2010
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F. Buccellati
“The Monumental Temple Terrace at Urkesh and its Setting,”
in J. Becker, R. Hempelmann and E. Rehm (eds.), Kulturlandschaft Syrien - Zentrum und Peripherie - Festschrift für Jan-Waalke Meyer, AOAT 371, Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, pp. 71-85.
See full text
See abstract
The monumental Temple Terrace of Tell Mozan is deeply analyzed in this contribution, describing its architectural stracture and the function of some of its major buildings.
[mDP – November 2019]
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2010
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G. Buccellati
“The Semiotics of Ethnicity: The Case of Hurrian Urkesh,”
in J.C. Fincke (ed.), Festschrift für Gernot Wilhelm, Dresden: ISLET, pp. 79-90.
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See abstract
The definition of ethnicity is always a difficult task and even more in the case of the identification of a Hurrian ethnical pattern; this topic is deeply investigated in this paper, aiming to define ethnicity on the base of actual, verified archaeological and cultural elements.
[mDP – November 2019]
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2010
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G. Buccellati
“The Urkesh Temple Terrace: Function and Perception,”
in J. Becker, R. Hempelmann and E. Rehm (eds.), Kulturlandschaft Syrien - Zentrum und Peripherie - Festschrift für Jan-Waalke Meyer, AOAT 371, Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, pp. 87-121.
See full text
See abstract
The structure and the function of Urkesh's Temple Terrace is widely analysed in the present contribution, aiming to define the limits and features of ancient perception on this monumental structures.
[mDP – November 2019]
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2010
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M. Kelly-Buccellati
“Mozan/Urkesh in the Late Chalcolithic Period,”
in J. Becker, R. Hempelmann and E. Rehm (eds.), Kulturlandschaft Syrien - Zentrum und Peripherie - Festschrift für Jan-Waalke Meyer, AOAT 371, Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, pp. 261-290.
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See abstract
This paper explores the Late Chalcolithic Period at Mozan: evidences of LC pottery have been excavated since 2005, in a stratified context; the author presents the different contexts of the retrieval of LC material at Urkesh, namely the Temple BA, the Plaza JP, and the revetment wall in the central Terrace edge J3. Then, the author offers a general description of LC ceramic typologies and fabrics. In the end, the author underlines how climatic and geographical conditions allowed Urkesh to emerge in the framework of LC Northern Syria, mostly because of its peculiar position on the way towards Anatolia, where metal ores where situated.
[mDP – November 2019]
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2010
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M. Kelly-Buccellati
“Uqnitum and Tar’am-Agade, Patronage and Portraiture at Urkesh,”
in J.C. Fincke (ed.), Festschrift für Gernot Wilhelm, Dresden: ISLET, pp. 185-202.
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See abstract
The discoveries of sealings belonging to Uqnitum and to Tar’am-Agade allows us to speculate about concepts of 'patronage' and 'portraiture' at Urkesh. The author proposes the idea of a 'visual communication' displayed through glyptic materials, comparing the iconography of the seals of these two eminent women; she also stresses how messages related to a dynastic program aimed to encourage the power of the royal couple and the legitimate succession of their children, as openly communicated via specific iconographic features and gestures.
[mDP – November 2019]
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2012
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F. Buccellati
“Wie wird ein Palast gebaut und warum?,”
in P. Breunig and C. Trümpler (eds.),Werte im Widerstreit. Von Bräuten, Muscheln, Geld und Kupfer. Ausstellungskatalog Wiesbaden, Frankfurt am Main: Goethe-Universität, pp. 31-34.
See full text (preprint)
See abstract
A small Hurrian tablet found in 1997 at Tell Mozan is fully published in this paper. The tablet, labelled as A7.341, is well preserved and can be dated to the third millennium BC (on the base of both palaeography and stratigraphy). The author also includes a palaeographical comparison with other documents from Southern Mesopotamia and with two other tablets found at Urkesh. Further sections deal with the description of the stylus used to write the inscription, the sign alignment and the analysis of some noteworthy signs.
[mDP – November 2019]
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2012
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G. Buccellati
“The Floodwaters of Urkesh and the Structural Coherence of the Urkesh Temple Complex”,
in Philippe Quenet and Michel al-Maqdissi (eds.),“L'Heure immobile”. Entre Ciel et Terre. Mélanges en l'honneur d'Antoine Souleiman, Subartu 31, pp. 21-33.
See full text
Alternative online version (Academia.edu)
See abstract
A description of the central Temple Terrace of Urkesh, focusing on architectonical elements and on the structural features of the entire sacral complex. The history of occupation and use of the top-mound as a sacral place is then sketched in detail.
[mDP – November 2019]
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2012
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G. Buccellati
“Coerenza e storia. La Mesopotamia nell'ottica storiografica di 'Ordine e Storia': Istituzioni politiche, trasmissione del pensiero e percezione dell'assoluto,”
in G. Buccellati et al. (eds.),Prima della Filosofia, Milano: V&P, pp. 113-124.
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See abstract
The self-consciousness of ancient human being is here re-actualized on the base of both the 'urban revolution' and of the development of a religious 'perception of the absolute', which occurred after (and thanks to) the invention/diffusion of writing, perceived as a reification of the reality.
[mDP – November 2019]
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2012
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G. Buccellati
“Towards a Linguistic Model for Archaeology,”
Revue d'assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale 106 (2012/1), pp. 37-43.
See full text
Online version
“Archaeological theory has developed through a series of stages that, especially in Great Britain and the
United States, have relied heavily on current philosophical trends. Recent concerns have focused
especially on matters of interpretation, and two special areas of interest have been cognitive sciences
(C. Renfrew) and what was originally termed contextual archaeology (I. Hodder). I have been addressing
the same concerns, but from a different point of view.”
[mDP – January 2025]
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2012
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M. Kelly-Buccellati
“Apprenticeship and Learning from the Ancestors: The Case of Ancient Urkesh,”
in W. Wendrich (ed.), Archaeology and apprenticeship: Body Knowledge, Identity and Communities of Practice, Tucson: University of Arizona Press, pp. 203-223.
See full text
See abstract
Apprenticeship and its mechanisms are the topic of this paper, focusing not only in Urkesh, but broadening the discussion also to ancient Mesopotamia and Syria as a whole discourse. This transmission of knowledge and consciousness is investigated in this paper both under a direct way (from teacher to student) and an indirect one, through emulation or experimentation. As far as archaeology concerns this discourse, the concept of 'broken tradition' emerges as a key-topic. Evidence for apprenticeship are investigated, analysing the role of scribes, of seal carvers and the function of ancient 'tablet houses' (ancient methods of apprenticeship are reported), mostly during the Old Babylonian period. As for Urkesh, the author recalls the founding at Urkesh of a school tablet, showing practice on the reverse. Reverence for traditional or ancient knowledge is exemplified by the practice of seal carving, whose training cannot be, unfortunately, better regained.
[mDP – November 2019]
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2013
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G. Buccellati
“When were the Hurrians Hurrian? The persistence of ethnicity in Urkesh,”
in J. Aruz, S. Graff and Y. Rakic (eds.), Cultures in Contact, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, pp. 84-95.
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See abstract
The definition of Hurrian ethnicity is the topic of this paper, aimed to define the geographical and chronological framework of the beginning of the Hurrian identity and cultural perception as specific people. Both archaeological and textual elements help in sketching the borders and the paths of the process which led to the definition in antiquity of 'Hurrians as Hurrian', determining specific and objective clusters which also involved a peculiar role of Urkesh.
[mDP – November 2019]
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2013
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G. Buccellati
“The History of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology as a Research Paradigm,”
Backdirt 2013, pp. 14-20.
See full text
A brief history of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at the UCLA, stressing its origins and its peculiar purposes in the field of the archaeological research.
[mDP – January 2020]
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2013
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E. Frahm and J.M. Feinberg
“Empires and resources: Central Anatolian obsidian at Urkesh (Tell Mozan, Syria) during the Akkadian period,”
Journal of Archaeological Science 40, pp. 1122-1135.
See full text
See abstract
This paper presents the analysis on obsidian artefacts of the Bronze Age found at Urkesh: around the 97% of these items (probably considered as prestigious objects) turned out to be made of Eastern Anatolian obsidian. The authors stress the key-role of Urkesh in the commercial and political situation of the third millennium BC, on the border between the Akkadian empire (to the South) and the Transcaucasian people (to the North).
[mDP – November 2019]
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2013
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E. Frahm and J.M. Feinberg
“Environment and collapse: Eastern Anatolian obsidians at Urkesh (Tell Mozan, Syria) and the third-millennium Mesopotamian urban crisis,”
Journal of Archaeological Science 40, pp. 1866-1878.
See full text
See abstract
Around 2200 and 2000 BC, a 'crisis' occurred in Ancient Near East, caused probably by a multifactor phaenomenona probably leading to the desegregation of the Akkadian Empire; aftermath, in Northern Mesopotamian area, only two sites survived, namely Tell Mozan and Tell Brak; a section of this paper briefly explores the history of Urkesh, from ca. 6200 BC to 1300 BC, stressing its important location along the route leading to Anatolia through the Mardin pass, Urkesh representing “a cosmopolitan city with diverse visitors or visitors with diverse itineraries” (p. 1866, abstract).
[mDP – November 2019]
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2013
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M. Kelly-Buccellati
“Landscape and Spatial Organization: An Essay on Early Urban Settlement Patterns in Urkesh,”
in D. Bonatz and L. Martin (eds.), 100 Jahre archäeologische Feldforschungen in Nordost-Syrien, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, pp. 149-166.
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2014
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F. Buccellati
“Understanding Households - A Few Thoughts,”
in F. Buccellati, T. Helms and A. Tamm (eds.),Houses and Households in ancient Mesopotamia, Oxford: Archaeopress, pp. 35-42.
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See abstract
This papers analyses patterns of urban organization and the role of landscape for ancient Urkesh: “The site is located close to stone sources in nearby foothills, as well as other natural resources in the mountains such as wood and especially copper from the Ergani area. Notably it was important to be near but not too near the Mardin Pass” (p. 149). This strategic position of Tell Mozan represents one of its key-points in the relationships with both the Northern (Anatolian and Transcaucasian) and the Southern (Mesopotamian) milieus; this geographical space also shaped human thought and ancient space organization and the mythological background related to Urkesh guaranteed a clear meaning of the site as a cultic place and as an ancestral land (as the city of the god Kumarbi).
[mDP – November 2019]
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2014
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F. Buccellati
“Diachronic Developments at the Central Monumental Complex of Ancient Urkesh (Tell Mozan),”
in P. Bieliński, M. Gawlikowski, R. Kolinski, D. Lawecka, A. Soltysiak and Z. Wygnanska (eds.), Proceedings of the 8th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East. 30 April - 4 May 2012,University of Warsaw. Volume 1. Plenary Sessions, Township and Villages, High and Low. The Minor Arts for the Elite and for the Populace, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, pp. 313-319.
See full text
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2014
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G. Buccellati
“Konservierung der archäologischen Stätte Urkesh,”
Antike Welt: Zeitschrift für Archäologie und Kulturgeschichte [online journal].
See full text
Alternative online version
See abstract
The interpretation and presentation of the archaeological site of Urkesh are here discussed from the very beginning of the discovery to the current strategies of conservation and valorization, underlining the innovation of the browser edition of archaeological data and the innovative preservation system for architectural remains.
[mDP – November 2019]
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2014
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G. Buccellati
“Courage among the Ruins: A Sustainable Conservation Program in Time of War,”
Backdirt, December 2014, pp. 102-112.
See full text
Alternative online version
See abstract
The interpretation and presentation of the archaeological site of Urkesh are here discussed from the very beginning of the discovery to the current strategies of conservation and valorization, underlining the innovation of the browser edition of archaeological data and the innovative preservation system for architectural remains.
[mDP – November 2019]
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2014
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G. Buccellati and M. Kelly-Buccellati
“... Nor North: The Urkesh Temple Terrace,”
in P. Butterlin et al. (eds.), Mari, ni Est, ni Ouest, Beirut: Institut français du Proche-Orient, pp. 441-461.
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See abstract
The monumental Temple Terrace is the topic of this paper, focusing on EDIII and Mittani period and adding new results on structures pertaining the fourth millennium BC; two final paragraphs are devoted to the discussion of 'echoes of the mountain hinterland', underlining the connections between Urkesh and the surrounding mountainous area of the Tur-Abdin.
[mDP – November 2019]
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2014
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P. Camatta
“High Temples in the Northern Mesopotamian Landscape,”
in P. Bieliński, M. Gawlikowski, R. Kolinski, D. Lawecka, A. Soltysiak and Z. Wygnanska (eds.), Proceedings of the 8th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East. 30 April - 4 May 2012,University of Warsaw. Volume 1. Plenary Sessions, Township and Villages, High and Low. The Minor Arts for the Elite and for the Populace, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, pp. 411-424.
Flyer
“Constructing a temple on a raised position was a common practice in ancient Syro-Mesopotamia, at least from the 4th Millennium B.C. onward. A main temple located on top of a 5 to 10 m high mud brick platform often characterized the urban landscape of southern Mesopotamian cities (Uruk, Uquair, Susa, just to mention a few examples). However, free standing platforms were not common in northern Mesopotamia (few examples are Tell Brak, Tell Halawa B, Mari). Instead of constructing huge platforms, temples were erected on top of artificial mounds often enclosed by temenos walls in the center of the settlement, thus in a prominent position (Tell Chuera, Tell es-Sweyhat, Jebel Aruda, Tell Mozan, Tell Arbid). On the base of comparative study, a consistent definition of 'platform', 'terrace', and 'temple foundation' will be advanced and a typological classification of 'High Temples' will be presented in this paper. The analysis of Tell Mozan Temple Terrace will be integrated in this framework. Finally the perception of 'High Temples' will be analyzed within the urban and surrounding landscape” (author's flyer).
[mDP – January 2020]
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2014
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C. Chaves Yates
“Neighborhoods in the Outer City of Tell Mozan, Ancient Urkesh: A Case Study from Survey Data,”
in F. Buccellati, T. Helms and A. Tamm (eds.), Houses and Households in ancient Mesopotamia, Oxford: Archaeopress, pp. 43-52.
See full text
See abstract
'Household', the topic of the present contribution, is defined as “as an individual unit, [...] then a building block of larger society, in this case, cities” (p. 43). A discussion about the concept itself of 'household' is offered in this paper, aiming at define the social and cultural aspects of this topic as for the peculiar case of Urkesh; the analysis is mostly based on actual artefacts (above all, the pottery), found at Tell Mozan.
[mDP – November 2019]
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2014
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E. Frahm
“Buying local or ancient outsourcing? Locating production of prismatic obsidian blades in Bronze-Age Northern Mesopotamia,”
Journal of Archaeological Science 41, pp. 605-621.
See full text
See abstract
This paper considers the prismatic obsidian blades from Urkesh, investigating the different patterns of exchange and the technical production of such items, within a specific chronological horizon (ca. 3300-1200 BC); then, the focus moves particularly to the identification of the most important ores for Urkesh's obsidians.
[mDP – November 2019]
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2014
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A. Kharobi, G. Buccellati, P. Courtaud and H. Duday
“Le Feu et la Mort: Des Structures de Combustion Associées à des Sépultures à Tell Mozan (Nord-Est de la Syrie) au Bronze Moyen,”
Paléorient 40/1, pp. 135-147.
See full text
See abstract
This paper considers the prismatic obsidian blades from Urkesh, investigating the different patterns of exchange and the technical production of such items, within a specific chronological horizon (ca. 3300-1200 BC); then, the focus moves particularly to the identification of the most important ores for Urkesh's obsidians.
[mDP – November 2019]
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2014
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A. Kharobi, P. Courtaud and H. Duday
“The Place of Children in the Ancient Society of Urkesh (Tell Mozan, Northeastern Syria) in the Middle Bronze Age (2000-1600 BC): An Archeothanatological Approach,”
in P. Bieliński, M. Gawlikowski, R. Kolinski, D. Lawecka, A. Soltysiak and Z. Wygnanska (eds.), Proceedings of the 8th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East. 30 April-4 May 2012,University of Warsaw. Volume 2. Excavation and Progress Reports, Posters, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, pp. 667-675.
See full text
See abstract
The present paper presents a discussion about children's burial at Urkesh, dating to the Khabur Ware period (ca. 2000-1600 BC). The osteological observation of these human remains “has provided evidence of age-related characteristics. Indeed, the funerary treatment of the children has proven to have been different from that of the adults” (p. 59, abstract). After an introduction about Urkesh itself, the authors move to describe the two main burial strategies of children, i.e. the 'jar burials', and the 'earth pits'.
[mDP – November 2019]
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2014
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L. Recht
“Perfume, women and the underworld in Urkesh: exploring female roles through aromatic substances in the Bronze Age Near East,”
Journal of Intercultural and Interdisciplinary Archaeology 1/2014, pp. 11-24.
See full text
See abstract
After a general introduction on Urkesh, the author discusses the necromantic pit known as ābi and its connection with a 'lady', represented by a small ceramic anthropomorphic vessel (A12.108) portraying a female figure. The author describes the item in detail and then moves to interpretation of its function: as already proposed by M. Kelly-Buccellati, “this anthropomorphic vessel [...] has suggested contained perfumed oil used during rituals taking place in the ābi”. In conclusion, “the ancient texts make it clear that aromatic substances existed and were used in a variety of contexts beyond modern cosmetic usage [...]. This must also have been the case at ancient Urkesh and the broader region of northeastern Syria. The most likely vessels that may have contained such liquids or ointments come from cult contexts, including the monumental channel to contact the deities of the netherworld. The perfumes may have had not only cosmetic uses, but also have been appreciated for their medicinal properties and therefore part of healing rituals” (p. 21).
[mDP – November 2019]
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2014
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L. Recht
“Tell Mozan ceramics: Munsell colours,”
Frankfurter elektronische Rundschau zur Altertumskunde 24, pp. 12-46.
See full text
See abstract
In this paper, the ceramics found at Tell Mozan are analysed on the basis of the 'Munsell Soil Color Charts'. The specific procedure applied at Tell Mozan is explicated and some specimens of actual analysis are then provided, offering statistics about Tell Mozan's ceramic exterior colours and the relationship (of equivalence or diverging) between exterior and interior colours, also connecting shapes and ware types with respective colours. Furthermore, pottery is compared (as regards the colour) with other fire clay objects from Tell Mozan (i.e., miniature wheels, discs, sealings, sling balls, plaques, human and animal figurines).
[mDP – November 2019]
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2014
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J. Zarins and R. Hauser
The Domestication of Equidae in Third-Millennium BCE Mesopotamia
Bethesda (Maryland): CDL Press.
Authors' abstract
See abstract
This book presents a comprehensive discussion of the philological, historical, and archaeological evidence for the range of equidae known now from much of Western Asia after a century of intense study and excavation. The study provides a unique perspective from the viewpoint of field archaeologists on the complex issues associated with the physical study of the remains of equidae and their associated terminology in cuneiform sources as well as their artistic representation. The study integrates diverse and recently excavated data, which reflect a wide geographical and chronological range, with cuneiform sources and new artistic finds to create a synthesis that will serve as a basis for all future research on the subject. The volume includes numerous illustrations, photos, and charts that enhance the presentation of the data: equid representations recovered in Royal Storehouse AK at Urkesh are as well included in this catalogue. - [Summary adapted by mDP from authors' abstract].
[mDP – November 2019]
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2015
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G. Buccellati
“L'archeologia come presenza morale a Tell Mozan in Siria,”
Bollettino dell'Associazione Archeologica Ticinese 27, pp. 20-25.
See full text
See abstract
In a period of war, archaeology can represent an effective link between local communities in Syria and the entire world: thanks to the promotion of local involvement and the valorization of local crafting manufacture, today, the community of Tell Mozan deeply contributes to the conservation and the presentation of the site, towards a new vitality and a constant hope for the future.
[mDP – November 2019]
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2015
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G. Buccellati
“Tensional factors and compositional analysis: Crossovers between linguistics and art criticism,”
in P. Ciafardoni and D. Giannessi (eds.), From the Treasures of Syria, Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten, pp. 289-298.
See full text
See abstract
Linguistic analysis and archaeological data can be usefully linked and can communicate towards an effective shaping of ancient cultural features. 'Tensionality' represents here a key-point of this interpretative system, based on both linguistic and iconographic floors.
[mDP – November 2019]
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2015
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R. Hauser
“Reading Figurines from Ancient Urkeš (2450 B.C.E.): A New Way of Measuring Archaeological Artifacts, with Implications for Historical Linguistics,”
in A. Archi (ed.), Tradition and Innovation in the Ancient Near East, Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, pp. 105-120.
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See abstract
This paper analyses some figurines portraying equids presenting a new reading approach, taking into account figurines dating to ca. 2450 BC and coming from the Royal Building AK: such an approach is based on “an innovative [...] strategy for measuring the objects, and rigorous evaluation standards for secondary characteristics [working out] methodology and typology in tandem” (p. 106). The final section of the paper deals with topics connecting archaeology and linguistics, linking material culture and language.
[mDP – November 2019]
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2015
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M. Kelly-Buccellati
“Power and Identity Construction in ancient Urkesh,”
in P. Ciafardoni and D. Giannessi (eds.), From the Treasures of Syria, Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten, pp. 111-130.
See full text
See abstract
This paper tries to reconstruct both the ancient political and personal identities of Urkesh and its inhabitants, analysing both an 'urban' and a 'personal' identity. After an introduction about the definition of the concept of 'identity', here perceived as both 'relational' and 'contextual', the author shows how these two features can be outlined thanks to Urkesh evidence and, above all, throughout its rich glyptic material.
[mDP – November 2019]
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2015
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L. Recht
“Identifying Sacrifice in Bronze Age Near Eastern Iconography,”
in N. Laneri (ed.), Defining the Sacred, Oxford: Oxbow Books, pp. 24-37.
See full text
Flyer
See abstract
This paper deals with the identification and reconstruction of ancient sacrificial practices in the ancient Near East and at specifically at Urkesh, using as main sources the archaeological and glyptic evidence from Tell Mozan: “Careful criteria sensitive to the wide array of religious practices in the ancient Near East can be set up to identify sacrifice in the iconography, and combined with other ancient material such as written sources and archaeological contexts, and theories proposed by modern scholars, these can be used to suggest further depictions and references to sacrificial rituals and their individual elements. Once carefully identified, we can begin to make inferences about the content of the practices of sacrifice in the ancient Near East - occasion, manner of killing, equipment used, participants (both animal and human), functions and locations” (p. 34).
[mDP – November 2019]
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2016
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G. Buccellati
“Urkesh: For a Semiotics of the Hurrian Sacred,”
in P. Matthiae and M. D'Andrea (eds.), Ebla e la Siria dall'età del Bronzo all'età del Ferro, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei: Atti dei convegni Lincei 304, Roma: Bardi Edizioni, pp. 117-35.
See full text
“The particularity of the morphological organization of the sacred urban space can be understood in the light of an understanding of the forms as signs of an equally coherent religious vision, one that contrasts deeply with that of the Mesopotamian south, in spite of the partial similarity of forms. The glyptics of the royal court displays a naturalistic style that, by setting itself off from the religious sphere, enhances the latter's distinctiveness. The Temple Terrace is a mountain in ways that match the concept embodied in the southern ziggurat and yet differs sharply from it: it is the urban echo of a landscape that remains alive in the conscience of the people, in ways that contrast with the highly stylized southern realizations. The abi reflects a conception of the divine that is based on the close interaction of a one to one relationship: it is the sign of a conduit to the absolute that the southerners explicitly eschewed, in favor of a conception based on the recurrence of patterns. The coherence of the outward forms, and their longevity, are thus rooted in their association with values of which these forms are the outward signs. The sometimes nebulous concept of ethnic identity emerges here with clear and explicit formal traits.” (author's abstract on p. 117).
[mDP – January 2020]
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2016
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G. Buccellati and M. Kelly-Buccellati
“26. Tell Mozan/Urkesh (Hassake),”
in Y. Kanjou and A. Tsuneki (eds.), A History of Syria in One Hundred Sites, Oxford: Archeopress Publishing Ltd., pp. 111-114.
See full text
A brief introduction about Urkesh, as for its history, architectural remains, and its main archaeological finds (sealings, a stone plaque showing Gilgamesh and Enkidu [A7.36]), and conservation trategies applied at the site.
[mDP – January 2020]
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2016
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M. Kelly-Buccellati
“Women's Power and Work in Ancient Urkesh,”
in S.L. Budin and J.M. Turfa (eds.), Women in Antiquity: Real Women across the Ancient World, Routledge, pp. 48-63.
See full text
See abstract
This contribution is devoted to an analysis of the role and figure of women in ancient Urkesh's society, as depicted via glyptic material and clay figurines. The author underlines the peculiarity of the women depictions at Urkesh: “From the immediacy of the Urkesh seal iconography, combined with the seal inscriptions, we can obtain a glimpse of the life of the women at that court. This is only the case of the Urkesh women-not the Urkesh men. The seal impressions we have for Tupkish himself [...] are realistic, but the male members of the court [...] all have heraldic scenes which do not reflect their 'work.' Even though these seal impressions all came from the same contexts as those of Uqnitum and her attendants, these male retainers have chosen to represent themselves only with more conventional designs” (p. 60).
[mDP – November 2019]
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2016
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M. Kelly-Buccellati
“Urkesh: The Morphology and Cultural Landscape of the Hurrian Sacred,”
in P. Matthiae and M. D'Andrea (eds.), Ebla e la Siria dall'età del Bronzo all'età del Ferro, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei: Atti dei convegni Lincei 304, Roma: Bardi Edizioni, pp. 97-115.
See full text
“Hurrian religious concepts differed notably from Mesopotamian ones. In the ancient city of Urkesh (modern Tell Mozan) we have found, through our excavations, evidence for the awareness and ritual adoption of both Hurrian and Mesopotamian religious practices. Most notable for Hurrian religion is the monumental abi constructed as an underground shaft lined with stones and containing a series of stratified magic circles. The abi rituals, known from Hurrian texts found in later Hittite archives, focus on calling up deities of the Netherworld. Mesopotamian religious practices are exemplified by an Akkadian period seal with a scene of the enactment of a sacrifice and by altanni vessels of which we have excavated one complete and a number of incomplete examples. The 4th millennium temple terrace had already constructed on it a niched building on a low platform, presumably a temple of a type known in the south. Temple BA and a stone revetment wall were built in Early Dynastic III. Serious efforts were made to protect the base of this wall. The Temple Plaza has a unique stratigraphy in that it was kept clean for over a thousand years. The explanation for this enigma connects Urkesh with the Kura-Araxes culture to the north” [author's abstract on p. 97].
[mDP – January 2020]
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2016
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M. Kelly-Buccellati
“The Urkesh Ceramics Digital Book,”
in Paola Corò, Elena Devecchi, Nicla De Zorzi, and Massimo Maiocchi with the collaboration of Stefania Ermidoro and Erica Scarpa (eds.), Libiamo ne' lieti calici. Ancient Near Eastern Studies Presented to Lucio Milano on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday by Pupils, Colleagues and Friends
Alter Orient und Altes Testament, Vol. 436
Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, 2016. pp. 721-733.
See full text
The paper describes the development of the project of digital publication of the corpus of ceramics found at Urkesh/Tell Mozan (see also the related webpage Urkesh Ceramic Analysis).
[mDP – February 2021]
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2017
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G. Buccellati
“Iconology in the Light of Archaeological Reason,”
in Pavel S. Avestisyan and Yervand H. Grekyan (eds), Bridging Times and Spaces: Papers in Ancient Near Eastern, Mediterranean and Armenian Studies: Honouring Gregory E. Areshian On the Occasion of His Sixty-Fifth Birthday, Oxford: Archaeopress, pp. 49-60.
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The thrust of the iconological approach was to identify a unifying point of reference behind the formal details of
iconography. This can help us approach cultural traditions for which there are no longer any living carriers. 'Archaeological
reason' defines the conditions of possibility for reaching behind the gap and suggests ways to re-appropriate the lost experience.
In this way we develop a semiotics that can be controlled formally, particularly through distributional and perceptual analysis. [Author's abstract].
[mDP – May 2022]
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2017
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G. Buccellati and M. Kelly-Buccellati
“Conserviamo il futuro,”
in Tracce, febbraio 2017, pp. 36-39.
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A discussion about preservation and conservation of archaeological sites in Syria during wartime, aiming at describing different efforts of local archaeologists (and common people, too) to defend the archaeological heritage of ancient Syria.
[mDP – January 2020]
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2017
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G. Buccellati and M. Kelly-Buccellati
“Community Archaeology 1984: At the Interface between Practice and Theory,”
in Backdirt 2017, pp. 34-38.
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The paper offers a discussion about the efforts undertaken by the Urkesh/Tell Mozan team to enhance the practice of a "community archeology", following four main goals: “1. Conservation: The exposed architecture continues to be in perfect condition, thanks to the simple but very effective conservation system we developed at the start of excavations in 1984, entirely based on local resources and know-how. 2. Site presentation: Our extensive signage system has been fully reactivated with around 200 signs explaining the site to visitors. In addition, in December 2016 we published an 80-page booklet in English, Arabic, and Kurdish. We get a considerable number of visitors at the site, all from the surrounding region. 3. Research: Three of our local assistants continue to work on the data in our archives and on the ceramics stored in the expedition house. Together with the local university, we host seminars where students can work on our material, both at the university and at our site, which is the only excavation site effectively available for such purposes. 4. Economic development: We support local women who produce traditional handicrafts (clothes, dolls, jewelry), which they can sell locally or ship to us” (from p. 34).
[mDP – February 2021]
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2017
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G. Buccellati and M. Kelly-Buccellati
Archaeology for a Young Future: The New Syrian Life of the Ancient City of Urkesh,”
Research Award 2017, pp. 227-243 (in English and Chinese).
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. 2017 Shanghai Archaeology Forum.
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The paper, presented on the occasion of the delivery of the 2017 Shangai Archaeology Forum Award and published in the ceremony catalogue, describes in brief the history of the archaeological research at Urkesh/Tell Mozan, from its discovery to the present time, offering an overview on the methodological approaches applied in studying artefacts and in dealing with the engagement of local community of Mozan in the conservation of the ancient city of Urkesh.
[mDP – February 2021]
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2017
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A. Kharobi and G. Buccellati
“The Dignity of the Dead. The Case of Ancient Urkesh and Modern Tell Mozan, Syria (2000-1600 BC),”
Paléorient 43/2, pp. 165-175.
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After a discussion of the concept of 'ancient perception', i.e. the way through which ancient people perceived and considered themselves and their life experiences, the topic of this paper moves directly on graves at Urkesh. Human burials are considered within a 'territorial legacy', i.e., also today, when excavating a tomb, archaeologists have to face the problem of been dealing with human remains (i.e. men or women) of people who settled at Urkesh many centuries ago. A final discussion deals with the comparison between archaeological and anthropological observations and 'funeral' texts from second- and first-millennium Mesopotamia.
[mDP – November 2019]
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