Investigation into the Impacts of Foreign Ruling Elites in Traditional State Societies: The Case of the Kassite State in Babylonia (Iraq)
General Material Designation
[Thesis]
General Material Designation
[Thesis]
General Material Designation
[Thesis]
General Material Designation
[Thesis]
First Statement of Responsibility
Helen O. Malko
Subsequent Statement of Responsibility
Stone, Elizabeth C.; Bahrani, Zainab
.PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC
Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.
State University of New York at Stony Brook
Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.
2014
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Specific Material Designation and Extent of Item
336
GENERAL NOTES
Text of Note
Committee members: Hildebrand, Elisabeth; Zimansky, Paul
NOTES PERTAINING TO PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC.
Text of Note
Place of publication: United States, Ann Arbor; ISBN=978-1-321-63925-4
DISSERTATION (THESIS) NOTE
Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree
Ph.D.
Discipline of degree
Anthropology
Body granting the degree
State University of New York at Stony Brook
Text preceding or following the note
2014
SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
This thesis focuses on the study of foreign ruling minorities in traditional state societies. It investigates how the Kassites, as a foreign ethnic group, were able to control and maintain political power over the Babylonian majority for four centuries. In addition, it examines Kassite-Babylonian cultural interaction both on state and domestic levels as reflected in the material cultural and historical records. This study uses two contrasting ethnohistorical models of foreign ruling elites of the Arabs in Spain and the Mamluks in Egypt to evaluate the mechanisms employed by the Kassites to maintain power and the nature of their interaction with the Babylonian majority. Although the Kassites adopted Babylonian culture and traditions, they still maintained their language, names, deities, and social organization. Despite their small number and foreign background, the Kassites' political and socioeconomic practices continued long after their supremacy ended, leaving a long term imprint on Babylonian culture and society.
TOPICAL NAME USED AS SUBJECT
Archaeology; Ancient history; Ethnic studies
UNCONTROLLED SUBJECT TERMS
Subject Term
Social sciences;Ancient Near East;Babylonia;Ethnic minorities;Iraq;Kassites;Ruling elites