna’ è pubblicata in coedizione con la serie ‘Documents d’Archéologie Syrienne’ (SAQ 1 = DAS XII) La presente pubblicazione è stata realizzata anche grazie al contributo di e del Dipartimento di Storia e tutela dei beni culturali dell’Università degli studi di Udine In copertina Porta, terrapieno e fossato orientale di Qatna (foto di Daniele Morandi Bonacossi) Progetto grafico della copertina cdm/associati Redazione Paola Iannuzziello e Luigi Turri Impaginazione Grafikesse, Tricesimo (Ud) Stampa Poligrafiche San Marco, Cormons (Go) Università degli studi di Udine Direction Générale des Antiquités et des Musées de Syrie © FORUM 2007 Editrice Universitaria Udinese srl Via Palladio, 8 – 33100 Udine Tel. 0432 26001 / Fax 0432 296756 www.forumeditrice.it ISBN 978-88-8420-418-9 URBAN AND NATURAL LANDSCAPES OF AN ANCIENT SYRIAN CAPITAL SETTLEMENT AND ENVIRONMENT AT TELL MISHRIFEH/QATNA AND IN CENTRAL-WESTERN SYRIA EDITED BY DANIELE MORANDI BONACOSSI Proceedings of the International Conference held in Udine 9-11 December 2004 FORUM Contents Preface p. 9 Editorial Note »11 Foreword »13 Abbreviations »15 The Archaeology of Mishrifeh and its Region during the Bronze and Iron Ages Michel al-Maqdissi Notes d’archéologie levantine X. Introduction aux travaux archéologiques syriens à Mishirfeh/Qatna au nord-est de Homs (Émèse) »19 Peter Pfälzner Archaeological Investigations in the Royal Palace of Qatna »29 Daniele Morandi Bonacossi Qatna and its Hinterland during the Bronze and Iron Ages. A Preliminary Reconstruction of Urbanism and Settlement in the Mishrifeh Region »65 The Environment of Mishrifeh and its Region during the Bronze and Iron Ages Mauro Cremaschi Qatna’s Lake: A Geoarchaeological Study of the Bronze Age Capital »93 Verushka Valsecchi Vegetation and Environmental Changes during the Middle-Late Holocene at Tell Mishrifeh/Qatna: Climate Versus Land-Use » 105 Luca Trombino Micromorphological Reconstruction of the Archaeological Land Use and Palaeoenvironment of Tell Mishrifeh: Evidence from the Sinkhole South of the Site » 115 5 Contents Leonor Peña-Chocarro and Mauro Rottoli Crop Husbandry Practices during the Bronze and Iron Ages in Tell Mishrifeh (Central-Western Syria) » 123 Simone Riehl Preliminary Archaeobotanical Results from the Palace at Qatna (Tell Mishrifeh) » 145 Girolamo Fiorentino and Valentina Caracuta Palaeoclimatic Signals Inferred from Carbon Stable Isotope Analysis of Qatna/Tell Mishrifeh Archaeological Plant Remains » 153 Emmanuelle Vila et Lionel Gourichon Apport de l’étude de la faune mammalienne et de l’avifaune à la réflexion sur l’environnement de Qatna à l’Age du Bronze et à l’Age du Fer » 161 Alessandro Canci and Fulvio Bartoli Food in Ancient Qatna: The Results of Palaeopathological Examination and Trace Element Analysis on Human Bones » 169 Carsten Witzel and Kerstin Kreutz First Results of the Anthropological and Palaeopathological Examination of the Human Skeletal Remains Recovered from the Royal Tomb of Tell Mishrifeh/Qatna » 173 Anna J. Mukherjee, Matthew A. James, Peter Pfälzner and Richard P. Evershed Biomolecular Analysis of Ceramic Containers, Skeletal Remains, Anthropogenic Sediments and Organic Artefacts from the Royal Tomb at Qatna » 189 Christine Pümpin Micromorphological Analyses of the Soil from the Royal Tomb of Qatna » 199 Lara Maritan, Claudio Mazzoli and Fabio Speranza Archaeometrical Study of Bronze and Iron Age Pottery from Tell Mishrifeh/Qatna and Archaeomagnetic Data » 207 Settlement and Landscape in Central-Western Syria: The Archaeological Evidence Jean-Paul Thalmann Settlement Patterns and Agriculture in the Akkar Plain during the Late Early and Early Middle Bronze Ages » 219 Graham Philip Natural and Cultural Aspects of the Development of the Marl Landscape East of Lake Qatina during the Bronze and Iron Ages » 233 Karin Bartl and Michel al-Maqdissi Ancient Settlements in the Middle Orontes Region between 6 Contents ar-Rastan and Qalcat Shayzar. First Results of Archaeological Surface Investigations 2003-2004 » 243 Michel Fortin La vallée du Ghab: nouvelle prospection archéologique » 253 Bernard Geyer, Mohamed al-Dbiyat, Nazir Awad, Olivier Barge, Jacques Besançon, Yves Calvet and Ronald Jaubert The Arid Margins of Northern Syria: Occupation of the Land and Modes of Exploitation in the Bronze Age » 269 Corinne Castel Stratégies de subsistance et modes d’occupation de l’espace dans la micro-région d’Al-Rawda au Bronze ancien final (Shamiyeh) » 283 Settlement and Landscape in Central-Western Syria: The Textual Evidence Jesper Eidem Notes on the Topography of Late Bronze Age Qatna. New Evidence from the ‘Lower City Palace’ Tablets » 297 Thomas Richter Topographical Names in Late Bronze Age Texts Unearthed in Misˇrife/Qa#na » 305 Nele Ziegler Les données des archives royales de Mari sur le milieu naturel et l’occupation humaine en Syrie centrale » 311 Cinzia Pappi The Religious Landscape of Qatna during the Mari Period » 319 Towards a First Reconstruction Mauro Cremaschi (with comments by Alessandro Canci, Lionel Gourichon, Leonor Peña-Chocarro, Christine Pümpin, Simone Riehl and Emmanuelle Vila) The Environment of Ancient Qatna. Contributions from Natural Sciences and Landscape Archaeology » 331 Bernard Geyer Quelques réflexions en guise de synthèse » 337 Index » 341 7 The Religious Landscape of Qatna during the Mari Period Cinzia Pappi1 إن ا ا أن ن ا ا (ادة - اس واآ ا). وه ادات أن ارة ا و ا ار ا واء ا ا. أي ن ا اس ن أو ً ار او . اص ا وار اا ه أس ا ا . وء ا ن رة اص ا ا د إ او ا ا / ا / ا ق و ص ااد ا اة ا وب ر، وإن اع اي آ ن واد ا ص ا أر ري دة ء اة ا وا اة ا ا. هف ا در ار وا س ادة ه ا. ه ا أرا ض " وا أخ وإ ا د وا ر". ن ا ا وا ار ات ار دة ام و أرا ري دة ااد وا وردت اص ل وادي اات. و أن ادة و أ ج ا ال ا. ABSTRACT A ‘religious landscape’ may be defined as the sum of human performances, beliefs, cults, rituals and holy places. Such attitude may mould the landscape and confer to specific architectural or natural spaces a sacred meaning; elsewhere, the holy attributes of a place or a region may be due to the ‘mental maps’ of specific peoples. Written sources and archaeological evidence are required to describe the cultic scenario of this area. Unfortunately the scarcity of written sources, dated to the Middle Bronze Age in Tell Misˇrifeh/Qa#na, is particularly troublesome, since a huge range of elements would be required to provide an outline of the religious landscape of Qa#na and western Syria. However, the variety and the vast number of texts of the Mari archive allow us to a certain extent to construct a political and religious geography for this area. The author’s aim is to present a survey of the archaeological and epigraphical sources of cults of this region. This area involves the Yam‹ad territory (including Alalakh and Ebla), where a devotion to Addu of Aleppo and I$tar is fre- quently attested, the cities of the Mediterranean coast and the Amorite kingdoms, where archaeological evidence of a lithic cult is found, and the territory of Mari, where the worship of ancestors is epigraphically attested along the Euphrates valley. Not surprisingly, the cults of Qa#na appear to form a harmonious mixture of different styles. 1 University of Leipzig and University of Udine. 319 Cinzia Pappi As is well known, epigraphical evidence coming or a region may be due to the mental maps of spe- from the region of Qa#na and from western Syria cific peoples13. To express their religious beliefs during the Middle Bronze Age is very scanty. and to practice their rituals and cults, men have According to the Mari archives, north-western been known to create within urban centres the so- Syria was ruled mainly by the kingdom of Yam‹ad, called topography of cult, which is formed by tem- with its capital, Aleppo2. Its area of influence ples, chapels, cemeteries and monumental graves; essentially extended from the upper Euphrates, in this manner, the cult itself manipulates the including the cities of Karkemi$ and Emar, in the images of gods. East to the Mediterranean Coast westward, con- Moreover, the same attitude induces people to trolling the harbour of Ugarit3. The kingdom of consider some natural sites beyond the urban Qa#na ruled southern Syria4, extending from the ‘mental map’ as sacred ones. Some of them were upper valley of the Orontes River to Qade$ and the sanctified in antiquity because of their location or territory of Palmyra. Further in the South we find their morphology, such as a high mountain, a cave the Amorite kingdoms of Gubla – later Byblos – or a river, particular examples could be the cele- and ›a%or5. Qa#na and especially Aleppo were the bration of river Euphrates and the Ôabal Sin‚ªr, two substantial Syrian centres, but no significant both attested as deified areas. From this point of archive concerning this period has yet been found view, some places were also celebrated as having a in either. The cuneiform sources dating to this specific role within the cult, i.e. the river within the period come from cities linked to Yam‹ad, such as ritual ordeal, or even because they were the back- Ebla6 and Alala‹7, though the epigraphical evi- drop of memorable events, thus becoming sacred dence from the former is almost exclusively limit- because they were marked by monuments honour- ed to the Statue-inscription of king Ibbit-L‰m.
Recommended publications
  • Miscellaneous Babylonian Inscriptions
    MISCELLANEOUS BABYLONIAN INSCRIPTIONS BY GEORGE A. BARTON PROFESSOR IN BRYN MAWR COLLEGE ttCI.f~ -VIb NEW HAVEN YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON HUMPHREY MILFORD OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS MDCCCCXVIII COPYRIGHT 1918 BY YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS First published, August, 191 8. TO HAROLD PEIRCE GENEROUS AND EFFICIENT HELPER IN GOOD WORKS PART I SUMERIAN RELIGIOUS TEXTS INTRODUCTORY NOTE The texts in this volume have been copied from tablets in the University Museum, Philadelphia, and edited in moments snatched from many other exacting duties. They present considerable variety. No. i is an incantation copied from a foundation cylinder of the time of the dynasty of Agade. It is the oldest known religious text from Babylonia, and perhaps the oldest in the world. No. 8 contains a new account of the creation of man and the development of agriculture and city life. No. 9 is an oracle of Ishbiurra, founder of the dynasty of Nisin, and throws an interesting light upon his career. It need hardly be added that the first interpretation of any unilingual Sumerian text is necessarily, in the present state of our knowledge, largely tentative. Every one familiar with the language knows that every text presents many possi- bilities of translation and interpretation. The first interpreter cannot hope to have thought of all of these, or to have decided every delicate point in a way that will commend itself to all his colleagues. The writer is indebted to Professor Albert T. Clay, to Professor Morris Jastrow, Jr., and to Dr. Stephen Langdon for many helpful criticisms and suggestions. Their wide knowl- edge of the religious texts of Babylonia, generously placed at the writer's service, has been most helpful.
    [Show full text]
  • 3 a Typology of Sumerian Copular Clauses36
    3 A Typology of Sumerian Copular Clauses36 3.1 Introduction CCs may be classified according to a number of characteristics. Jagersma (2010, pp. 687-705) gives a detailed description of Sumerian CCs arranged according to the types of constituents that may function as S or PC. Jagersma’s description is the most detailed one ever written about CCs in Sumerian, and particularly, the parts on clauses with a non-finite verbal form as the PC are extremely insightful. Linguistic studies on CCs, however, discuss the kind of constituents in CCs only in connection with another kind of classification which appears to be more relevant to the description of CCs. This classification is based on the semantic properties of CCs, which in turn have a profound influence on their grammatical and pragmatic properties. In this chapter I will give a description of CCs based mainly on the work of Renaat Declerck (1988) (which itself owes much to Higgins [1979]), and Mikkelsen (2005). My description will also take into account the information structure of CCs. Information structure is understood as “a phenomenon of information packaging that responds to the immediate communicative needs of interlocutors” (Krifka, 2007, p. 13). CCs appear to be ideal for studying the role information packaging plays in Sumerian grammar. Their morphology and structure are much simpler than the morphology and structure of clauses with a non-copular finite verb, and there is a more transparent connection between their pragmatic characteristics and their structure. 3.2 The Classification of Copular Clauses in Linguistics CCs can be divided into three main types on the basis of their meaning: predicational, specificational, and equative.
    [Show full text]
  • Sumerian Lexicon, Version 3.0 1 A
    Sumerian Lexicon Version 3.0 by John A. Halloran The following lexicon contains 1,255 Sumerian logogram words and 2,511 Sumerian compound words. A logogram is a reading of a cuneiform sign which represents a word in the spoken language. Sumerian scribes invented the practice of writing in cuneiform on clay tablets sometime around 3400 B.C. in the Uruk/Warka region of southern Iraq. The language that they spoke, Sumerian, is known to us through a large body of texts and through bilingual cuneiform dictionaries of Sumerian and Akkadian, the language of their Semitic successors, to which Sumerian is not related. These bilingual dictionaries date from the Old Babylonian period (1800-1600 B.C.), by which time Sumerian had ceased to be spoken, except by the scribes. The earliest and most important words in Sumerian had their own cuneiform signs, whose origins were pictographic, making an initial repertoire of about a thousand signs or logograms. Beyond these words, two-thirds of this lexicon now consists of words that are transparent compounds of separate logogram words. I have greatly expanded the section containing compounds in this version, but I know that many more compound words could be added. Many cuneiform signs can be pronounced in more than one way and often two or more signs share the same pronunciation, in which case it is necessary to indicate in the transliteration which cuneiform sign is meant; Assyriologists have developed a system whereby the second homophone is marked by an acute accent (´), the third homophone by a grave accent (`), and the remainder by subscript numerals.
    [Show full text]
  • Syria Drought Response Plan
    SYRIA DROUGHT RESPONSE PLAN A Syrian farmer shows a photo of his tomato-producing field before the drought (June 2009) (Photo Paolo Scaliaroma, WFP / Surendra Beniwal, FAO) UNITED NATIONS SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC - Reference Map Elbistan Silvan Siirt Diyarbakir Batman Adiyaman Sivarek Kahramanmaras Kozan Kadirli TURKEY Viransehir Mardin Sanliurfa Kiziltepe Nusaybin Dayrik Zakhu Osmaniye Ceyhan Gaziantep Adana Al Qamishli Nizip Tarsus Dortyol Midan Ikbis Yahacik Kilis Tall Tamir AL HASAKAH Iskenderun A'zaz Manbij Saluq Afrin Mare Al Hasakah Tall 'Afar Reyhanli Aleppo Al Bab Sinjar Antioch Dayr Hafir Buhayrat AR RAQQA As Safirah al Asad Idlib Ar Raqqah Ash Shaddadah ALEPPO Hamrat Ariha r bu AAbubu a add D Duhuruhur Madinat a LATAKIA IDLIB Ath Thawrah h Resafa K l Ma'arat a Haffe r Ann Nu'man h Latakia a Jableh Dayr az Zawr N El Aatabe Baniyas Hama HAMA Busayrah a e S As Saiamiyah TARTU S Masyaf n DAYR AZ ZAWR a e n Ta rtus Safita a Dablan r r e Tall Kalakh t Homs i Al Hamidiyah d Tadmur E e uphrates Anah M (Palmyra) Tripoli Al Qusayr Abu Kamal Sadad Al Qa’im HOMS LEBANON Al Qaryatayn Hadithah BEYRUT An Nabk Duma Dumayr DAMASCUS Tyre DAMASCUS QQuneitrauneitra Ar Rutbah QUNEITRA Haifa Tiberias AS SUWAIDA IRAQ DAR’A Trebil ISRAELI S R A E L DDarar'a As Suwayda Irbid Jenin Mahattat al Jufur Jarash Nabulus Al Mafraq West JORDAN Bank AMMAN JERUSALEM Bayt Lahm Madaba SAUDI ARABIA Legend Elevation (meters) National capital 5,000 and above First administrative level capital 4,000 - 5,000 Populated place 3,000 - 4,000 International boundary 2,500 - 3,000 First administrative level boundary 2,000 - 2,500 1,500 - 2,000 050100150 1,000 - 1,500 800 - 1,000 km 600 - 800 Disclaimers: The designations employed and the presentation of material 400 - 600 on this map do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal 200 - 400 status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
    [Show full text]
  • From Small States to Universalism in the Pre-Islamic Near East
    REVOLUTIONIZING REVOLUTIONIZING Mark Altaweel and Andrea Squitieri and Andrea Mark Altaweel From Small States to Universalism in the Pre-Islamic Near East This book investigates the long-term continuity of large-scale states and empires, and its effect on the Near East’s social fabric, including the fundamental changes that occurred to major social institutions. Its geographical coverage spans, from east to west, modern- day Libya and Egypt to Central Asia, and from north to south, Anatolia to southern Arabia, incorporating modern-day Oman and Yemen. Its temporal coverage spans from the late eighth century BCE to the seventh century CE during the rise of Islam and collapse of the Sasanian Empire. The authors argue that the persistence of large states and empires starting in the eighth/ seventh centuries BCE, which continued for many centuries, led to new socio-political structures and institutions emerging in the Near East. The primary processes that enabled this emergence were large-scale and long-distance movements, or population migrations. These patterns of social developments are analysed under different aspects: settlement patterns, urban structure, material culture, trade, governance, language spread and religion, all pointing at population movement as the main catalyst for social change. This book’s argument Mark Altaweel is framed within a larger theoretical framework termed as ‘universalism’, a theory that explains WORLD A many of the social transformations that happened to societies in the Near East, starting from Andrea Squitieri the Neo-Assyrian period and continuing for centuries. Among other infl uences, the effects of these transformations are today manifested in modern languages, concepts of government, universal religions and monetized and globalized economies.
    [Show full text]
  • Exhibition Checklist I. Creating Palmyra's Legacy
    EXHIBITION CHECKLIST 1. Caravan en route to Palmyra, anonymous artist after Louis-François Cassas, ca. 1799. Proof-plate etching. 15.5 x 27.3 in. (29.2 x 39.5 cm). The Getty Research Institute, 840011 I. CREATING PALMYRA'S LEGACY Louis-François Cassas Artist and Architect 2. Colonnade Street with Temple of Bel in background, Georges Malbeste and Robert Daudet after Louis-François Cassas. Etching. Plate mark: 16.9 x 36.6 in. (43 x 93 cm). From Voyage pittoresque de la Syrie, de la Phoénicie, de la Palestine, et de la Basse Egypte (Paris, ca. 1799), vol. 1, pl. 58. The Getty Research Institute, 840011 1 3. Architectural ornament from Palmyra tomb, Jean-Baptiste Réville and M. A. Benoist after Louis-François Cassas. Etching. Plate mark: 18.3 x 11.8 in. (28.5 x 45 cm). From Voyage pittoresque de la Syrie, de la Phoénicie, de la Palestine, et de la Basse Egypte (Paris, ca. 1799), vol. 1, pl. 137. The Getty Research Institute, 840011 4. Louis-François Cassas sketching outside of Homs before his journey to Palmyra (detail), Simon-Charles Miger after Louis-François Cassas. Etching. Plate mark: 8.4 x 16.1 in. (21.5 x 41cm). From Voyage pittoresque de la Syrie, de la Phoénicie, de la Palestine, et de la Basse Egypte (Paris, ca. 1799), vol. 1, pl. 20. The Getty Research Institute, 840011 5. Louis-François Cassas presenting gifts to Bedouin sheikhs, Simon Charles-Miger after Louis-François Cassas. Etching. Plate mark: 8.4 x 16.1 in. (21.5 x 41 cm).
    [Show full text]
  • ANCIENT NECROPOLIS UNEARTHED Italian Archaeologists Lead Dig Near Palmyra
    Home > News in English > News » le news di oggi » le news di ieri » 2008-12-17 12:11 ANCIENT NECROPOLIS UNEARTHED Italian archaeologists lead dig near Palmyra (ANSA) - Udine, December 17 - An Italian-led team of experts has uncovered a vast, ancient necropolis near the Syrian oasis of Palmyra. The team, headed by Daniele Morandi Bonacossi of Udine University, believes the burial site dates from the second half of the third millennium BC. The necropolis comprises around least 30 large burial mounds near Palmyra, some 200km northeast of Damascus. ''This is the first evidence that an area of semi-desert outside the oasis was occupied during the early Bronze Age,'' said Morandi Bonacossi. ''Future excavations of the burial mounds will undoubtedly reveal information of crucial importance''. The team of archaeologists, topographers, physical anthropologists and geophysicists also discovered a stretch of an old Roman road. This once linked Palmyra with western Syria and was marked with at least 11 milestones along the way. The stones all bear Latin inscriptions with the name of the Emperor Aurelius, who quashed a rebellion led by the Palmyran queen Zenobia in AD 272. The archaeologists also unearthed a Roman staging post, or ''mansio''. The ancient building had been perfectly preserved over the course of the centuries by a heavy layer of desert sand. The team from Udine University made their discoveries during their tenth annual excavation in central Syria, which wrapped up at the end of November. The necropolis is the latest in a string of dazzling finds by the team. Efforts have chiefly focused on the ancient Syrian capital of Qatna, northeast of modern-day Homs.
    [Show full text]
  • Syrian Qanat Romani: History, Ecology, Abandonment
    Journal of Arid Environments (1996) 33: 321–336 Syrian qanat Romani: history, ecology, abandonment Dale R. Lightfoot Department of Geography, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma 74078, U.S.A. (Received 21 April 1995, accepted 10 July 1995) Syrian qanat Romani (subterranean aqueducts) were studied as part of a broader project examining the role of qanats in a modern world. Fieldwork was designed to: (1) produce a comprehensive map showing the location and current status of all Syrian qanats; (2) determine the relationship between qanat sites, ancient settlements, and ecological zones; and (3) evaluate the degree to which modern water technology has displaced qanat systems and assess the impact of these changes on Syria’s ground-water resources. A map showing the distribution and status of qanats across Syria presents a picture of widespread abandonment of recently desiccated qanats, implicating ground-water depletion and underscoring the need for coordinated and sustainable aquifer management in Syria. ©1996 Academic Press Limited Keywords: qanets; Syria; aquifers; water resources; ground-water Introduction New and often rapacious water technologies have all but replaced traditional irrigation systems in the Middle East, aggravating an impending water crisis and further complicating regional water compacts in an already politically complex region. ‘Out with the old and in with the new’ is, however, the inevitable outcome in a region that is modernizing its modes of production and geometrically multiplying its population. Traditional, lower-impact irrigation technologies can no longer support the region’s rapidly burgeoning numbers of people. Yet newer technologies — especially ground- water pumping devices — cannot for long keep pace with rising water needs, and may instead deplete now viable aquifers and preclude their use even for lower-impact traditional irrigation.
    [Show full text]
  • The Battle for Al Qusayr, Syria
    June 2013 The Battle for al Qusayr, Syria TRADOC G-2 Intelligence Support Activity (TRISA) Complex Operational Environment and Threat Integration Directorate (CTID) [Type the author name] United States Army 6/1/2012 Threats Integration Team Threat Report Purpose To inform the Army training community of real world example of Hybrid Threat capabilities in a dynamic operating environment To illustrate current tactics for Hybrid Threat insurgent operations To illustrate Hybrid Threat counterinsurgency operations using a current conflict To provide a short history of the conflict in the al Qusayr and the al Assi basin To describe the importance of the lines of communications from Lebanon to Syria Executive Summary The al Qusayr area of operations is a critical logistics hub for the rebel forces fighting against the Syrian government known as the Free Syrian Army (FSA). A number of external actors and international terror organizations have joined the fight in the al Assi basin on both sides of the conflict. The al Assi basin and the city of al Qusayr can be considered critical terrain and key to the future outcome of the conflict in Syria. Conventional and unconventional as well as irregular forces are all present in this area and are adapting tactics in order to achieve a decisive outcome for their cause. Cover photo: Pro Regime Leaflets Dropped on al Qusayr During the Second Offensive, 21 MAY 2013. 2 UNCLASSIFIED Threats Integration Team Threat Report Map Figure 1. The al Assi River Basin and city of al Qusayr Introduction Al Qusayr, a village in Syria’s Homs district, is a traditional transit point for personnel and goods traveling across the Lebanon/Syria border.
    [Show full text]
  • Terrestrial Forest Management Plan for Palmyra Atoll
    Prepared for The Nature Conservancy Palmyra Program Terrestrial Forest Management Plan for Palmyra Atoll Open-File Report 2011–1007 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Cover: Images showing native species of the terrestrial forest at Palmyra Atoll (on the left from top to bottom: red-footed boobies, an undescribed gecko, and a coconut crab). The forests shown are examples of Pisonia grandis forest on Lost Islet (above) and an example of coconut palm monoculture on Kaula Islet (below) at Palmyra Atoll. (Photographs by Stacie Hathaway, U.S. Geological Survey, 2008.) Terrestrial Forest Management Plan for Palmyra Atoll By Stacie A. Hathaway, Kathryn McEachern, and Robert N. Fisher Prepared for The Nature Conservancy Palmyra Program Open-File Report 2011–1007 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior KEN SALAZAR, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey Marcia K. McNutt, Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2011 For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment, visit http://www.usgs.gov or call 1–888–ASK–USGS. For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod To order this and other USGS information products, visit http://store.usgs.gov Suggested citation: Hathaway, S.A., McEachern, K., and Fisher, R.N., 2011, Terrestrial forest management plan for Palmyra Atoll: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2011–1007, 78 p. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Cuneiform Sign List ⊭ ⅗⋼⊑∾ ⊭‸↪≿
    CUNEIFORM SIGN LIST ⊭ ⅗⋼⊑∾ ⊭‸↪≿ Kateřina Šašková Pilsen 2021 CONTENTS Cuneiform Sign List...........................................................................................................................3 References and Sources.................................................................................................................511 Abbreviations.................................................................................................................................513 2 CUNEIFORM SIGN LIST AŠ 001 001 U+12038 (ASH) (1, ANA , AS , AṢ , AŠ ‸ 3 3 3 ‸ (MesZL: see also U.DAR (nos. 670+183)), AŠA, AŠŠA, AZ3, DAL3, DEL, DELE, DEŠ2, DIL, DILI, DIŠ2, EŠ20, GE15, GEŠ4 (MesZL: perhaps to be erased, Deimel GEŠ), GUBRU2 (Labat; MesZL: GUBRU2 read LIRU2), ḪIL2 (Labat; MesZL: ḪIL2 missing), IN6 (MesZL: Labat IN3; Labat: IN6), INA, LIRI2 (MesZL: Labat GUBRU2), LIRU2 (MesZL: Labat GUBRU2), LIRUM2 (MesZL: Labat GUBRU2), MAKAŠ2, MAKKAŠ2, RAM2 (MesZL: ?), RIM5, RU3, RUM, SAGTAG, SAGTAK, SALUGUB, SANTA, SANTAG, SANTAK, SIMED (Labat: in index, in syllabary missing; 3 MesZL: SIMED missing), ŠUP2 (MesZL: Labat ŠUP3), ŠUP3 (Labat; MesZL: ŠUP2, ŠUP3 = ŠAB (no. 466)), TAL3, TIL4, ṬIL, UBU (Labat: in index, in syllabary missing; MesZL: UBU = GE23 (no. 575)), UTAK (Labat: in index, in syllabary missing; MesZL: UTAK = GE22 (no. 647))) (ePSD; Akkadian Dictionary) AŠ.DAR (MesZL: also AŠ.TAR2, old form of U.DAR (no. U+12038 & 670), see also U+1206F 001+183 001+114 (ASH & GE23.DAR (no. 575) ‸ ‸ DAR) and DIŠ.DAR (no. 748)) (ePSD; Akkadian Dictionary)
    [Show full text]
  • The Perdum-Mule, a Mount for Distinguished Persons in Mesopotamia During the fi Rst Half of the Second Millennium BC By
    190 The perdum-mule, a mount for distinguished persons in Mesopotamia during the fi rst half of the second millennium BC by Cécile Michel Fig. 7. Map of the area. [First. Unnumbered note: (*) Bibliography and sigla of Traditionally Mesopotamia defi nes the region bounded the Old Assyrian texts cited in this article are detailed by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, but in a more conven- in C. Michel, Old Assyrian Bibliography, Old Assyrian tional way, it covers the whole area where people used Archives. Studies 1, Leiden, 2003.] cuneiform script on clay tablets, from Iran to Anatolia, from the Zagros mountains to the Persian Gulf. The area Abstract: concerned by this study is limited mainly to Anatolia Among the many equids used at the beginning of the second millen- nium B. C. in Northern Mesopotamia, the perdum, an hybrid, is at- and Syria. tested only in few corpuses: the Old Assyrian merchant archives found Equids in the Ancient Near East are divided into in Central Anatolia in the ancient town Kaniš and dated to the 19th and three different groups: asses (equus asinus), half-asses 18th centuries B. C., the royal archives of Mari, Northern Syria, from (equus hemionus) and horses (equus caballus), and their the 18th century B. C., the tablets from Ugarit, half a millennium later, or even in the Bible. The aim of this article is to analyse the use and hybrids. The studies on this subject are already numer- the value of the perdum, compared to the picture given by the other ous, especially for the written documentation of the third equids documented in texts, iconography and by the archaeozoology.
    [Show full text]