Research Group B-II-1 explores various factors relating to the implementation and organization of political spaces. The research focuses on places in the Near East (Upper Mesopotamia) and, by way of comparison and contrast, on locations in the Roman province of Judaea. The category of space is examined here from two points of view: first, research is conducted into the ways in which political power and control manifest themselves spatially (contiguous, disparate and isolated, or reticulate) and second, how the physical constitution of the land being ruled influences the structure and mechanisms of political power.