Revolutionizing a World by Mark Altaweel Andrea Squitieri

Author:Mark Altaweel, Andrea Squitieri [Mark Altaweel, Andrea Squitieri]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781013290053
Goodreads: 55718566
Publisher: Saint Philip Street Press
Published: 2020-10-09T00:00:00+00:00

7

Material culture hybridization

7.1 Background

This chapter focuses on the phenomenon of material culture hybridization or syncretism – that is, the blending of artistic styles that developed in different geographic areas and cultural spheres – comparing the pre-AoE with the AoE. It is worth briefly explaining what is intended by ‘material culture hybridization’. In the literature on stylistic aspects of material culture, there is a great debate about how to define ‘style’ and what characterizes an ‘international’, ‘intercultural’ or ‘hybrid’ style as opposed to a ‘regional’ or ‘local’ one (e.g., Crowley 1989; Caubet 1998; Perrot and Madjidzadeh 2005; Fischer and Wicke 2011; Pfälzner 2015; Feldman 2015; Stockhammer 2013). ‘Hybrid style’ is defined here as the combination of local motifs and motifs borrowed from foreign cultural milieus (similar to Feldman 2006: ‘international style’, or Pfälzner 2015: ‘hybrid regional style’), including reinterpretations and adaptations.

Material culture hybridization can be the consequence of different factors. For example, objects traded across long distances can inspire artisans to incorporate stylistic features that originated far away. There are cases, however, in which hybrid styles can be linked to the actual movement and mixing of populations, in particular of artisans from distant regions. In the archaeological literature, migrations, invasions and deportations have sometimes been connected to the emergence of hybrid styles (see, e.g., Chapman and Hamerow 1997; Burmeister 2000; Ben-Shlomo 2011; Knapp 2008), though it is often difficult to infer the transfer of craft skills from stylistic elements alone, without supporting texts. Pre-AoE texts mention artisans who travelled across the Eastern Mediterranean, the Levant and Mesopotamia. Some examples can be found in the texts from the palace of Mari of the second millennium BCE and the Amarna letters of the fourteenth century BCE (Zaccagnini 1983). These texts show that the movement of artisans was regulated mainly by royal administration, meaning that travelling craftsmen were dependent on the largesse of palaces and moved from one royal house to another, in a framework very similar to the exchange of gifts among royal houses (Zaccagnini 1983: 243–54). Evidence of the voluntary movement of skilled craftsmen across different regions and of their permanent residence in a foreign country can scarcely be found in pre-AoE written sources, though a few hints do exist (Bevan and Bloxam 2016; Zaccagnini 1983: 256–7).

The pattern of craftsman mobility continued throughout the AoE, as evidenced by contemporary written sources. Skilled artisans from Syria, Babylonia and Phoenicia are mentioned in the Neo-Assyrian texts as workers living in Kalhu (modern Nimrud) and Nineveh, among other foreigners (Luckenbill 1924: 73; Kinnier Wilson 1972; Radner 2007: 190–1). They were probably deported during the military campaigns, but some hints suggest that skilled craftsmen voluntarily moved to Assyria for job opportunities (Zaccagnini 1983: 260). Similarly, the Achaemenid texts mention Egyptian, Lydian, Ionian, Sardian, Babylonian, Median and other craftsmen recruited to build the capital cities of Susa and Persepolis, where a mix of Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Iranian and Greek styles is indeed visible in the architecture and architectural elements (Nylander 1972; Roaf 1983; see also Chapter 5). In

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