Resources in Times of Change

Ausgrabungen in Hazor: Forschungen zum Übergang von der Spätbronze zur Eisenzeit. Copyright: Jesse Millek Excavations in Hazor: Research on the transition between late Bronze and Iron Age | © J. Millek

Subproject:
A 06 Political collapse as a result of economic change? Resource control in the transition between the Bronze and Iron Age in the eastern Mediterranean area

Project leadership:
Prof. Dr. Jens Kamlah

Staff:
Jesse Millek

Region:
Southern Levant

What was the significance of interregional exchange in the transition from the Bronze to the Iron Age in the Levant?

The subproject called “Political Collapse as a Result of Economic Change? Resource Control in the Transition between the Bronze and Iron Age in the Eastern Mediterranean” explores developments in the handling of resources in the Levant, that is, the eastern Mediterranean coastal region. Imported objects like ceramic vessels, seals of semi-precious stones, and jewelry in precious metals certainly had a considerable economic value. However, their symbolic value was apparently more important, as these objects associated their owners with the far-reaching system of interregional exchange.

The subproject investigates what role interregional exchange played as a resource during this transitional period and how the handling of resources developed during periods of change.

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