Tell Arpachiyah (also Tall Arpachiyah) is a prehistoric ancient Near East archaeological site just outside modern Mosul in Nineveh Governorate (Iraq). It takes its name from a more recent village located about from Nineveh. The local name of the mound on which the site is located is Tepe Reshwa.
Tepe Gawra is also a contemporary Neolithic site located in the Mosul region.
Archaeology
Tell Arpachiyah is a small tell, or settlement mound, with a maximum diameter of and a peak height of . The full site has a diameter of around . After being scouted by Reginald Campbell Thompson in 1928, it was excavated by Max Mallowan and John Cruikshank Rose of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq, along with Agatha Christie, for 6 weeks in 1933. 180 workers with only two supervisors were employed and records of plans and find spots are not complete. A cemetery was excavated with grave goods being only utilitarian pottery vessels. Four tholoi were found in the outlying area of the site. Finds were divided between the British Museum and Iraq.Max Mallowan, John Cruikshank Rose, "Excavations at Tall Arpachiyah 1933", Iraq, vol. 2, pp. 1-178, 1935
Additional soundings were conducted in 1976 by a team led by Ismail Hijara worked for 8 weeks. A single 57.5 meter long and 2,5 meter wide double-L-shaped trench was excavated. In 7.5 meters of Halaf period (the 1933 excavation had only dug to 1.5 meters) dug remains 11 building phases were found. No Ubaid period remains were found leading to the assumption that those 5 layers had been completely removed in the 1933 excavation. Two graves were excavated where skulls have been placed in bowls.Gut, R. V., "The halaf period in northern mesopotamia / tell es-sawwan: The architecture of the sixth millennium B.C.", Journal of the American Oriental Society, 120(2), pp.252-254, 2000Ismail H. Hijara, "Arpachiyah 1976", Iraq, vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 131-154, 1980Ismail Hijara, "Three New Graves at Arpachiyah", World Archaeology, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 125-128, 1978 Several Halaf structures were uncovered, including tholoi and the "Burnt House". An array of Halaf pottery and sealings were also found, along with an Ubaid cemetery containing 50 graves.Mallowan, M. E. L., and Hilda Linford, "Rediscovered Skulls from Arpachiyah", Iraq, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 49–58, 1969 Two 5th millennium BCsmall cone counting tokens were found.Friberg, Jöran, "Preliterate counting and accounting in the Middle East: A constructively critical review of Schmandt-Besserat's Before Writing", Orientalistische Literaturzeitung, vol. 89, no. 5-6, pp. 477-502, 1994 A faience seal, glazed steatite and faience beads, and Halaf period human painted figurines were also found.Finkenstaedτ, Elizabeth, "Beads at Badari", Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde 110.1, pp. 27-29, 1983Rathjens, Carl, "Die unlokalisierten Funde", Teil 2 Die unlokalisierten Funde, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 39-94, 1955 A Halaf period vase, from Grave 2 and repaired with gypsum in antiquity, depicted an archer with a mace carrying a quiver and hunting a crouched lioness on the interior. The exterior of the vase hold 5 scene panels.Cifarelli, M., & Castelluccia, M., "Metal Quivers from Hasanlu", Iran and the Caucasus, 27(1), pp, 1-21, 2023İpek, Bahattin, "Figural motifs on Halaf pottery: an iconographical study of late Neolithic society in northern Mesopotamia", Masters thesis, Bilkent Universitesi (Turkey), 2019Catherine Breniquet, "A Propos Du Vase Halafien de La Tombe G2 de Tell Arpachiyah", Iraq, vol. 54, pp. 69–78, 1992
The Burnt House
This building (layer TT6), also called the Burnt Building, was excavated in 1933, found in the final, most recent, Halaf period level. It had been destroyed by fire. The Burnt House was constructed over two early levels of large circular (called Tholos by the excavator) structure with long rectangular antechambers attached to them. The earlier structure was constructed in layer TT8 with 10 meter external diameter and 1 meter wide walls built on a foundation of river boulders. It was rebuilt on the same plan in layer TT7.Campbell, Stuart, "The Halaf period in Iraq: Old sites and new", The Biblical Archaeologist 55.4, pp. 182-187, 1992 The excavator described it as a potter’s workshop and stone-worker’s workshop but a "chiefly dwelling" has also been proposed. The original excavator ascribed the destruction of the Burnt House to invaders, possible from the Ubaid culture (the destruction was later determined to be not dated to the end of the Halaf period). A later view is that the building was ritually "closed" with the abandonment of the site.Stuart Campbell, "The Burnt House at Arpachiyah: A Reexamination", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 318, pp. 1–40, 2000 Forty one clay sealings, made by 26 stamp seals, were found in the building as well as 35 stamp seals.Atakuman, Ç., "Deciphering later neolithic stamp seal imagery of northern mesopotamia", Documenta Praehistorica, 40, pp. 247-264, 2013Atakuman, Ç., "From monuments to miniatures: Emergence of stamps and related image-bearing objects during the neolithic", Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 25(4), pp. 759-788, 2015Charvat P., "The Seals and their Functions in the Halaf- and Ubaid-Cultures (a Case Study of Materials from Tell Arpachiyah and Ninveh 2-3)", Wartke R.B. (Hrsg.), Handwerk und Technologie im Alten Orient: ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Technik im Altertum: 9-15. Mainz: Ph. von Zabern, 1991
Occupation history
The site had significant occupation in the Late Halaf period and, after a hiatus, by a small Ubaid period village. It appears to have been heavily involved in the manufacture of pottery. The pottery recovered there forms the basis for the internal chronology of the Halaf period. The periodization of the site (TT = Top of Tepe):Perkins, Caroline, and Patrick Sean Quinn. "Investigating Local Identity and Regional Connections in the Halaf and Ubaid Periods of Tell Arpachiyah, Iraq: Evidence from Fine Ware and Utilitarian Pottery", Iraq: Evidence from Fine Ware and Utilitarian Pottery, 2026 TT1-4 - Ubaid period pottery TT5 - mixed Ubaid and Halaf pottery with no transition sequence TT 6 = Halaf pottery - Burnt House TT 7 = Halaf pottery - rebuild of central tholos TT 8 = Halaf pottery - Intitial contruction of central tholos TT 9-10 = Halaf pottery
Gallery
See also Cities of the ancient Near East Come, Tell Me How You Live
References
Further reading Peter M. M. G. Akkermans, Glenn M. Schwartz, "The Archaeology of Syria: From Complex Hunter-gatherers to Early Urban Societies (c. 16,000-300 BC)", Cambridge University Press, 2003 T. Davidson and H. McKerrell, "The neutron activation analysis of Halaf and Ubaid pottery from Tell Arpachiyah and Tepe Gawra", Iraq, vol. 42, pp. 155–67, 1980 Hales, Chloe, "The agency of the every day: a comparative study of the Ubaid ceramic pottery and figurines from Ur and Arpachiyah", Dissertation, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, 2025 Hijara, Ismail, "The Halaf Period in Northern Mesopotamia", Nabu, 1997 Melville, Duncan J., "Aspects of symmetry in Arpachiyah pottery", Renaissance Banff: Mathematics, Music, Art, Culture, 2005 Stein, D. L., "Architecture and Acoustic Resonance: The ‘Tholoi’at Arpachiyah Reconsidered within a Wider Neolithic Horizon", Distant Impressions: The Senses in the Ancient Near East, University Park, PA Eisenbrauns, pp. 125-38, 2019 Von Wickede, Alwo, "Chalcolithic sealings from Arpachiyah in the collection of the Institute of Archaeology", London. UCL Press, 1991
External links TriCollege Libraries Digital Collections - Tell Arpachiyah Photo - 1957 Halaf Bowl from Arpachiyah - British Museum Snake image on Pottery from Arpachiyah - British Museum Pre-Historic Tell Arpachiyah --- The History of the Ancient Near East Excavations in Northern Mesopotamia - Nature volume 131, pages 685–686 (13 May 1933)