Hatti and the East. A reassessment of the archaeological evidence from the Upper Euphrates Region: places, spaces and artifacts

The Upper Euphrates region, or the central-eastern Anatolian area around the provinces of Malatya and Elazg, has always played an important role in the history of the ancient Near East, as a land characterized by complex socio-political interactions. The territories spread around the river were affected over the centuries by a multitude of features originating from different areas, and by the merging of these with deep-rooted aspects of the local traditions. This is first of all due to the geographical location of this territory, standing in the fluvial environment between the Taurus and Anti-Taurus chains and the mining zones of the north-eastern mountains and the Pontic region. This position also made the area susceptible to the conditions of a border-zone at the edge of the central Anatolian, Syro-Mesopotamian and Transcaucasian worlds, making it permeable to a variety of influences and adaptable to different cultural spheres