Staff - 1st / 2nd phase of research

Dr. Kai Lämmerhirt

Nomads and State – Changing balances of power in Mesopotamia:
Subject III: State control of the open range – nomadic control of the state: constant factors in the history of the Ancient Near East?

The project of C. Wilcke, K. Lämmerhirt and C. Dittrich "State-control of the non-sedentary zone - nomadic control of the state (2500-500 B.C.E.) - a constant of Mesopotamian history?" proceeds the previous project "Difference and integration of the Amorites in Babylonia". A section spanning from the third to the first century B.C.E. investigates the constants and variables of the interaction of the settled, urban, state-run population and the government authority itself with newcomers like the Gutians, Amorites, Kassites, Aramaeans (in co-operation with Prof. Blocher’s project), Chaldaeans and Arabs. It is concerned with the political, social and economic reasons for the penetration of nomadic groups into Babylonia, with the defence of the "state", and with the forms of integration. The integrative power of the Mesopotamian society - which has already been generally examined for the Amorites - and the corresponding social and cultural changes within the settled society (e. g., law, religion, and social structure) will also be analysed. The co-operation with both other projects supplements and supports the examination with methodological and textual contrasts.