{"title":"A Tale of Twelve Thousand Cards","authors":"Silas Klein Cardoso","doi":"10.1086/727581","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/727581","url":null,"abstract":"This article discusses the cognitive influence of cataloging tools in the stamp seals research project carried out between 1981–2013 at the Department of Biblical Studies of the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. As visual knowledge tools, the roughly twelve thousand index cards used by the Fribourg school helped to analyze, translate, and deconstruct visual artifacts into historical/archaeological data in the form of textual descriptions. In terms of media theory, the process entailed the translation of structural (nonlinear to linear), cognitive (synthetic to consecutive), and syntactical (dense to nondense) features. The semiotic analysis of the cards seen against the group’s socio-academic context shows that the cards were not only central methodologically but supported the group’s conceptual and methodological transition with direct outcomes in their historiography. The case study thus addresses an important issue in and for digital humanities, namely the conceptual role of knowledge tools in scholarship interpreting the past.","PeriodicalId":51934,"journal":{"name":"NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY","volume":"123 30","pages":"266 - 273"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138608188","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Stefan Münger, Nadia Ben-Marzouk, Ben Greet, Ido Koch
{"title":"The Corpus of Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant Database","authors":"Stefan Münger, Nadia Ben-Marzouk, Ben Greet, Ido Koch","doi":"10.1086/727580","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/727580","url":null,"abstract":"The Corpus of Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant (CSSL) database comprises some twelve thousand items from controlled excavations in Israel, Palestine, and Jordan, transforming and bringing to completion Othmar Keel’s pioneering vision to publish all seals and sealings from the region. The CSSL platform not only represents a newly available digital research tool for southern Levantine studies and related fields, but also aims at exploring innovative approaches to advance the digital study of glyptic more broadly. As the SNSF-funded Sinergia project Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant (SSSL) completes its goal, we ask: What comes next? This article provides an overview of the CSSL database; situates this new resource alongside other contemporary digital tools for the study of glyptic; and briefly reflects on the possibilities for more collaboration and integration across digital humanities projects.","PeriodicalId":51934,"journal":{"name":"NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY","volume":" 9","pages":"274 - 283"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138614643","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Some Highlights in Local versus Regional Glyptic Consumption in the Southern Levant during the Iron I","authors":"Nadia Ben-Marzouk","doi":"10.1086/727587","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/727587","url":null,"abstract":"The southern Levant comprises a patchwork of diverse landscapes and communities whose connectivity fluctuated with the reorganization and termination of various economic, political, and social networks, at times expressing more similarity than difference among sites and regions. During the Iron I, communities in the southern Levant experienced the dissolution of Egypt’s colonial network, resulting in a range of responses. Building from previous research, this article utilizes the newly developed Corpus of Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant database to survey all stamp seals from excavated contexts dated to the Iron I to explore how the withdrawal of Egyptian power from the region affected the consumption of stamp seal amulets related to seal type, iconography, and stylistic date of production. Some highlights from that study are presented here to situate consumption practices within the broader landscape and to nuance our understanding of community response in the wake of political reorganization.","PeriodicalId":51934,"journal":{"name":"NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY","volume":"34 7","pages":"292 - 301"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138627037","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Honoring a Legacy, Inviting a New Generation","authors":"Christoph Uehlinger","doi":"10.1086/727573","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/727573","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of this introductory article is threefold: (1) to situate the Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant (SSSL) project in the broader history of twentieth-century glyptic research, especially with regard to Othmar Keel’s multivolume Corpus of Stamp Seals from Palestine/Israel launched in the 1980s; (2) to explain the SSSL project’s research design as a strategic response to that unfinished initiative, the intrinsic potential of stamp seals research, and the demands of a specific funding opportunity that emphasizes interdisciplinarity; (3) to consider SSSL as a trans-generational project, attentive to both transmission and innovation. The digital humanities transition offers crucial opportunities and challenges regarding all three aspects.","PeriodicalId":51934,"journal":{"name":"NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY","volume":"9 2","pages":"256 - 265"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138609820","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"New Precedents and Insights from Stamp Seal Photography","authors":"Ben Greet","doi":"10.1086/727579","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/727579","url":null,"abstract":"As part of the Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant (SSSL) project, a program of photography of ca. 1150 stamp seals and seal impressions was undertaken over the course of 2022. Through the implementation of this large-scale photography program, two aspects came to the fore: (1) the necessity of publishing our photographic methodology to give context to the images of these stamp seals and seal impressions; and (2) several new insights into the seals were gained from this program concerning their material identification, perforation forms, and misalignment of base iconography. This article presents the publication of our photographic methodology, which we hope will not only serve to counteract potential misinterpretations of stamp seals and seal impressions from the region (e.g., color, orientation), but also set a precedent for the transparent discussion of these photographic processes in the future.","PeriodicalId":51934,"journal":{"name":"NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY","volume":" 11-12","pages":"284 - 290"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138618767","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"From the Guest Editors","authors":"Nadia Ben-Marzouk, Ben Greet","doi":"10.1086/728755","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/728755","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51934,"journal":{"name":"NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY","volume":" 1121","pages":"Inside front cover - Inside front cover"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138610404","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Hebrew Seals","authors":"Eythan Levy","doi":"10.1086/727585","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/727585","url":null,"abstract":"The number of provenanced Iron Age Hebrew seals and seal impressions has seen a dramatic increase during the past decades. Avigad and Sass’s classical Corpus of West Semitic Stamp Seals, published in 1997, comprised 130 provenanced Iron Age Hebrew seals (including seals known only from impressions). Today, this number has risen to over 300 items, mostly owing to a wealth of new material from recent excavations in Jerusalem. The completion of the Stamp Seals of the Southern Levant (SSSL) project offers an opportunity to look back at the corpus of provenanced Hebrew seals and to reflect on the nature of the material. This article comprises a short introduction to Hebrew glyptics, a survey of the updated corpus, and a new typology of Hebrew seals.","PeriodicalId":51934,"journal":{"name":"NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY","volume":"105 5","pages":"302 - 310"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138609050","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Domestic Material Culture and Wealth Equality","authors":"Yoko Nishimura","doi":"10.1086/725773","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/725773","url":null,"abstract":"This article measures differential accumulation of material wealth between houses at the intrasite level. The dwellings measured are located in two separate residential neighborhoods at the urban settlement of Titriş Höyük in southeastern Turkey. As proxies of the measurement, the author employed various architectural spaces, built-in features, and portable artifacts exposed from primary floor contexts, as well as grave inclusions from burials within the houses that were completely or partially excavated. Gini values are calculated for thirteen variables derived from the material culture. The results show that occupants of the houses shared a similar economic status from about 2300 to 2100 BCE. It is thought that a centrally planned construction of this settlement around 2300 BCE played a role in the more or less equal wealth distribution. This type of comparative research necessitates a fine-grained excavation record of domestic floors and intramural tombs, both of which are available at Titriş.","PeriodicalId":51934,"journal":{"name":"NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY","volume":"86 1","pages":"176 - 184"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48027894","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Immersing in Mesopotamia","authors":"Peter J. Cobb, J. Nieminen","doi":"10.1086/725775","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/725775","url":null,"abstract":"Immersive technologies and 3D modeling hold the potential for improving how we teach students about archaeological topics, especially the spatial and visual aspects of the past. This article presents a rapid exploratory pilot experiment that deployed virtual reality (VR) devices for remote group tours of sites within an introductory Mesopotamian archaeology university course. Creating the 3D models of the sites took the most time, so it is hoped that future publication norms will encourage the direct sharing of models for reuse. Through student interviews, the authors found that students could remember and explain the spatial layouts of the sites presented in VR better than those presented by traditional means. Students also informed about challenges with using the technology and their enjoyment of interacting with the sites and other students in this new way. Future archaeological teaching with VR will build upon the practical knowledge gained from this initial pilot.","PeriodicalId":51934,"journal":{"name":"NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY","volume":"86 1","pages":"240 - 249"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42298064","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}