A tale of three cities: urban and cultural resilience and heritage between the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age in the eastern Mediterranean

The turbulent years around c. 1200 BC in the eastern Mediterranean are known as a period of the collapse of states and empires. Yet by zooming in on three important royal cities, Tiryns, Hattusa and Carchemish, we can question this collapse narrative whilst at the same time exploring the now popular...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inUrban history Vol. 48; no. 4; pp. 724 - 748
Main Author Middleton, Guy D.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.11.2021
Subjects
Adaptation
Archaeology
Architecture
Bronze Age
Cities
Construction
Cultural heritage
Culture
Excavation
Iron Age
Resilience
Survey and Speculation
Urban areas
Greece
Anatolia
Egypt
Mediterranean Area
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Summary:The turbulent years around c. 1200 BC in the eastern Mediterranean are known as a period of the collapse of states and empires. Yet by zooming in on three important royal cities, Tiryns, Hattusa and Carchemish, we can question this collapse narrative whilst at the same time exploring the now popular concept of resilience, in this case urban and cultural resilience. First these ancient cities are presented as interactive and meaningful spaces in which architecture and art were used to shape people's experience of them and the world in which they lived, before their urban fabric and functions are examined in turn. It will become clear that they had radically different fates through c. 1200 BC. Some of the difficulties in applying ideas from resilience thinking and how it might or might not be useful as an approach in studying these and other examples are then discussed.
ISSN:0963-9268
1469-8706
DOI:10.1017/S0963926820000607