Daniel T. Potts

The Balance of Trade in Southwestern Asia in the Mid-Third Millennium B.C. [and Comments and Reply]

Trade frequently is considered an important and distinct subsystem that is integrated within a prehistoric cultural system. This paper rejects this interpretation and attempts a structural analysis of a specific trading network that existed in southwestern Asia in the mid-3d millennium B.C. in order to uncover the motivational factors and contradictions operative in trading relationships. An ideal dichotomy between sparsely populated, resource-rich highland centers and densely settled lowland cities is proposed, and the evolutionary significance of the relationship that developed between these areas is discussed.

The archaeology and early history of the Persian Gulf

In antiquity the Persian Gulf region was culturally diverse, containing at least four major regions and many more subregions. These included (a) southern Iran, from the Shatt al-Arab to the Strait of Hormuz, certainly not a homogenous area and one which is frustratingly understudied; (b) southernmost Mesopotamia; (c) northeastern Arabia (modern Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait), Bahrain, and Qatar, in whose material culture we can recognize enough similarities to justify such a geographical grouping; and (d) southeastern Arabia, the modern UAE, and, although technically outside the Gulf (except for Ras Musandam), Oman.

The Internal Dynamics of the Early State [and Comments and Reply]

This article addresses the question of why only some early states develop into mature ones. The main differences between the two types of states having been outlined, four fields are indicated in which changes may take place. The field of the societal format involves problems of infrastructure, communication, and control. The field of economic development includes such aspects as trade and markets and the income and expenditures of the state. In the field of legitimation what is central is the balance between consensual and coercive power; in the field of bureaucratic organization it is the efficiency and sophistication of the administrative apparatus. Where developments in these four fields tend to reinforce each other, the evolution of the early state into the mature one takes place-provided there are no counteractive external influences such as conquest or colonization. The internal dynamics of the early state seems to be based on efforts to maximize personal or institutional influence. Efforts to overcome contradictions and cope with conflict appear to be a second important element in this process.

Puzur-Insusinak and the Oxus Civilization (BMAC): Reflections on Simaski and the geo-political landscape of Iran and Central Asia in the Ur III period

Two silver vessels – one found near Persepolis in Iran and the other from a grave at Gonur Depe in Turkmenistan – are discussed. Similarities in shape and decoration are highlighted, and a common place of origin is postulated. Three possible areas of origin are examined and the implications of a Central Asian origin are discussed in light of current debates about the historical geography of Iran in the late 3rd millennium B.C.

Elamites and Kassites in the Persian Gulf

Ever since J. van Dijk’s seminal article on the interdynastic marriages between the Kassites and the Elamites,1 the relationship between these two royal houses has been subjected to increased scrutiny (see below). Recently, when revisiting the subject of the Kassite period on Bahrain and the contemporary Middle Elamite presence at Liyan near Bushehr (fig. 1), it became apparent to me that few scholars have ever considered the two phenomena in tandem or the implications of Kassite-Elamite relations for the history of Dilmun and the Persian Gulf region. The following reflections are therefore intended to stimulate renewed analysis of the later second millennium b.c. in the central and northern Persian Gulf, rather than providing any definitive answers to the questions addressed.

Foundation houses, fire altars and the frataraka : Interpreting the iconography of some post-achaemenid persian coins

The iconography of Persid coins of the frataraka dynasty has been discussed by many scholars. Interpretations have considered whether the building shown on the reverse of these coins was 1. a fire temple 2. an atāshgah, i.e. a repository of holy fire 3. a tomb 4. a coronation tower 5. a “foundation house” or a repository of Zoroastrian parapherlia or 6. a tower altar/fire altar. These putative functions, and the building’s relationship to the similarly shaped Zenda-e Sulaiman at Parsagadae and Ka’ba-e Zardosht at Naqsh-e Rustam, are evaluated.

THE MAMASANI ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT, STAGE TWO : EXCAVATIONS AT QALEH KALI (TAPPEH SERVAN/JINJUN [MS 46])

Abstract In early 2007. surface survey, geophysical analysis and excavations were carried out at the site of Qaleh Kali (Tappeh Servan/Jinjun), in the Mamasani District of Fars. The excavations revealed that multiple phases of occupation are preserved at the site, the earliest of which appears to have been a sizeable élite structure that may in fact have had a royal clientele, as suggested by the presence of monumental Persepolis-style column bases and the quality of the fragments of tine glass and polished stone vessels discovered in the excavations. Although it has not yet been identified with any certainty, it is likely that Qaleh Kali is mentioned in the Persepolis Fortification Texts.

ASIA, WEST | Arabian Peninsula

This chapter discusses human settlement in the Arabian peninsula from the Pleistocene to the 7th century AD. Emphasis is placed on environmental conditions, the development of material culture traditions, external ties to neighboring regions, socio-political development and the evolution of cultural complexity. All areas of the Arabian peninsula are included.

In the shadow of Kurangun: Cultural developments in the highlands between Khuzestan and Anšan

On April 8th, 1924, Ernst Herzfeld entered the Mamasani region of western Fars, an area he had first visited in 1905. One of the many insights that Herzfeld had during his second visit to the area stemmed from a mistaken attribution. Outside of Susa, shrines to Insusinak are attested epigraphically at Cogha Zanbil, Tappeh Deylam and Cogha Pahn West in Khuzestan, and at Tal-e Malyan in Fars, all of which date to the Middle Elamite period. Two different shrines to Napirissa at Susa are attested by brick inscriptions, while one is known to have existed at Liyan and at Tal-e Malyan. In the end, even though the deities represented in the Kurangun relief cannot positively be identified, their headger and snake-thrones, which can be found at Susa, Kurangun and Naqs-e Rustam, do suggest a shared iconography. Keywords:Coga Zanbil; Herzfeld; Khuzestan; Kurangun; Mamasani; Middle Elamite period; Napirissa; Susa; Tappeh Deylam