Burial Practices of the Third Millennium BCE in the Middle Euphrates Region

The Middle Euphrates Region, encompassing ancient Syria, enjoyed a period of rapid and complex socio-political development during the third millennium BC. These developments are archaeologically reflected in changes to burials and funerary rituals during this time. This important category of evidence lay largely unexcavated until large-scale dam construction prompted a series of rescue excavations across the region during the latter half of the twentieth century. This in-depth study of the mortuary remains from several sites on the Middle Euphrates presents the material from these and earlier excavations in a single, comprehensive volume for the first time. It uses this material to investigate the multifaceted world of third millennium funerary ritual and cult. The author provides original and informative conclusions about funerary rituals and their possible significance to society in ancient Syria, making this book an invaluable resource for researching the Early Bronze Age activity in the Middle Euphrates Region.