Mercenaries in the Eastern Mediterranean from the Late Bronze Age to the Iron Age
The thesis investigates the presence of mercenaries in the Eastern Mediterranean, specifically in Egypt and the Levant, from the Late Bronze Age to the end of the sixth century B.C.E. The time frame predates the ubiquitous mercenaries of the Classical period onwards, and traces the origins of the profession and how it manifested in the archaeological record. The examination begins with the earliest evidence for non-local contingents hired in armies during the Bronze Age, based on the sources and archaeological remains, in order to address how to define mercenaries in antiquity. From these instances, the thesis posits a new definition for mercenaries in antiquity that encompasses the activities and characteristics of such foreign groups. The investgation then turns to the Iron Age, when the contemporary sources are scarce, but the archaeology is telling of numerous calamitous, historical events that precipitate the need for mercenaries. Past scholarship argued that specific sites in the Iron Age Levant and in Egypt exemplify evidence of mercenary activity, based primarily on different ceramic repertoires. An evaluation of the case studies reassesses whether this is indeed the case; how do the archaeological
Ringheim, Hannah L.
Mercenaries in the Eastern Mediterranean from the Late Bronze Age to the Iron Age. The thesis investigates the presence of mercenaries in the Eastern Mediterranean, specifically in Egypt and the Levant, from the Late Bronze Age to the end of the sixth century B.C.E. The time frame predates the ubiquitous mercenaries of the Classical period onwards, and traces the origins of the profession and how it manifested in the archaeological record. The examination begins with the earliest evidence for non-local contingents hired in armies during the Bronze Age, based on the sources and archaeological remains, in order to address how to define mercenaries in antiquity. From these instances, the thesis posits a new definition for mercenaries in antiquity that encompasses the activities and characteristics of such foreign groups. The investgation then turns to the Iron Age, when the contemporary sources are scarce, but the archaeology is telling of numerous calamitous, historical events that precipitate the need for mercenaries. Past scholarship argued that specific sites in the Iron Age Levant and in Egypt exemplify evidence of mercenary activity, based primarily on different ceramic repertoires. An evaluation of the case studies reassesses whether this is indeed the case; how do the archaeological
eastern_mediterranean investigate presence mercenary eastern_mediterranean specifically egypt levant bce time_frame predate ubiquitous mercenary classical_period onwards trace_origins profession manifest archaeological_record examination begin early_evidence non_local contingent hire army bronze_age base source archaeological_remains order_address define mercenary antiquity instance posit new definition mercenary antiquity encompass activity characteristic foreign group turn iron_age contemporary_source scarce archaeology tell numerous historical_event precipitate need mercenary past scholarship argue specific site iron_age levant egypt exemplify evidence mercenary activity base_primarily different ceramic repertoire evaluation case_study reassess whether indeed case archaeological