Les failles décrochantes se caractérisent par des géométries 3D relativement complexes, avec des changements abrupts de structures associés à une segmentation latérale. Ainsi, comprendre comment les failles décrochantes sont segmentées latéralement peut apporter des informations sur la répartition de la déformation et des contraintes le long de ces failles ou encore leur comportement sismique. Dans cette étude nous avons cherché à caractériser ces paramètres pour la faille du Levant. Dans un premier temps nous nous sommes intéressés au comportement sismique de cette faille au cours des derniers millénaires. Pour cela, nous avons réalisé une tranchée paléosismologique le long de la section sud de la faille où les données sur la sismicité historique restent limitées. Cela nous a permis de proposer un scénario de rupture pour la section entre le golfe d’Aqaba et le Mont Liban (~500 km). Le catalogue obtenu montre que la faille a connu plusieurs crises sismiques d’environ 200 ans, durant lesquelles l’ensemble de la faille rompt en cascade, séparées par des périodes de quiescence d’environ 350-400 ans, suggérant que la sismicité suit un modèle de clustering temporel. Ce catalogue nous a également permis d’estimer le déficit de glissement accumulé au cours des derniers 1600 ans. Ce déficit, est homogène pour toute la section de faille considérée, à 2 m de moyenne, ce qui pourrait suggérer l’imminence d’une crise sismique régionale, puisque que la compensation d’un tel déficit se traduirait par l’occurrence d’un séisme de Mw ~7.2 sur chaque section de faille. Dans une deuxième partie, nous avons étudié la répartition de la déformation à long terme dans une zone présentant une géométrie relativement complexe : le golfe d’Aqaba. Dans cette région, nous avons cartographié à partir de données de terrain et d’images satellites un certain nombre de structures secondaires sur les marges du golfe. Ainsi, même si la faille principale se trouve en mer, une partie de la déformation verticale est accommodée à terre. La confrontation des datations thermochronologiques et cosmogéniques réalisées le long de la côte Est du golfe montre une accélération des taux de soulèvement à partir de 5 Ma, qui est interprétée comme une conséquence de la migration du pôle d’Euler associé à la rotation de la plaque Arabique. Cette migration a favorisé un régime transtensif dans le golfe d’Aqaba, entrainant la réactivation de failles anciennes bordant la plaine côtière. Enfin, afin d’évaluer les mécanismes contrôlant la segmentation des failles décrochantes et leur évolution dans le temps, nous avons réalisé des expériences analogiques en boite à sable. Elles nous ont permis de mettre en avant (1) l’impact majeur de l’épaisseur du matériel cassant sur la longueur des segments et (2) la pérennité de la segmentation des failles décrochantes, puisque la segmentation observée sur le terrain obéit aux mêmes lois d’échelle que la segmentation observée aux stades initiaux de déformation dans les boites à sable / Strike slip faults are characterised by complex 3D geometries, with abrupt structural variations and a high degree of lateral segmentation. Hence, understanding the underlying mechanisms of lateral fault segmentation can shed light on the distribution of deformation and stress along these faults, as well as their seismic behaviour. In this study, we have tried to characterise some of these parameters for the Levant fault. We first investigated the seismic behaviour of this fault over the last few thousand years. To do this we realised a paleoseimological trench along the southern section of the fault, in a region where historical seismic data are limited. This allowed us to propose a rupture scenario for the section running from the Gulf of Aqaba to Mount Lebanon (~500km). The resulting catalogue highlights several seismic crises about 200 years long during which the whole fault ruptures in a cascade, interspaced with quiescent periods of about 350-400 years. This suggests that the seismic behaviour of the fault presents temporal clustering. Our catalogue also allowed for the estimation of the slip deficit accumulated over the last 1600 years in the considered section. This deficit is homogeneous along the fault and relatively high (2 m on average), which could suggest that a seismic crisis could happen over the entire region in a near future, as the compensation of such deficit would require the occurrence of a Mw 7.2 event on each section of the fault. After that we studied the distribution of long-term deformation in a region with a relatively complex geometry: the Gulf of Aqaba. In this region we mapped from field data and satellite images several secondary structures on the margins of the gulf. Indeed, even though the main fault is at sea, part of the vertical deformation is accommodated on land. The confrontation of thermochronological and cosmogenic datations along the eastern coast of the gulf shows an acceleration of the uplift rates. We interpret this as a consequence of the migration of the Euler pole associated with the rotation of the Arabian plaque, 5 ky ago. This migration led to an increase of the transtension in the Gulf of Aqaba, which reactivated ancient faults bordering the coastal plain. Finally, in order to quantify the mechanisms controlling the segmentation of strike slip faults and their temporal evolution, we realised sand box experiments. Our results highlight the importance of the thickness of the brittle material and its impact on the segment lengths. They also show the persistence of strike slip faults segmentation since the segmentation observed in the field obeys the same scaling laws as that observed at the early stages of deformation in sand box experiments

L’identité juive n’a cessé de faire l’objet d’un questionnement, depuis la découverte des premiers témoignages archéologiques attribués aux « proto-Israélites » de l’Âge du Fer jusqu’aux discussions récents sur l’attribution de la nationalité dans l’actuel État d’Israël. L’élément commun de cette histoire plurimillénaire réside dans le nom « Israël ». Conçue à rebours d’une lecture statique du texte biblique, la thèse propose donc une histoire des différents ethnonymes du peuple élu (Israël, Juifs/Judéens, Hébreux). Menée à partir de sources archéologiques, épigraphiques et littéraires, l’enquête vise à évaluer l’apport de la tradition juive à la construction des notions de peuple et d’appartenance, qui, à travers l’héritage chrétien, conduirons à l’élaboration du concept moderne d’État-nation. La Bible, le Livre, ne constitue pas seulement une source à la fois textuelle et historique pour l’orientaliste, mais également une tradition à partir de laquelle on peut interroger le regard des sociétés sur elles-mêmes et les relations qu’elles entretiennent. / Jewish identity has always been a highly disputed topic, at least since the archaeological discovery of the so-called Iron Age “proto-Israelites” until the recent debates about the relationship between being a Jew and an Israeli citizen in the modern state of Israel. Notwithstanding a three thousand years old history, both Ancients and we continue to use the name “Israel”. Adopting a diachronic approach to the biblical text, this thesis retraces the history of the different ethnonyms related to the “chosen people” (Israel, Jews/Judeans, and Hebrews). Encompassing archaeological, epigraphic and literary evidences, the research reassesses the role played by Jewish tradition in the development of concepts such as “peoplehood” and “group identity” that, through the Christian heritage, will result in the modern concept of Nation-State. Thus, the Bible, the Book, can be not only a source for the orientalist but also a useful tradition that may help us to a better understanding of our societies and the relationships they maintain with each other.

A la fin de la Renaissance l'Empire ottoman est bien connu du public européen. Tout au long du XVIe siècle, récits de voyages, de captifs, ouvrages de mœurs, ouvrages cosmographiques dessinent une certaine image du « Turc » et de la partie du monde sur laquelle il a établi son pouvoir. Objet de fascination et de profonde inquiétude, l'Empire des sultans intéresse l’Europe chrétienne en proie à des guerres intestines. Les voyageurs qui entreprennent le voyage ou qui commencent à rédiger un récit de leur expérience à partir des années 1570 le font donc avec, à l'esprit, le parcours des auteurs qui les ont précédés. Ils doivent faire avec l’image de l’Autre qui s’est progressivement imposée. La pression évidente que la bibliothèque exerce sur le texte viatique pousse les rédacteurs à chercher de nouvelles modalités d’expression. Ils posent à neuf la dialectique constamment maintenue par la prose viatique tout au long du XVIe siècle entre le récit de l’expérience et l’utilisation des ressources livresques. Parmi ces voyageurs-auteurs une nouvelle classe paraît se distinguer. Elle cherche à se démarquer des voyageurs antérieurs et des contemporains en accordant plus de place à l'expression personnelle au sein des récits. Cette classe nous l'avons circonscrite à celle des gentilshommes qui trouvent, dans le cadre d'échanges de plus en plus fréquents avec le Levant, qu'il s'agisse d’échanges diplomatiques ou commerciaux, de nouveaux terrains pour s’affirmer. Tout en tenant à ne pas se présenter comme des savants, les gentilshommes s’attachent à mettre en évidence leur appartenance de classe et cela passe, en partie, par l’affirmation de leur présence dans le texte, qui semble plus manifeste que dans les ouvrages antérieurs. L’ego du voyageur du début de l’époque moderne n’est en rien égotiste. Mais l’évocation plus précise de l’expérience personnelle marque une évolution non négligeable de la prose viatique. D’autant que celle-ci nous invite à penser qu’elle est le corollaire d’un changement progressif des rapports que l’Occident entretient avec l’Orient. / At the end of the Renaissance, the Ottoman Empire is by the European public well known. All the XVIth century long, travel writings, captives’ stories, customs books, cosmographies draw a certain image of the « Turc » and of the world’s part he rules over. Object of fascination and of deep concern, sultans’ Empire interests christian Europe while this area is in the grip of internecine conflicts. The travelers who choose to travel or who begin to write their story do so with, in their mind, the works of those who went to the Orient before them. They have to do with the image of the Other that was mainly accepted in these period. The library exerces a pressure who encourages the writers to search other ways of telling their proper experience. They search new modes of expression. Doing so they renew the dialectic of experience and books resources. Among these travelers-writers we noted that a group differs from others in his practice of writing. This class of travelers, which we identify as the aristocracy, find new grounds to affirm herself on the road of the Orient, in a period during which diplomatic and trade exchanges between Europe and the Levant grew significantly. While trying not to present themselves as scholars, they want to highlight their class membership. To do so, they put forward their own experience of travel, their personnality. They assert themselves in the text, and their presence seems to be more significant than in former texts concerning the Levant. The traveler’s ego, in the early modern period, is not egotist. The growth of evocation of the personal experience in the text seems however to mark a significant evolution in travel writing. Moreover, it invites us to think that it goes with progressiv changes in the relations between the Occident and the Orient.

La maîtrise du feu est l’une des innovations majeures de l’histoire humaine et l'une des premières preuves de notre humanité. Le foyer est par excellence un lieu fédérateur. Son rôle social est évidemment essentiel au sein d’une population et a sans doute contribué au développement de la communication. Mais l’apport le plus important que procure le feu à l’être humain est la possibilité de cuire ses aliments, améliorant le menu quotidien de la famille préhistorique. Dans le cadre de cette recherche doctorale, les structures de combustion du Proche-Orient et plus précisément de la Syrie datant de la période néolithique (10000-7000 BP) font l’objet d’une analyse approfondie, réalisée sur plusieurs aspects. Notre étude s’oriente vers trois objectifs essentiels : (1) démontrer la possibilité d’une évolution morphologique et technique des structures de combustion, (2) démontrer l’importance sociale des dispositifs de combustion au sein de la communauté villageoise du Néolithique, et (3) reconstituer les modes d’utilisation possibles des structures de combustion néolithiques. Pour atteindre nos objectifs, deux méthodes d’analyse, directe et indirecte, ont été suivies. La méthode directe s’appuie sur analyser la structure de feu directement dans son contexte d’origine sur le terrain par un system de fouille fine. La méthode indirecte est menée par consultation de la documentation de terrain (rapport et cahiers de fouilles, illustrations). Notre corpus d’étude est composé de 286 structures de feu provenant de cinq sites syriens couvrant chronologiquement deux phases clés de la séquence néolithique (PPNA et PPNB). Ces sites sont répartis sur trois zones géographiques : Jerf el Ahmar, Tell ‘Abr et Tell Halula (moyen Euphrate), Wadi Tumbaq 3 (Djebel Bal’as), Tell Aswad (Damascène). L’étude de l’ensemble des échantillons recueillis a permis d’établir une typologie des structures de combustion, à partir de leurs principaux traits morphologiques et des aménagements équipant ces structures. Nous avons également pu mettre en évidence le rôle social joué par la structure de feu en étudiant sa répartition spatiale par rapport à l’habitat. Ceci nous a permis d’identifier l’utilisation collective ou individuelle (une seule famille) de ces structures. De plus, les études ethnographiques au Proche-Orient, nous ont conduit à reconstituer les différentes modes d’utilisation au cours du Néolithique. Trois champs d’utilisation sont reconnus pour les structures de combustion néolithiques ; (1) l’usage domestique, (2) l’usage rituel et (3) l’usage technique. Dans l’ensemble des échantillons étudiés, l’usage domestique, la cuisson notamment, et dans une moindre mesure, l’usage rituel, pourraient être les principaux appliqués. En effet, la rareté des matériels évoquant l’usage technique rend difficile son identification. En conséquence, trois types d’évolution caractérisent les structures de combustion : (1) une évolution à grande échelle, couvrant géographiquement tout le Levant, et chronologiquement, les phases du PPNA et PPNB, (2) une évolution régionale (inter sites), observée notamment au moyen Euphrate et (3) une évolution intra-site, observée d’une phase d’occupation à une autre. / The fire is one of the major innovations in human history and even one of the first evidence of our humanity. The fire structure is a unifying place; it plays an essential social role in the daily life of a population, it has undoubtedly contributed to the development of communication. However, its greatest role is being the main source of heat; this brought new behaviors into the alimentary system of ancient populations, they were finally able to prepare their food differently. A new cooking system has been established due to the fire installations which highly influences and improves the daily diet menu of the prehistoric families. This doctoral research is in-depth analysis of the structures of combustion in the Ancient Near East, more precisely in Syria during the Neolithic period (10000-7000 BP). Our study centers according three main objectives; the first attends to follow the morphological and technological developments of fire structures. The second attempts to demonstrate the social significance of the combustion devices within the village community from Neolithic. While the third objective aims to reconstitute the different possible modes of usage of the Neolithic fire structures. To achieve our goals, two methodological approaches have been applied; the direct analysis and the indirect one. The first consists of studying the fire place directly in its context on the field by a system of delicate excavation and direct recording. The second comprises the studying of a number of excavated fire places through the archeological archives data (day notes, drawings, plans…etc.). Our corpus composes of a total of 286 fire installations coming from five archaeological Syrian sites covering chronologically two major phases of Neolithic sequence (PPNA and PPNB). These sites are localized in three main geographical zones; Jerf el Ahmar, Tell ‘Abr and Tell Halula (Middle Euphrates), Wadi Tumbaq 3 (Djebel Bal’as) and Tell Aswad (Damascene). Finally, the analysis of the set of the collected samples allowed us to establish a typology of the studied fire structures through the analysis based on both the main morphological features and the adjustments which equip the structure. Then, we were able to highlight the social role played by the fire place via studying the spatial distribution compared to the habitat spaces. This permits us to identify if the structure has been used collectively or by a single family. In addition, the ethnographical studies allowed us to reconstitute the different modes of use of fire structures during Neolithic. In general, a fire place could be used for 1) domestic, 2) ritual or technical purpose. In our study case, the domestic role was highly detected, whereas the ritual usage was less present. Thus the technical use stays difficult to identify in such archaeological context, because of the scarcity of material referring to this purpose. Accordingly, the evolution of structures of combustion could be characterized proceeding three levels. The first is a large-scale one covering geographically the Levant, and chronologically both PPNA and PPNB. The second is a regional (inter sites) observed particularly in the Middle Euphrates. The last is intra site discusses the evolution through the several phases of occupation on the same site.

This masters thesis investigates the environmental/climatic change that is thought to have brought about the economic shift and transition from Palaeolithic economic system of hunting gathering to Neolithic economic system of agriculture and domestication period around 11.000-10.000 years ago. This study uses the collected animal and plant data of the Natufian culture in the Levant region from the previous zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical literature anlyses. It shows a significant mathematical difference in the zooarchaeological assemblage measures between the Early and Late Natufian sites by calculating Economic value parameters of the Early and the Late Natufian sites, a comparison analysis was made in terms of percentage frequencies of animals site by site and between early-late periods. The result shows a significant animal food supply decrease and change-shift shown during the Younger Dryas climatic crisis times of the whole Late Natufian period sites total and early to late site by site individually, compared to whole Early Natufian period sites. It shows there is a possibility that some big-base camp Late Natufian occupation sites were better able to create coping mechanisms against food crisis/food shortage and more successfully than other Late Natufian sites during the climatic food crisis period. It shows supporting with the animal-plant data and changes in the human bones, burial practices, human teeth, diet changes and anthropological studies evidence, a big social-economic-cultural change and a huge food crisis was highly possible and humans highly possibly lived an economic crisis and an highly connected-related social-cultural crisis during the Younger Dryas in the Late Natufian times human societies.

The material culture of Late Bronze Age Shechem (Tell Balatâh) provides an opportunity to assess the nature and extent of the Egyptian imperial presence in the Central Highlands, as well as the ways in which endogenous cultural traits endured during a period of intensifying military presence. While scholars have yet to fully agree on the exact nature of Egyptian imperialism, most concur that contact with Egypt had a profound impact on the political, economic and social institutions of the southern Levant. The analysis of ceramics at Shechem reveals continuity in settlement, ceramic morphology and technology throughout the Late Bronze period. These findings contribute to an expanding corpus of ceramic studies, which indicate that a complex interaction and negotiation of cultural boundaries existed during this imperial period. While there was not a sustained Egyptian presence in the Central Hill Country, textual and archaeological data suggest there was limited interaction. While more is known about how this imperial presence was manifested architecturally in the form of “governor residencies” and “trading entropôts,” recent investigations at coastal and inland sites reveal that the interaction between Egyptian and Canaanite ceramic technology was site-specific and reciprocal in nature. The Shechem ceramic analysis illustrates the tenacity with which potters retained Canaanite traditions at this Central Hill Country site during a period of sporadic Egyptian contact.

The material culture of Late Bronze Age Shechem (Tell Balatâh) provides an opportunity to assess the nature and extent of the Egyptian imperial presence in the Central Highlands, as well as the ways in which endogenous cultural traits endured during a period of intensifying military presence. While scholars have yet to fully agree on the exact nature of Egyptian imperialism, most concur that contact with Egypt had a profound impact on the political, economic and social institutions of the southern Levant. The analysis of ceramics at Shechem reveals continuity in settlement, ceramic morphology and technology throughout the Late Bronze period. These findings contribute to an expanding corpus of ceramic studies, which indicate that a complex interaction and negotiation of cultural boundaries existed during this imperial period. While there was not a sustained Egyptian presence in the Central Hill Country, textual and archaeological data suggest there was limited interaction. While more is known about how this imperial presence was manifested architecturally in the form of “governor residencies” and “trading entropôts,” recent investigations at coastal and inland sites reveal that the interaction between Egyptian and Canaanite ceramic technology was site-specific and reciprocal in nature. The Shechem ceramic analysis illustrates the tenacity with which potters retained Canaanite traditions at this Central Hill Country site during a period of sporadic Egyptian contact.

This dissertation reassesses earlier economic models of the agricultural systems of the Early Islamic period (c. 636–1099 CE) in the Levant in light of new empirical archaeological evidence. In the four journal articles that comprise this dissertation, I investigate the variability of agricultural economies at four Early Islamic sites in modern-day Israel through the analysis of archaeobotanical remains (seeds, fruit, plant parts, wood charcoal). In the first article, I analyze botanical remains from the coastal city of Ashkelon. I identify the suite of crops and agricultural practices employed, reconstruct local practices of arboriculture, and describe non-local plants available through regional trade. Spatial analyses identify private grain storage, preferred constructional materials, and the discrete separation of household and refuse space. Such analyses provide insights into the intersection of agricultural and artisan economies in an urban setting. In the second article, I combine historical and archaeological evidence to investigate arboriculture at Ashkelon. Arboriculture, the cultivation of long-lived perennial tree and vine crops that provide long term harvests of fruit, can be understood as investment in land and urban development. Integrated analysis of historical and archaeobotanical evidence indicates that the inhabitants of Ashkelon specialized in arboriculture as a means to supply both subsistence and craft economies. In the third article, I investigate the production and consumption of agricultural plant products at the coastal city of Caesarea Maritima. Spatial analysis of wood and non-wood plant remains, features, and artifacts reveals cereal processing debris across multiple rooms in a former warehouse, revealing a socioeconomic shift from a storage area to a crop processing space. Such a shift aligns with similar patterns of diversified uses of space that characterize the Early Islamic period in which the focus of economic production shifted away from export to local consumption. In the fourth article, I investigate how farmers’ agricultural choices were driven by political, social, and environmental conditions. Through an intersite analysis of archaeobotanical assemblages from four archaeological sites—coastal Ashkelon and Caesarea Maritima, and inland Tel Shimron and Neby Zakaria—I determine that production and consumption of plant resources are affected more by a settlement’s socioeconomic function than by its environmental setting. / 2023-09-01T00:00:00Z

No description available.

No description available.