The Material Culture of Babylonia in the First Millennium BC

The project investigates the material culture the sum total of man-made objects of Babylonia in the first millennium BC. The study is principally based on tens of thousands of clay tablets recovered from the region southern Iraq that date mostly to the 8th to 3rd century BC, but also the archaeological record will be taken into account. The project will study the physical nature of tools, garments, furniture and so forth, but it will also investigate the identity of who made them, the social status of the craftsmen, their working conditions and technologies, and the origin of the raw materials. The focus on the first millennium BC will allow the dialogue between archaeology and epigraphy to clarify the innovations which took place at the crucial juncture of the advent of the Iron Age. The project will also focus on the various uses objects were put to, in daily life and in the more specific context of the palaces and temples. The sanctuaries, in particular, represent a major source of documentation about the material culture. This approach will not only elucidate how furniture, tools, weapons, means of transport, garments, etc. were employed, it will also demonstrate the socio-economic setting of these objects, their social meaning and the symbolic dimension of some of their forms of use. The concentration on objects in society is indicated by the peculiarities of the period of research. Iron Age Babylonia experienced major socio-economic transformations: for the first time world-wide, the impact of money and markets on production and consumption patterns for consumer goods can be studied. Our working hypothesis is that material culture not only sheds light on the technological changes brought by the Iron Age, but also elucidates the consequences of monetization and wide-spread reliance on market exchange especially during the long sixth century. In other words, the project will investigate the perhaps very first case of a developing consumer culture. It will also introduce a comparative approach in that the prosperity levels in first millennium BC Babylonia will be compared to data from neighbouring Assyria and from earlier phases of Babylonian history. The working hypothesis here is that the increase in prosperity (as mirrored, i.a., in material culture) in Babylonia went hand-in-hand with an increase in society- wide inequality. If this hypothesis holds, Babylonia offers the earliest example for the connection between economic growth and the growth of inequality, which is currently such a strong focus of society-wide discussion.

The Material Culture of Babylonia during the First Millennium B.C.. The project investigated the material culture - the sum total of man-made objects - of Babylonia in the first millennium BC, basing itself on thousands of clay tablets recovered from southern Iraq and on the pertinent archaeological record. The project studied the physical nature of tools, garments, furniture etc., but also investigate the identity and social status of the craftsmen, their working conditions and technologies, and the origin of the raw materials. In a dialogue between archaeology and epigraphy the project has thus investigated, i.a., bread making, the production of perfume and incense, smithing, and different textile working technologies. There are also studies on kitchen utensils and the building trades, including the first identification of a Babylonian lifting machine (crane). The project has also focused on the various uses objects were put to, in daily life and in the more specific context of the palaces and temples. The sanctuaries, in particular, represent a major source of documentation about the material culture. This approach does not only elucidate how furniture, tools, weapons, means of transport, garments, etc. were employed, it also demonstrates the socio-economic setting of these objects, their social meaning and the symbolic dimension of some of their forms of use. Thus, we have investigated e.g. the use of 'holy water' - which we could identify as a type of soap - in the cult, where it was used for the purification of parts of the temple in connection with rituals of sacrifice. An investigation of city- and temple gates shows the multiple facets of these structures - from their physical make-up and construction to their importance as delimitations of social space. The concentration on 'objects in society' is indicated by the peculiarities of the period of research. Iron Age Babylonia experienced major socio-economic transformations: for the first time world-wide, the impact of money and markets on production and consumption patterns for consumer goods can be studied. Material culture not only sheds light on the technological changes brought by the Iron Age, but also elucidates the consequences of monetization and wide-spread reliance on market exchange especially during the so-called 'long sixth century.' It brings to light the perhaps very first case of a developing 'consumer culture'. Through comparison with Babylonian data from the Middle Bronze age (ca. 1600 BCE) we can show that the increasing prosperity levels in first millennium BC Babylonia (as mirrored, i.a., in material culture) went hand-in-hand with an increase in society-wide inequality. This is probably the earliest example for the connection between economic growth and the growth of inequality which is currently such a strong focus of society-wide discussion.