Akkadica
Assyriological Center
Georges Dossin
Georges Dossin
|
Akkadica Assyriological Center
Georges Dossin |
Conspectus Librorum - Book Review:
Orders: Archaeopress - Publishers of British Archaeological Reports Gordon House, 276 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7ED - England Tel/Fax: +44 1865 311914 e-mail: bar@archaeopress.com This volume is based on a Ph.D. thesis at the University of Sydney, Australia and consists more or less of two main parts: the archaeological evidence of the Middle Bronze Age military architecture at Pella (chapter 2) and at Rukeis (chapter 3). After the introduction at the beginning of Chapter 1, the author gives a general view on the chronology which is, as McLaren points out, indeed heavily debated. He also gives a short historical background based on iconographic and archaeological evidence. Quite interesting is the list of important MBA fortified sites in Israel and Syria (Table 1, p 11-12) with a short description of the finds and some useful references. The following chapter is devoted to the excavation results at Pella (Khirbet Fahl). First we are offered a short introduction to the site and the history of excavations, followed by the excavation results in the different phases of Areas III and XXVIIIC (Phase D, Area XXVIIIC). Special attention is paid to the MBA Tower 1 in Area XXVIIIC. The MBA fortification remains of Rukeis are the subject of Chapter 3. Once again there is an introduction and the excavation history. In a subsequent paragraph McLaren describes the evidence for the fortifications in Areas 5, 8, 14 and 16 in Phases II.1 and II.2.ii-iii at the site of Rukeis. Especially interesting is Area 16 with the location of the city gate, the western and eastern tower. In Chapter 4 the author presents a comparative study of architectural features through which we get a better view on the Middle Bronze Age military systems in the southern Levant. Therefore the following major features are treated: walls, towers, gates and ramparts. Chapter 5 is in fact a summary of the previous chapter with the necessary conclusions. The book has a clear list of contents, tables, figures and abbreviations. The latter should perhaps contain all abbreviations used by the author (e.g. Shec for Shechem, Mev for Tel Mevorah etc.). Comparative pottery analyses are presented in the "Appendices". Furthermore this volume contains at least 54 figures, sometimes printed a little too close to each other, but they are still of rather good quality. Readers may suggest an additional map pointing out the archaeological sites of Syria mentioned in this book. And finally there is the bibliography. Unfortunately the references in this bibliography are not always put in the correct alphabetical order and include some errors such as K. Prag (1992 = SHAJ IV, not III), Najjar (idem), Yassine et alii, 1988 is mentioned twice, ICANE ? (= ICAANE), etc. In general I agree this volume contains a very good collection of evidence and can be considered as a valuable introduction to the subject. Of course a lot of research still has to be done in this field and we can certainly not generalize the evidence from these two sites in Northern Jordan. Ingrid Swinnen Vrije Universiteit Brussel |