Bioarchaeology of the Near East, 18:63-113 (2024)

Bioarchaeological evidence of violence in ancient Mesopotamia

Arkadiusz Sołtysiak
Department of Bioarchaeology, Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw
ul. Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28, 00-921 Warszawa, Poland
email: a.soltysiak@uw.edu.pl

Abstract: The paper reviews available evidence of violence-related traumatic injuries observed in archaeological human skeletons from Mesopotamia, confronting them with available textual and iconographic evidence. Scatters of human remains were found in destruction layers of a few sites dated to several chronological periods, such as Tuttul (Old Babylonian period), Nineveh, Aššur (Neo-Assyrian period) and Dura Europos (Roman/Sasanian period). There were also earlier mass burials with evidence of violence (Tell Majnuna, Titriş Höyük). Moreover, possible violence-related trauma has been observed at several regular cemeteries. The frequency of healed cranial traumas decreased at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE, and this shift may be related to major changes in the art of war that occurred during that time and specifically to higher reliance on professional soldiers. Apart from warfare, the evidence for other kinds of violence in Mesopotamia is very rare. Although the textual evidence of violence is abundant, especially in the Old Babylonian (ca. 1800–1600 BCE) and in the Neo-Assyrian period (ca. 900–600 BCE), the actual frequency of traumatic lesions in skeletons from Mesopotamia is lower than in the surrounding regions, producing a picture of a peaceful society, especially during the Early and Middle Bronze Age.

Key words: trauma; injuries; palaeopathology; taphonomy; warfare; weaponry; Syria; Iraq

https://doi.org/10.47888/bne-1804 | Received 3 August 2023; accepted 19 March 2026; published online 23 March 2026.

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