The conceptThe great significance of the southern alluvium in early historical development, the large amount of the documentation associated with it, and the much longer tradition of scholarship devoted to it, all have contributed to the view that the northern area of Syro-Mesopotamia is peripherical vis-à-vis the southern core. When adjectives like “peripherical,” “local,” or even “provincial” are used to refer, in our specific case, to the Urkesh evidence, the implication is that the core is elsewhere. |