The city of Carchemish in the valley of the Euphrates river can be regarded as one of the iconic sites in the Middle East, a mound complex known both for its own intrinsic qualities as the seat of later Hittite power and Neo-Hittite kings, but also because its history of excavations included well known historical figures such as Leonard Woolley and T. E. Lawrence. However, because of its location within the military zone of the Turkish-Syrian border the site itself has been inaccessible to archaeologists for more than 90 years. Carchemish in Context summarises the results of regional investigations conducted within the Land of Carchemish Project in Syria, as well as other archaeological surveys in the region, in order to provide a regional, historical and archaeological context for the development of the city. A synthesis of the history of Carchemish is presented and a regional overview of the Land of Carchemish as it is defined by archaeological features and key historical references through to the early Iron Age. Insightful snapshots of the dynamics of an ancient state are revealed which can now be seen to have fluctuated dramatically in size throughout 700-800 years, in part depending upon the power of the king of Carchemish or the aggressions of external powers. The results from the Project provide an overview of the main trends of settlement in the region over 8000 years, using a combination of survey databases to both north and south of the Syrian-Turkish border and with a focus on the earlier phases of settlement from the Neolithic until the end of the Bronze Age when Carchemish became an outpost of the Hittite empire. The Iron Age is a period blessed by numerous historical records some of which can be traced in the modern landscape. Further chapters explore site-specific aspects of the regional archaeology, including a series of important sites on the Sajur river, some of which were positioned along the main campaign routes of the Assyrian kings. The close relationship between the nearby Early Bronze Age site of Tell Jerablus Tahtani and Carchemish are examined and the results from the 40 ha Carchemish Outer Town survey described, providing important new data sources regarding the layout, defenses and dates of occupation of this significant part of the city. The Classical, Roman, Byzantine and Early Islamic occupations are also discussed in relation to what is known of occupation in the surrounding region. Table of Contents Chapter 1. Introduction, by T.J. Wilkinson and Edgar Peltenburg Chapter 2. Sketch History of Karkamish in the Earlier Iron Age Iron I-IIB, by J.D. Hawkins and M. Weeden Chapter 3. The Land of Carchemish and its Neighbours During the Neo-Hittite period (c. 1190-717 BC), by Michael Brown and Stefan Smith Chapter 4. Long-term Settlement Trends in the Birecik-Carchemish Sectors, by Dan Lawrence and Andrea Ricci Chapter 5. The Landscapes of Carchemish, by T.J.Wilkinson Chapter 6. The Scent of Empire on the Sajur, by Jesper Eidem Chapter 7. Carchemish in the Third Millennium: A View From Neighbouring Tell Jerablus Tahtani, by Edgar Peltenburg Chapter 8. Investigations of Iron Age Carchemish: The Outer Town Survey of 2009 and 2010, by Eleanor Wilkinson and Andrea Ricci Chapter 9. The Carchemish Region Between the Hellenistic and Early Islamic Periods, by Paul Newson Chapter 10. Sixty Years of Site Damage in the Carchemish Region, by Emma Cunliffe Chapter 11. Discussion, by T.J. Wilkinson and Edgar Peltenburg Appendix. The Land of Carchemish Survey (Syria), 2006-2010: Site Gazeteer, by T. J. Wilkinson, Dan Lawrence and Andrea Ricci

Carchemish in Context (BANEA Monograph)

History

Wilkinson, T. J.

Peltenburg, Edgar

Barbanes Wilkinson, Eleanor

Ancient Civilizations

Oxbow Books

The Great Bend of the Euphrates River in North Syria and Southeast Anatolia was a strategic nexus of communications between different parts of the Ancient Near East and the Mediterranean. In spite of its potential for inter-regional studies, the area was largely neglected in the 20th century following the pioneering investigations of Sir Leonard Woolley, T. E. Lawrence and others at the historically renowned city of Carchemish. Modern dam-building near the city led to the excavation of threatened sites and these have revealed a much more complex picture in which, rather than simply a conduit for inter-regional networks, the bend attracted a unique concentration of varied communities from Neolithic times onwards. Jerablus Tahtani, a multi-period tell site beside Carchemish, was excavated by a team from the University of Edinburgh from 1992 to 2004 within the framework of the international Tishrin Dam Salvage program. Results shed new light on the Uruk expansion in the 4th millennium BC, extraordinary Euphrates flood episodes in the 3rd millennium BC, the ‘second urban revolution’ in Early Bronze Age Syria and prehistoric developments at neighboring Carchemish.  This volume, the first major report on the site, deals with stratified mortuary evidence found at a Bronze Age fort that was built over the destroyed remains of an early 3rd millennium village. Most of the 70 graves belong to the time when Ebla claimed supremacy of the area. They are considered in terms of the role of burials in site abandonment processes. Special attention is given to a monumental tomb incongruously located at the entrance to this small fort. Its creation and life history are evaluated in the context of other highly conspicuous mortuary facilities in the region—monuments that served as places of social memory and vehicles for structuring a distinctive regional political trajectory within the Bronze Age of the Ancient Near East.Table of ContentsList of Figures ixList of Tables xiiList of Plates xivAbbreviations xvii1. Introduction (Edgar Peltenburg) 11.1 B ackground 11.2 The Jerablus plain 21.3 Previous notices and investigations of the site 41.4 The site 51.5 R esearch issues 61.6 Excavation and recording 61.7 Deposition of material 91.8 Layout of the volume 91.9 A cknowledgments 102. The regional setting of Jerablus Tahtani (T. J. Wilkinson and Katleen Deckers) 132.1 Tell Jerablus Tahtani in context 132.2 Vegetation in the Jerablus environment during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age:evidence of charcoal 203. Chronology (Edgar Peltenburg and Derek Hamilton) 243.1 S ummary of site periods 243.2 R adiocarbon dating and Bayesian modelling at Jerablus 273.3 C ommentary: Bayesian modelling and ceramics 304. The mortuary facilities and their contents (Edgar Peltenburg, Diane Bolger, Stuart Campbell, Adam Jackson,Dorothy A. Lunt, Zissis Parras, Graham Philip, Paola Sconzo and Marie E. Watt) 374.1 I ntroduction 374.2 G eneral location and relative chronology of Period IIB graves 374.3 Period II grave typology 394.4 Period III grave typology 444.5 The catalogue 444.6 Period IB grave 444.7 Period IIB Tomb 302 454.7.1 Main Chamber — Tomb Phases 1–4 464.7.2 A nnex — Tomb Phase 1 624.7.3 Entrance — Tomb Phase 1 634.7.4 Walls — Tomb Phase 1 644.7.5 Mound — Tomb Phase 1 654.7.6 G eneral and unstratified 674.8 Period II graves 674.9 A n Early Bronze Age tomb group from Tell Alawiyeh in the British Museum 904.10 Period III graves 95Contentsvi4.11 Period V graves 964.12 A dditional human remains 965. The mortuary population (Dorothy A. Lunt, Zissis Parras, Catriona Pickard and Marie E. Watt) 985.1 The human dentitions 985.2 The human remains 1045.3 S table isotope analysis of human and animal remains 1156. Pottery of the Early Bronze and Uruk periods — summary (Diane Bolger and Edgar Peltenburg) 1186.1 Early Bronze Age vessel types from mortuary contexts 1186.2 Pottery of the Uruk period 1187. Metalwork from mortuary contexts at Jerablus (Graham Philip) 1277.1 Weapons 1277.2 O rnaments 1307.3 Tools 1367.4 Manufacture, metallurgy and technology 1367.5 O verall patterns 1397.6 C onclusions 1407.7 A ppendix. Metal objects from Iron Age graves 1418. Metals from Early Bronze Age burial assemblages collected between 1911 and 1920 by D. G. Hogarth,C . L. Woolley and T. E. Lawrence in the Central Euphrates and Sajur River regions of Syria(Peter Northover and Kay Prag) 1438.1 I ntroduction 1438.2 The regional extent of the collection 1448.3 The security of the provenances 1448.4 The geographical contexts of analysed materials 1458.5 C atalogue 1518.6 Typology and dating evidence for validity of groups 1588.7 S ome conclusions to sections 8.1–6 1638.8 A nalysis of metalwork in the Woolley Collection, Ashmolean Museum 1649. Other objects, including personal ornaments and figurines (Kathy Eremin, Adam Jackson, Carole McCartney,Edgar Peltenburg and Andrew Shortland) 1729.1 Personal ornaments 1729.1.1 B eads 1739.1.2 Pendants 1779.1.3 N ecklaces 1799.1.4 B ead string attached to pin 1809.1.5 Pins 1819.1.6 C onclusions 1819.2 Third millennium beads: analyses 1829.3 G old 1899.4 I vory 1899.5 C lay figurines 1909.5.1 A nthropomorphs 1909.5.2 Z oomorphs 1919.6 Miscellaneous clay objects 1929.6.1 Model wheels 1929.6.2 Tiles 1929.6.3 Modified sherd 1939.6.4 U nbaked clay device 1939.7 B one objects 1939.7.1 I ncised tubes 1939.7.2 Pin/needle 1949.8 S hell objects 194vii9.8.1 I nlay or pendant 1949.8.2 Eggshells 1949.9 G round stone artefacts from funerary contexts 1959.9.1 Typology 1959.9.2 Discussion 1969.10 Miscellaneous objects 1979.11 N ote on chipped stone from funerary contexts 1989.11.1 The samples 1989.11.2 Discussion of context 1989.12 Period III bone pin 19910. A nimal remains (Paul Croft) 20110.1 Tomb 302 animal remains 20110.2 A nimal remains from the graves 20911. The charred plant remains from Tomb 302 (Sue Colledge and Chris Stevens) 21111.1 I ntroduction 21111.2 C harred plant materials in the Tomb 302 samples 21111.3 C rops 21611.4 Wild taxa 21711.5 Dung, parenchymatous tissue 21811.6 S ummary of samples 21911.7 Early Bronze Age crops 21912. Mollusca (Janet Ridout-Sharpe) 22112.1 I ntroduction 22112.2 Molluscan samples 22112.3 Molluscan small finds 22212.4 Discussion and conclusions 22413. Jerablus mortuary practices in their local and regional contexts (Edgar Peltenburg) 22513.1 A late 4th millennium BC secondary burial of Period IB22513.2 G eneral characteristics of the Period IIB burials 22813.3 C hildren at Early Bronze Age Jerablus 23213.4 Possible evidence for secondary treatments in Period IIB 23213.5 Mortuary practices and site abandonment processes in the later 3rd millennium BC23313.6 Tomb 302: introduction 23613.7 Tomb 302 Phase 1A: the invention of a tradition 23613.8 Tomb 302 Phases 1B–D: funerary rites 24413.9 Tomb 302 Phase 1E–2: desecration and abandonment 24613.10 Tomb 302 Phase 3: re-visiting the ancestors 24813.11 Tomb 302 and developments of the mortuary domain in pathways to power 25213.12 The persistence of an invented tradition? 25413.13 The Late Iron Age graves of Period III256Appendix 1. Plate and page references for Jerablus mortuary facilities 257Appendix 2. C oncordance of registered small find numbers and grave catalogue numbers 259Appendix 3. S ummary of Tomb 302 units 266Appendix 4. S herd join analysis from all components of Tomb 302 269Bibliography 272Plates 292Arabic Summary 372

Tell Jerablus Tahtani, Syria, I: Mortuary Practices at an Early Bronze Age Fort on the Euphrates River. (Levant Supplementary Series)

Council for British Research in the Levant

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