1st Edition
Displays of Cultural Hegemony and Counter-Hegemony in the Late Bronze and Iron Age Levant The Public Presence of Foreign Powers and Local Resistance
This volume examines the power relationships between the rulers of the Late Bronze and Iron Age and their subjects in the Levant through the lens of "cultural hegemony." It explores the impact of these foreign powers on all social classes and reconstructs the public presence of cultural control.
The book serves to determine the impact of foreign control on the daily lives of those living in the ancient Levant and offers a means by which to attempt to discuss non-elites in the ancient Near East. It examines expressions of foreign ideology within public performance such as religious expressions and in public places, observable by all social classes, which assert control or dominance over local identity markers. In utilizing textual, epigraphic, and archaeological records, it paints a more complete picture of Levantine society during this time while also drawing upon evidence from neighbouring Anatolia, Egypt, and Mesopotamia.
This is a fascinating resource for students and scholars of the ancient Near East, particularly the Levant but also Anatolia, Egypt, and Mesopotamia in the Late Bronze and Iron Age periods. It is also useful for scholars working on power and imperialism across history.
List of Figures
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
Part I: The Hittites and the Late Bronze Age Northern Levant
2. Epigraphic Evidence for Cultural Hegemony and Counter-Hegemony from Emar
3. Epigraphic Evidence for Cultural Hegemony and Counter-Hegemony from Ugarit
4. Archaeological Evidence from Syria
Part II: Egypt and the Late Bronze Age Southern Levant
5. Egyptian Conceptions and Manifestations of Border in the Southern Levant
6. Egyptian Temples in the Southern Levant
Part III: The Neo-Assyrians, Neo-Babylonians, and the Iron Age Southern Levant
7. Neo-Assyrian Conceptions and Manifestations of Borders in the Iron Age Southern Levant
8. Counter-Hegemony in the Iron Age Southern Levant
9. The Neo-Babylonians in the Levant
10. The Neo-Babylonians in the Iron Age Prophets
11. Conclusions
Works Cited
Index
Biography
Shane M. Thompson (PhD Brown University) is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at North Carolina Wesleyan University. He is the co-editor of the forthcoming volumes Power and Identity at the Margins of the Ancient Near East, Understanding Power in the Ancient Near East, Volume 1: Approaches, and Understanding Power in the Ancient Near East, Volume 2: Manifestations and Responses.
