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[German version] I. Ancient Near East and Egypt Weapons were among the earliest artefacts fashioned by humans and their ancestors. Stone arrowheads and blades were the first recognizable weapons in the ancient Near East into the Neolithic Period ( c. 10000 BC). From the 4th millennium BC, weapons were depicted on roll seals and stelae in scenes of warfare or hunting. Of maces suitable for close combat, generally only the heads (of stone or metal) survive. One exception is the deposit at the Chalcolithic find site of Naḥal Mišmār in P…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Sassanids | Syria | Xenophon | Zenobia | Hellenistic states | Hellenistic states | Asia Minor | Legio | Limes | Limes | Pompeius (Σαμόσατα; Samósata), modern Samsat Hüyüğu (in Turkey), city on the northern bank of the Euphrates [2]; today submerged. A Hittite stele from S. and Assyrian sources attest the name of Kummuḫu (an Assyrian provincial town from the time of Sargon II onwards). Capital city of the Commagene under king Antiochus [16] I. Occupied in AD 72 by Vespa…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient and Egypt In both the Ancient Orient and Egypt the WC was a single-axle open chariot with spoked wheels pulled by horses. WCs were predominantly made of wood and in some cases clad in metal. The first evidence of WCs is on 2nd millennium BC seal rolls in Anatolia, and then in Syria (Seals). Their origin is disputed. In particular Hittite texts record the military significance of WCs (battle of Qadesh in 1275 BC between Muwatalli II and Ramses [2] II). There is also ev…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Mesopotamia (Arabic Tall al-Aḥmar) on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, about 20 km to the south of Karchemish. Remains from the Ubaid period (5th millennium BC) and the early, middle and late Bronze Age; several inscribed stelai from the period of the Luwian dynasty of Hapatilas (10th/9th cent. BC). Under the name TB the capital of the small Aramaic principality of Bīt-Adini, which was conquered after several attempts by the Assyrian ruler Sal…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient and Egypt As a single- or double-axled vehicle, wagons were used in the Ancient Orient as a means of transporting people, gods and objects whose weight or size excluded their being carried by people or animals. Wagons were used in battle, in cult and ritual, and for display, travel, transporting goods, and pleasure (e.g. some forms of Hunting). Signs in early writing (archaic texts from Uruk, end of the 4th millennium BC; Cuneiform script) show the first drawn vehicle…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Urarṭu | Xenophon | Mesopotamia Arabian Nimrūd (Iraq), was an Assyrian residential city, located on the eastern bank of the Tigris. Earliest traces of settlements date back to the Halaf period (5th millennium). The town is first mentioned under Salmanassar I (1263-1234 BC). Aššurnaṣirpal II (883-858) made K. the capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire after Assur [1]. Excavations have unearthed the architecture of Neo-Assyrian palaces, administrative bu…

[German version] ( al-Raqqa/ ar-Raqqa). Modern Syrian provincial capital at the confluence of the Balīḫ and the Euphrates. For its history up to the 4th cent., see Nicephorium. Since 638/9, the town has been Arab. After al-Rāfiqa was built west of R. by the caliph al-Manṣūr (772) there was expansion on a grand scale by Hārūn al-Rašīd and a temporary (796-808) relocation of the Abbasid residence, which was only later named R. and further expanded. It was destroyed by Saladdin in 1182, and then came u…

[English version] ( ar-Raqqa). Mod. syrische Provinzhauptstadt an der Mündung des Balīḫ in den Euphrates. Zur Gesch. bis zum 4. Jh. s. Nikephorion. Seit 638/9 ist der Ort arabisch. Nach der Errichtung von ar-Rāfiqa westl. von R. durch den Kalifen al-Manṣūr (772) kam es zu einem großartigen Ausbau durch Hārūn ar-Rašīd und einer zeitweisen Verlegung (796-808) der abbasidischen Residenz, die erst später R. genannt und noch erweitert wurde. Von Saladin 1182 zerstört, danach unter ayyubidischer Herrscha…

[English version] Dieser Ort ist auf folgenden Karten verzeichnet: Mesopotamien | Urarṭu | Xenophon Arab. Nimrūd (Irak), einst am Ostufer des Tigris gelegene assyr. Residenzstadt. Früheste Siedlungsspuren aus der Ḥalafzeit (5. Jt.); erste Erwähnung unter Salmanassar I. (1263-1234 v.Chr.). Durch Aššurnaṣirpal II. (883-858) wurde K. in der Nachfolge von Assur [1] zur Hauptstadt des neuassyr. Reiches. Grabungen galten der Architektur neuassyr. Paläste, Verwaltungsgebäuden und Tempeln (NW-Palast, “Fort Shalmanese…