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Material Culture and Crafting Social Identity: Exploring Funerary Practices and Cross-Cultural Interactions in the Middle Bronze Age Levant

RIPAMONTI, Cecilia

Building on the author’s ongoing PhD research, this paper will explore the funerary contexts of the Levant during the Middle Bronze Age by delving into the various elements of material culture, - pottery, jewellery, weapons, and other personal items -, discovered in the tombs. The varied composition of funerary kits is crucial for understanding how communities and individuals perceived and crafted their social identities. It reveals how material culture served as a means of manifesting and communicating group belonging, while also delineating and reinforcing individual status within the community. Additionally, the geographical and chronological distribution of tomb types and artifacts, offers valuable insights into the relationship between communities and territory, possibly mirroring their need to establish claims over land. Furthermore, burial items that were either imported or influenced by neighbouring territories, such as Syria and Egypt, highlight the inter-regional connections that existed across the Levant, reflecting the cross-cultural interactions and entanglements that shaped Middle Bronze Age society. By examining the funerary practices and beliefs related to death, memory, the afterlife, and ancestorship, this study seeks to address the new interpretative questions that have emerged about how people in the Middle Bronze Age Levant navigated and articulated their place in the world.

Session 4. Crafting Identity and Clusters through Material Culture, Iconography and Texts [info]