Tell Chuera

Tell Chuera (also Tell Ḫuera and Tall Ḥuwaira and Tall Chuera and Tell Khuēra) is an ancient Near Eastern tell site in Raqqa Governorate, northern Syria. It lies between the Balikh and Khabur rivers.

History

Early Bronze Originally occupied during the 4th millennium, Tell Chuera became a major site in the 3rd millennium during the Early Dynastic period.Schwartz, Glenn M., "The Ninevite V Period and Current Research", Paléorient, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 53–70, 1985 The main upper town settlement began late in the 4th millenium BC (Tell Chuera IA c. 3100 BC) and covered around 50 hectares. That level was fortified with a wall. In Tell Chuera IB, c. 2700 BC (Early Bronze Age II) a second fortication was added much increasing the settlement area with the inner wall slowly then being absorbed into construction. The final 3rd millennium BC level (Tell Chuera ID c. 2450) was a planned settlement. The settlement had a central axis which ran through the city with major public buildings, a sacred district in the south-east section of the town, a central square with adjoining temple, and a palace in the north-western section.Meyer, Jan-Waalke, "The round cities: Foundation and development. A view from Tell Chuera", Pascal Butterlin, Jean-Claude Margueron, Béatrice Muller et Michel Al-Maqdissi (sous la direction de), Mari, ni Est ni Ouest, pp. 13-25, 2014 It reached its peak around 2350 BC and was then abandoned for reasons as yet unknown.

In the Early Bronze IVB, the site was active during the Ur III period (c. 2112–2004 BC).

Late Bronze A small settlement was built on the location by the Mittani during the middle 2nd millennium BC followed by the Assyrians. Equid bones from that period have been identified as horses.Vila, Emmanuelle, "Les vestiges de chevaux à Tell Chuera. Premières datations", Kulturlandschaft Syrien. Zentrum und Peripherie. Festschrift für Jan-Waalke Meyer, hrsg. v. Jörg Becker, Ralph Hempelmann, Ellen Rehm (Alter Orient und Altes Testament 371), pp. 607-622, 2010 During Middle Assyrian times it was known as Harbe.Pfeifer, Guido, "Stefan Jakob, Die mittelassyrischen Texte aus Tell Chuēra in Nordost-Syrien mit einem Beitrag von Daniela I. Janisch-Jakob", Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte. Romanistische Abteilung, vol. 131, no. 1, pp. 552-553, 2014 It has been proposed that in earlier times its name was Abarsal.Archi, Alfonso. "The Wars of Ebla at the Time of Minister Ibrium" Altorientalische Forschungen, vol. 48, no. 2, 2021, pp. 189-220

Archaeology The site of Tell Chuera is roughly one kilometer in diameter and 18 meters high. It is of a type referred to as a Kranzhügel or "cup-and-saucer" tell in archaeology, simlar to Tell Beydar and Mari. The site was first described by Max von Oppenheim in 1913. Excavations were begun in 1958 by a team from the Free University of Berlin led by Anton Moortgat. These efforts continued until the late 1960s. Mittani period structures (Knicksachstempel and Mittani-Bau) were uncovered.Anton Moortgat, "Tell Chuera in Nordost-Syrien. Vorläufiger Bericht über die Grabung 1958", Köln und Opladen, 1960Anton Moortgat, "Tell Chuera in Nordost-Syrien. Vorläufiger Bericht über die zweite Grabungskampagne 1959", Wiesbaden, 1960Anton Moortgat, "Tell Chuera in Nordost-Syrien. Vorläufiger Bericht über die dritte Grabungskampagne 1960", Köln und Opladen, 1962Anton Moortgat, "Tell Chuera in Nordost-Syrien. Bericht über die vierte Grabungskampagne 1963", Köln und Opladen, 1965Anton Moortgat, "Tell Chuera in Nordost-Syrien. Vorläufiger Bericht über die fünfte Grabungskampagne 1964", Köln und Opladen, 1967 With a new co-leader, Ursula Moortgat-Correns, digs occurred in 1973, 1974 and 1976.Anton Moortgat and Ursula Moortgat-Correns, "Tell Chuera in Nordost-Syrien. Vorläufiger Bericht über die sechste Grabungskampagne 1973", Gebrüder Mann Verlag, 1975Anton Moortgat and Ursula Moortgat-Correns, "Tell Chuera in Nordost-Syrien. Vorläufiger Bericht über die siebte Grabungskampagne 1974", Gebrüder Mann Verlag, 1976Anton Moortgat & Ursula Moortgat-Correns, "Tell Chuera in Nordost-Syrien. Vorläufiger Bericht über die achte Grabungskampagne 1976", Mann, 1978 At the top of the mound three buildings of undressed stone were found (Steinbau I, II, and III) and in the center a mudbrick temple building (Kleiner Antentempe - Smaller Antentemple). In Steinbau I, which had 6 building phases, decorated bronze vessels and bent copper pins with ball heads and flattened perforated shanks (similar to those in the royal cemetery at Ur) from the Early Dynastic period were found. Some clay sealings, sealed with typical ED cylinder seals, were also recovered. The temple had a processional way "lined with rough, megalithic stone stelai" between 2 and 3 meters in height. In an adjacent area were found a number of alabaster statue fragments of votive statues representing males with long wigs, square-cut beards and garments with fleecy fringes, the tallest being 35 centimeters.Mallowan, M. E. L., "Tell Chuēra in Nordost-Syrien", Iraq, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 89–95, 1966

After a 5 year hiatus caused by the death of Anton Moortgat in 1977 work resumed in 1982. Two teams worked at the site, one under the direction of Winfried Orthmann of the University of Halle and the other under Ursula Moortgat-Correns, until 1998.Winfried Orthmann et al., "Tell Chuera in Nordost-Syrien. Vorläufiger Bericht über die neunte und zehnte Grabungskampagne 1982 und 1983", Mann, 1998 Ursula Moortgat-Correns, "Tell Chuera in Nordost-Syrien. Vorläufiger Bericht über die elfte Grabungskampagne 1985", Berlin, 1988Winfried Orthmann et al., "Ausgrabungen in Tell Chuera in Nordost-Syrien I Vorbericht uber die Grabungskampagnen 1986 bis 1992", Saarbrucker Druckerei und Verlag – SDV, 1995 Excavation then was taken up by a team from the Goethe University Frankfurt, under the direction of Professor Jan-Waalke Meyer from 1998 to 2005.Jan-Waalke Meyer, Tell Chuera: Vorberichte zu den Grabungskampagnen 1998 bis 2005, Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2010

See also Cities of the ancient Near East Tell Beydar Tell Brak Tell Khoshi

References

Further reading Babour, Taos, "The organization of pottery production at Tell Chuera: a technological approach", House and Household Economies in 3rd Millenium BC Syro-Mesopotamia. Archaeopress, pp. 1-8, 2012 Joachim Bretschneider, Jan Driessen and Karel van Lerberghe, Power and architecture: monumental public architecture in the Bronze Age, David Brown, 2007, Dibo, Suzanne, "L’architecture Monumentale De Tell Chuera: Des Temples Ou Des Bâtiments Administratifs ?", Syria, vol. 93, pp. 235–54, 2016 Ernst, Mathias, Heinrich Thiemeyer, and Tina Lüdecke, "Stable isotope signatures of radiocarbon dated pedogenic carbonate from Tell Chuera (NE Syria) reveal fluctuating paleoenvironmental patterns in the Pleistocene Levant", Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie, Supplementary Issues, pp. 59-84, 2019 Hartmut Kühne, "Die Keramik vom Tell Chuera und ihre Beziehungen zu Funden aus Syrien-Palästina, der Türkei und dem Iraq", Berlin, 1976 Hrouda, B., "Bericht Über Die Ausgrabung (Tell Chuera)", Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie Orientale, vol. 58, no. 4, pp. 183–84, 1964 Stefan Jakob, "Die mittelassyrischen Texte aus Tell Chuera in Nordost-Syrien", Harrassowitz Verlag, 2009, Jabbour, Ali, "The Evolution of Defensive Elements in the Syrian Cities and Kingdoms during the Bronze Age" "Syrian Jazirah, Euphrates region, Northern Levant, Between the Early and Middle Bronze Age", 2020 Krasnik, Klaus, and Jan-Waalke Meyer, "Im Tod Den Göttern Nahe: Eine Prunkvolle Bestattung in Tell Chuera, Nordsyrien", Antike Welt, vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 383–90, 2001 Jan-Waalke Meyer, "Ausgrabungen in Tell Chuera in Nordost-Syrien Band 2: II: Vorbericht zu den Grabungskampagnen 1998 bis 2005", Harrassowitz Verlag, 2010, Moortgat-Correns, Ursula, "'Tell Chuēra.' Archiv Für Orientforschung", vol. 35, pp. 153–63, 1988 Moortgat-Correns, Ursula, "Der Tell Chuēra im Rückblick (1958-1985)", Altorientalische Forschungen, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 353-388, 2001 Ursula Moortgat-Correns, "Tell Chuera in Nordost-Syrien. Vorläufiger Bericht über die neunte und zehnte Grabungskampagne 1982 und 1983", Berlin, 1988 Winfried Orthmann, "Tell Chuera. Ausgrabungen der Max Freiherr von Oppenheim-Stiftung in Nordost-Syrien", Damaskus und Tartous, 1990 Winfried Orthmann, "L'architecture religieuse de Tell Chuera", Akkadica, vol. 69, pp. 1–18, 1990 W. Orthmann, "The Origins of Tell Chuera," in The Origins of Cities in Dry Farming Syria and Mesopotamia in the Third Millennium B.C., ed. H. Weiss (Guilford, Conn.: Four Quarters Publishing, 1986) Quenet, Philippe, "Un sceau-cylindre inédit de Tell Khuera (Syrie du Nord) et sa place au sein de la glyptique géométrique du Bronze ancien en Mésopo-tamie", Revue d'assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale, 101, p. 3-34, 2007 Rehm, Ellen, "The Glyptic of Tell Chuēra. Seals and Sealings of the 3 rd Millennium BC", pp. 461-463, 2022 Michael Zick: "Tell Chuera – Stadtplanung vor 5000 Jahren". in: "Bild der Wissenschaft." Leinefelden-Echterdingen 1/2005,1, S. 72–76.

External links Universität Frankfurt zu den Ausgrabungen von Tell Chuera Institut für Orientalische Archäologie und Kunst der Universität Halle 1996 field season 1997 field season 1998/99 field season