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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 easte…

[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 vehicles with axles and/or wheels. Wagons did permit an increase in the effectiveness of transportation, but because of the various conditions of topography and roads in the Near East (no developed road network; Traffic), could only be employed to a limited extent; pack animals and ships remained important. From the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, there is evidence of a simple two-axle wooden box-cart with a team of two oxen and disc wheels, and of faster teams of four equids as draft animals, presumably mules, and high box fronts. The wagon platform provided room for one or two people. Harnessing was accomplished by means of a shaft and a yoke. Signs of strain from these are observable in…

[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…

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