Weeden, Mark

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Bulletin of the School of Oriental andAfrican Studieshttp://journals.cambridge.org/BSOAdditional services for Bulletin of the School ofOriental and African Studies:Email alerts: Click hereSubscriptions: Click hereCommercial reprints: Click hereTerms of use : Click here Barjamovic: A Historical Geography of Anatolia inthe Old Assyrian Colony Period. (Carsten NiebuhrInstitute Publications.) xviii, 519 pp. Copenhagen:Museum Tusculanum Press, 2011. £142.99. ISBN978 876353645 5.Mark WeedenBulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies / Volume 75 / Issue 03 / October 2012, pp559 - 560DOI: 10.1017/S0041977X12000602, Published online: 23 October 2012Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0041977X12000602How to cite this article:Mark Weeden (2012). Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 75, pp559-560 doi:10.1017/S0041977X12000602Request Permissions : Click hereDownloaded from http://journals.cambridge.org/BSO, IP address: 176.250.203.250 on 25 Mar 2014REVIEWSTHE ANC I ENT NEAR EAS TGOJKO BARJAMOVIC:A Historical Geography of Anatolia in the Old Assyrian Colony Period.(Carsten Niebuhr Institute Publications.) xviii, 519 pp. Copenhagen:Museum Tusculanum Press, 2011. £142.99. ISBN 978 876353645 5.doi:10.1017/S0041977X12000602This book, a revised version of the author’s PhD thesis, attempts to take a metho-dologically systematic approach to the myriad toponyms of the Old Assyrian tradercolony texts found mainly at Middle Bronze Age Kaneš (Kültepe levels Ib and II),Central Turkey, in over 20,000 cuneiform texts excavated since 1948. Most of thesetexts are still in the process of publication, but the author has had access to a signifi-cantly larger number than previous works have been able to draw on. Late BronzeAge Hittite sources are also discussed. The strict application of a comprehensivemethodology, including consideration of textual, historical, infrastructural, logisticaland topographical factors, leads to a radically new picture of Middle Bronze AgeAnatolian geography and of the distances involved in the Old Assyrian trade net-work, which will be disconcerting to many scholars and influential beyond the con-fines of Middle Bronze Age Anatolian studies.The book is divided into six chapters. Chapters 1–3 concern the general back-ground of Old Assyrian trade, sources, methodology and the landscape of BronzeAge Anatolia. Chapters 4 and 5 treat a selection of major place names located,according to the author, either to the east or to the north and west of Kaneš/Kültepe. Chapter 6 offers a brief summary and overview of research perspectives.The methodology involves a statistical gravity analysis of co-occurring toponymsaimed at producing clusters of likely geographically proximate names. Toponymsthat are listed as ends or beginnings of journeys are factored out, as are those thatappear in a text due to further text-internal motivations or are mentioned becauseof their significance as a commercial centre.Beyond statistics the author considers what is being traded at the differentlocations, in an attempt to reconstruct a comprehensive circuit of trade. Key hereis that certain localities seem associated with particular raw materials. It is only logi-cal that some of these localities be placed near to where the raw materials – in thiscase copper, silver and gold in particular – were to be found.The textually based analysis is combined with a detailed consideration of theconstraints imposed by the landscape, possible routes, presence of rivers, mountainranges, natural resources and archaeological sites. The author clearly spent a greatdeal of time acquainting himself with the modern Anatolian landscape, apparentlyby car. It will be interesting to compare his appreciation of the landscape withthat of the as yet unpublished PhD dissertation of L. Ullmann, who explored it lar-gely on foot while investigating Late Bronze Age Hittite historical topography (L.Ullmann, “Movement and the making of place in the Hittite landscape”, PhDDissertation, Columbia University, 2010).The major deviation from other models of the geography of Old Assyrian trade inAnatolia is in the size of the network envisaged here, which would extend muchfurther to the west and north-east than previously thought. The trade revolves aroundseveral important commercial centres: Purušhaddum, previously thought to be eitherAcemhöyük south of the Salt Lake, or somewhere in the vicinity of Konya, nowmoves out to Bolvadin, specifically Üçhöyük, in the Lakes region; Durhumit isplaced at the other end of the network near Merzifon in the north-east, again verydifferent to the alternative location of this city, which is mainly based on evidencefor the location of Hittite Turmitta near Ninassa somewhere in the vicinity of thewestern bend of the Kızıl Irmak (e.g. M. Forlanini, in J.G. Dercksen (ed.),Anatolia and the Jazira in the Old Assyrian Period, Leiden 2008, 68–74). Tradein textiles and tin will have been directed from Kaneš south of the Salt Lake viaUlama (= Acemhöyük) towards Purušhaddum, and trade in copper fromDurhumit via Wahšušana and Šalatuwar also towards Purušhaddum.Given that the distances involved are the stumbling block that will prevent manyscholars from accepting the proposed scheme, and that travel would have beenimpossible for much of the year due to winter on the Anatolian plateau, it is apity that there is little consideration of the time it would have taken the merchantsto travel. The assertion that the merchants subordinated time and distance to achiev-ing the best profit is understandable, but only if the circuit itself is practicable(p. 412).The travelling time between Assur on the Tigris and Kaneš (some 1,000 km) isestimated to have been five to six weeks based on a donkey’s typical speed of 30–35 km per day (p. 15). This seems a slightly enthusiastic estimate, given that eachdonkey had a packer, who would presumably not have been running, and that oneneeds to factor in an unknown quantity of rest-days. (See also J.G. Dercksen, TheOld Assyrian Copper Trade, Leiden, 1996, 11 with fn. 29).Once in Anatolia traders would be making further large journeys toPurušhaddum, whether from Durhumit or Kaneš. These can only have beenachieved with the extensive trading infrastructure and regional delegation that theauthor demonstrates did exist. If the merchants could travel from Assur to Kaneš,then presumably they could also travel large distances within Anatolia. The infor-mation on travelling times given by the texts themselves is difficult to interpret.In particular the author has to offer a reinterpretation of the crucial text TC 3.165,previously thought to give a travelling time of four days between Kaneš andPurušhaddum (pp. 333–4, compare Dercksen, Old Assyrian).The author acknowledges that being unable to use palaeo-environmental data tofull effect in his reconstruction of the landscape has weakened his arguments(p. 409). This is indeed regrettable as rivers of a certain size are taken as fixed pointsin the landscape, and decisions on locations are made (Wahšušana, Šalatuwar) onthe basis of their proximity to rivers that would require bridges or ferries. The land-scape of much of Central Anatolia may have been considerably wetter and marshierat the Bronze Age (for the Salt Lake see K. Kashima, CATENA 48, 2002, 3–21)although studies that present a comprehensive picture are lacking. Thus what arenow tiny brooks may have been considerably larger. The Kızıl Irmak and theSakarya are not the only rivers that may have had to be crossed by ferry or bridgeon a journey from Durhumit to Purušhaddum.The author presents his findings as a preliminary report, to be altered in accord-ance with new evidence. The book is clearly the most comprehensive and methodo-logically sound treatment of the subject to date and will provide the benchmark bywhich to measure future contributions. As a large work its use is enhanced by fullindexes, many colour photographs, charts and fine maps. It is also beautifully boundand presented.Mark WeedenSOAS, University of London560 R E V I E W S

Review of G. Barjamovic 'A Historical Geography of Anatolia in the Old Assyrian Colony Period'. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 2011

Mark Weeden

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Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies

Gojko Barjamovic: A Historical Geography of Anatolia in the Old Assyrian Colony Period. (Carsten Niebuhr Institute Publications.) xviii, 519 pp. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 2011. £142.99. ISBN 978 876353645 5.

http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/18290/1/BarjamovicReviewBSOAS%2075_3.pdf

Review of G. Barjamovic 'A Historical Geography of Anatolia in the Old Assyrian Colony Period'. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 2011

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