Kenan Tepe is an ancient Near East archaeological site located within the Diyarbakır Province in the Ilisu dam upper Tigris River region in the southeast of modern Turkey near the borders of modern Syria and Iraq, about 12 kilometers east of the modern town of Bismil and on the north bank of the Tigris river. It lies 15 kilometers to the northeast of the site of Ziyaret Tepe and 12 kilometers to the west of Salat Tepe.Ökse, A. Tuba, "Salat Tepe and its Vicinity in the Middle Bronze Age: Stratigraphic Sequence and Ceramic Assemblages", The Archaeology of Political Spaces: The Upper Mesopotamian Piedmont in the Second Millennium BCE, edited by Dominik Bonatz, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 151-166, 2014Bartl, Peter Vinzenz, "The Upper Tigris – Cultural Autonomy or Interdependence? The Case of Ziyaret Tepe and Giricano", The Archaeology of Political Spaces: The Upper Mesopotamian Piedmont in the Second Millennium BCE, edited by Dominik Bonatz, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 131-150, 2014 The site was one of several examined by the Upper Tigris Archaeological Research Project in preparation for flooding resulting from the construction of the Ilisu Dam, including Boztepe and Talavas Tepe. Parker, Bradley J., et al., "The Upper Tigris Archaeological Research Project: a final report from the 1999 field season", Anatolian Studies 52, pp. 19-74, 2002A. T. Ökse, et al., "The Middle Bronze Age farming economy of the Upper Tigris region: a reconstruction basing on archaeological, archaeobotanical and ethnoarchaeological analysis", Akkadica 133.1, pp. 67-106, 2012Parker, B. J., A. Creekmore, and C. Easton, "The Upper Tigris Archaeological Research Project (UTARP): 1999 Excavations at Boztepe and Surveys at Talavaş Tepe", 18. Araştirma Sonuçları Toplantısı, pp. 23-36, 2001
Archaeology An archaeological survey of the region in the 1990s found a number of potential excavation targets including Giricano, Ziyaret Tepe, Gre Dimse, Boztepe, Salat Tepe, and Kenan Tepe.Algaze, G., R. Breuninger, C. Lightfoot, and M. Rosenberg, "The Tigris–Euphrates Archaeological Reconnaissance Project, 1989–90", Anatolica 17, pp. 175–240, 1991Algaze, G., R. Breuninger, and J. Knudstad, "The Tigris–Euphrates Archaeological Reconnaissance Project: Final Report of the Birecik and Carchemish Dam Survey Areas", Anatolica 20, pp. 1–96, 1994D’Agostino, Anacleto, and K. Ströbel, "The Upper Khabur and Upper Tigris Valleys between the End of the Late Bronze Age and the Beginning of the Iron Age: an Assessment of the Archaeological Evidence (Settlement patterns and Pottery Assemblages)", Empires after Empire. Anatolia, Syria and Assyria after Suppiluliuma II (ca. 1200–800/700 BC), 87-136, 2011 Kenan Tepe covers an area of about 4.5 hectares with a 1.1 hectare upper mound (built up on a natural hill) and a east and northeast (350 meters by 200 meters ) lower town with the upper mound rising 32.6 meters above the plain. The upper mound has a medieval period cemetery. The lower town is partly eroded by the Tigris river at the southern edge.
The site was worked from 2000 until 2008 by the Upper Tigris Archaeological Research Project team led by Bradley J. Parker.Parker, B. J., A. Creekmore, L. S. Dodd, E. Moseman, M. Abraham, and J. Schnereger, "The Upper Tigris Archaeological Research Project (UTARP): Year 2000 Excavations at Kenan Tepe", 23. Kazı Sonuçları Toplantısı, pp. 435-444, 2002Parker, Bradley J., et al., "The Upper Tigris Archaeological Research Project (UTARP): a preliminary report from the 2001 field season", Anatolica 29, pp. 103-174, 2003 The 2003, 2006 and 2008 season were study seasons. Four Ubaid period occupational levels were determined with structures as large as 7 meters by 9 meters and with a number of burials including a complete skeleton in a large ceramic jar. Ubaid period finds included a number of chert and green obsidian tools, blades and arrowheads, ceramic spindle whorls and Coba bowls.Parker, Bradley J., and Jason R. Kennedy, "A Quantitative Attribute Analysis of the Ubaid-Period Ceramic Corpus from Kenan Tepe", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 358, pp. 1–26, 2010 A Uruk period fortification wall around the high mound turned up in gravimetric and excavation work.Parker, Bradley J., et al., "Preliminary report from the 2005-2006 field seasons at Kenan Tepe", Anatolica 34, pp. 103-176, 2008 In the Late Chalcolithic level ceramic animal figurines were found as well as mudbrick burial structures and intrusive Early Bronze tombs.Fuensanta, Jesús Gil and Crivelli, Eduardo, "Where are the Uruk Necropoles? Regional Innovation or Change in Tradition for Northern Mesopotamia", Tradition and Innovation in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 57th Rencontre Assyriologique International at Rome, 4–8 July 2011, edited by Alfonso Archi, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 81-90, 2015 A hematite cylinder seal of uncertain date bearing a contest scene, possibly early 2nd millennium BC, and a Middle Bronze period anthropomorphic figurine head. Two stamp seals, eight more cylinder seals, two seal impressions and eight possible sealing made up the glyphic finds.Parker, Bradley J., et al., "The Upper Tigris Archaeological Research Project (UTARP): A Preliminary Report from the 2003 and 2004 Field Seasons at Kenan Tepe", Anatolica 32, pp. 71-151, 2006Parker, Bradley J., et al., "The Upper Tigris Archaeological Research Project (UTARP): a preliminary report from the 2007 and 2008 field seasons at Kenan Tepe", Anatolica 35, pp. 85-152, 2009
Six excavation areas were dug: Area A - center and northwest main mound summit (10 subareas) Area B - southeast main mound summit (3 subareas) Area C - northeast main mound summit (5 subareas) Area D - southwest slope of main mound (4 subareas) Area E - southwest slope of main mound (1 subarea) Area F - northwest slope of main mound extending into lower town (6 subareas) Area G - lower town (14 subareas) Area H - lower town east of main mound (1 subarea) Area I - southern edge of main mound (1 subarea)
History Kenan Tepe was occupied in five periods:Parker, Bradley J., and Lynn Swartz Dodd, "The Upper Tigris Archaeological Research Project: A Preliminary Report from the 2002 Field Season", Anatolica 31, pp. 69-110, 2005 Late Ubaid period - AMS radiocarbon dated to c. 4650 BC - eastern and southern slopes of main mound primarily in trenches D5 and A9 Late Chalcolithic - LC 4 (AMS radiocarbon dated to c. 3600-3500 BC) and LC 5 (AMS radiocarbon dated to c 3100 BC) - eastern lower town and near the main mound Late Chalcolithic to Early Bronze transition - AMS Foster, Catherine Painter, "Household Archaeology and the Uruk Phenomenon: A Case Study from Kenan Tepe, Turkey", Disertation, University of California, Berkeley, 2009 radiocarbon dated to c. 3000 BC - fortifications and retaining walls on high mound with occupation continuing through the first half of the 3rd millennium BC Middle Bronze Age - AMS radiocarbon dated to c. 1800 BC - eastern, western, and northern slopes of main mound including a well-built stone structure Early Iron Age - dated by pottery to c. 1050-900 BC - small settlement with fire-related metal workings
See also Cities of the ancient Near East Hirbemerdon Tepe Üçtepe Höyük
References
Further reading Campbell, S. & Healey, E., "Diversity in obsidian use in the prehistoric and early historic Middle East", Quaternary International, 468, pp. 141–154, 2018 Campbell, Stuart and Healey, Elizabeth, "Lithics in the Household: Obsidian Use at Kenan Tepe", From households to empires. Papers in memory of Bradley J. Parker, hrsg. v. Jason R. Kennedy, Patrick Mullins, pp. 79–98, 2023 Campbell, Stuart, and Elizabeth Healey, "Multiple sources: The pXRF analysis of obsidian from Kenan Tepe, SE Turkey", Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 10, pp. 377–389, 2016 Creekmore, A., "The Upper Tigris Archaeological Research Project (UTARP). A Summary and Synthesis of the Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Remains from the First Seasons at Kenan Tepe: in Anatolica 33, pp. 75-128, 2007 Graham, Philip J., and Alexia Smith, "A day in the life of an Ubaid household: archaeobotanical investigations at Kenan Tepe, south-eastern Turkey", Antiquity 87.336, pp. 405–417, 2013 Hopwood, Marie, "Accidental or Intentional?: An Ubaid Period Burnt Structure at Kenan Tepe, Turkey", No Place Like Home: Ancient Near Eastern Houses and Households, pp. 220–236, 2022 Hopwood, Marie and Kennedy, Jason R., "Household Activities at Ubaid Kenan Tepe: Revisiting the Burnt House", From households to empires. Papers in memory of Bradley J. Parker, hrsg. v. Jason R. Kennedy, Patrick Mullins, pp. 33–48, 2023 Hopwood, David E., "Living with the Dead: Burial Practice at Kenan Tepe, Turkey, During the Ubaid Period", From households to empires. Papers in memory of Bradley J. Parker, hrsg. v. Jason R. Kennedy, Patrick Mullins, pp. 49–62, 2023 Parker, Bradley J., and Lynn Swartz Dodd, "The Early Second Millennium Ceramic Assemblage from Kenan Tepe, Southeastern Turkey. A Preliminary Assessment", Anatolian Studies, vol. 53, pp. 33–69, 2003 Parker, B. J., A. Creekmore, E. Moseman, and R. Sasaki, "The Upper Tigris Archaeological Research Project (UTARP): Preliminary Report from the Year 2000 Excavations at Kenan Tepe", Salvage Project of the Archaeological Heritage of the Ilısu and Carchemish Dam Reservoirs. Activities in 2000, edited by N. Tuna, J. Öztürk, and J. Velibeyoğlu, Ankara: Middle East Technical University, pp. 613–643, 2002 Parker, B. J., A. Creekmore, L. S. Dodd, E. Moseman, C. Meegan, and P. Cobb, "The Upper Tigris Archaeological Research Project (UTARP): A Preliminary Synthesis of the Cultural History of Kenan Tepe", Salvage Project of the Archaeological Heritage of the Ilısu and Carchemish Dam Reservoirs Activities in 2001, edited by N. Tuna, J. Öztürk, and J. Velibeyoğlu. Ankara: Middle East Technical University, pp. 547–602, 2004 Parker, B. J., and C. P. Foster, "An Overview of the Ceramic Sequence at Kenan Tepe", Studies in Honour of Altan Çilingiroglu: A Life Dedicated to Urartu on the Shores of the Upper Sea, edited by H. Sağlatimur, E. Abay, Z. Derin, A. Erden, A, Batmaz, F. Dedeoğu, M. Erdalkıran, M. Baştürk, and E. Konakçı, Istanbul: Arkeoloji ve Sanat Yayinlari, pp. 505–531, 2009
External links Kenan Tepe excavation images at Internet Archive Kenan Tepe records at OpenContext