Godin Tepe

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Coordinates: 34 ° 31 ′ 0 ″  N , 48 ° 4 ′ 0 ″  E

Relief Map: Iran
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Godin Tepe​
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Iran

Godin Tepe ( Persian گودین تپه) Is a long-unused mound in Zagrostal Kangavar in the western Iranian province of Kermanshah , the in -Ubeid time , the Uruk period , the Kura-Araxes time , the altelamischen time and, after a long break in the Iron Age has been used intensively and has also had significance since the Islamic period .

environment

The site rises about 30 meters above the surrounding area in the valley of Kangavar , which, together with a number of other valleys, forms a pass over Zagros and has been an important trade route between east and west since ancient times. The valley itself is crossed by rivers which, through alluvial processes, brought fertile soils into the valley. One of these rivers is the Gamas Ab, which is located directly northwest of Godin Tepe and has eroded large parts of the northern slope.

Excavation history

Godin Tepe was discovered as an archaeological site in 1961 during a survey led by Theodore Cuyler Young Jr. The Iran Antiquities Service then decided to excavate the University of Toronto and the Royal Ontario Museum Godin Tepe. This was followed by five campaigns in 1965, 1967. 1969, 1971 and 1973 The Iron Age citadel was excavated extensively on the one hand and the other periods examined in a deep section on the northern slope. In 2011 the University of Toronto uploaded parts of the original excavation documentation freely accessible on their Website up

Periods of settlement

A total of eleven settlement layers can be distinguished. The layers VI to XI were examined less intensively than the remaining settlement layers. Layer V was subsequently integrated into layer VI.

Layer XI - VII: Halaf and Ubeid culture

Layers XI to VII come from very small test probes and date from around 5200 to 4000 BC. u. Z. They go back to the Early Chalcolithic and date at the same time as the Ubeid period and even with the end of the Halaf culture . However, these phases have only been excavated very fragmentarily and have hardly been worked on.

Layer VI: a merchant enclave of the Uruk period

Layer VI was recorded by the excavations of 1973 in a deep section in the upper citadel over an area of ​​550 m². It dates between 3500 and 3000 BC, i.e. at the same time as the Uruk period in Mesopotamia. Originally, Layer VI and Layer V were separated, but after re-analyzing the archaeological results, the researchers decided to define Layer V as the most recent sub-phase Layer VI: 1.

The architecture of layer VI consists of an oval outer wall that covers an area of ​​around 560 m². Within these walls are a number of multi-room rectangular buildings grouped around a large square in the middle. This settlement is interpreted as an outpost of Uruk-era traders and Godin Tepe is thus associated with the Uruk expansion .

Layer VI ceramics show a mixture of local traditions and Uruk influences. Uruk ceramics are, for example, pots with four-eyed knobs, vessels with string ornaments on the shoulder and vessels with a cream-colored coating, which find parallels in Susa (Acropolis, layer 17), Uruk (Eanna IV) and Nippur (Inanna layer 19). The typical tall Jemdet Nasr storage vessels, as they are known from Nippur (Inanna, layers 14–12) and flower pots ( beveled rim bowls , Uruk Eanna IV) are missing, however. There is also a local pottery that continues seamlessly from Layer VII.

13 cylinder seal impressions and two cylinder seals were found in layer VI . They are apparently partly local products, as the discovery of an uncut seal cylinder shows. The prints have parallels in Uruk (layers V-IV), in Chusistan and in Susa (layers Cc-Da). Some were decorated with round holes. Soapstone (steatite), some of which was heat-treated (tempering), was used as the raw material .

In Layer VI, 43 clay tablets were found, 27 of which are reasonably complete. They mainly contained numerical symbols, as they are also known from Hafaǧi , Tell-i-Ghazir (proto- Elamite layers), Habuba Kabira (late Uruk period ), Tappe Sialk IV1, Tschogha Misch , Uruk and Susa (Acropolis, layer 17) are.

The older layer VII merges into layer VI without a hiatus. At the end of shift VI, on the other hand, there is a clear hiatus and the findings speak in favor of a quick but planned departure from the settlement. On the one hand, there are signs of a fire in room 22 in which the roof collapsed and in many rooms there were finds such as ceramics in situ . On the other hand, metal objects are almost completely missing, which indicates a selection of objects before leaving

Layer IV: a settlement of the Kura-Araxis culture

After leaving Layer VI, there was a clear break in material culture. Layer IV dates from around 2800 - 2600 BC to the Early Bronze Age . At this time Godin Tepe is part of the Kura-Araxes culture , which spread throughout northern Mesopotamia and the adjacent mountains after the collapse of the Uruk system and originates from the Caucasus valley between the Kura and Araxes rivers. In general, this phenomenon is associated with migration, which, however, is very different in particular. In Godin Tepe there was evidence of the influence of the Kura-Araxes culture in the ceramic repertoire even before Layer VI, which speaks in favor of long-term cultural contact.

The architecture of Layer IV indicates a very different social organization compared to Layer VI: In a central square there is a platform, which is surrounded to the east by residential buildings and to the west by a public building, perhaps a meeting house. This composition is renewed a few times without changing the general plan. Eventually the settlement is left with no trace of destruction.

Layer III: the ancient Elamite city

Layer III connects seamlessly to Phase IV and dates to the Middle Bronze Age from around 2600 - 1400 BC. u. Z. During this time, Godin Tepe is very densely populated with houses. The urban character leads to the assumption that at that time it was a city that was part of an ancient Elamite dominion. After this urban settlement was abandoned, a hiatus developed that lasted about 700 years.

Layer II: a Median citadel

Layer II represents the Iron Age settlement and dates from around 800 - 500 BCE. It is divided into two sub-phases. Layer II: 2 is the monumental building complex and Layer II: 1 represents a repopulation by ruins dwellers who lived in the citadel after it was abandoned.

Layer II: 2 consists in the core of two pillared halls for representation purposes, a magazine with north and south wings and a domestic part, probably a kitchen, as well as some younger extensions. The outer facade of the building complex is regularly provided with towers, which suggest a defensive function. This building is interpreted as the residence of a medical elite. During the Iron Age, under the pressure of the Neo-Assyrian campaigns in the Zagros, the Medes formed a more central political organization until they formed an alliance with Neo- Babylonian warlords and defeated the Neo- Assyrian Empire. Phase II: 2 probably falls during this time of the Median state formation. The exact reasons for leaving this citadel are not known; One possible explanation would be the further centralization of the Median state and the migration of the elites to Ekbatana , today's Hamadan, which is known as the capital of the Median state. Another explanation would be the collapse of central administrative structures after the threat of the Neo-Assyrian Empire no longer existed.

Layer II: 1 is a use of the abandoned citadel as living space, which connects without interruption. Only the smaller portico and the living area were rebuilt and used, the rest of the building complex fell apart. The ruined settlement was also left without any signs of destruction.

Layer I: use from the Middle Ages

Layer I is the youngest settlement and consists of an Islamic tea house and a few modern graves. and an imamzadeh from the 15th century.

literature

  • Hillery Gopnik, Mitchell S. Rothmann: On the high road. The History of Godin Tepe, Iran. In: Bibliotheca Iranica: archeology. art & architecture, Vol. 1, Ontario 2011.
  • Robert C. Henrickson: Godin III and the Chronology of Central Western Iran circa 2600-1400 BC In: Frank Hole (Ed.): The Archeology of Western Iran. Washington, DC / London 1987, pp. 205-227.
  • Theodore Cuyler Young Jr .: Survey in Western Iran . In: Journal of Near Eastern Studies. Vol. 25, No. 4, 1966, pp. 228-239.
  • Theodore Cuyler Young Jr., Louis D. Levine: Excavation at Godin Tepe: First Progress Report. In: Occasional paper Royal Ontario Museum. Division of Art and Archeology. Vol. 17, Ontario 1969.
  • Theodore Cuyler Young Jr., Louis D. Levine: Excavation at Godin Tepe: Second Progress Report. In: Occasional paper Royal Ontario Museum. Division of Art and Archeology. Vol. 26, Ontario 1974.
  • Theodore Cuyler Young Jr .: Godin Tepe . In: Encyclopedia Iranica . Encyclopedia Iranica Foundation, 2001 (last update 2012), last accessed February 27, 2019.
  • T-Space Community: Godin Tepe . In: TSpace. Univeritiy of Toronto, 2011, accessed February 20, 2019.
  • Harvey Weiss, Theodore Cuyler Young Jr .: The Merchants of Susa . In: Iran. Vol. 13, 1975, pp. 1-17.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Young & Levine: Excavation at Godin Tepe: First Progress Report. Ontario 1969, p. 1.
  2. ^ Young: Survey in Western Iran. In: Journal of Near Eastern Studies. Vol. 25, No. 4, 1966.
  3. ^ Young & Levine: Excavation at Godin Tepe: First Progress Report. Ontario 1969, Preface.
  4. ^ Young & Levine: Excavation at Godin Tepe: First Progress Report. Ontario 1969.
  5. ^ Young & Levine: Excavation at Godin Tepe: Second Progress Report. Ontario 1974.
  6. ^ Gopnik & Rothmann: On the high road. The History of Godin Tepe, Iran. Ontario 2011.
  7. ^ Gopnik & Rothmann: On the high road. The History of Godin Tepe, Iran. Ontario 2011, p. 13.
  8. ^ T-Space Community: Godin Tepe. In: T-Space of the Univeritiy of Toronto, 2011.
  9. ^ Gopnik & Rothmann: On the high road. The History of Godin Tepe, Iran. Ontario 2011, pp. 67-81.
  10. ^ Gopnik & Rothmann: On the high road. The History of Godin Tepe, Iran. Ontario 2011, pp. 12-19.
  11. ^ Gopnik & Rothmann: On the high road. The History of Godin Tepe, Iran. Ontario 2011, pp. 92-109.
  12. ^ Gopnik & Rothmann: On the high road. The History of Godin Tepe, Iran. Ontario 2011, pp. 85-92.
  13. ^ Gopnik & Rothmann: On the high road. The History of Godin Tepe, Iran. Ontario 2011, pp. 113-115.
  14. ^ Gopnik & Rothmann: On the high road. The History of Godin Tepe, Iran. Ontario 2011, pp. 116-118.
  15. ^ Gopnik & Rothmann: On the high road. The History of Godin Tepe, Iran. Ontario 2011, pp. 71-73.
  16. ^ Gopnik & Rothmann: On the high road. The History of Godin Tepe, Iran. Ontario 2011, pp. 142-144.
  17. ^ Gopnik & Rothmann: On the high road. The History of Godin Tepe, Iran. Ontario 2011, pp. 139-149.
  18. ^ Gopnik & Rothmann: On the high road. The History of Godin Tepe, Iran. Ontario 2011, pp. 152-167.
  19. ↑ Henrickson: Godin III and the Chronologie of central western iran ca 2600 - 1400 BC. In: The archeology of Western Iran. 1987, pp. 205-227.
  20. ^ Gopnik & Rothmann: On the high road. The History of Godin Tepe, Iran. Ontario 2011, pp. 209-284.
  21. ^ Gopnik & Rothmann: On the high road. The History of Godin Tepe, Iran. Ontario 2011, p. 306.
  22. ^ Gopnik & Rothmann: On the high road. The History of Godin Tepe, Iran. Ontario 2011, pp. 302-313.
  23. ^ Gopnik & Rothmann: On the high road. The History of Godin Tepe, Iran. Ontario 2011, pp. 314-315.
  24. ^ Gopnik & Rothmann: On the high road. The History of Godin Tepe, Iran. Ontario 2011, p. 2.
  25. ↑ Young: Godin Tepe. In: Encyclopedia Iranica. 2001.