Abstract:

Dr Tara STEIMER-HERBET will present a lecture on the Middle Eastern megalithism spread and the significance of the societies of megalith builders. Seven thousand years ago, the Middle East witnessed the emergence of new funerary rites. Previous traditions of burying the dead directly in the earth, in jars or ossuaries were replaced with a new practice of inhumation in megalithic tombs. This change can be observed in the societies living in the mountains of the Akkar region in Lebanon but also in the Jaulan plateau in Syria, the Jordan valley in Jordan, the al-‘Ula and Khaybar in Saudi Arabia, the Jawf and the Hadramawt in Yemen, and the Dhofar and Jabal Hafit in Oman. In her talk, Dr Steimer will define the concept of megaliths and will focus on the so-called ‘dolmens’ or ‘tower tombs’.

The first manifestations of megalithism appeared in the ninth millennium BC in Turkey and were continued in Indonesia. The peak of megalithism in the Middle East falls between the end of the fifth to the end of the third millennium BC. Recent systematic surveys and excavations have changed our perspective on the distribution patterns of megalithic tombs. Until 2000, it was believed that the megalithic necropolises were distributed alongside a narrow north-south axis along the Rift ditch, extending from the Dead Sea to Aleppo, along the Jordan, Litani and Orontes rivers. Today, we know that the societies practising megalithism occupied varied landscapes from the forests of the Syrian Jaulan to the steppes of the Sabatayn desert in Yemen.

Colin Renfrew was one of the first to ask the question: “why megalithism?” The numerous studies on the distribution of monuments show that these constructions shaped the landscape and made certain areas sacred. The megalithic monuments are considered markers of territories, with a pronounced hierarchy, expressed using "tails", funerary "chains" or enclosures in the necropolises and the tombs.

The conditions that determined settlement patterns of the megalith builders were the availability of stone appropriate for different formats - from simple elements such as the stelae, menhirs or even statues to large constructions such as tombs, sometimes houses. Megalithic societies were highly creative. Also, the presence of the grazing lands or the conditions suitable for horticulture were crucial factors in choosing megalithic occupations. By using large stones as means of expression and to honour the deceased and/or their ancestors, the megalithic societies showed their economic capacities. Such constructions required significant resources and collective effort. We hypothesize that these societies had access to multiple resources, exotic goods, and handicrafts. Apart from the access to resources, the megalithic societies seem to have favoured the communication axes facilitating economical exchanges with the urban populations centered around the major rivers. As such, these megalithic groups played a key role in the formation of societies.