The Amorites and the Bronze Age Near East: The Making of a Regional Identity

Cover
Half-title
Title page
Copyright information
Dedication
Contents
List of
Figures
List of
Tables
Preface
Acknowledgments
List of
Abbreviations
One Introduction: Amorites, Their Legacy, and the Study of Identity
	An Amorite Legacy
	Conceptual Frameworks
	Scope and Structure
Two Communities at the Margins: The Origins of Amorite Identity, 2500-2200 BC
	Localizing Early Amorites
	Economies at the Margins
		Settlement Extensification in the Zone of Uncertainty
		Extensification, Urbanism, and Their Failure in the Southern Levant
		Agropastoral Communities of Practice
	Early Amorite Identity
		Ascribed Identities and Tribal Constituencies
		Shared Traditions and Boundary Maintenance among Early Amorite Communities
	Crises in the Zone of Uncertainty
		Early Military Intervention, ca. 2500-2300 BC
		Akkadian Imperial Control, from 2300 BC
		The Onset and Impact of Aridification, from 2200 BC
	Appendix
Three Beyond Pastoralism: Diaspora and Opportunity, 2200-2000 BC
	Migration
		Flight and Abandonments
		The Scale of Displacement
		Refugees
	Resettlement
		Urbanization
		Migration
		Resettlement and Risk
	Social Identity
		Language and Onomastics
		Tribal and Political Organization
		Kinship
			Marriage
			Burial Practices
	From the Gutians to Ur
		The Gutian Interlude and Legitimation
		The Ur III State and Foreigners
		Maintaining Social Order
		Wars, Walls, and Ur's Expansion
		Tidnumite Incursions
		Amorites and the Fall of Ur
	The State and Amorite Service
		Labor for the State
		Specialization
	Amorites and the West
		Mari, between East and West
		Amorite Influence from Mari South
		The Levant in Transition
		Into Egypt
Four Mercenaries and Merchants: Networks of Political and Economic Power, 2000-1800 BC
	The Rise of Amorite Political Power, 2000-1930 BC
		Isin and the Amorites
		Royal Legitimation after Ur
		Tribalism and Mercenarism in Amorite Power
		Asiatics, Early Middle Kingdom Egypt, and the Levant
	Early Amorite Hegemony, 1930-1800 BC
		The Foundation of Amorite States in the Northern Levant
		The Re-extensification of Agropastoralism
		Akkad, Scribalism, and Royal Legitimation
		Monuments and Competitive Emulation
	Long-Distance Trade and Political Power
		Merchants, Trade Diasporas, and Social Entanglement
		Amorite Enclaves in the Eastern Delta
		Trade Networks and Security
		Byblos and Maritime Trade with Egypt
	The Role of the Urban Landscape
		Mesopotamia
		The Northern Levant and Canaan
	An Amorite Oikoumene
		Royal Patronage
		Elite Emulation
		Intermarriage and Kinship
Five Competition and Emulation: The Amorite Koine from Dilmun to Avaris, 1800-1550 BC
	Identity in the ''Age of Amorites''
		Individual Identity: Language and Naming Conventions
		Tribes and Placenames: Social Organization
		Rulers and Dynasties: Political Hegemony
		Cultural Memory and Invented Tradition: Social Identity
		An Amorite Koine
	Amorite Kingship and Its Traditions
		The Ideal King
		Kingly Deeds
		The Palace
		Royal Burials
		The Art of War and Peace
		Cult Patronage
	Kinship and Social Status
		Legal Traditions and Edicts
		Mortuary Customs
	Status Marking
	Mobile Personnel
		Merchants
		Artisans and Court Personnel
		Armies, Mercenaries, and Brigands
		Land Tenure
	The Limits of Social Power
		The Hyksos and Their Expulsion, 1664-1555 BC
		Old Assyrians and the Amorites
		Segregation in Babylonia?
	The End of an Age
Six Conclusion: Amorite Identity in the Longue Durée
	Identity in the Making
	Economic Opportunities
	Military Power
	Political Hegemony
	The Eclipse of Social Power
References
Index