Early Urbanizations in the Levant: A Regional Narrative

This book examines the first cycle of urbanization, collapse, and reurbanization in the 4th-2nd millennium BCE Levant, focusing on the Hula Valley. It emphasizes the variety of cultural and social change in small, densely settled regions and suggests new scenarios to explain changes in the regional archaeological record. It is essential for studying the archaeology of early state formation in the Near East and the early history of Tel Dan and Tel Hazor.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 160 pages
Publication date: 23 February 2023
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

This comprehensive analysis of the first cycle of urbanization, collapse, and reurbanization in the 4th-2nd millennium BCE Levant is now reissued with a new preface reflecting on developments in research since its initial publication. The heart of the study lies in a detailed examination of settlement fluctuations and material culture development in the Hula Valley, situated at the crossroads between modern Israel, Syria, and Lebanon. Focusing on field data and a close reading of the material text, the book emphasizes the diversity exhibited in patterns of cultural and social change when small, densely settled regions are carefully scrutinized. Using the concepts of time-space edges and shifting loci of power, the study suggests new scenarios to explain changes in the regional archaeological record and considers the implications these have for existing reconstructions of social evolution in the larger region. The Levant is revealed to be composed of a fluid mosaic of polities that moved along multiple, often parallel, paths towards and away from complexity. This book is a valuable resource for anyone studying the archaeology of early state formation in the Near East, particularly in areas of secondary urbanization, such as Palestine, Syria, and Anatolia. With its detailed consideration of settlement patterns and ceramic production, it is also indispensable for the study of the early history of the two major sites in the area, Tel Dan and Tel Hazor, being the first attempt to integrate the results of excavations at these sites with the information obtained in archaeological surveys of the valley that sustained them.

Weight: 399g
Dimension: 297 x 210 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350345256