Ritual and social structure in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age Southern Levant : the cemetery at Tell es-Sa'idiyeh, Jordan
This thesis examines ritual and social structure in the Southern Levantine Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages, through a detailed study of the cemetery at Tell es-Sa'idiyeh (Jordan). The cemetery phases examined date broadly from the late thirteenth to tenth centuries BCE, and consist of approximately 300 burials. Two socio-historical settings are of relevance here. The first (13th-12th Centuries BCE) relates to a final phase of Egyptian economic and military domination in the region. The second (11th-10th/9th Centuries BCE) relates to a widespread re-emergence of local semi-independent polities in the Central Valleys after the collapse of the Late Bronze Age city-states and the Egyptian withdrawal. It is argued that responses to widespread socio-political cultural and economic changes in the Late Bronze-Early Iron Age transition had a significant impact on social structure and kinship relations - affecting the ways in which the dead were perceived and treated by the living. Through a combined quantitative and contextual study of the burial data, aspects of variability in the expression of social rank, age and gender, and cultural identity in the Sa'idiyeh cemetery are examined, and in turn compared and contrasted
Green, John David Michael
Ritual and social structure in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age Southern Levant : the cemetery at Tell es-Sa'idiyeh, Jordan. This thesis examines ritual and social structure in the Southern Levantine Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages, through a detailed study of the cemetery at Tell es-Sa'idiyeh (Jordan). The cemetery phases examined date broadly from the late thirteenth to tenth centuries BCE, and consist of approximately 300 burials. Two socio-historical settings are of relevance here. The first (13th-12th Centuries BCE) relates to a final phase of Egyptian economic and military domination in the region. The second (11th-10th/9th Centuries BCE) relates to a widespread re-emergence of local semi-independent polities in the Central Valleys after the collapse of the Late Bronze Age city-states and the Egyptian withdrawal. It is argued that responses to widespread socio-political cultural and economic changes in the Late Bronze-Early Iron Age transition had a significant impact on social structure and kinship relations - affecting the ways in which the dead were perceived and treated by the living. Through a combined quantitative and contextual study of the burial data, aspects of variability in the expression of social rank, age and gender, and cultural identity in the Sa'idiyeh cemetery are examined, and in turn compared and contrasted
ritual social_structure late_bronze_early_iron age southern levant cemetery tell examine ritual social_structure southern_levantine late_bronze_early_iron ages detail_study cemetery tell cemetery phase examine date broadly late thirteenth tenth century bce consist burial socio_historical setting relevance here first bce relate final_phase egyptian economic military domination region second bce relate widespread re_emergence local semi independent polity central collapse city_state egyptian withdrawal argued response widespread socio_political cultural_economic change late_bronze_early_iron age_transition significant_impact social_structure kinship relation affect way dead perceive treated living combine_quantitative contextual_study burial data aspect variability expression social rank age_gender cultural_identity cemetery examine turn compare_contrasted