Their corpses will reach the base of heaven
A third-millennium BC war memorial in northern Mesopotamia
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3501899 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Anne Porter (0009-0007-0137-613X, University of Toronto, corresponding author), Thomas Mcclellan, Susanne Wilhelm, Jill A Weber, Jill Weber (0000-0003-3816-3203), Alexandra Baldwin (University of Toronto), Jean Colley (University of Toronto), Brittany Enriquez (University of Toronto), Meagan Jahrles (University of Toronto), Bridget Lanois (University of Toronto), Vladislav Malinov (University of Toronto), Sumedh Ragavan (University of Toronto), Alexandra Robins (0000-0002-3543-9115, University of Toronto), Zarhuna Safi (University of Toronto) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 95 |
| Issue | 382 |
| Pages | 900-918 |
| Publication date | 2021-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Antiquity (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-598X • E-ISSN: 1745-1744 |
| Publisher | Antiquity Publications (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.15184/aqy.2021.58 |
| OpenAlex | W3173004480 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 9 |
Burial mounds piled high with enemy corpses are well known in Mesopotamian inscriptions as symbols of victory, but no archaeological examples have so far been recovered. Archaeological investigations of a tall mound adjacent to the site of Tell Banat in Syria have revealed an unusual, late third-millennium BC mortuary population, dominated by adult and sub-adult males. The systematic placement of these human remains and associated assemblages suggests that, rather than containing enemy combatants, this was a memorial to a community's battle dead. The authors propose that the deceased belonged to an organised army, with broader implications for state administration and the adherence or resistance to a new regime fostered by such monumentalisation
Adversary · Ancient history · Archaeology · Battle · Biology · Geography · Heaven · Mesopotamia · Population · Resistance (ecology) · Sociology · Victory · Ancient Near East History · Archaeological Research and Protection · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Demography · History · Law
Archaeology and Social Memory
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Economic Implications of Possible Storage Structures at Tell Ziyadeh NE Syria
Funerary taphonomy
Archeological Perspectives on the Localization of Naram-Sin's Armanum
Communities in Conflict
Equids and an acrobat
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |