A semantic model for the analysis of architecture from late third millennium BC Mesopotamia.

Format:

Book

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Matney, Timothy Cecil.

Contributor:

University of Pennsylvania.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Architecture.

Archaeology.

Extinct languages.

0289.

0324.

0729.

Local Subjects:

0289.

0324.

0729.

Physical Description:

345 pages

Contained In:

Dissertation Abstracts International 54-06A.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

text file

Summary:

The broad theoretical objective of this dissertation is to explore the potential union of archaeological and linguistic perspectives in the study of material culture. The specific focus of the study is the architecture of the late third millennium BC Mesopotamia.

The first half of this dissertation is a review of the archaeological material dating to the period of the Agade kings of Mesopotamia. In Chapter 1 the temporal and spatial parameters of the study are established. In particular, the discussion centers on the Khabur region of northeastern Syria and the archaeological site of Tell Brak where a British expedition under the direction of David Oates has been working since 1976. Regional surveys and dating criteria are elaborated. Chapter 2 is a presentation of the published and unpublished Agade period architecture from Tell Brak. Chapter 3 is a catalogue of comparative material from archaeological sites both in northern and southern Mesopotamia. This section concludes with a summary of the main characteristics of Agade architecture.

The second half of the dissertation is a semantic analysis of Old Akkadian terminology which was in use at the time of the Agade kings. Chapter 4 reviews previous archaeological studies of architectural 'meaning'. A semiotic model is presented which seeks to explain how architecture communicates meaning. A comparative semantic methodology is adapted from linguistic theory in order to elaborate the content of that communication. In Chapter 5 a semantic study of old Akkadian building terminology is conducted in which discriminant variables are extracted from contextual usages culled from cuneiform texts. These variables are contrasted via a presence/absence matrix and some correlations with the architecture found in the archaeological record are posited.

Notes:

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-06, Section: A, page: 2201.

Supervisor: Richard Zettler.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 1993.

Local Notes:

School code: 0175.

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.