Beyond the river : new perspectives on Transeuphratene /
Josette Elayi and Jean Sapin ; translated by J. Edward Crowley.
- Sheffield, England : Sheffield Academic Press, 1998.
- 191 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cm.
- Journal for the study of the Old Testament. Supplement series ; 250 .
- Journal for the study of the Old Testament. Supplement series 250. .
Includes bibliographical references (p. [167]-185) and indexes.
Traditional approaches -- New conditions for research -- The use of computers -- Towards another archaeology -- The complementarity of geo-archaeology -- Of what use are inscriptions? -- Reading the textual sources another way -- Pottery and trade -- Numismatics and economic history -- A specific historical sociology -- Central authority and local authorities: a matter of perspective.
Here is a blueprint for a new interdisciplinary approach that decompartmentalizes disciplines for the study of this district of the Achaemenid Empire including Syria, Phoenicia, Palestine and Cyprus. Remarkable cultural evolutions and changes in this area need closer study: the introduction of coinage and the coin economy, the sources of tension over problems of power and identity, the emergence of city-states similar to the Greek city type, the development of mercenary armies, the opening up of the Western fringe of the Persian Empire to the Greek world. Completely new research initiatives can extensively modify the vision that classical and oriental specialists have traditionally formed of the history of the Persian Empire.