History of the ANE: La Longue Durée

[This is a lecture written for the course 'HIST 262: History of the Ancient Near East,' taught Fall 2023 at God's Bible School and College, a regionally accredited College in Cincinnati, Ohio. Bibliographical material will be posted under Research on this site.]

Geographical Time: The Long Duration

The beginning of any study of the history of a region must start with an understanding of the broader truths that help the student visually picture what is happening as history unfolds. In order to do this, two elements are important: understanding the basic topography of the region and understanding the climate. Within the Braudelian understanding, these represent a peek into Geographical Time, and since the scope of the work is limited, specifically a peek into that of the Near East.

Basic Topography

To speak of the topography of a region is to speak of the geographical layout, including mountains, plains, and water such as lakes, rivers, and seas. These not only supply resources to their inhabitants but also create boundaries between groups, sometimes leading to linguistic and material differences. 

One aspect of these differing topographical realities stems from the way the Earth works, specifically geology. Through geological principles, the Near East contains nine major geological profiles, including granite, Nubian sandstone, hard limestone, soft limestone, chalk and chert, basalt, red sand, dune sand, and alluvium. 

When compared to how humanity may use these resources, their importance becomes evident. For example, granite is prominent in the Nile basin and was used for vases, statues, stelae, buildings, and sarcophagi from quite early on in Egyptian history (Kelany et al. 2009: 87). Hard limestone is found on both sides of the Jordan River and was used as a building material but could also be cut into to create cisterns to keep and store water during dry seasons; as this stone decays, it becomes red soil which is excellent for agriculture. Alluvium deposits exist along rivers in the Near East, as well as the shore lines; this conglomeration of sediments is also very fertile and used to grow crops. 

The topographical layout of the land was what drew people to those areas, often in search of food or shelter. Key locales that drew many were mountains. 

Mountains

Mountains supply wood from their forests, stone and metals from within them, meat from the animals that hide there, but mountains also tend to separate, isolate, insulate, interrupt, hide, and limit. These boundaries are difficult to cross and form natural fortifications by either separating groups or by acting as obstacles to climb in order even to reach the village that may be on top. By way of example, the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains that isolate the Phoenician homeland insulated the cities of Tyre and Sidon from the almost global cataclysm that occurred ca. 1200 B.C., sometimes referred to as the Great Migration. At that time during the Bronze and Iron Age transition, destructions are seen from the Black Sea to Egypt, and the major Mediterranean trade network founded by the Mycenaeans collapsed, causing the abandonment of many sites that happened to survive the multiple conquests. Because of the insular nature of the Phoenician coast, and because of the lumber that those mountains provided, Tyre would build ships and replace the lost trade networks, bringing wealth to the Phoenician coastal cities that would last until the Roman era. 

Other mountain ranges include the Zagros and Elburz Mountains that separate the Iranian plateau from the Fertile Crescent. Again, the natural boundaries of mountains retain limited access to either side. From ancient times until the Ottoman Empire, the Zagros acted as a separation between east and west, but they also represent at least one of the starting points of early pastoralism (Abdi 2003: 397) and thus emerge as one of the first influencers of world relations. 

The Pontus, Taurus, Aegean Blocks, and Armenian Mountains separated Anatolia from the rest of the world, allowing for the building of an empire in both location and emporia, collecting tin, a metal needed in the bronze industry, to be traded with the rest of the Near East (Yener 2009: 144). 

Later in history, tin was discovered in the Sinai Mountains (Liverani and Tabatabai 2014: 390), and the Sinai and Hijaz Mountains acted as wind barriers, at times protecting Egypt and Nubia from the sands of Arabia. 

In fact, the climatic effect mountains have on much of the Near East is of extreme importance. Rivers and lakes find as their sources rain and snow melt that originates from these mountains, sometimes providing too much which can either be agriculturally devastating or beneficial. Generally, mountain ranges found above of 30ºN, such as the Pontic, Taurus, and the western part of the Elburz Mountains, receive precipitation from Mediterranean winter cyclones, often falling as snow, whereas those mountain ranges found below 30ºN, such as the Hijaz and Sinai, are less frequently penetrated by Mediterranean storms, meaning less precipitation (Wagstaff 1985: 12-13).

Plains and Plateaus

Between these mountain ranges, and sometimes even within the mountain ranges, are the plains and plateaus, somewhat flat areas of land that are often used as arable farmland, pastures, areas to travel, sites to build villages, etc. As population density correlates to agriculture, the alluvial plains attract urban settlements (Liverani and Tabatabai 2014: 21), feeding, connecting, and empowering their inhabitants, and high plateaus add to this the characteristic of protection.

Between the Pontic and Taurus Mountains is the Anatloian plateau which receives about 400mm of rain or snow on average, though this differs from year to year (Wagstaff 1985: 15). This region moved from a simple agrarian society in the Early Bronze Age to a high functioning society with imperial ambitions by the Late Bronze Age, all based on the growth of trade and exchange (Bachhuber 2012: 576).

Outside of the mountains and hills, when the plains could be properly irrigated by nature or manmade canals, lakes, swamps, and marshes could be created. The land would then be hydrated for crops or for grazing pastures. Thus, settlements in and around the Nile, Jordan, Tigris, and Euphrates Rivers were established. 

Similar to Anatolia, the settlements and cities on the floodplains of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers participated in short-distance trade with agricultural areas and nearby towns (Pedersen, Hein, and Anderssen 2010: 122), establishing roads and networks that eventually lead to foreign exchange and imperial ambitions. Rainfall within the fertile floodplains of these two rivers is not needed as the rivers themselves supply hydration to the land, though this also means a swift change to a desert climate as one moves away from the rivers. 

The floodplains of Egypt, also, supply life giving water by river, but whereas flooding in Mesopotamia could be destructive (Pedersen, Hein, and Anderssen 2010: 115), flooding in Egypt was necessary. In fact, reduced flood discharge from the Nile during the Bronze Age is associated with catastrophe and the collapse of the centralized government (Hassan 1997: 1). The Jordan Valley in Canaan also became an oasis and region where settlements were established.

Waters

As noted above, water gives life. Rivers such as the Tigris, Euphrates, Jordan, and Nile became hotspots for thriving civilizations, but major rivers were not the only sources of water. Small tributaries, streams and smaller rivers, funneling water down from the mountains and were hills also fertile locations where settlers found a home. 

Additionally, river deltas, where rivers spill out into seas or lakes, are especially fertile areas. These triangular shaped landforms are created when sediments carried by the flowing water reach the still water, spreading alluvium which ultimately builds up. Thus, the deposited alluvium causes the running water to find a path of least resistance, spreading the water out farther and in differing directions. Many different species of both plant and animal life can be found in river deltas, making them the perfect place to establish a village.

Some key deltas are the Nile Delta and the Tigris and Euphrates Delta. The latter offers an example of how deltas can push sediments into the sea, ultimately pushing the coastline farther away. In the Ubaid Period, marshlands were located 200 km farther north than they are today (Mörner 2015: 29). In fact, settlements in what could now be considered central Iraq show evidence of marshland exploitation, including fishing net weights, reed harvesting by clay sickles, fish and pig bones, mollusks, etc. (Rost 2017: 8). Villages once dependent upon these marshland resources wane in importance as the delta is pushed farther south, becoming dependent upon manmade irrigation instead. Other villages and towns are established upon the new delta, but these too are forced out of power over time. Conversely, the Nile delta has changed little over the past five thousand years when compared to Mesopotamia (Stanley 2019: 1046).

Fresh and salt water bodies of water also play key roles throughout history. Shorelines, just as rivers, have been used as travel networks since at least the Neolithic. These have also supplied food sources such as fish and shellfish, and even the occasional sea mammal such as whales or dolphins. 

The major seas include, of course, the Mediterranean, but also the Black, Caspian, and Red Seas, and the Persian Gulf, though as noted above, the Persian Gulf has changed positions over the years.

Smaller bodies of water, such as large lakes or “seas,” such as the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, also offer life giving water, though with the dead sea this is not particularly true except for in the delta marshes. Other bodies of water include the multiple lakes, oases, and swamps that could be found along tributaries and rivers, near the seas, or in the mountains. 

Dynamics of Climate

Differing Ecological Zones

Because of the geography of the Middle East, three main ecological zones appear, including the Mediterranean, Steppe, and Desert Zones. These zones are related to food systems, specifically how well the land can supply the food needed to survive. 

Mediterranean Zone

The Mediterranean Zone, what could be called the Zone of Possibility, has long, dry summers and short, cool, wet winters; these zones of possibility are such because the climate is beneficial to floral growth, which attracts fauna and ultimately gave way to domesticated flora and fauna. The Mediterranean Zones on the coastlines and along rivers sometimes very rapidly change into arid, desert climates or mountainous regions (Liverani and Tabatabai 2014: 17). 

Of note, there are sometimes transitional zones. In certain areas along the edges of the Mediterranean Zone are what could be referred to as Degraded Mediterranean Zones (Bradbury, Braemer, and Sala 2014: 211). These are areas with a Mediterranean climate but the degradation of the soil, sometimes due to erosion, has caused it to be less fertile (Sapin 1985: 223).

The Steppes

The Steppes are areas where there is a rather thin food system. These can be thought of as the marginal zones. This is not to say that life is absent, simply that there is not much of an opportunity for growth. 

As the Mediterranean Zone, the Steppes can have two different classifications; they can be classified as Semi-Arid and Arid (Bradbury, Braemer, and Sala 2014: 211). Neither of these regions are likely to supply crops consistently, but they make excellent pastureland for Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic groups (Sapin 1985: 223-24). These arid steppes are sometimes referred to in the Biblical text as the ‘wilderness,’ not the entirely empty sands of the desert but the regions of marginal growth (Baker 2002: 893).

Desert Zones

Finally, what many think of when they hear the phrase Middle East are the Desert Zones or the Zones of Impossibility. Within deserts, there is basically no food system, that is, very little possibility of growth. Deserts are very dry, and water is scarce, making both the growing of crops and animal husbandry an impossibility. 

Like mountains, deserts are extremely dangerous to cross, thus deserts acted as barriers between groups. At times, winds blown across deserts continue on into fertile regions, bringing strong heat and sand particles that are often associated with the destruction of crops. In Biblical terminology these winds are described as ‘east winds,’ that is, winds from the Syro-Arabian Desert. Usually, Egypt and Canaan are protected from these ‘east winds’ by the presence of the Hijaz and Judean Mountains, but at times, the winds prevail.  

Fertile Crescent

Ultimately, these three ecological zones in the Near East form a crescent shape on the map which is often referred to as the Fertile Crescent. On a large scale, the Fertile Crescent is a broad area of possibility. This is the region where crops grow, animals breed, sometimes resulting in a food surplus. A food surplus means that individuals now have time to focus on work other than food-related activities, thus craft specializations such as metallurgy, pottery, and even warfare begin to form. Craft specializations eventually lead to the development of societies where groups of people work together to survive, some focused on food-related occupations, others on building, and still other on leading, inventing, and so forth. In the end, cultural and political domination flows out of the river valley cultures.