Local Dynamics during the Late Bronze-Iron Age Transition at Alalakh, the Capital City of the Kingdom of Mukish

Abstract

In this article, a regional perspective regarding the administrative and social changes witnessed in Anatolia and the Eastern Mediterranean at the end of the Late Bronze Age and the transition to the Iron Age is presented based on the recent results of the new archaeological research conducted at Tell Atchana, Alalah, located on the major branch of the Orontes River in the Amuq Valley (Hatay, Türkiye). For this particular time period, the main focus has been the collapse of the Hittite Empire and its aftermath in Anatolian archaeology, whereas for decades, Levantine Archaeology has been occupied with the discussion of mobility and long-distance migrations. Through recently excavated contexts located close to the “Temple Sounding” at Tell Atchana, where a series of temples were excavated in the 1930’s, several research questions regarding the impacts of imperial policies on daily life practices, craft industries, administration, cult and social status are explored. The ceramic assemblages defining the transition from Late Bronze to Early Iron Age showed continuity in most of the cases. The metal and ivory objects in relation to the cultic nature of the area were regarded as objects of social status and prestige. As a borderland for the Hittite Empire, the local responses given to the system collapse observed at the end of the Late Bronze Age is evaluated under the light of epigraphic material in the form of cylinder seals and bullae.