Tell Hesban: Crossroads of Empires and Civilizations

 

Tell Hesban is located in the hill country west of theJordan River in present-day Jordan. The Tell sits on the edge of a fertile corridor between the Mediterranean Sea and the Arabian Desert. This area, between Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq) and Egypt has been a natural route for trade and war for over 3000 years. Because of its strategic importance, though Palestine and Transjordan never produced a monolithic civilization, these lands saw the rise and fall of over 20 empires and civilizations which invaded, passed through, and at times ruled. From the Egyptians in the 2nd millennia B.C.E to the British Empire in the early 20th century C.E., Tell Hesban and the greater Levant have been witness to the often brilliant, often oppressive empires and civilizations that have created what are now seen as the histories of both Islamic and Western Civilization.

It is important to evaluate what we mean by “empire” and by “civilization,” and discuss the differences between the two. While both words have little in the way of a set, unanimously agreed-upon definition, the process of defining these words can be illuminating as it forces us to look at what exactly these entities which controlled the Levant and Tell Hesban indeed were.

For our purposes, the concise definition of “empire” proposed by Hardt and Negri will suffice: their definition is simply the imposition of a world order (2000). This definition covers the effect of empire; to paint a practical picture of empire we may also call it the “rule by force over several distinct peoples (Muldoon, 1999, p. 63).” Empire then is an entity which rules over “several distinct peoples,” imposing its imperial social order on these subjugated peoples.

The definition of “civilization” will be by its nature more complex than the definition of “empire” because the term “civilization” implies multiple characteristics which “empire” does not. We will here define civilization as:

                                                

 “…a luminous constellation of radiant attitudes, beliefs, institutions, values, elite cultural traditions and works of art, artisanry, and architecture that emanate from a particular urban epicenter or centers. Civilizations are luminous when they emit “light” that advances the development of human societies and cultures. Civilizations resemble constellations because they are distinguishable by means of a dynamic configuration of component parts including attitudes, beliefs, values, elite cultural traditions and works of art, artisanship and architecture. Civilizations are radiant in two senses. First, they typically radiate from some epicenter, usually one or more great urban capitals within their heartlands. Examples include ancient Sumer in the case of Mesopotamian civilization; Thebes in the case of Egyptian Civilization; and Athens in the case of Greek/Hellenistic civilization. Second, civilizations are radiant in the sense that their luminosity continues long after their ‘golden age.’” (LaBianca and Gerard, Forthcoming)

 

            It should be noted that every civilization has been exemplified by an empire, but not every empire may be considered a civilization. As such, in the discussion of each ruling force, the elements of empire and of civilization will be discussed separately. For example, while the Roman Empire will be discussed within the context of the Roman Civilization, the Mamluk Empire will be discussed within the context of the Muslim Civilization.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A.G.

 

 

 

 

Work Cited and Consulted:

 

Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, Empire, ( Boston : Harvard University Press, 2000)

 

Øystein S. LaBianca, “The Agency of Empire in the Spread of Ancient Civilizations: Order, Conflict, Coexistence, Synthesis, and Breakthrough,” (ASOR, 2006)

 

Øystein S. LaBianca and Andrew Gerard, “Anthropology of Civilizations: The View from Tell Hesban,” (Article Forthcoming)

 

J. Muldoon, Empire and Order: The Concept of Empire, 800-1800 (Palgrave-Macmillan, 1999).