The Neo-Assyrian provincial system of Anatolia

Over the past years, several disciplines have produced more and more new data that are available for further scientific research. Based on these results, the Anatolian presence of the Assyrians could be finally examined in its complexity. In general, Assyriologists tend to use royal inscriptions and the correspondences of the Assyrian kings found in their capitals as sole material for researches. One of the aims of the present thesis is to balance this picture with the material – may they be written or archaeological – found in the provinces. The data from the Neo-Assyrian period, the Middle Assyrian and the transitional period, e.g. Neo-Hittite and Aramean kingdoms, is used as a base of comparison. Apart form analysing the Assyrian provinces separately, different types of material – written and from excavations and field surveys – are examined in their own context. Cuneiform tablets uncovered in the past years show that during the fall of Assyria some Assyrian centres – especially the ones governed by magnates – continued to function for years after the death of the last Assyrian king. One of these is the province of the rab šaqe that's exact location was always up to a debate in previous researches but in the light of the new material it could be firmly located to the region of Silopi. Apart from this, Cilicia – Que in Assyrian –, that is better known both for previous and latter periods, based among others on contemporary Greek, Phoenician and other – in general archaeological – material, shows a unique type of Assyrian province. On one hand, the typology of the provinces is based, on regional – in general geographical – factors, like the proximity of mountains and sea, on the other hand, on the level of Assyrianization at a certain region. These two factors make five categories that all Anatolian provinces can belong to. The examination of the Assyrianization of different regions is one of the main aims of this thesis as it is essential as a base for the detailed analysis of the provincial system. For this reason, a great emphasises was given, as a base of comparison, apart from the examination of previous periods, to the results of different disciplines that might not have been used at such a complex research previously. This study shows that Anatolia was not a periphery of the Neo-Assyrian period but rather a secondary centre.