Assyria and the West

Contents

PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A GENERAL INTRODUCTION: ‘ASSYRIA AND THE WEST’ –  Peter James†, Pieter van der Veen and Ronald Wallenfels (eds)

OBITUARY FOR PETER JAMES† (1952–2024) – John Bimson

SESSION 1: THE PRESENT STATE OF MESOPOTAMIAN AND HITTITE CHRONOLOGY: UNSOLVED ISSUES AND FRESH APPROACHES

AN INTRODUCTION TO SESSION ONE: ‘DOES ANYBODY REALLY KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?̕ – Ronald Wallenfels 

ASSYRIAN AND MITANNIAN POTTERY STYLES: FROM ASSUR TO THE EUPHRATES AND BEYOND – Robert Porter

DISCUSSION 1: THE NORTH SYRIAN ḪURRIAN KINGDOMS AND DARK AGE CHRONOLOGY – Ronald Wallenfels and Peter James†

A CRITICAL LOOK AT MESOPOTAMIAN-EGYPTIAN SYNCHRONISMS DURING THE 14TH–13TH CENTURIES BC – Peter James†

MIDDLE ASSYRIAN HISTORY AND CULTURE AND DARK AGE ASSYRIAN CHRONOLOGY – Ronald Wallenfels

TWO PARALLEL LINES DURING THE MIDDLE AND EARLY NEO-ASSYRIAN PERIOD – Bieke Mahieu

EA 16: NAPḪURIYA REVISITED – Johannes Dams

ELAMITE DARK AGE CHRONOLOGY – Yuri Khramov

DISCUSSION 2: Assyria and the Post-Kassite Period IN THE LIGHT OF CoD CHRONOLOGY – Ronald Wallenfels

DATING HARTAPU: THE TROUBLED RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ARCHAEOLOGY AND TEXTS – Jorrit Kelder

THE HITTITE NEW KINGDOM AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE NEO-HITTITE KINGDOMS: GAP OR CONTINUITY? – Peter James† and Bieke Mahieu

SESSION 2: THE LEVANT AND THE EFFECTS OF ASSYRIAN CHRONOLOGY

A DARK AGE HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT? AN INTRODUCTION – John Bimson

AN ALTERNATIVE PARADIGM FOR ISRAEL’S ORIGINS IN CANAAN – John Bimson

PHOENICIA AT THE LATE BRONZE–IRON AGE TRANSITION – Jesse Millek

TOWARDS A RESOLUTION OF THE ‘SEA PEOPLES’ RUBIKS CUBE: HIRAM, KING OF THE SEA PEOPLES? – Peter James†

‘REDATING THE BYBLOS INSCRIPTIONS’: ULTRA-LOW CHRONOLOGIES AND THE DATING OF EARLY 1ST MILLENNIUM BCE LEVANTINE MATERIAL CULTURE AND HISTORY – Ronald Wallenfels

CHRONOLOGICAL DATA AND MID-NINTH CENTURY BC ISRAEL – Wolfgang Zwickel

ASSYRIAN SYNCHRONISMS AND THE TYRIAN ANNALS – Nikos Kokkinos

‘LATE ASSYRIAN-STYLE’ SEALS, BULLAE AND POTTERY AS CHRONOLOGICAL MARKERS FOR DATING IRON AGE IIB – Pieter van der Veen

IN DUBIO PRO REO: THE CASE OF SENNACHERIB AND THE BEERSHEBA VALLEY – Ariel Bagg

THE CHRONOLOGY OF EDOM IN THE IRON AGE: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE EVIDENCE – Juan Tebes

TEXT-IMPEDED ARCHAEOLOGY: ASSYRIAN INVOLVEMENT AT SAMARIA AND TELL ES-SA’IDIYEH – Rupert Chapman

DISCUSSION 3: NEO-BABYLONIAN AND ACHAEMENID PERIOD POTTERY MARKERS FROM TELL ES-SA’IDIYEH STRATUM IV – Pieter van der Veen

DISCUSSION 4: In dubio pro reo. The case of Sennacherib and the Beersheba Valley – Peter James†

SESSION 3: SCIENTIFIC DATING METHODS

‘ASSYRIA AND THE WEST’ IN THE LIGHT OF SCIENTIFIC DATING: AN INTRODUCTION – Uwe Zerbst

OPEN QUESTIONS REGARDING THE RELIABILITY OF ¹⁴C DATING IN THE CONTEXT OF ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN CHRONOLOGY – Uwe Zerbst and Pieter van der Veen

THE AMMIṢADUQA TABLETS AND BABYLONIAN CHRONOLOGY IN RETROSPECT: SUCCESSES AND FAILURES – David Lappin

ANCIENT DNA: THE SOLUTION TO EVERYTHING OR THE DEVIL’S WORK? – Nick Thorpe

About the Author

Pieter Gert van der Veen (PhD, habil.) is a reader in Levantine archaeology at the University of Mainz. Besides being a prolific writer on archaeological topics, he has excavated at various sites in Israel and has conducted archaeological field work in East Jerusalem. He specialises in inscribed seals and scarabs from ancient Israel and Jordan, West Semitic epigraphy, the history and archaeology of monarchic Judah, and Late Bronze Age burial finds from Eastern Jerusalem.

Ronald Wallenfels PhD is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, New York University, and a former Associate Curator in the Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. He has published extensively in monographs, journal articles, and critical reviews on both the languages and art history of the Ancient Near East from the Early Bronze Age through the end of the Hellenistic period.

Peter James (1952-2024) was an independent researcher specialising in ancient history, archaeology and the chronology of the Eastern Mediterranean, ancient technology and astronomy, and sub-Roman Britain. He graduated in archaeology and ancient history at the University of Birmingham and pursued postgraduate research in ancient history at University College London. He authored and co-authored many articles and books, including Centuries of Darkness: A challenge to the conventional chronology of Old World archaeology (London, 1991).