CLIMA (mutazioni del) E CIVILTA' (livello di)

Abrupt climate change 

may have 

rocked the cradle of civilization 

Ancient Environment, ArchaeoHeritage, Archaeology, Breakingnews, Climate Change, Earth Science, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Palaeontology 

New research reveals that some of the earliest civilizations in the Middle East and the Fertile Crescent may have been affected by abrupt climate change. These findings show that while socio-economic factors were traditionally considered to shape ancient human societies in this region, the influence of abrupt climate change should not be underestimated. 

The monumental ziggurat at the ancient city of Ur located in the  Thi Qar province, southern Iraq 

[Credit: The National] 

A team of international scientists led by researchers from the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science found that during the first half of the last interglacial period known as the Holocene epoch, which began about 12,000 years ago and continues today, the Middle East most likely experienced wetter conditions in comparison with the last 6,000 years, when the conditions were drier and dustier. "Evidence for wet early Holocene was previously found in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea region, North and East African lakes and cave deposits from Southwest Asia, and attributed to higher solar insolation during this period," said Ali Pourmand, assistant professor of marine geosciences at the UM Rosenstiel School, who supervised the project. "Our study, however, is the first of its kind from the interior of West Asia and unique in its resolution and multi-proxy approach." 

The Fertile Crescent 

[Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica] 

The Fertile Crescent, a region in west Asia that extends from Iran and the Arabian Peninsula to the eastern Mediterranean Sea and northern Egypt is one of the most climatically dynamic regions in the world and is widely considered the birthplace of early human civilizations. "The high-resolution nature of this record afforded us the rare opportunity to examine the influence of abrupt climate change on early human societies. We see that transitions in several major civilizations across this region, as evidenced by the available historical and archaeological records, coincided with episodes of high atmospheric dust; higher fluxes of dust are attributed to drier conditions across the region over the last 5,000 years," said Arash Sharifi, Ph.D. candidate at the department of marine geosciences and the lead author of the study. Climate variability during the past 5000 years as told by the concentration of titanium (Ti) in sediment core from Neor Lake, NW Iran. The vertical orange bands denote periods of dry and dusty condition, which correlate with historical records of drought and famine in Iranian Plateau, Mesopotamia and Eastern Mediterranean (brown and black horizontal bars respectively). 

Transition between ruling dynasties (gray arrows) in Iran and North Mesopotamia coincides with the episodes of dry and dusty condition in the region (peaks in Ti intensities) 

[Credit: Arash Sharifi]

The researchers investigated climate variability and changes in paleoenvironmental conditions during the last 13,000 years based on a high-resolution (sub-decadal to centennial) peat record from Neor Lake in Northwest Iran. Abrupt climate changes occur in the span of years to decades. 
The findings appear in the Quaternary Science Reviews.


Source: University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science [July 27, 2015]

Comprendere Hamas

The conflict raging in Gaza is different this time.

While Hamas' rocket attacks and Israel's military actions may look familiar, they're taking place against a whole new backdrop.

"This is unprecedented in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict," says CNN's Ali Younes, an analyst who has covered the region for decades. "Most Arab states are actively supporting Israel against the Palestinians -- and not even shy about it or doing it discreetly."

It's a "joint Arab-Israeli war consisting of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia against other Arabs -- the Palestinians as represented by Hamas."

As the New York Times put it, "Arab leaders, viewing Hamas as worse than Israel, stay silent."

(CNN) --
If the Gaza truce holds and Israel's Operation Protective Edge comes to its conclusion, some things are certain.

Both Israel and Hamas will declare military victory 

-- Israel pointing to the destruction of militants' tunnels and depletion of Hamas' rocket supply; 

-- Hamas pointing to dozens of dead Israeli troops and the survival of Hamas leadership in Gaza.

But unlike in previous conflicts, when Hamas had the support of many Arab nations, things have changed. This time, as CNN has reported, the fighting between Israel and Hamas has been a proxy war for the Mideast.

Key regional players Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have their own reasons to want to fend off the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is part, experts say. And Europe, like the United States, lists Hamas as a terrorist organization for its numerous attacks on civilians.

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But the group does have the support of some countries.

"It's no longer the Muslims against the Jews," said Danielle Pletka, vice president of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. "Now it's the extremists -- the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hezbollah, and their backers Iran, Qatar and Turkey -- against Israel and the more moderate Muslims including Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia."

A look at some key Hamas supporters:

Turkey

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan openly supports Hamas.

"Erdogan has tried to use the cause of the Brotherhood to bolster his own Islamist credentials at home," says Eric Trager, of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Turkey also has "more of an ideological sympathy with the Brotherhood," Trager says.

Qatar

Qatar supported the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt -- which was toppled from power in a coup last year. Qatar funds many Muslim Brotherhood figures in exile, including Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal, who is believed to have orchestrated numerous terrorist attacks.

"Qatar has a long history of providing shelter to Islamist groups, amongst them the Muslim Brotherhood and the Taliban," Shashank Joshi of the Royal United Services Institute tells Time.

Advocating for Hamas is beneficial to Turkey and Qatar in their political objectives because the cause draws popular support at home, says world affairs writer Frida Ghitis in a CNN.com column.

It's no longer the Muslims against the Jews. 

Now it's the extremists -- the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hezbollah, and their backers Iran, Qatar and Turkey -- against Israel and the more moderate Muslims including Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.
Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institute

But some question whether Qatar's support still is for Hamas is still strong. The country's financial support to the group "largely dried up" as Qatar sought "to mend ties with its neighbors, with whom it had fallen out in part for backing the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt," the Council on Foreign Relations said.

While Qatar and Turkey are powerful allies, "Hamas might wish for more support given the breadth of the Arab world," Time reported.

Iran and Syria

In the past, Iran and Syria supported Hamas. Iran supplied the group with weapons; Syria was home to Meshaal.

But Meshaal did not support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country's civil war. 

In 2012, Meshaal left for Qatar, causing a breakdown in his relationship with both Syria and its ally Iran, says Firas Abi Ali, head of Middle East and North Africa Country Risk and Forecasting at the global information company IHS.

And while Iran still professes to support Hamas, such claims "are more ostentatious, showy, exaggerated and theatrical rather than genuine and practical," writes Majid Rafizadeh, an Iranian-American scholar at Harvard University, in a column for al Arabiya.

Iran, which is a Muslim but not an Arab nation, "uses Hamas (as well as Tehran's support for the Palestinian cause) as a tool to project its power and influence in the Arab world," he argues.

The Council on Foreign Relations says Iran, while cutting its funding to Hamas in recent years, "sought to bolster its ties to other resistance groups in the region, such as Islamic Jihad."

Hezbollah

The Lebanese militant group based in Lebanon is aligned with al-Assad's regime in Syria. During the conflict, Hezbollah reached out to Hamas, praising its "steadfastness."

This does not mean the relationship is repaired to where it stood before Syria's civil war, but "a new realignment might happen," Farwaz Gerges of the London School of Economics told Time.

Popular support

Hamas' greatest support in the wake of the conflict with Israel may be from the public in Gaza and other parts of the Arab world.

"Hamas is not a monolith, nor is it only a terrorist group," Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations writes on CNN.com. "It is a social movement, with a mass membership, a popular message of resistance that resonates across the Muslim world, and a political party with which we must negotiate."

Some analysts believe Hamas will emerge stronger from the fight with Israel. The conflict "will only further radicalize the Palestinian population -- and alienate frustrated friends in the United States," Mark Perry of Foreign Policy argues.

Before Operation Protective Edge, a poll by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy found that most Palestinians in Gaza oppose a two-state solution and want to work toward abolishing Israel -- a goal that is in line with Hamas' charter.

But the poll also found most Palestinians support nonviolent methods of achieving their goals.

Support could affect arms supply

While Hamas' recruitment might soar now, militarily the group "is on the ropes," with tunnels destroyed and much of its rocket supply depleted, writes Rick Francona, retired U.S. Air Force intelligence officer and CNN military analyst.

"After similar conflicts in the past, Hamas has been rearmed and resupplied by its supporters, primarily Iran and to some extent Syria. The most efficient method for the rearming and resupply effort has been via the large number of smuggling tunnels between Gaza and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

"That is not likely to be the case this time -- another blow to Hamas, which it must factor in to its assessment of this conflict as well as its future planning."

Acquedotto di 3000 anni fa.

Elementi di argilla locale, cotti, lunghi circa un metro ciascuno, a formare una tubazione per condurre l'acqua. Un ritrovamento eccezionale in una zona peraltro ricchissima dal punto di vista archeologico, che dal 2007 ha restituito resti ed evidenze risalenti ad un periodo storico estremamente lungo (dal Neolihico, all'Età del Bronzo, al Rame, alla Pietra antica, ai Parti, al periodo Sassanide).
Siamo in Iran Occidentale: il pretesto, fortunato, è dato dagli scavi e dai lavori per una diga, a Seimareh.


5000-year-old water system 

discovered in western  

Iran 


 A 5000-year-old water system has been unearthed during the second season of a rescue excavation project at the Farash ancient historical site at the Seimareh Dam reservoir area in western Iran. 

The pipeline of a 5000-year-old water system is seen in a trench dug by an  archaeological team during a rescue excavation project on the beach  of the Seimareh Dam [Credit: CHN] 

An archaeological team led by Leili Niakan has been carrying out a second season of rescue excavation since March after the Seimareh Dam came on stream, the Persian service of CHN reported on Monday. 
The team plans to save ancients artifacts and gather information about the ancient sites, which are being submerged by the dam that became operational in early March. This system, which comprises a small pool and an earthenware pipeline, was discovered on the eastern beach of the dam on the border between Ilam Province and Lorestan Province, Niakan said. 

The pipeline of a 5000-year-old water system is seen in a trench dug by an  archaeological team during a rescue excavation project on the beach  of the Seimareh Dam [Credit: CHN] 

Part of the water system has been submerged as the water level has risen. 
However, the team covered that part of the system beforehand to save it for more archaeological excavations while the dam is out of commission.

Each earthenware conduit measures about one meter in length and it is likely that they were made and baked in this region, Niakan stated. 
The team is still working on the site to unearth the rest of pipeline, which may lead the archaeologists to the source of pipeline, she added. 

An aerial photo of the Seimareh Dam region

 [Credit: Tehran Times] 

Over 100 sites dating back to the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Copper Age, Stone Age, Parthian, Sassanid, and early Islamic periods were identified at the dam’s reservoir in 2007.

 Afterwards, 40 archaeological teams from the Iranian Center for Archaeological Research (ICAR) were assigned to carry out Iran’s largest rescue excavation operation on the 40 ancient sites at the reservoirs of the dam in the first season. 
Signs of the Mesopotamians’ influence in the region were also identified by studies carried out on the ancient strata at the reservoir. 
Most of the sites have been flooded by the dam and the rest will go under water after the filling of the dam is completed.



Source: Tehran Times [June 02, 2014] 

La Malattia in Mesopotamia

Stele del Codice di Hammurapi

La Malattia nell'Antica Mesopotamia.

Malgrado il mezzo secolo d'indagini condotte in Mesopotamia,  si conosce ancora poco delle malattie che affliggevano i più famosi regni del mondo antico. Una ricerca retrograda condotta da un archeologo dell'Università di Varsavia ha prodotto solamente 44 pubblicazioni sulle patologie ossee della zona: questo significa che la Paleopatologia di Assiri, Accadi, Sumeri e Babilonesi (ben conosciuti altrimenti) è pochissimo sviluppata  al paragone con quella della zona Egizia o Europea.

I resti ossei non si conservano bene per motivi climatici (inverni umidi ed estati calde), ma - quando si conservino - permettono di risalire solamente a quelle patologie che lasciano segni ossei di sé.

Dai dati prospettici si può concludere che le popolazioni mesopotamiche godevano generalmente di buona salute nel primo e medio Bronzo.

I resti umani più antichi sono probabilmete (a parte quelli del Neanderthal) quelli risalenti al Neolitico, cioé ai primi agricoltori di circa 9.000 anni fa. Costoro soffrivano spesso di osteoartrite, probabilmente a causa degli enormi carichi di lavoro con cui avevano a che fare giornalmente. Questa patologia si dirada nel Bronzo, con l'inizio dello sfruttamento degli  animali addomesticati. Per converso, nel Neolitico erano rare le patologie dentarie, che compaiono più numerose nel bronzo probabilmente in rapporto a motivi dietetici (masticazione di cereali) e che peggiorerà fino al Medio Evo (probabilmente in rapporto con la coltivazione delle palme da dattero).

Insomma, si sa poco o niente: e le prospettive di studio future, dato lo scenario diffuso di guerra nella zona, non sono affatto rosee.

Investigating diseases in ancient Mesopotamia 

After a half century of intensive research in Mesopotamia, scientists still know little about the diseases which plagued the people of the most famous kingdoms of the ancient world. 

L'illustrazione mostra un corpo che presenta un'amputazione di terzo superiore di coscia.

The skeleton of a man with an amputated leg in upper third of the thigh,  found in Tell Barri site [Credit: A. Sołtysiak] 

So far, the research focused on excavations in towns and settlements, and analysis of cuneiform texts. 
Arkadiusz Sołtysiak of the Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw decided to fill this gap and collected all previously published reports of anthropologists who examined human remains in the area of Mesopotamia. "I was able to find only 44 publications mentioning traces of disease on human bones. This clearly indicates that palaeopathology of the area of Mesopotamia is very poorly developed in comparison with Europe and Egypt" - explained Sołtysiak. 
Such state knowledge is quite surprising, considering that thanks to the work of archaeologists and experts in ancient languages, a lot is already known of the Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian people (these are just a few of the civilizations in the area of Mesopotamia). 
Unfortunately, the human remains in the Middle East are poorly preserved due to unfavourable climate - moist winters and hot summers. Bones are fragile and often not suitable for detailed analysis. In addition, the unstable political situation in the region discouraged physical anthropologists from travels to this area. Transporting bones abroad was too expensive and too complex for formal reasons. Besides, they could be damaged during transportation. The skeleton provides information on the life of the deceased and what happened to him after death. Taphonomy deals with the second aspect, physical anthropology with the first. A branch of it is also palaeopathology, focusing on diseases in ancient populations. Of course soft tissue is usually not preserved, so scientists can track down only those diseases that leave clear marks on the bones. 
Reports analyzed by Warsaw researcher concern skeletal remains from all eras, allowing to approximate the general health status of residents of Mesopotamia at different times. "Despite the few published data, it can be concluded that the communities of Mesopotamia were quite healthy. We can also identify some trends - for example, least diseases visible on the bones were recorded in the early and mid- Bronze Age.

Interestingly, this correlates well with written sources of that time - it was a heyday of farming communities" - explained Sołtysiak. 
The oldest preserved and studied Mesopotamian remains, apart from Neanderthals discovered in Shanidar cave in Kurdistan, come from the Neolithic period, i.e. from about 9000 years ago. 
The then early farmers often suffered from osteoarthritis, probably associated with lifting heavy weights. Probably, with the introduction of draft animals, the problem became smaller - in fact in the Bronze Age that followed the Neolithic period, scientists reported fewer such cases on the bones. 
In the Neolithic period, in turn, there were fewer cases of dental disease, including tooth decay. Sołtysiak explained that after the relatively favourable for human societies Bronze Age, at the beginning of the Iron Age there was an economic and agricultural collapse, possibly caused by climate change and numerous conflicts. "This is the most difficult time in the history of the region, as evidenced by both written sources and archaeological finds. An interesting fact is gradual increase of the number of case of teeth disease until the Middle Ages, probably associated with the spread of date palms growing and changing eating habits" - believes the scientist. 
Unfortunately, progress in the study of diseases of the people of ancient Mesopotamia in the near future will be difficult. Excavations have not been conducted in southern Iraq since 2003and in Syria since 2011, due to unstable political situation. An article on the subject has been published in the latest issue of the journal "Światowit" (vol. X) LI 2012, published by the Institute of Archaeology of the University of Warsaw.

 Source: PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland [February 21, 2014]

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Iscrizione Achemenide a Persepoli

Achaemenid inscription found in Iran's Perspolis 


Archaeologists said they have discovered pieces of a stone inscription belonging to an ancient Achaemenid emperor in Persepolis in Iran’s Southern province of Fars. 


Achaemenid inscription in the National Archaeological Museum, Tehran [Credit: FarsNews] 

The inscription was unearthed at the Palace of Xerxes King (Khashayar Shah) who reigned around 520 BCE. 
A team of experts is trying to attach the pieces together to decipher the text of inscription, said the team leader Professor Gian Pietro Basello of the University of Naples, Italy. Basello is a specialist in historical philology of Iranian languages of the "L’Orientale." He also claimed that he has found a few spelling mistakes in the inscriptions placed in the ruins of Persepolis. “The texts of the inscriptions were written by people with a high level of literacy, but the mistakes happened when the engravers cut the texts into the stones," said Basello’s colleague, Adriano V. Rossi, during a seminar held in the Southern Iranian city of Shiraz. A new review of the royal Achaemenid inscriptions discovered in Persepolis was presented at the seminar. 
Established by Cyrus the Great, Achaemenid Empire was the first Persian Empire ruled in Western and Central Asia. One of the Achaemenid kings, Darius I (518 BCE), built Persepolis as the capital of the Empire. The importance and quality of the monumental ruins make it a unique archaeological site. 

Source: Fars News [January 29, 2014]

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BACTRIA-MARGIANA (OXUS)

Traces of BMAC culture found in NE Iran

Traces of a Bronze Age culture that is similar to the so-called Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex or BMAC (also known as the Oxus civilization) have been discovered during an archaeological excavation in the prehistoric site of Chalo near the town of Sankhast in North Khorasan Province, Iran.

Excavations at the prehistoric site of Chalo near the town of Sankhast in
North Khorasan Province, Iran [Credit: CHN/Hassan Zohuri]

The excavation has been carried out by a team of Iranian and Italian archaeologists, the Iranian director of the team, Ali-Akbar Vahdati, told the Persian service of CHN on Saturday.

This is the second time the team has worked at the site. The first season of excavation was carried out in 2011. The team also includes experts from Italy’s Institute for Aegean and Near Eastern Studies – ICEVO.

The BMAC is the modern archaeological designation for a Bronze Age civilization of Central Asia. The civilization, which dates to ca. 2,300–1,700 BC, was located in present day northern Afghanistan, eastern Turkmenistan, southern Uzbekistan and western Tajikistan, centered on the upper Amu Darya (Oxus River).

A skeleton and a number of artifacts are seen in a grave, which has recently been
discovered by the team of Iranian and Italian archaeologists at the 
Bronze Age site of Chalo in northeastern Iran
[Credit: CHN/Hassan Zohuri]

Its sites were discovered and named by the Soviet archaeologist Viktor Sarianidi in 1976. Bactria was the Greek name for the area of Bactra (modern Balkh), in what is now northern Afghanistan, and Margiana was the Greek name for the Persian satrapy of Margu, the capital of which was Merv, in modern-day southeastern Turkmenistan.

Sarianidi’s excavations from the late 1970s onward revealed numerous monumental structures at many sites, fortified by impressive walls and gates.

“In the first season of excavation, we found some ornamental artifacts that had surfaced as a result of agricultural activities by the locals,” Vahdati said.

A skeleton recently discovered by the team of Iranian and Italian archaeologists
at the Bronze Age site of Chalo in northeastern Iran
[Credit: CHN/Hassan Zohuri]

“Based on previous studies, the BMAC was only limited to the sites located in Central Asia: in present day northern Afghanistan, eastern Turkmenistan, and some regions in Tajikistan, but the first season of excavation showed that the Chalo site is also part of this great culture,” he added.

The team identified residential areas, a storage space, and a cemetery during the second season of excavation. To gather more information about the culture, the archaeologists dug 14 trenches in the cemetery.

“In most of the trenches, we discovered graves exhibiting signs of the BMAC. Environmental factors have caused serious damage to the graves, which have been discovered in upper layers of the ground,” Vahdati stated.

Storage jars from a grave unearthed by the team of Iranian and Italian archaeologists
at the Bronze Age site of Chalo in northeastern Iran
[Credit: CHN/Hassan Zohuri]

All the skeletons that were unearthed lay on their right sides in an east-west position.

“A variety of stoneware, earthenware, stone and metal ornaments has been discovered in the graves. All bodies had been buried with metal bracelets and bonze pins, which were used to fasten clothing. Most of them were buried with necklaces and earrings made of stone and bone,” he said.

“All the artifacts unearthed from the graves have the same characteristics identified for the BMAC in Central Asia,” he added.

The artifacts found in the graves bear designs of dragons, snakes, scorpions, and other
animal motifs typical of the BMAC in Central Asia said the Iranian director
of the team, Ali-Akbar Vahdati [Credit: CHN/Hassan Zohuri]

The artifacts bear designs of dragons, snakes, scorpions, and other animal motifs. Vahdati said people had inhabited the area before it was converted into a cemetery.

“Storage spaces dating back to 3,700 BC have been discovered at the site. Large pots which were used for storing grains and other agricultural products have been dug out in the spaces,” he added.

“We have found seeds of grain, barley and grapes. The grapes were likely used for production of vinegar or a special drink,” he stated.

Vahdati said, “Chalo reveals details of the BMAC in Iran. Maybe it is better to call it the Greater Khorasan culture, because parts of Merv, Samarkand, and Bukhara were under the influence of Greater Khorasan.”

Source: Tehran Times [November 17, 2013]