Urban Landscape and State Formation at Iron Age Samal (Zincirli, Turkey)

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The Iron Age Syro-Hittite cities of northern Syria and southeastern Anatolia (ca. 1000-600 BC) are part of the transhistorical phenomenon of urban foundation or refoundation in periods of political transformation. This policy of urbanization by the ambitious rulers of these small new territorial states has been recognized as a key element of secondary-state formation in this period, but the details of this process, including how and by whom the cities were first populated, are still little understood. Early excavations at the site of Zincirli, Turkey, capital of the Iron Age kingdom of Samal, established this city as an archetypal example of the coincidence of Syro-Hittite urbanization and state formation. Current excavations by the University of Tübingen expedition have the goal of producing a more dynamic and holistic picture of the urban foundation of Zincirli. The comparison of stratigraphy, material culture, and radiocarbon dates from four excavation areas throughout the city will refine the chronology of urban expansion and development, while the investigation of early residential areas will shed light on the socioeconomic organization of the first settlers through contextual analysis of architecture, installations, ceramics, small finds, and fauna. The results of this project can lay the groundwork for a new perspective on the role of urbanization in the formation of the Iron Age Syro-Hittite kingdoms and contribute to broader theories of the practices of sovereignty in everyday life.