Tell Mashnaqa

Last updated
Tell Mashnaqa
تل مشنقة
Syria adm location map.svg
Archaeological site icon (red).svg
Shown within Syria
Location 30 km south of Al-Hasakah, Syria
Region Khabur River region
Coordinates 36°17′18″N40°47′41″E / 36.288425°N 40.79464°E / 36.288425; 40.79464
Type settlement
Area 4 hectares (0.015 sq mi)
Height 4–11 m
History
Material mudbrick
Founded ca. 5200
Abandoned ca. 2000 BC
Periods Pottery Neolithic, Ubaid period, Uruk, Early Bronze Age
Site notes
Excavation dates 1990—1995
Condition ruins
Ownership Public

Tell Mashnaqa (Arabic : تل مشنقة‎) is an archaeological site located on the Khabur River, a tributary to the Euphrates, about 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of Al-Hasakah in northeastern Syria. The earliest occupation of the site dates to the Ubaid period (ca. 5200–4900 BC), and was excavated by a Danish team from 1990–1995 in four seasons. [1]

Khabur (Euphrates) tributary to the Euphrates

The Khabur River is the largest perennial tributary to the Euphrates in Syrian territory. Although the Khabur originates in Turkey, the karstic springs around Ra's al-'Ayn are the river's main source of water. Several important wadis join the Khabur north of Al-Hasakah, together creating what is known as the Khabur Triangle, or Upper Khabur area. From north to south, annual rainfall in the Khabur basin decreases from over 400 mm to less than 200 mm, making the river a vital water source for agriculture throughout history. The Khabur joins the Euphrates near the town of Busayrah.

Euphrates river in Asia

The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia. Originating in eastern Turkey, the Euphrates flows through Syria and Iraq to join the Tigris in the Shatt al-Arab, which empties into the Persian Gulf.

Al-Hasakah Place in Al-Hasakah Governorate, Syria

Al-Hasakah also known as Al-Hasakeh, Al-Hasaka or simply Hasakah, is the capital city of the Al-Hasakah Governorate and it is located in the far northeastern corner of Syria. With a population of 188,160 residents in 2004, Al-Hasakah is among the ten largest cities in Syria and the largest in the governorate. It is the administrative center of a nahiyah ("subdistrict") consisting of 108 localities with a combined population of 251,570 in 2004.

Contents

Overview

The tell, now flooded by the al-Hassakah Dam project, was around 4 hectares (0.015 sq mi) in area. The western side of the tell formed a high mound, rising to a height of more than 11 metres (36 ft). The lower and flatter eastern side rose 4 metres (13 ft) above plain level. [1]

Tell (archaeology) ancient settlement mound

In archaeology, a tell, or tel, is an artificial mound formed from the accumulated refuse of generations of people living on the same site for hundreds or thousands of years. A classic tell looks like a low, truncated cone with sloping sides and can be up to 30 metres high.

Mound Artificial heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris

A mound is a heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded area of topographically higher elevation on any surface. Artificial mounds have been created for a variety of reasons throughout history, including ceremonial, burial (tumulus), and commemorative purposes.

The mudbrick houses, found at the earliest level of the tell, had small rooms with fireplaces, grinding stones, mortars and painted pots. The later levels show a shift in occupation to other parts of the tell, where areas inhabited earlier were turned into a refuse midden and later a cemetery. The site was later abandoned for hundreds of years only to be rebuilt again in the fourth millennium BC. This level had a large tripartite building measuring about 11.5 by 10.5 m. [2]

Mudbrick Unbaked earth used as building material blocks

A mudbrick or mud-brick is an air-dried brick, made of a mixture of loam, mud, sand and water mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. Though mudbricks are known from 7000-6000 BCE, since 4000 BC, bricks have also been fired, to increase their strength and durability.

Boat models

One of the most remarkable finds at the Ubaid level of the site were fragments of two pottery boat models, excavated in 1991. [2] The models represented long, narrow canoes with pointed sterns. The boats were probably made of reed coated with bitumen to make them waterproof. The findings strongly suggest that people of the Khabur region had already made use of boats for transport and fishing by c. 5000 BC, if not before. [2] Similar models have been unearthed from other Ubaid sites such as Eridu, Ubaid, Uqair and Abada. [2]

Reed (plant) type of plant

Reed is a common name for several tall, grass-like plants of wetlands.

Eridu archaeological site in Iraq

Eridu is an archaeological site in southern Mesopotamia. Eridu was long considered the earliest city in southern Mesopotamia and is still today argued to be the oldest city in the world. Located 12 km southwest of Ur, Eridu was the southernmost of a conglomeration of Sumerian cities that grew around temples, almost in sight of one another. These buildings were made of mud brick and built on top of one another. With the temples growing upward and the village growing outward, a larger city was built. In Sumerian mythology, Eridu was originally the home of Enki, later known by the Akkadians as Ea, who was considered to have founded the city. His temple was called E-Abzu, as Enki was believed to live in Abzu, an aquifer from which all life was believed to stem.

Related Research Articles

Ubaid period archaeological culture

The Ubaid period is a prehistoric period of Mesopotamia. The name derives from Tell al-'Ubaid where the earliest large excavation of Ubaid period material was conducted initially by Henry Hall and later by Leonard Woolley.

Urkesh archaeological site in Syria

Urkesh or Urkish is a tell, or settlement mound, located in the foothills of the Taurus Mountains in Al-Hasakah Governorate, northeastern Syria. It was founded during the fourth millennium BC possibly by the Hurrians on a site which appears to have been inhabited previously for a few centuries.

Tabqa Dam dam in Syria

The Tabqa Dam, or al-Thawra Dam as it is also named, most commonly known as Euphrates Dam, is an earthen dam on the Euphrates, located 40 kilometres (25 mi) upstream from the city of Raqqa in Raqqa Governorate, Syria. The city of Al-Thawrah is located immediately south of the dam. The dam is 60 metres (200 ft) high and 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi) long and is the largest dam in Syria. Its construction led to the creation of Lake Assad, Syria's largest water reservoir. The dam was constructed between 1968 and 1973 with help from the Soviet Union. At the same time, an international effort was made to excavate and document as many archaeological remains as possible in the area of the future lake before they would be flooded by the rising water. When the flow of the Euphrates was reduced in 1974 to fill the lake behind the dam, a dispute broke out between Syria and Iraq that was settled by intervention from Saudi Arabia and the Soviet Union. The dam was originally built to generate hydroelectric power, as well as irrigate lands on both sides of the Euphrates. The dam has not reached its full potential in either of these objectives.

Tell Leilan archaeological site in Syria

Tell Leilan is an archaeological site situated near the Wadi Jarrah in the Khabur River basin in Al-Hasakah Governorate, northeastern Syria, a region formerly a part of ancient Assyria. The site has been occupied since the 5th millennium BC. During the late third millennium, the site was known as Shekhna. During that time it was under control of the Akkadian Empire. Around 1800 BC, the site was renamed "Shubat-Enlil" by the Assyrian king, Shamshi-Adad I and it became the capital of Assyria in northern Mesopotamia. Shubat-Enlil was abandoned around 1700 BC.

Tell Brak Archaeological site in Syria

Tell Brak was an ancient city in Syria; its remains constitute a tell located in the Upper Khabur region, near the modern village of Tell Brak, 50 kilometers north-east of Al-Hasaka city, Al-Hasakah Governorate. The city's original name is unknown. During the second half of the third millennium BC, the city was known as Nagar and later on, Nawar.

Chagar Bazar Archaeological site in Syria

Chagar Bazar is a tell, or settlement mound, in northern Syria.

Jemdet Nasr archaeological site in Iraq

Jemdet Nasr is a tell or settlement mound in Babil Governorate (Iraq) that is best known as the eponymous type site for the Jemdet Nasr period. The site was first excavated in 1926 by Stephen Langdon, who found proto-cuneiform clay tablets in a large mudbrick building thought to be the ancient administrative centre of the site. A second season took place in 1928, but this season was very poorly recorded. Subsequent excavations in the 1980s under British archaeologist Roger Matthews were, among other things, undertaken to relocate the building excavated by Langdon. These excavations have shown that the site was also occupied during the Ubaid, Uruk and Early Dynastic I periods.

Tepe Gawra

Tepe Gawra is an ancient Mesopotamian settlement in the Mosul region of northwest Iraq that was occupied between 5000 and 1500 BC. It contains remains from the Halaf period, the Ubaid period, and the Uruk period. Tepe Gawra contains material relating to the Halaf-Ubaid Transitional period c. 5,500–5,000 BC.

Halaf culture archaeological culture

The Halaf culture is a prehistoric period which lasted between about 6100 BC and 5100 BC. The period is a continuous development out of the earlier Pottery Neolithic and is located primarily in south-eastern Turkey, Syria, and northern Iraq, although Halaf-influenced material is found throughout Greater Mesopotamia.

Tell Arpachiyah

Tell Arpachiyah is a prehistoric archaeological site in Nineveh Province (Iraq). It takes its name from a more recent village located about 4 miles (6.4 km) from Nineveh. The proper name of the mound on which the site is located is Tepe Reshwa.

Tell es-Sawwan Place

Tell es-Sawwan is an important Samarran period archaeological site in Saladin Province, Iraq. It is located 110 kilometres (68 mi) north of Baghdad, and south of Samarra.

Hassuna culture archaeological culture

The Hassuna culture is a Neolithic archaeological culture in northern Mesopotamia dating to the early sixth millennium BC. It is named after the type site of Tell Hassuna in Iraq. Other sites where Hassuna material has been found include Tell Shemshara.

Qalat al-Bahrain

The Qal'at al-Bahrain, also known as the Bahrain Fort or Portuguese Fort, is an archaeological site located in Bahrain, on the Arabian Peninsula. Archaeological excavations carried out since 1954 have unearthed antiquities from an artificial mound of 12 m (39 ft) height containing seven stratified layers, created by various occupants from 2300 BC up to the 18th century, including Kassites, Greeks, Portuguese and Persians. It was once the capital of the Dilmun civilization and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.

Tell Shemshara archaeological site in Iraq

Tell Shemshara is an archaeological site located along the Little Zab in Sulaymaniyah Governorate, northeastern Iraq. The site was excavated between 1957 and 1959 by Danish and Iraqi archaeologists and was inundated by Lake Dukan until recently. The excavations showed that the site was occupied, although not continuously, from the Hassuna period until the 14th century CE. A small archive recovered from the Middle Bronze Age layers revealed that, at least in that period, the site was called Shusharra and was the capital of a small, semi-independent polity called māt Utêm or "land of the gatekeeper" ruled by a man called Kuwari.

Tell Halula

Tell Halula is a large, prehistoric, neolithic tell, about 8 hectares (860,000 sq ft) in size, located around 105 kilometres (65 mi) east of Aleppo and 25 kilometres (16 mi) northwest of Membij in the Raqqa Governorate of Syria.

Halaf-Ubaid Transitional period

The Halaf-Ubaid Transitional period is a prehistoric period of Mesopotamia. It lies chronologically between the Halaf period and the Ubaid period. It is still a complex and rather poorly understood period. At the same time, recent efforts were made to study the gradual change from Halaf style pottery to Ubaid style pottery in various parts of North Mesopotamia.

Tell al-Ubaid archaeological site in Iraq

Tell al-'Ubaid is a low, relatively small tell west of nearby Ur in southern Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate. The majority of the remains are from the Chalcolithic Ubaid period, for which Tell al-'Ubaid is the type site, with an Early Dynastic temple and cemetery at the highest point.

Tell Tuneinir archaeological site in Syria

Tell Tuneinir is an archaeological site in northeastern Syria. It dates to the early third millennium BC and shows signs of continuous habitation lasting until the beginning of the 15th century AD with epochs during the Byzantine empire, when it was known as the city of Thannuris (Thannourios), and during the Ayyubid period.

References

  1. 1 2 Thuesen, Ingolf (1996), Sultan, Muhesen, ed., Tell Mashnaqa: Danish Mission, Institut Français d’Etudes Arabes de Damas, pp. 47–53
  2. 1 2 3 4 Akkermans, Peter M. M. G.; Schwartz, Glenn M. (2003). The Archaeology of Syria: From Complex Hunter-Gatherers to Early Urban Societies (c. 16,000–300 BC). Cambridge University Press. pp. 167–168. ISBN   0-521-79666-0.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.