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Akkadica  Assyriological Center
Georges Dossin CONSPECTUS LIBRORUM MAINPAGE CONSPECTUS LIBRORUM PAGE 2 CONSPECTUS LIBRORUM PAGE 3 CONSPECTUS LIBRORUM PAGE 4  |
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Conspectus Librorum - Book Review: Rainer M. CZICHON and Peter WERNER, Tall Munbaqa-Ekalte IV. Die bronzezeitliche Keramik. [Wissenschaftliche Veröffentlichungen der Deutschen Orient Gesellschaft 118]. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag 2008. Hardcover. c. XVIII, 696 pages, numerous tables, ISBN 978-3-447-05675-5. List Price c. EUR 98,- / sFr 166-. Orders: service@harrassowitz.de. For a complete catalogue of titles see also: www.harrassowitz.de The present volume, counting almost 700 pages including 332, mainly black & white, tables, is the fourth publication in the series of the final reports of the excavations at Tall-Munbaqa-Ekalte in Northern Syria, and concentrates on the Bronze Age ceramic material. Following the indispensable references and general introduction to the pottery descriptions and definitions used throughout this publication, the first 'chapter' is entirely dedicated to the Early Bronze Age pottery, which could be classified into two succeeding phases, i.e. the EB III (Phase IV-Ku-2) and the EB IV (Phase IV-Ku-1). The second and third chapters focus on the Middle Bronze and Late Bronze Age pottery of Tall-Munbaqa. For each period the author carefully discusses the context which produced the pottery, the vessel forms, the pottery decoration, typological parallels or possible dating problems, and finishes with the description of the pottery profile drawings which are included in the catalogue in the last part of this volume. In addition to the chapters on the Early, Middle and Late Bronze Age ceramic assemblages, this comprehensive study provides a chapter on the Nuzi pottery of which a small number of fragments, probably imported, were found during the 1984, 1985 and 1988 campaigns. The next chapter examines the 'house-shaped pottery caskets', vessels characterized by a rectangular to square body and upright walls. Subsequently the reader finds a section on the collection of 30 zoomorphic vessel fragments, predominantly belonging to the Late Bronze Age. Incised pottery decorations found on different vessel types, are discussed in the following chapter. The incisions were applied with a pointed instrument before the firing process, when the clay was leather-hard, and are either represented by geometric or figurative designs. Significantly interesting is the final chapter in which one of the authors, R. M. Czichon, carefully describes the potter's marks found on the Tall-Munqaba vessel fragments . A total of 402 marks could be distinguished, of which over 70 % was attributed to the Early Bronze Age. The different designs are clearly arranged on pages 334-337. Furthermore Czichon briefly concentrates on comparisons from other sites in the Levant and the possible function of the potter's marks from Tall-Munbaqa. The catalogue not only includes a large number of pottery profile drawings but also a series of black & white photographs and illustrations. Overall, this volume is indispensable for every scholar or student studying the Bronze Age in the Levantine region and together with the three preceding books on the excavation results and artifacts from Tall-Munbaqa-Ekalte, it unquestionably contributes to a better understanding of the Bronze Age culture in the Ancient Near East. Ingrid M. Swinnen Vrije Universiteit Brussel |