The Gate to Mesopotamia is a scientific publication which aims to disseminate the results of archaeological research conducted in Mesopotamiaby the Institute of Archaeology (formerly the Institute of Prehistory) of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. Its creation was possible thanks to the financial support of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Poland, as part of the “science dissemination activities” programme DUN (grant no. 619/P-DUN/2017). The programme funds projects which aim to disseminate, promote, and popularize the results of research and development, innovative, and inventive activities both in Poland and worldwide.
© Adam Mickiewicz University © Rafał Koliński © Xenia Kolińska
| TEAM |
Website design: Xenia Kolińska, Rafał Koliński
We wanted to create a tool for presenting the results of research, conducted to date both in the field and in the laboratory, and provide a place where the data obtained during current and future projects can be shared. We hope that this tool will not only speed up the publication process itself but also shorten the time between discovery and publication: data will be shared instantly with researchers looking for analogies and wishing to exchange opinions and engage in discussions and polemics with others. We want the portal http://thegatetomesopotamia.amu.edu.plto become a platform for the exchange of knowledge and information and thus speed up the circulation of scientific information. We chose the Internet as a publishing platform and the Open Access model to ensure easy and universal access to the resources from almost every place in the world.
| TARGET GROUP |
The target group of the project is the international academic community associated with universities, museums, and research centres of America, Europe, and Asia. It consists of researchers and academics working in these institutions as well as students of all levels. The targeted audience also includes representatives of the antiquities services of the countries in which the research is conducted.
| STRUCTURE OF THE INTERNET PLATFORM |
The Gate to Mesopotamia platform consists of four “gates” dedicated to different topics and presenting separate groups of objects and information.
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GATE 1 CARAVANSERAI ON THE POST-AKKADIAN ROUTE OF COPPER |
Caravanserai on the post-Akkadian route of copper. presents some of the results of theproject entitled: Collapse, decline or development? Settlement and cultural changes in Syrian Jazireh at the turn of the Early Bronze Age (carried out in 2008–2010, financed by a KBN grant no. N109 03632/3163).
Period referred to: Early Jezirah 5 [EJ5], 24th–22nd century BC.
Place referred to: Tell Arbid, north-eastern Syria.
Route referred to: Mari – Ergani Maden.
Object of exchange: copper from Ergani Maden.
Presented material dates to: the end of the 3rd millennium BC.
Description: The oldest caravanserai in the world functioned in the 23rd–22nd century BC (according to C14dating) in the settlement discovered on Tell Arbid. It means there was infrastructure which supported the exchange of goods and served travellers. It also points to the existence of an efficiently-run administration, probably connected to the nearby city of Nagar (Tell Brak).
Organization of the material: by architectural complexes, types of objects and the material they are made of.
Active sections: Burials, Caravanserai, Figurines, Metal, Pottery, Seals, Varia.
The Publications section contains information about which research centres conducted work on the site and when, as well as links to the publications of the results.
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GATE 2 AMAZ ON THE ASSYRIAN ROUTE OF SILVER & WOOL |
Amaz on the Assyrian route of silver & wool presents the rest of the results of the project entitled: Collapse, decline or development? Settlement and cultural changes in Syrian Jazireh at the turn of the Early Bronze Age (carried out in 2008–2010, financed by a KBN grant no. N109 03632/3163).
Period referred to: Middle Bronze Age [MBA], 20th–17th century BC.
Place referred to: Tell Arbid (presumed ancient name of Amaz).
Route referred to: Ashur – Kanesh.
Object of exchange: silver from Anatolia in exchange for textiles and tin from Mesopotamia.
Presented material dates to: the first half of the 2nd millennium BC.
Description: The settlement in Amaz dates to the 20th century BC, i.e. a time when trade conducted by merchants from Ashur between Ashur and Anatolia flourished. Amaz lay on the trade route which crossed the steppes of northern Syria and existed for approximately 200 years. Thanks to clear stratigraphy, it is possible to establish the order in which houses and homesteads were built as well as the sequence of cemeteries associated with the houses (although their attribution is hypothetical). The state of preservation of the graves allows for the reconstruction of rituals related to burial and the cult of ancestors. It also helps to better understand the burial customs of the Mesopotamians, until now known mainly from textual sources. The cult of ancestors is a characteristic custom of the people who arrived from the steppes of southern Syria in the late 3rd and early 2nd millennium BC.
Organization of the material: by architectural complexes and type of material.
Active sections: Burials, Figurines, Metal, Pottery, Seals, Settlement, Varia (e.g. stone, clay, shells).
The Publications section contains information about which research centres conducted work on the site and when, as well as links to the publications of the results.
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GATE 3 ARCHAEOLOGICAL ATLAS OF IRAQ |
Archaeological Atlas of Iraq presents the results of the inventory of archaeological and cultural heritage monuments of northern Mesopotamia,financed by two grants: Settlement history of Iraqi Kurdistan 1 and 2, carried out in 2012–2019 (National Science Centre programme OPUS 2, no. 2011/03/B/HS03/01472, National Science Centre programme OPUS 7, no. 2014/13/B/HS3/04872).
Period referred to: 7th millennium BC – 20th century AD.
Area referred to: 3000 km2 of Iraqi Kurdistan, encompassing the Ākrê, Bardaṟaş, Habāt, and Şaqlaūa districts.
Presented material: 312 archaeological sites, 110 caves, 78 architectural monuments (including objects that have been found there), and 4 rock reliefs.
Description: The aim of the project was to register the cultural heritage of Mesopotamia from prehistory to the 20th century. This heritage includes archaeological sites, architectural monuments (Christian, Muslim, Jewish), cemeteries, rock reliefs, and caves. The significance of the project results from the fact that this area has not been accessible to archaeologists before. The presented material, especially pottery collected at the sites, allows for the reconstruction of the region’s settlement structure in different periods. The organization of the data makes it easy for archaeologists wishing to conduct research in this region to choose a site for future projects as well as to use this information in their own analyses. Also included are information about administration, geography, and geology, obtained during fieldwork, which may be of interest to researchers from other fields than archaeology.
Organization of the material: by topic (e.g. Environment – maps, geography, geology; Iraqi Atlas – published by the Iraqi Directorate General of Antiquitiesin 1976) and type: Architecture, Caves, Pottery, Sites.
The Publications section will include information about all archaeological activity in the region and links to publications.
| GATE 4. INACTIVE, RESERVED FOR FUTURE RESEARCH. |
| PRESENTATION OF THE MATERIAL |
The material presented on the platform has been preliminarily edited. Original drawings and notes have been digitized, and the image quality of photographs has been adjusted. Thus, the descriptions of photographs and drawings include both the names of the authors of the original documentation as well as of people who prepared it for publication on the platform: draughtsmen, photographers, and graphic designers.
The platform presents mainly documented finds. Analyses and syntheses of the material can be found in the Publications section, usually as links to outside sources. The only exception are the descriptions of graves and their state of preservation in Gate 2. They have been supplemented with the results of specialist anthropological, archaeozoological, and malacological analyses.
| CONDITIONS OF USE |
The rights to the texts and images presented on the Internet platform belong to the Adam Mickiewicz University (AMU) under contracts signed with their authors. AMU has the right to use them in publications and actions promoting science and the university. The authors of the works retain their non-transferable rights of authorship.
Since the presented research (as well as the creation of The Gate to Mesopotamia platform itself) was financed from public funds, the authors believe that its results should be publicly available. All the data and resources are therefore licensed under BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons 4.0). If you wish to use these materials in a way not covered by this license, please contact the administrators of the site.
If you wish to use the images in your publications or other scientific activities, please contact the administrators of the site to obtain high-resolution files.
We hope that all who use the materials presented on this platform will comply with the obligation to cite the source, title, and author of the work used.