Ancient Cities: The Archaeology of Urban Life in the Ancient Near East and Egypt, Greece and Rome

503 Pages·2011·22.1 MB·english

by  Charles Gates

Ancient Cities
Ancient Cities surveys the cities of the Ancient Near East, Egypt, and the Greek and Roman
worlds from the perspectives of archaeology and architectural history, bringing to life the phy-
sical world of ancient city dwellers by concentrating on evidence recovered from archaeological
excavations. Urban form is the focus: the physical appearance and overall plans of the cities,
their architecture and natural topography, and the cultural and historical contexts in which they
fl ourished. Attention is also paid to non-urban features such as religious sanctuaries and burial
grounds, places and institutions that were a familiar part of the city dweller’s experience. Objects
or artifacts that represented the essential furnishings of everyday life are discussed, such as pot-
tery, sculpture, wall paintings, mosaics and coins. Ancient Cities is unusual in presenting this wide
range of Old World cultures in such comprehensive detail, giving equal weight to the Preclassical
and Classical periods, and in showing the links between these ancient cultures.
User-friendly features include:
• use of clear and accessible language, assuming no previous background knowledge
• lavishly illustrated with over 300 line drawings, maps, and photos
• historical summaries, further reading arranged by topic, plus a consolidated bibliography
and comprehensive index
• a companion website with chapter summaries, study questions, and illustrations
• new to the second edition: the companion website, a timeline allowing easy comparison of
urban habitation, and a glossary of archaeological and historical terms.
In this second edition, Charles Gates has comprehensively revised and updated his original text,
and Neslihan Yılmaz has reworked her acclaimed illustrations. Readers and lecturers will be
delighted to see a new chapter on Phoenician cities in the fi rst millennium BC, and new sections
on Göbekli Tepe, the sensational Neolithic sanctuary; Sinope, a Greek city on the Black Sea
coast; and cities of the western Roman Empire. With its comprehensive presentation of ancient
Mediterranean and Near Eastern cities, its rich collection of illustrations, and its new companion
website, Ancient Cities will remain an essential textbook for university and high school students
across a wide range of archaeology, ancient history, and Ancient Near Eastern, biblical, and
classical studies courses.
Charles Gates is senior lecturer of archaeology and art history at Bilkent University in Ankara,
Turkey. His research focuses on Minoan, Mycenaean and Greek art and archaeology. Since 1993
he has participated in the excavations at Kinet Höyük (Turkey), a Bronze and Iron Age port city
in the north-east Mediterranean.
Ancient Cities
The archaeology of urban life in
the Ancient Near East and Egypt,
Greece, and Rome
Second edition
Charles Gates
Illustrations by Neslihan Yılmaz
First published 2003
This second edition published 2011
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2011.
To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.
© 2003, 2011 Charles Gates
The right of Charles Gates to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN 0-203-83057-1 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 13: 978–0–415–49865–4 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978–0–415–49864–7 (pbk)
ISBN 13: 978–0–203–83057–4 (ebk)
Contents
List of illustrations xi
Preface xx
Preface to the second edition xxii
Timeline xxiv
Introduction: Goals, the approach, defining the city, determining
dates, and some practical information 1
PART ONE CITIES OF THE NEAR EAST AND THE
EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN: NEOLITHIC,
BRONZE AGE, AND IRON AGE 11
CHAPTER 1 NEOLITHIC TOWNS AND VILLAGES IN THE
NEAR EAST 13
Geography, climate, and the Neolithic Revolution 13
Jericho 17
Çayönü 19
Göbekli Tepe: An early Neolithic ceremonial center 22
Çatalhöyük 25
The development of chiefdoms and states 28
CHAPTER 2 EARLY SUMERIAN CITIES 30
The Sumerians and their environment 31
Uruk 32
The development of writing 39
Habuba Kabira 40
The Early Dynastic period: Historical summary 41
Early Dynastic religious life: The Temple Oval at Khafajeh 42
Ur: The Royal Tombs 46
Summary 51
CHAPTER 3 MESOPOTAMIAN CITIES IN THE LATE THIRD
AND SECOND MILLENNIA BC 52
Introduction 52
VI CONTENTS
The Akkadians 52
The Neo-Sumerian revival: Historical summary 55
Gudea of Lagash 55
Ur in the Ur III and Isin-Larsa periods 56
Hammurabi of Babylon and the Old Babylonian period 61
Mari: The Palace of Zimri-Lim 61
The Kassites 65
CHAPTER 4 CITIES OF THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION 67
Environment 68
Mohenjo-Daro 69
Lothal 73
Agriculture, technology, crafts, and arts 75
The end of the Harappan cities 76
CHAPTER 5 EGYPT OF THE PYRAMIDS 78
Introduction 78
Geography 79
Early history 79
Egyptian writing 82
Burials of the Archaic period 83
Saqqara: The Step Pyramid 87
Transition to the true pyramid 89
Giza: A Fourth Dynasty funerary complex 90
The Sun Temple of Niuserre at Abu Gurab 96
The First Intermediate period 97
CHAPTER 6 EGYPTIAN CITIES, TEMPLES, AND TOMBS OF
THE SECOND MILLENNIUM BC 98
The Middle Kingdom 98
The Second Intermediate period 101
The New Kingdom and Thebes 102
The Temple of Amun at Luxor 105
The Temple of Amun at Karnak 106
Akhenaten and Tell El-Amarna 109
The Valley of the Kings 113
The Nineteenth Dynasty: Ramses II and Abu Simbel 116
Aftermath 117
CHAPTER 7 AEGEAN BRONZE AGE TOWNS AND CITIES 118
Aegean civilizations and cities 118
Crete: Knossos and the Minoans 120
Thera: Akrotiri 127
The Mycenaeans: Mycenae and Pylos 129
The end of Mycenaean civilization 136
CONTENTS VII
CHAPTER 8 ANATOLIAN BRONZE AGE CITIES: TROY AND
HATTUSA 138
Troy 138
Hattusa and the Hittites 144
The end of the Bronze Age in Anatolia 152
CHAPTER 9 CYPRIOTS, CANAANITES, AND LEVANTINE
TRADING CITIES OF THE LATE BRONZE AGE 153
Enkomi 153
Ugarit (Ras Shamra) 157
The shipwrecks at Cape Gelidonya and Uluburun 164
CHAPTER 10 NEAR EASTERN CITIES IN THE IRON AGE 167
The Neo-Assyrian cities of northern Mesopotamia 169
Kalhu (Nimrud) 170
Dur-Sharrukin (Khorsabad) 173
Nineveh 174
Anatolia and the Levant: Phrygian, Urartian, Philistine, and
Hebrew cities 177
Babylon 180
The Achaemenid Persians and Persepolis 185
CHAPTER 11 PHOENICIAN AND PUNIC CITIES 189
Tyre 191
Tyre in its eastern Mediterranean context 196
Sidon: Phoenicia in the Persian period 197
Gadir 198
Carthage 200
PART TWO GREEK CITIES 203
CHAPTER 12 EARLY GREEK CITY-STATES OF THE IRON AGE
(ELEVENTH TO SEVENTH CENTURIES BC) 205
Historical background 206
The rise of the polis 208
The early Greek town: Zagora 209
Cemeteries at Lefkandi and Athens 211
Corinth: Orientalizing pottery and hoplite warfare 213
The Greek sanctuary: The Heraion on Samos 214
Votive offerings, foreign contacts, writing, and coinage 216
CHAPTER 13 ARCHAIC GREEK CITIES, I: THE DORIC AND IONIC
ORDERS OF GREEK ARCHITECTURE, AND EAST
GREEK CITIES TO THE IONIAN REVOLT 219
The Doric and Ionic orders 219
VIII CONTENTS
Early Doric temples at Thermon, Olympia, and Kerkyra (Corfu) 221
Early Ionic temples at Samos and Ephesus 224
East Greek cities in the Archaic period: Samos, Miletus, and the
Ionian Revolt 226
CHAPTER 14 ARCHAIC GREEK CITIES, II: SPARTA AND ATHENS 228
Sparta 228
Athens in the Archaic period 229
Archaic art: Pottery and sculpture 232
The Persian Wars 237
CHAPTER 15 GREEK SANCTUARIES: DELPHI AND OLYMPIA 238
Delphi: The Sanctuary of Apollo 238
Olympia: The Sanctuary of Zeus 245
CHAPTER 16 ATHENS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY BC 252
Historical introduction 252
The Athenian Acropolis 254
The Theater of Dionysos and choregic monuments 263
The lower town: Houses and the Agora 264
CHAPTER 17 GREEK CITIES AND SANCTUARIES IN THE LATE
CLASSICAL PERIOD 269
Historical summary 269
The Sanctuary of Asklepios at Epidauros: A new direction in
religious practice 270
Priene: A small Greek city 273
Olynthos: Houses 278
Vergina and Halikarnassos: Royal burials 282
CHAPTER 18 HELLENISTIC CITIES 286
Historical introduction 286
Didyma: The Temple of Apollo 287
Pergamon: A city in the Athenian tradition 289
Alexandria: Capital of a bicultural kingdom 297
Delos: A commercial center 299
Sinope: A port on the Black Sea 304
PART THREE CITIES OF ANCIENT ITALY AND
THE ROMAN EMPIRE 307
CHAPTER 19 GREEK AND ETRUSCAN CITIES IN ITALY 309
Greek cities in south Italy and Sicily: Paestum and Syracuse 309
The Etruscans 317
CONTENTS IX
CHAPTER 20 ROME FROM ITS ORIGINS TO THE END OF
THE REPUBLIC 328
Geography 329
Early history and settlement, ca. 753–509 BC 329
The Roman Republic: Civic institutions 331
The expansion of Rome 332
Roads, camps, and colonies 333
Cosa, a town of the Roman Republic 336
Rome during the Republic 339
CHAPTER 21 ROME IN THE AGE OF AUGUSTUS 348
Augustus, the first of the Roman emperors 348
Augustus and the architecture of Rome 349
CHAPTER 22 ITALY OUTSIDE THE CAPITAL: POMPEII AND OSTIA 356
Pompeii 356
Ostia 367
CHAPTER 23 ROME FROM NERO TO HADRIAN: IMPERIAL
PATRONAGE AND ARCHITECTURAL REVOLUTION 371
Historical introduction: The Empire 372
Rome: The imperial capital 372
Palaces 374
Temples 379
Commemorative monuments 382
Civic buildings 385
Imperial tombs 390
CHAPTER 24 ROMAN PROVINCIAL CITIES 393
Athens 394
Ephesus and Pergamon 395
Perge 398
Palmyra 399
Jerash (Gerasa) 403
Lepcis Magna 406
Nîmes (Nemausus) 408
London (Londinium) 410
Trier (Augusta Treverorum) 411
Conclusions 413
CHAPTER 25 LATE ANTIQUE TRANSFORMATIONS: ROME,
JERUSALEM, AND CONSTANTINOPLE IN THE AGE
OF CONSTANTINE 414
Historical summary 414
X CONTENTS
Palaces: Piazza Armerina and the Palace of Diocletian 415
Rome 419
Churches 421
Jerusalem 423
Constantinople, the “New Rome” 424
In conclusion 426
Glossary 427
Further reading 434
Bibliography 441
Illustration sources 457
Index 465