Hunting scene relief in basalt found at Tell Halaf, dated 850-830 BCE

Tell Halaf is an archaeological site in the Al Hasakah governorate of northeastern Syria, near the Turkish border. It was the first find of a Neolithic culture, subsequently dubbed the Halafian culture, characterized by glazed pottery painted with geometric and animal designs. The site dates back to the 6th millennium BCE and was later the location of the Aramaean city-state of Guzana. The Holocene epoch is a geological period that extends from the present day back to about 10,000 radiocarbon years, approximately 11,430 ± 130 calendar years BP (between 9560 and 9300 BC). ... The Pleistocene epoch (IPA: ) is part of the geologic timescale. ... The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (Greek παλαιός paleos=old and λίθος lithos=stone or the Old Stone Age) was the first period in the development of human technology of the Stone Age. ... The Lower Paleolithic (or Lower Palaeolithic) is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. ... The Middle Paleolithic (or Middle Palaeolithic) is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. ... The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. ... Aurignacian is the name of a culture of the Upper Palaeolithic present in Europe and south west Asia. ... The Holocene epoch is a geological period that extends from the present day back to about 10,000 radiocarbon years, approximately 11,430 ± 130 calendar years BP (between 9560 and 9300 BC). ... The Mesolithic (Greek mesos=middle and lithos=stone or the Middle Stone Age) was a period in the development of human technology between the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods of the Stone Age. ... The Epipalaeolithic (or Epi-Palaeolithic, Epipaleolithic, or Epi-Paleolithic) was a period in the development of human technology that immediately precedes the neolithic period, as an alternative to mesolithic. ... Kebarans were the first anatomically modern humans to live in the eastern Mediterranean area (c. ... The Natufian culture existed in the Mediterranean region of the Levant. ... An array of Neolithic artifacts, including bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools Excavated dwellings at Skara Brae Scotland, Europes most complete Neolithic village. ... Hassuna was a Mesopotamian town in Mosul, Iraq. ... The tell (mound) of Ubaid near Ur in southern Iraq has given its name to the prehistoric culture which represents the earliest settlement on the alluvial plain of southern Mesopotamia. ... Uruk (Sumerian Unug, Biblical Erech, Greek Orchoë and Arabic وركاء Warka), was an ancient city of Sumer and later Babylonia, situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates, on the line of the ancient Nil canal, in a region of marshes, about 140 miles (230 km) SSE from Baghdad. ... The Chalcolithic (Greek khalkos + lithos copper stone) period, also known as the Eneolithic (Aeneolithic) or Copper Age period, is a phase in the development of human culture in which the use of early metal tools appeared alongside the use of stone tools. ... File links The following pages link to this file: Template:Did you know User talk:MacGyverMagic Template talk:Did you know User:Ianbrown User:Ianbrown/Sandbox2 Tell Halaf Categories: GFDL images | Protected main page images ... File links The following pages link to this file: Template:Did you know User talk:MacGyverMagic Template talk:Did you know User:Ianbrown User:Ianbrown/Sandbox2 Tell Halaf Categories: GFDL images | Protected main page images ... Basalt Columnar basalt at Sheepeater Cliff in Yellowstone Basalt (IPA: ) is a common gray to black volcanic rock. ... Al Hasakah is a governorate in the far north-east corner of Syria that has the Euphrates river running through it. ... An array of Neolithic artifacts, including bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools Excavated dwellings at Skara Brae Scotland, Europes most complete Neolithic village. ... The Arameans or Aramaeans (also called Syriacs) were a Semitic, nomadic people who dwelt in Aram-Naharaim or Aram of the two rivers, also known as Mesopotamia a region including modern Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Iran that is mentioned six times in the Hebrew Bible. ...

Discovery and excavation

Location of R'as al 'Ayn, Syria. Tell Halaf lies nearby.

The site is located near the village of R'as al 'Ayn in the fertile Khabur valley (Nahr al Khabur) through which the Khabur river flows, close to the modern border with Turkey. The name Tell Halaf is a local Arabic placename, tell meaning "hill" in Arabic; what its original inhabitants called their settlement is not known. It was discovered in 1899 by Baron Max von Oppenheim, a German diplomat, while he was surveying the area to build the Baghdad Railway. At the time, Syria was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. He returned to excavate the site from 1911 to 1913 and then again 1929, now under French stewardship following the creation of modern Syria. Oppenheim took many of the artifacts found to Berlin. In 2006, new Syro-German excavations have started under the common direction of Lutz Martin (Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin), Mirko Novák (University of Tuebingen), Joerg Becker (University of Halle) and Abd al-Masih Bagdo (Directorate of Antiquities Hassake). The Khabur river (also Habor, Habur) is 200 miles (320 km) long, beginning in southeastern Turkey, and flowing generally southeast to Syria where it is joined by the Jaghjagh River and eventually empties into Euphrates River. ... Arabic ( or just ), is the largest member of the family of Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew, Amharic, and Aramaic. ... In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Ottoman Empire planned to construct a Baghdad Railway under German control. ... Motto: دولت ابد مدت Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (The Eternal State) Anthem: Ottoman imperial anthem Borders in 1680, see: list of territories Capital Söğüt (1299-1326) Bursa (1326-1365) Edirne (1365-1453) Constantinople (Istanbul) (1453-1922) Language(s) Ottoman Turkish Government Monarchy Sultans  - 1281–1326 Osman I  - 1918–1922 Mehmed VI...

Von Oppenheim founded the Tell Halaf museum in Berlin to house his discoveries from the site. The museum was wrecked in a massive aerial bombardment in World War II, and many of the irreplaceable artifacts were damaged or destroyed, in what is considered one of the worst losses to have occurred in Near Eastern archaeology. However, eighty cubic meters of basalt fragments were later rescued and stored away in the Pergamon Museum. In 2001, a restoration project commenced in Germany which has made some headway in reconstructing many of the damaged artifacts. This project is scheduled to be finished in 2008. Combatants Allied Powers: United Kingdom France Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Axis Powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Charles de Gaulle Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33... The Pergamon Museum The Pergamon Museum (in German, Pergamonmuseum) is one of the museums on the Museum Island in Berlin. ...

History

Halaf culture developed from Neolithic III without any strong break. The Tell Halaf site flourished from about 6000 to 5300 BC, a period of time that is referred to as the Halafian period. The Halafian culture was succeeded in northern Mesopotamia by the Ubaid culture. The site was then abandoned for a long period. The tell (mound) of Ubaid near Ur in southern Iraq has given its name to the prehistoric culture which represents the earliest settlement on the alluvial plain of southern Mesopotamia. ...

In the 10th century BC, the rulers of the small Aramaean kingdom Bit Bahiani took their seat in Tell Halaf, which was re-founded as Guzana. King Kapara built the so-called Hilani, a palace in Neo-Hittite style with a rich decoration of statues and relief orthostats.

In 894 BC, the Assyrian king Adad-nirari II recorded the site in his archives as a tributary Aramaean city-state. In 808 BC the city and its surrounding area was reduced to a province of the Assyrian Empire. The governor's seat was a palace in the eastern part of the citadel mound. Guzana has survived the collapse of the Assyrian Empire and remained inhabited until Roman-Parthian Period. For other uses, see Assyria (disambiguation). ... Adad-nirari II is generally considered to be the first King of Assyria in the Neo-Assyrian period. ... The Arameans or Aramaeans (also called Syriacs) were a Semitic, nomadic people who dwelt in Aram-Naharaim or Aram of the two rivers, also known as Mesopotamia a region including modern Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Iran that is mentioned six times in the Hebrew Bible. ... This article concerns the ancient Mesopotamian kingdom. ...

Economy

Dryland farming was practiced by the population. This type of farming was based on exploiting natural rainfall without the help of irrigation, in a similar practice to that still practiced today by the Hopi people of Arizona. Emmer wheat, two-rowed barley and flax were grown. They kept cattle, sheep and goats. Dryland farming is an agricultural technique for cultivating land which receives little rainfall. ... Hopi woman dressing hair of unmarried girl. ... Official language(s) English Capital Phoenix Largest city Phoenix Area  Ranked 6th  - Total 113,998 sq mi (295,254 km²)  - Width 310 miles (500 km)  - Length 400 miles (645 km)  - % water 0. ... Binomial name triticum dicoccoides Emmer Grain is an ancient grain officially known as Triticum dicoccoides. ... Binomial name Hordeum vulgare L. Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is a major food and animal feed crop, a member of the grass family Poaceae. ... Binomial name Linum usitatissimum Linnaeus. ...

Halaf pottery has been found in other parts of Northern Mesopotamia, such as at Nineveh and Tepe Gawra, Chagar Bazar and at many sites in Anatolia (Turkey) suggesting that it was widely used in the region. In addition, the Halaf communities made female figurines of partially baked clay and stone and stamp seals of stone, (see also Impression seal). The seals are thought to mark the development of concepts of personal property, as similar seals were used for this purpose in later times. [1] The Halafians used tools made of stone and clay. Copper was also known, but was not used for tools. , For other uses, see Nineveh (disambiguation). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Stamp seal and the Cylinder seal are stone type seals, first made in the Fourth Millenium and probably earlier. ... The Impression seal is the common seal, that leaves an impression, typically in clay (but not excluding the obvious wax impression seals). In antiquity they are common, because they represent themes, of the society. ...

Culture

Architecture

Halafian ware

Although no Halaf settlement has been extensively excavated some buildings have been excavated: the tholoi of Arpachiyah, circular domed structures approached through long rectangular anterooms [2]. Only a few of these structures were ever excavated. They were constructed of mud-brick sometimes on stone foundations and may have been for ritual use (one contained a large number of female figurines). Other circular buildings were probably just houses. The Treasure of Atreus tholos in 2004 Beehive tombs, also known as Tholos tombs (plural tholoi), are a style of Mycenaean chamber tomb from the Bronze Age. ...

In historical periods the mound itself became the citadel of the Aramaean and Assyrian city. The lower town extended to 600m N-S and 1000m E-W. The citadel mound housed the palaces and other official buildings. Most prominent are the so-called Hilani or Western Palace with its rich decor, dating back to the time of King Kapara, and the North-Eastern Palace, the seat of the Assyrian governors. In the lower town a temple in Assyrian style was discovered.

Pottery

The best known, most characteristic pottery of Tell Halaf, called Halaf ware, produced by specialist potters, can be painted, sometimes using more than two colors (called polychrome) with geometric and animal motifs. Other types of Halaf pottery are known, including unpainted, cooking ware and ware with burnished surfaces. There are many theories about why the distinctive pottery style developed. The theory is that the pottery came about due to regional copying and that it was exchanged as a prestige item between local elites is now disputed. The polychrome painted Halaf pottery has been proposed to be a "trade pottery" i.e. pottery produced for export however, the predominance of locally produced painted potter in all areas of Halaf sites including potters settlement questions that theory.

Bibliography

• Winfried Orthmann: Die aramäisch-assyrische Stadt Guzana. Ein Rückblick auf die Ausgrabungen Max von Oppenheims in Tell Halaf. Schriften der Max Freiherr von Oppenheim-Stiftung. H. 15. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2005. ISBN 3-447-05106-X
• U. Dubiel – L. Martin, Stier aus Aleppo in Berlin. Bildwerke vom Tell Halaf (Syrien) werden restauriert, Antike Welt 3/2004, 40-43.
• G. Teichmann und G. Völger (ed.), Faszination Orient. Max Freiherr von Oppenheim. Forscherm Sammler, Diplomat (Cologne, Max Freiherr von Oppenheim-Stiftung 2003).
• Nadja Cholidis, Lutz Martin: Kopf hoch! Mut hoch! und Humor hoch! Der Tell Halaf und sein Ausgräber Max Freiherr von Oppenheim. von Zabern, Mainz 2002. ISBN 3-8053-2853-2
• Bob Becking: The fall of Samaria: an historical and archeological study. 64-69. Leiden 1992
• Gabriele Elsen – Mirko Novak, Der Tall Halāf und das Tall Halāf-Museum, in: Das Altertum 40 (1994) 115-126.
• Mirko Novak, Die Religionspolitik der aramäischen Fürstentümer im 1. Jt. v. Chr., in: M. Hutter, S. Hutter-Braunsar (ed.), Offizielle Religion, lokale Kulte und individuelle Religion, Alter Orient und Altes Testament 318. 319–346. Munster 2004.
• Johannes Friedrich, G. Rudolf Meyer, Arthur Ungnad et al.: Die Inschriften vom Tell Halaf. Beiheft 6 zu: Archiv für Orientforschung 1940. reprint: Osnabrück 1967
• Max Freiherr von Oppenheim: Der Tell Halaf. Eine neue Kultur im ältesten Mesopotamien. F. A. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1931. (reprint de Gruyter, Berlin 1966.)

References

• "The History of the Ancient Near East Electronic Compendium". Retrieved May 27, 2005.
• Halaf culture Retrieved 15 October 2006.
• http://www.tell-halaf-projekt.de/
• http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/uni/qvo/highlights/h44-tell-halaf.html