STIMOLA CURIOSITA’, PASSIONE E CORAGGIO
Near Eastern Empires at Work (NEEW). An archaeological approach to the study of empires, their organisation and impact on local societies and landscapes in northern Iraq.
Abstract
Under the denominator of common goals and research methodologies, NEEW brings together two innovative archaeological projects operating in a poorly explored region of Iraq that offers an extremely high potential for the integrated archaeological study of empires and their impact on societies and landscapes. Iraq constitutes one of the few primary cradles of empires occurring globallyand its empires are among the oldest documented. Past research into the rise of empires in the Near East has been fuelled above all by historical studies relying upon written sources produced by imperial elites and conveying their worldview, while a decidedly minor contribution has come from archaeological investigations. In opposition to this approach, the methodological assumption underlying NEEW is that archaeology can provide privileged perspectives and datasets to study transformation in dominated landscapes and societies determined by the emergence of imperial structures as well as the organisation of empires on the ground. NEEW has developed an interdisciplinary archaeological approach to the study of ancient and modern Near Eastern empires based on regional survey, targeted excavations, and material culture studies focusing on the rolling plains of Duhok in the northern part of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (Fig. 1). Based on selected case studies illuminating the Middle and Neo-Assyrian, Early Islamic and Ottoman imperial traditions, the project will investigate howempires were established and developed in these regions through the application of a series of practices that allowed them to interfere in conquered societies and to shape their ruralscapes with the ultimate goal of maintaining their dominance. These repertoires of rule included the reshuffling of settlement patterns, resettlement and mixing of populations, creation of infrastructures that altered the management of water resources and the agricultural economy, production/consumption of new material cultures and in some cases the construction of new ideologically charged imperial landscapes.NEEW will have a substantial scientific impact on the archaeological exploration of ancient and modern empires because it will provide an innovative methodological framework for the study of past empires at work offering an important reference tool for investigation of empires in other regions and cultural contexts. The results of the project will be communicated through a dissemination plan based on participation in conferences, organisation of two final workshops (one in Iraq), scientific publications in international peer-reviewed journals and monograph series, and communication of the research results to a non-specialist public through a website and a social media outreach strategy. This will allow for the dissemination of results to a wide audience, with attention also to local communities as a necessary premise for their involvement in the active protection of Iraq’s archaeological heritage and landscape.
Partenariato
- Università degli Studi di Udine (Udine, UD)
- Università "Ca' Foscari" Venezia (Venezia, VE)
Importo del progetto
Importo totale del progetto Euro 153.972,00
Importo del progetto Uniud Euro 109.208,00
Finanziamento Uniud Euro 44.764,00
Durata
- Data avvio progetto: 28 settembre 2023
- Data conclusione progetto: 27 settembre 2025
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