Regime change and cultural transformation – the transition from Mittani to Middle Assyrian rule in Northern Mesopotamia. A study of the city of Kemune/Zaḫiku

• Applicants: Professorin Dr. Betina Faist; Professorin Dr. Ivana Puljiz
• Subject Area: Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 571373775

The project is dedicated to the analysis of regime change and the associated cultural transformation in the period of the 14th and early 13th century BC in Northern Mesopotamia. This is a very dynamic period during which the disintegrating Mittani empire was replaced by the Middle Assyrian state as the strongest regional power, marking the transition between two very different political and social systems. The focus of the study is the northern Middle Tigris region (northern Iraq), since this area is geographically located exactly between the core regions of the two aforementioned empires. It can therefore be regarded as a contact zone in which different social traditions and political interests came into contact. The source material for the planned study comes from the site of Kemune on the Middle Tigris, the Mittani period city of Zaḫiku. Important archaeological features from both the Late Mittani and Early Middle Assyrian periods were excavated here. This makes it one of the few sites where the direct transition between the two periods can be observed. The Mittani period city with its massive fortification, a palace, a large storage building, and an industrial area was extensively explored; dating to the Middle Assyrian period is the house of a mayor with a destruction inventory, which included an archive of clay tablets in five ceramic vessels. It is highly significant that cuneiform texts from both relevant periods were found in Kemune. Mittani period texts come from the palace. In terms of quantity, however, the early Middle Assyrian archive with 262 texts from the time of King Adad-nērārī I (1295–1264 BC) stands out. The excavation of the Mittani period city of Kemune and the subsequent Early Middle Assyrian settlement as well as the discovery of well-contextualised texts from the Late Mittani and Early Middle Assyrian periods offer a unique opportunity to explore the cultural, political and social development of the region at the aforementioned chronological juncture by means of a combined archaeological and philological analysis. The project is therefore designed to be interdisciplinary, consisting of an archaeological research group at the University of Freiburg (PI: Ivana Puljiz) and a philological research group at the University of Heidelberg (PI: Betina Faist). Both groups are dedicated to complementary aspects of material culture, living conditions, economy, political structure and social system of a city during the transitional phase between to different political systems. The resulting synthesis will contribute to closing a major research gap with a variety of new findings and also provide general insights into processes of cultural change, the role of contact zones and the effects of large-scale political shifts.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants