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The Neo-Babylonian Empire: The Imperial Periphery as Seen from the Centre
Open accessAbstract
The paper examines the cuneiform evidence from sixth-century Babylonia (and beyond) for information on the form and aims of Neo-Babylonian imperial rule over its western provinces. While new texts, which hitherto have not been considered in this context, can be brought to bear on the issue, direct evidence from these provinces is still scarce. These documents will thus be supplemented by drawing on the rich information concerning state institutions and resource extraction in the imperial centre. It is argued that in the first half of the Neo-Babylonian period, until ca. 585 BCE, Babylonian imperial rule in the western periphery can be conceptualized primarily as a straightforward exploitative tributary regime. From about the mid-reign of Nebuchadnezzar onwards, however, there is a shift towards a more sustainable resource extraction through the creation of stable pockets of Babylonian presence in the periphery. This diachronic shift was meant to steady and organize the initial ad hoc Babylonian approach. These measures, however, did not prevail, and the chaotic years which followed the 43 years reign of Nebuchadnezzar illustrate the fragility of the relatively short-lived Babylonian imperial age.
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“In a palace-like residence that was in use from late Assyrian times into the Neo-Babylonian period, cuneiform tablets written in the Assyrian language and in an Assyrian format, but dated to the second and fifth years of Nebuchadnezzar, have been recovered: in the area, at that time, Babylonian control was based on the collaboration of the local, Assyrian elites.”
From The Neo-Babylonian Empire (2023) · cites this paper as Levavi 2020
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“Together with Carchemish on the Euphrates, Riblah on the Orontes river, and perhaps Harran on the Balikh river, Tyre was thus one of the few urban centers upon which the Babylonians based their control of the region.”
From The Neo-Babylonian Empire (2023) · cites this paper as Levavi 2020
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“This regime has been called “superficial domination” 180 -but only in the sense that the Babylonian apparatus of supervision and control was minimal and normally quite remote from the centers where tribute was extracted.”
From The Neo-Babylonian Empire (2023) · cites this paper as Levavi 2020: 62
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“In the Khabur valley further east, the best evidence of Babylonian control from the late seventh century onward comes from the site of Tell Sheikh Hamad, the old Assyrian city of Dur-Katlimmu.”
From The Neo-Babylonian Empire (2023) · cites this paper as Levavi 2020
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“The evidence of “colony-building” in the Khabur valley and perhaps in the region of Tyre shows that this model was not followed consistently everywhere and throughout the entire period of Neo-Babylonian domination, 181”
From The Neo-Babylonian Empire (2023) · cites this paper as Levavi 2020
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Citations
Cites
Babylonian Strategies of Imperial Control in the West: Royal Practice and Rhetoric
Vanderhooft, D. (2003) · Judah and the Judeans in the Neo-Babylonian Period · doi:10.1515/9781575065403-012 · Cited by 39
Jursa, M. (2023) · The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East Volume V · doi:10.1093/oso/9780190687663.003.0050 · Cited by 28
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Jursa, M. (2023) · The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East Volume V · doi:10.1093/oso/9780190687663.003.0050 · Cited by 28
Metadata
- Authors
- Levavi, Y.
- Affiliations
- University of Vienna (AT)
- Corresponding author
- Levavi, Yuval
- ORCID
- Levavi, Yuval
- Venue
- Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History
- Publisher
- Walter de Gruyter GmbH
- Published
- 2020-06-01
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 59-84
- ISSN
- 2328-9554 (ISSN-L)
- 2328-9562
- OpenAlex
- W3044866961
- Cited by
- 23
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2023: 5 · 2021: 17
- FWCI
- 26.98
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Austrian Science Fund
- Universität Wien
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology (arts and humanities) › Ancient Near East History
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Biblical Studies and Interpretation
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology (arts and humanities) › Ancient Egypt and Archaeology
- Keywords
- Neo-Babylonian Empire, imperial periphery, resource extraction, Nebuchadnezzar II, imperial administration, 6th century BC
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