Publisher's Synopsis
Archaeological periodization schemes of material culture development in Northern Mesopotamia from 7th to 5th centuries BCE traditionally refer to the sequence of dynasties. In particular, they highlight historical events related to distinguished members of the royal houses of the Sargonids, Urartians, Medes, Teispids, and Achaemenids. However, whereas the repercussions these Iron Age empires had on the history of the Near East are undeniable, the impact they had on the material culture and its development is not always equally tangible in the archaeological findings. The latter are not infrequently characterized by continuity rather than by incisive changes, as recent studies and re-evaluations of key sites in Syria, Iraq, Iran and Armenia show.
