Tall Bazi

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Tall Bazi
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Location Raqqa Governorate, Syria
Coordinates 36°25′38.3″N38°16′35.4″E / 36.427306°N 38.276500°E / 36.427306; 38.276500
Typesettlement
History
Foundedc. 2400 BC
Abandoned1200  BC
Periods Bronze Age
Cultures Mitanni, Early Dynastic
Site notes
Excavation dates1993-2010
ArchaeologistsB. Einwag, A. Otto
ConditionRuined
OwnershipPublic
Public accessYes

Tall Bazi (also Tell Bazi), is an ancient Near East archaeological site in Raqqa Governorate of Syria in the same general area as Mari and Ebla. It is located on the east bank of Euphrates river in upper Syria, about 60 kilometers south of Turkey border. It is considered a twin site to the adjacent Tell Banat Complex. Both were occupied in the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC with Banat being the focus in the early part and Bazi in the later. Tall Bazi has been proposed as the location of Armanum, known from texts of Sargon and Naram-Sin in the Akkadian period, during the reign of Naram-Sin of Akkad. [1] [2] [3] It was occupied into the Mitanni period, with an occupational gap after c. 2300 BC, at which time it was destroyed. In the Roman Imperial Age, a large building was constructed at the top of the main mound, using the remaining Late Bronze Age fortification walls.

Contents

Location

In ancient times, the site consisted of a large lower town and the high citadel. Also nearby, about one half a kilometer to the south, the large Tell Banat Complex was located on the lower ground. It consisted of several tells and the lower town. Around 1999, because of the construction of the Tishrin Dam nearby, the whole area was flooded, and only the Tall Bazi citadel still remains above water. [4]

History

Early Bronze

Tall Bazi on the map of Ancient Near East (as possibly the site of Armi/Armanum). The time period is during the first kingdom of Ebla around 2340 BC. To the east, the kingdom of Nagar controlled most of the Khabur basin at that time First Eblaite Empire.png
Tall Bazi on the map of Ancient Near East (as possibly the site of Armi/Armanum). The time period is during the first kingdom of Ebla around 2340 BC. To the east, the kingdom of Nagar controlled most of the Khabur basin at that time

Both Tall Bazi and Tall Banat were located along the Euphrates river. During the Early Bronze Age, a massive town wall protected this whole settlement area away from the river. This Banat-Bazi complex started about 2600 B.C., and continued during the Early Bronze Age III and IV. [5]

An Early Bronze palace was found beneath the Middle Bronze temple. The earlier occupation of the Citadel dates back to the Late Early Dynastic period and Akkadian period. Numerous clay bi-conical sling shots as well as leaf shaped flint arrowheads were found especially around a fortified wall gate. [6] [7] [8] The citadel, along with occupation on Tell Bannat, was destroyed c. 2300 BC and a gap in occupation ensued. [9]

Middle Bronze

The Northern Town of the lower area was occupied beginning in the Middle Bronze Age and was destroyed at the same time as the Western Town, in the Late Bronze Age. A geomagnetic prospection followed by excavation at four locations showed that the original portion was a grown settlement with later construction matching the planned houses of the Western Town. [10]

The main mound has been dubbed the "Citadel". It contained a large (37.6 meter long by 15.8 meter wide) temple built in the Middle Bronze Age (on top of an Early Bronze Age palace) still in use when it was destroyed at the same time as the 200 meter by 250 meter lower town in the Late Bronze Age. [11]

In the Middle Bronze II, Tall Bazi would have been in between larger powers like Carchemish (north), Aleppo (west; Yamhad), and Mari (southeast).

Late Bronze (Mitanni Period)

In this period the 18 hectare city was probably named Baṣīru. The two cuneiform tablets found at the site indicate that, in the Mittani period, the city did not have a king, but was governed by the city elders. [5]

In the remains of the temple on the main mound were found evidence of significant production and ritual consumption of beer as well as two cuneiform land grant tablets of the Mitanni period one (Bz 51) sealed by ruler Saushtatar which gave the town of Baidali to the people of Baṣīru, one (Bz 50) by ruler Artatama I, and an Old Babylonian cylinder seal. [12] [13] When the settlement was destroyed the temple was looted and equipment smashed, then burned like the lower town. More post destruction looting then occurred.

The Western Town (Weststadt, 1 hectare) is a single period area of the Late Bronze Age. It represents a later expansion of the city, and it lasted up to a century before being violently destroyed. [5] It contained about 100 houses with a central market area and planned 6 meter wide main roads with spurs into residential areas. Houses were built to a standard design with little variation. [14] Destruction appears to have come quickly as most material was still in place. Each house had its own oven for baking and vats for the production of beer. [15] Most houses had a table-like installation on the short wall opposite the door associated with vessels, bones, and other objects leading the excavator to consider them to be for domestic cult practices. [16] In one house a large number of weight stones belonging to different weight systems were found, suggesting it was an office of merchants. [17] The Northern Town and Citadel were destroyed at the same time. [18] No human remains were found. [19] [20] Due to the sketchy nature of radiocarbon dating for this period dates radiocarbon samples have reported dates ranging from 1400 BC down to 1200 BC for the destruction layer. A Mitanni period cylinder seal was found. [21] [22] A few geometrically-shaped faience tokens, generally called "gaming tokens" were found as well beads and pendants fashioned from ostrich shells. [23] [24]

Roman period

During the Roman Empire, a fortified sanctuary was built on Tall Bazi, which can be dated to the late 1st or 2nd century AD. [25]

Modern times

As a result of the Syrian Civil War the top of the mound was turned into a military emplacement with much of the remains, including the temple, being destroyed by bulldozer activity. Archaeological finds still being held at the site were robbed away by ISIS. [26] [27] [28]

Tell Banat Complex

In ancient times, Tall Bazi was possibly part of the Tell Banat Settlement Complex (Tell Banat, Tell Banat North, and Tell Kabir). The area was excavated as part of the Euphrates Salvage Project. The site of Tell Saghir, adjacent to the north, was not excavated. Some differences in dating between excavators of Tall Bazi and the Complex cause difficulty in aligning them chronologically. [29] [30] [31] [32]

Four periods of occupation are defined for the Tell Banat Complex: [39]

Archaeology

The fortified main mound rose 60 meters above the plain with the unfortified lower town portion, to the west, being only 7 meters high. The fortification walls around the main mound were constructed of large limestone block. The lower town area was divided into a Western Town and Northern Town.

The site was excavated by German archaeologists in 1993–1997, in 1999, in 2001–2005, and then in 2007–2009. At this point local conditions became too difficult to continue work. The excavations were under the auspices of the German Research Foundation and later the Institute of Near Eastern Archaeology. [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46]

Due to the Tishrin Dam construction, the lower town of Tall Bazi is now under water. The main mound (the Citadel) is still above water. [47] The adjacent third millennium BC archaeological complex at Tall Banat was entirely flooded. [48]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Adelheid Otto, "Archeological Perspectives On The Localization Of Naram-Sin's Armanum", Journal of Cuneiform Studies vol. 58, pp. 1-26, 2006
  2. ↑ Nashat Alkhafaji and Gianni Marchesi, "Naram-Sin's War against Armanum and Ebla in a Newly-Discovered Inscription from Tulul al-Baqarat", Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 79, no. 1, pp. 1-20, 2020
  3. ↑ Alfonso Archi, "In Search of Armi", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 63, 2011, pp. 5–34, 2011
  4. ↑ Tall Bazi - Location and Description. The Institute of Near Eastern Archaeology -- uni-muenchen.de
  5. 1 2 3 Otto, Adelheid, and Berthold Einwag, "Tell Bazi (Aleppo)", A History of Syria in One Hundred Sites, pp. 215-217, 2016
  6. ↑ Anne Porter, "Victims of Violence: Healing Social Ills through Mesopotamian Mortuary Practice", Near Eastern Archaeology, vol. 78, no. 4, pp. 252–62, 2015
  7. ↑ Paz, Yitzhak, "The Existence of Archery in Early Bronze Age Southern Levant Warfare: A Note", Journal of Conflict Archaeology, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 3–11, 2018
  8. ↑ B. Einwag, "Fortified Citadels in the Early Bronze Age? New Evidence from Tall Bazi (Syria)", in: J. Cordoba (Hrsg.), Proceedings of the Fifth International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Madrid 2006, Madrid, pp. 741–53, 2008
  9. 1 2 Cooper, E., "The EB–MB Transitional Period at Tell Kabir, Syria", in Espace naturel, espace habite en Syrie du Nord 10e-2e millénaires av. J.-C., ed. M. Fortin andO. Aurenche. Lyons: Maison de L’Orient, pp. 271–80, 1998
  10. ↑ B. Einwag and A. Otto, "Tall Bazi 2000 und 2001 – Die Untersuchungen auf der Zitadelle und in der Nordstadt", DaM 15, pp. 105–130, 2006
  11. ↑ Otto, Adelheid, "Archaeological Evidence for Collective Governance along the Upper Syrian Euphrates during the Late and Middle Bronze Age", Organization, Representation, and Symbols of Power in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 54th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale at Würzburg 20–25 Jul, edited by Gernot Wilhelm, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 87–100, 2012
  12. ↑ Martino, Stefano de, "The Mittanian Cuneiform Documents: The Interplay between Content, Language, Material, Format, and Sealing Practices", The Ancient World Revisited: Material Dimensions of Written Artefacts, edited by Marilina Betrò, Michael Friedrich and Cécile Michel, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 207-220, 2024
  13. ↑ Torrecilla, Eduardo, and Yoram Cohen, "A Mittani Letter Order from Azu (Had 8) and its Implications for the Chronology and History of the Middle Euphrates Region in the Late Bronze Age” Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie Orientale, vol. 112, pp. 149–58, 2018
  14. ↑ Adelheid Otto, "The Organization of Residential Space in the Mittani Kingdom as a Mirror of Different Models of Governance", in: Eva Cancik-Kirschbaum, Nicole Brisch and Jesper Eidem (Eds.), Constituent, Confederate, and Conquered Space in Upper Mesopotamia. The Emergence of the Mitanni State, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 33–60, 2014
  15. ↑ Paulette, Tate, "Archaeological perspectives on beer in Mesopotamia: Brewing ingredients", After the harvest: Storage practices and food processing in Bronze Age Mesopotamia (= Subartu 43), pp. 65-89, 2020
  16. ↑ Schmitt, Rüdiger, "Elements of Domestic Cult in Ancient Israel", Family and Household Religion in Ancient Israel and the Levant, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 57-219, 2012
  17. ↑ Zaccagnini, Carlo, "Capital Investment, Weight Standards and Overland Trade at Emar", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 108, no. 1, pp. 43-62, 2018
  18. ↑ A. Otto, "Defining and transgressing the boundaries between ritual commensality and daily commensal practices: the case of late bronze age Tall Bazi.", eTopoi - Journal for Ancient Studies, Special Volume 2, pp. 179–195, 2012
  19. ↑ B. Einwag and A. Otto, "Tall Bazi 1998 und 1999 - Die letzten Untersuchungen in der Weststadt", DaM 13, pp. 65–88, 2001
  20. ↑ A. Otto, "Alltag und Gesellschaft zur Spätbronzezeit: Eine Fallstudie aus Tall Bazi (Syrien)", Subartu 19, Turnhout 2006
  21. ↑ A. Otto, "The Late Bronze Age Pottery of the Weststadt of Tall Bazi (North Syria)", in: M. Luciani, A. Hausleitner (Eds.), Recent Trends in the Study of Late Bronze Age Ceramics in Syro-Mesopotamia and Neighbouring Regions. Proceedings of the International Workshop in Berlin, 2 – 5 November 2006, OrA 32, Rahden/Westf., pp. 85-117, 2014
  22. ↑ B. Einwag and A. Otto, "The Late Bronze Age at Tall Bazi: The Evidence of the Pottery and the Challenges of Radiocarbon Dating", in: From Pottery to Chronology: The Middle Euphrates Region in Late Bronze Age Syria. Proceedings of a Workshop in Mainz (Germany), May 5–7, 2012. MAAO 1, Gladbeck, pp. 149–176, 2018
  23. ↑ Puljiz, Ivana, "Faience for the empire: A Study of Standardized Production in the Middle Assyrian State", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 111, no. 1, pp. 100-122, 2021
  24. ↑ Herles, M., "Nachtrag zum Vogel Strauß unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Kudurrus", SB 25. Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft 141, pp. 97–115, 2009
  25. ↑ Schloder, Katharina (2019). Tall Bazi I. Die römerzeitliche Bebauung von Tall Bazi im syrischen Euphrattal. Ein befestigtes einheimisches Heiligtum im Vorfeld der römischen Provinz Syria [Tall Bazi I. The Roman-era buildings at Tall Bazi in the Syrian Euphrates Valley. A fortified indigenous sanctuary on the outskirts of the Roman province of Syria]. Münchener Abhandlungen zum Alten Orient, vol. 5. Gladbeck: PeWe, ISBN   978-3-935012-37-9.
  26. ↑ B. Einwag and Adelheid Otto 2019. The inventory of the temple at Tall Bazi, in Evans, J.M. & Roßberger, E. (ed.), "Ancient Near Eastern temple inventories in the third and second millennia BCE: integrating archaeological, textual, and visual sources", Proceedings of a conference held at the LMU Centre for Advanced Studies, November 14–15, pp. 159–74, 2016
  27. ↑ Berthold Einwag and Adelheid Otto, Die Torlöwen an Tempel 1 von Tall Bazi und ihre Stellung in der Reihe steinerner Löwenorthostaten, in: Heather Baker, Kai Kaniuth und Adelheid Otto (ed.), Stories of long ago. Festschrift für Michael D. Roaf, AOAT 397, Münster, pp. 91–115, 2012
  28. ↑ C. Coppini, "Tell Bazi: the Middle and Late Bronze Age pottery from the Citadel's Nordhang.", In From pottery to chronology: The Middle Euphrates region in Late Bronze Age Syria. Proceedings of the international workshop in Mainz (Germany), pp. 177-193, (2012, May)
  29. ↑ Anne Porter, "The Tell Banat Settlement Complex during the Third and Second Millennia BCE", in From Pottery to Chronology: The Middle Euphrates Region in Late Bronze Age Syria Proceedings of the International Workshop in Mainz (Germany), May 5–7, 2012, edited by A. Otto. Münchener, pp. 195–224, 2018
  30. ↑ Porter, Anne, et al, "“Their corpses will reach the base of heaven”: a third-millennium BC war memorial in northern Mesopotamia?", Antiquity 95.382, pp. 900-918, 2021
  31. ↑ Porter, Anne., "Communities in Conflict: Death and the Contest for Social Order in the Euphrates River Valley", Near Eastern Archaeology, vol. 65, no. 3, pp. 156–73, 2002
  32. ↑ Porter, Anne., "The Dynamics of Death: Ancestors, Pastoralism, and the Origins of a Third-Millennium City in Syria", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 325, pp. 1–36, 2002
  33. ↑ Porter, Anne, "The Third Millennium Settlement Complex at Tell Banat: Tell Kabir", DamM 8, pp. 125–63, pl. 20, 1995
  34. ↑ Weiss, Harvey, "Archaeology in Syria", American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 101, no. 1, pp. 97–148, 1997
  35. ↑ Porter, A., "Tell Banat: Tomb 1", Damaszener Mitteilungen 8, pp. 1–50, 1995
  36. ↑ Porter, A./T. McClellan, "The third millennium settlement complex at Tell Banat:Results of the 1994 excavations", DaM 10, pp. 11–63, 1998
  37. ↑ Porter, Anne, and Thomas McClellan, "‘Royal Grave’ at Tell Banat", ASOR Newsletter 46/3, pp. 28, 1996
  38. ↑ McClellan, T., "Tell Banat North: the White Monument", in M. Lebeau (ed.) About Subartu: studies devoted to Upper Mesopotamia, volume 2, Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 243–71, 1998
  39. ↑ Anne Porter, "The Power of the Populace: Politics and the Mortuary Monuments of Tell Banat", in Kathryn R. Morgan, ed., Pomp, Circumstance, and the Performance of Politics: Acting Politically Correct in the Ancient World, Chicago: Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, ISACS 16, pp. 131-160, 2024 ISBN   978-1-61491-106-7
  40. ↑ B. Einwag and A. Otto, "Tall Bazi", in: Jahresbericht 1993 des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, AA, vol. 4, pp. 662–663, 1994
  41. ↑ B. Einwag and A. Otto, "Tall Bazi", in: Jahresbericht 1994 des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, AA, vol. 4, pp. 868–872, 1995
  42. ↑ B. Einwag and A. Otto, "Tall Bazi", in: Jahresbericht 1995 des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, AA, vol. 4, pp. 641–643, 1996
  43. ↑ Otto, Adelheid, and Berthold Einwag, "Tall Bazi Im Syrischen Euphrattal: Ausgrabungen Des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Station Damaskus, in Einer Stadt Des 2. Jts. v. Chr", Antike Welt, vol. 27, no. 6, pp. 459–71, 1996
  44. ↑ B. Einwag and A. Otto, Die Ausgrabungen in Tall Bazi, in: Deutsches Archäologisches Institut (Hrsg.), 25 Jahre archäologische Forschung in Syrien 1980-2005, Damascus 2005, pp. 130–135, 2006
  45. ↑ W. Sallaberger and B. Einwag, and A. Otto, "Schenkungen von Mittani-Königen an die Einwohner von Basīru. Die zwei Urkunden aus Tall Bazi am Mittleren Euphrat.", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 96, no. 1, pp. 69-104, January 2006 DOI:10.1515/ZA.2006.003
  46. ↑ B. Einwag and A. Otto, "Excavations at Tall Bazi 2008", Chronique Archéologique en Syrie IV, pp. 171–174, 2010
  47. ↑ Otto, Adelheid, and Berthold Einwag, "Ein Tempel Hoch Über Dem Euphrattal: Steinerne Löwen Bewachten Den Eingang Des Außergewöhnlich Großen Tempels Der Altorientalischen Stadt Tall Bazi / Baṣīru (Nordsyrien) Im 2. Jt. v. Chr", Antike Welt, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 39–46, 2007
  48. ↑ A. Porter, "The dynamics of death: Ancestors, pastoralism, and the origins of a third-millennium city in Syria.", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 325(1), pp. 1–36, 2002

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