Uploaded November 2020 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
An Anatolian Studies Virtual Seminar with Murat Akar (Hatay Mustafa Kemal University).
Constructing and deconstructing public spaces in second-millennium BC Anatolia, the Near East and the Levant was not only a collaborative physical act but also involved deeply embodied ritual symbolism. This symbolism is materialised in the practice of conducting public foundation and termination rituals that unified individual memories in space and time, transforming the physical act into a collective memory: a process that contributed to the formation of political and cultural memory. The recent rescue excavations conducted by the Hatay Archaeological Museum at the hinterland site of Toprakhisar Höyük in Altınözü (in the foothills above the Amuq valley) add to the understanding of the practice of foundation and termination rituals during the Middle Bronze Age and how these moments may have contributed to the political and cultural memory of a rural community living away from the centre. The practice of foundation/termination rituals is archaeologically documented by caches of artefacts from votive contexts stratigraphically linked to the construction and termination of a Middle Bronze Age administrative structure.
Find out more on our website: biaa.ac.uk/event/anatolian-studies-virtual-seminar-series-the-formation-of-collective-political-and-cultural-memory-in-the-middle-bronze-age-foun
Read the full article in Anatolian Studies: cambridge.org/core/journals/anatolian-studies/article/abs/formation-of-collective-political-and-cultural-memory-in-the-middle-bronze-age-foundation-and-termination-rituals-at-toprakhisar-hoyuk/3CD7F025D62CB580C5EDD9036E6C36BD
An Anatolian Studies Virtual Seminar with Murat Akar (Hatay Mustafa Kemal University).
Constructing and deconstructing public spaces in second-millennium BC Anatolia, the Near East and the Levant was not only a collaborative physical act but also involved deeply embodied ritual symbolism. This symbolism is materialised in the practice of conducting public foundation and termination rituals that unified individual memories in space and time, transforming the physical act into a collective memory: a process that contributed to the formation of political and cultural memory. The recent rescue excavations conducted by the Hatay Archaeological Museum at the hinterland site of Toprakhisar Höyük in Altınözü (in the foothills above the Amuq valley) add to the understanding of the practice of foundation and termination rituals during the Middle Bronze Age and how these moments may have contributed to the political and cultural memory of a rural community living away from the centre. The practice of foundation/termination rituals is archaeologically documented by caches of artefacts from votive contexts stratigraphically linked to the construction and termination of a Middle Bronze Age administrative structure.
Find out more on our website: biaa.ac.uk/event/anatolian-studies-virtual-seminar-series-the-formation-of-collective-political-and-cultural-memory-in-the-middle-bronze-age-foun
Read the full article in Anatolian Studies: cambridge.org/core/journals/anatolian-studies/article/abs/formation-of-collective-political-and-cultural-memory-in-the-middle-bronze-age-foundation-and-termination-rituals-at-toprakhisar-hoyuk/3CD7F025D62CB580C5EDD9036E6C36BD
