Near Eastern Archaeology in Leiden

RIP Prof. Em. Klaas Veenhof

In Memoriam Klaas Veenhof | Tot onze spijt is professor Veenhof, oud-hoogleraar Assyriologie en voormalig bestuurslid van EOL, op 28 juli overleden. Hij is 87 jaar geworden.

Professor Veenhof was als hoogleraar Assyriologie, eerst in Amsterdam en later in Leiden, nauw betrokken bij zowel het NINO als EOL. Hij is ruim 40 jaar bestuurslid geweest van onze vereniging. We denken met dankbaarheid aan hem terug.

(Foto door Bert van der Spek)

New book in the making!

Style and Society in the Prehistory of West Asia @ Sidestone Press Olivier Nieuwenhuyse was a remarkable archaeologist whose work has transformed the study of later Neolithic societies in West Asia and he has inspired many colleagues and former student in their own pursuit of archaeology. Through the analysis of material culture his aim was to reconstruct social me...

Just out: the final report on the Uruk site of Jebel Aruba in Syria!

Govert van Driel & Carol van Driel-Murray (2023), JEBEL ARUDA: AN URUK PERIOD TEMPLE AND SETTLEMENT IN SYRIA, Leiden: Sidestone Press (2 volumes).

Jebel Aruda, a prominent mountain ridge overlooking the Taqba Dam lake in northern Syria, was the location of a remarkable settlement that flourished between c. 3300 and 3100 BC during the so-called Uruk period. For the inhabitants the sacredness of this high place, evidenced by the discovery of a large temple complex, seems to have taken precedent over its impractical location far above the valley of the Euphrates River.

For details (and free online reading!), see:

Jebel Aruda (volume I) @ Sidestone Press Jebel Aruda, a prominent mountain ridge overlooking the Taqba Dam lake in northern Syria, was the location of a remarkable settlement that flourished between c. 3300 and 3100 BC during the so-called Uruk period. For the inhabitants the sacredness of this high place, evidenced by the discovery of a l...

New book underway about the Middle Assyrian burials of Tell Sabi Abyad in Syria!

Death at the Dunnu @ Sidestone Press During the roughly hundred years (ca. 1225 – 1125 BCE) that the Middle Assyrian dunnu at Tell Sabi Abyad was in operation, some forty-nine individuals were interred in graves of a striking diversity. In this book their burial type, location, orientation, position, grave goods and osteological data...

Jebel Aruda (volume I) @ Sidestone Press Jebel Aruda, a prominent mountain ridge overlooking the Taqba Dam lake in northern Syria, was the location of a remarkable settlement that flourished between c. 3300 and 3100 BC during the so-called Uruk period. For the inhabitants the sacredness of this high place, evidenced by the discovery of a l...

“Het werken met oeroude bronnen is magisch,” vertelt Assyrioloog Rients de Boer in deze podcast over de talen en culturen van Mesopotamië. Beluister de podcast hier: https://www.exorientelux.nl/2023/01/podcast-interview-met-assyrioloog-rients-de-boer/

Case study of intentional damage on the Tell Sabi Abyad and Catalhöyük figurines, by Monique Arntz. In: Breaking Images: Damage and Mutilation of Ancient Figurines (coming soon!)

Breaking Images Investigates deliberate fragmentation and damaging of figurines across a range of societies and periods.

Congratulations to Monique Arntz, with the completion of her excellent PhD thesis on the Neolithic figurines from Tell Sabi Abyad and Catalhöyük! Available in open access on the Cambridge repository: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/343282

Fieldwork in the making!

Jebel Qurma calling! We will travel to the basalt desert next week, to begin another exciting two-months field season. We’ll keep you updated about our adventures and discoveries in this barren but amazing landscape!