Prof. Rocco Palermo to deliver AIA Kershaw Lecture on Oct 2

"Replacing Empires: The Archaeology of Political Transformation and Spatial Dynamics in First Millennium BCE Mesopotamia"

Prof. Rocco Palermo (Bryn Mawr)

Thursday, Oct 2 at 5:30pm

Foster Auditorium (102 Paterno Library)

Abstract:

“This talk examines the landscape transformations of northern Mesopotamia following the collapse of the Neo-Assyrian Empire at the end of the 7th century BCE. Traditionally, the fall of Nineveh has been interpreted as a moment of abrupt rupture and collapse. However, material evidence increasingly points to a more nuanced trajectory of reorganization and adaptation. Rather than witnessing a simple narrative of decline and later recovery, the region experienced a dynamic process of settlement reconfiguration and landscape management that culminated in the emergence of new structures by the time of the Seleucids.

By coupling legacy data from southern Mesopotamia with new evidence from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq—particularly survey data from the Erbil Plain Archaeological Survey (EPAS) and excavation results from Gird-i Matrab—this paper rethinks the late Iron Age transformation of Mesopotamia. The integration of datasets from different parts of the region allows for a more holistic understanding of long-term patterns of habitation and land use.I argue that the political shifts from the Assyrian to the Seleucid periods did not erase local systems; instead, they reshaped them, producing a transformed but resilient settlement fabric, and one that will endure – through further adaptation – into the early 1st millennium CE.”

CAMS hopes to see you there!