Building Materials & Their Areas of Use in the Architecture of the Syrian Jazirah during the Iron Age

Section: Research Paper
Published
Mar 1, 2024
Pages
1-13

Abstract

The history of settlement in the Syrian Jazirah* region during the Iron Age was built on the basis of several natural elements that encouraged stability in the region, and contributed to the increase and development of urbanization in it, as it was the result of the interaction of the population and the natural environment, where its inhabitants used what nature found of different materials to form different building materials. Based on what excavations at archaeological sites have shown, it is noted that they used during this period several types of building materials in the construction of the constituent elements of the building.The study here focuses on the materials used in architecture during this period, because of their link to their development, as these materials were compatible and responsive, to various techniques in construction from foundations to ceilings, and contributed to the development of architecture during this period.* The Syrian Jazirah: The northern part of Mesopotamia formed between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and in northeastern Syria includes the floodplains of the Euphrates River and its main tributaries, Balikh and Khabur. the Iron Age: The emergence of the Iron Age can be dated to the last quarter of the 12th century after a crisis period (first quarter of the 12th cent.) and a subsequent squatter reoccupation (second and third quarter of the 12th century). Iron Age IA,B,C covering the end of the 12th, the 11th and 10th centuries. Considerations of a historical and archaeological nature point to the beginning of the 9th century as a reliable turning point from Iron I to Iron II. Iron IIA and B, documented by several rebuilding activities in most sites, cover the 9th and 8th centuries dominated by the increasing territorial competition of the local kingdoms confronted with Assyrian expansion. The end of Iron Age IIB is marked by more or less severe destructions occurring in the last quarter of the 8th cent. which are often followed by an extensive replanning during Iron III, in the 7th-mid 6th centuries, a period characterized by cultural homogeneization and Assyrian acculturation .

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How to Cite

Khalaf, R. (2024). Building Materials & Their Areas of Use in the Architecture of the Syrian Jazirah during the Iron Age. Adab Al-Rafidayn, 54(96), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.33899/radab.2023.139702.1920