Connection and disconnection

Rania Plain lies on the eastern side of Iraqi Kurdistan, at the foot of the seemingly impenetrable Zagros Mountains. During the Early Modern Period, this microregion was on the fringe of the two major powers of the Middle East, the Ottoman and Persian Empires, but it was also part of the Soran Emir...

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Main Author: Fruzsina Alexandra Németh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Eötvös Loránd University 2025-01-01
Series:Dissertationes Archaeologicae: Ex Instituto Archaeologico Universitatis de Rolando Eötvös Nominatae
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ojs.elte.hu/dissarch/article/view/9145
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author Fruzsina Alexandra Németh
author_facet Fruzsina Alexandra Németh
author_sort Fruzsina Alexandra Németh
collection DOAJ
description Rania Plain lies on the eastern side of Iraqi Kurdistan, at the foot of the seemingly impenetrable Zagros Mountains. During the Early Modern Period, this microregion was on the fringe of the two major powers of the Middle East, the Ottoman and Persian Empires, but it was also part of the Soran Emirate, one of the semi-autonomous vassal states that existed for hundreds of years. The Rania Plain was close to the main trade route linking Baghdad with the major Kurdish cities of Erbil and Mosul. In addition, the Lower Zab River, which flows through this valley to reach the Mesopotamian Plain, provided a natural trade and information route between the inner parts of the Zagros Mountains, the Iranian Plateau, and the fertile plains crossed by the Tigris River. Despite this, the Rania region and its cities do not appear on Ottoman Period maps, and written sources are silent about the function of the area between the 16th and 20th centuries. Field survey and excavation data from the last fifty years have provided a complex and varied picture of the valley’s topography, which, combined with the dense water network in the area, defines possible lines of population movement. One of the key questions to be addressed in examining the historical significance and complex use of the area is how to reconstruct the historical road use in the microregion using historical, archaeological, topographical, ethnographic, and GIS data and whether the area played a connecting or separating role in relation to the eastern frontier of the Ottoman Empire.
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series Dissertationes Archaeologicae: Ex Instituto Archaeologico Universitatis de Rolando Eötvös Nominatae
spelling doaj-art-e40aead83eb449a98473971ba7f33b992025-01-25T17:57:12ZengEötvös Loránd UniversityDissertationes Archaeologicae: Ex Instituto Archaeologico Universitatis de Rolando Eötvös Nominatae2064-45742025-01-0131210.17204/dissarch.2024.417Connection and disconnectionFruzsina Alexandra Németh0Institute of Archaeological Sciences, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary Rania Plain lies on the eastern side of Iraqi Kurdistan, at the foot of the seemingly impenetrable Zagros Mountains. During the Early Modern Period, this microregion was on the fringe of the two major powers of the Middle East, the Ottoman and Persian Empires, but it was also part of the Soran Emirate, one of the semi-autonomous vassal states that existed for hundreds of years. The Rania Plain was close to the main trade route linking Baghdad with the major Kurdish cities of Erbil and Mosul. In addition, the Lower Zab River, which flows through this valley to reach the Mesopotamian Plain, provided a natural trade and information route between the inner parts of the Zagros Mountains, the Iranian Plateau, and the fertile plains crossed by the Tigris River. Despite this, the Rania region and its cities do not appear on Ottoman Period maps, and written sources are silent about the function of the area between the 16th and 20th centuries. Field survey and excavation data from the last fifty years have provided a complex and varied picture of the valley’s topography, which, combined with the dense water network in the area, defines possible lines of population movement. One of the key questions to be addressed in examining the historical significance and complex use of the area is how to reconstruct the historical road use in the microregion using historical, archaeological, topographical, ethnographic, and GIS data and whether the area played a connecting or separating role in relation to the eastern frontier of the Ottoman Empire. https://ojs.elte.hu/dissarch/article/view/9145Islamic archaeologyKurdish historyroad network reconstructionleast cost path analysisroad network of the Ottoman Empire
spellingShingle Fruzsina Alexandra Németh
Connection and disconnection
Dissertationes Archaeologicae: Ex Instituto Archaeologico Universitatis de Rolando Eötvös Nominatae
Islamic archaeology
Kurdish history
road network reconstruction
least cost path analysis
road network of the Ottoman Empire
title Connection and disconnection
title_full Connection and disconnection
title_fullStr Connection and disconnection
title_full_unstemmed Connection and disconnection
title_short Connection and disconnection
title_sort connection and disconnection
topic Islamic archaeology
Kurdish history
road network reconstruction
least cost path analysis
road network of the Ottoman Empire
url https://ojs.elte.hu/dissarch/article/view/9145
work_keys_str_mv AT fruzsinaalexandranemeth connectionanddisconnection