The Scale and Extent of Political Economies of the Middle Bronze Age Jazīrah and the Bilād al-Šām (c. 1800-1600 BCE)
Rattenborg, Rune LU
(2016)
- Abstract
- The present thesis investigates the material scale of six political economies
distributed across the dry-farming plains and piedmonts of the Middle Bronze Age
Jazīrah and the Bilād al-Šām. This is done using a comparative and interdisciplinary
approach combining the large-scale analysis of administrative cuneiform texts with
the compilation of relevant archaeological survey datasets. Drawing on theories and
methods developed in landscape archaeology and historical sociology, the thesis
builds a regional analysis of economic scale through a focus on three analytical
units; the institutional household, the parent site, and the associated micro-region.
Based on a dataset extracted from c. 1500 administrative... (More) - The present thesis investigates the material scale of six political economies
distributed across the dry-farming plains and piedmonts of the Middle Bronze Age
Jazīrah and the Bilād al-Šām. This is done using a comparative and interdisciplinary
approach combining the large-scale analysis of administrative cuneiform texts with
the compilation of relevant archaeological survey datasets. Drawing on theories and
methods developed in landscape archaeology and historical sociology, the thesis
builds a regional analysis of economic scale through a focus on three analytical
units; the institutional household, the parent site, and the associated micro-region.
Based on a dataset extracted from c. 1500 administrative cuneiform texts from the
six study sites, the analytical chapters present a comprehensive discussion of the
socio-economic and technological context of chief agricultural and animal resources
and the material scale of their production, manipulation, circulation, and
consumption. These investigations are undertaken focusing on three spheres of
social action, namely the urban neighbourhood, agricultural regimes, and livestock
management. The analysis concludes by drawing together quantitative data on
various aspects of the institutional household economy to assess its material scale
relative to the subsistence needs of its parent site and associated micro-region.
The thesis demonstrates the limited material capabilities of a group of early political
organisations relative to their social setting, both at the level of the parent settlement
and, more forcefully, at the surrounding hinterland. It underscores the role of
nascent political organisations as local and very resilient economic infrastructures
across a politically volatile period of Bronze Age history. In line with recent and
comparable investigations on Bronze Age economies, these findings offer critical
revisions of traditional notions of the power of the early state. In methodological
terms, the thesis formulates a novel means of combining large-scale analyses of
text and material culture at a regional level, which can be applied in future studies. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4d197c21-45d0-4b42-ad58-a39aaca5d28c
- author
- Rattenborg, Rune
LU
- publishing date
- 2016
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- 4d197c21-45d0-4b42-ad58-a39aaca5d28c
- alternative location
- https://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11932/
- date added to LUP
- 2025-04-02 12:35:06
- date last changed
- 2025-04-22 15:00:28
@phdthesis{4d197c21-45d0-4b42-ad58-a39aaca5d28c,
abstract = {{The present thesis investigates the material scale of six political economies<br/>distributed across the dry-farming plains and piedmonts of the Middle Bronze Age<br/>Jazīrah and the Bilād al-Šām. This is done using a comparative and interdisciplinary<br/>approach combining the large-scale analysis of administrative cuneiform texts with<br/>the compilation of relevant archaeological survey datasets. Drawing on theories and<br/>methods developed in landscape archaeology and historical sociology, the thesis<br/>builds a regional analysis of economic scale through a focus on three analytical<br/>units; the institutional household, the parent site, and the associated micro-region.<br/>Based on a dataset extracted from c. 1500 administrative cuneiform texts from the<br/>six study sites, the analytical chapters present a comprehensive discussion of the<br/>socio-economic and technological context of chief agricultural and animal resources<br/>and the material scale of their production, manipulation, circulation, and<br/>consumption. These investigations are undertaken focusing on three spheres of<br/>social action, namely the urban neighbourhood, agricultural regimes, and livestock<br/>management. The analysis concludes by drawing together quantitative data on<br/>various aspects of the institutional household economy to assess its material scale<br/>relative to the subsistence needs of its parent site and associated micro-region.<br/>The thesis demonstrates the limited material capabilities of a group of early political<br/>organisations relative to their social setting, both at the level of the parent settlement<br/>and, more forcefully, at the surrounding hinterland. It underscores the role of<br/>nascent political organisations as local and very resilient economic infrastructures<br/>across a politically volatile period of Bronze Age history. In line with recent and<br/>comparable investigations on Bronze Age economies, these findings offer critical<br/>revisions of traditional notions of the power of the early state. In methodological<br/>terms, the thesis formulates a novel means of combining large-scale analyses of<br/>text and material culture at a regional level, which can be applied in future studies.}},
author = {{Rattenborg, Rune}},
language = {{eng}},
title = {{The Scale and Extent of Political Economies of the Middle Bronze Age Jazīrah and the Bilād al-Šām (c. 1800-1600 BCE)}},
url = {{https://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11932/}},
year = {{2016}},
}