Tall Bazi

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Coordinates: 36 ° 25 ′ 38.3 "  N , 38 ° 16 ′ 35.4"  E

Relief Map: Syria
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Tall Bazi​
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Syria

Tall Bazi is an archaeological settlement mound ( Tall ) in ar-Raqqa Governorate in northern Syria . It was a city complex from the second half of the 1st millennium BC. Exposed.

Digs

Tall Bazi is located about 60 km south of the border with Turkey on the eastern bank of the Euphrates . At the beginning of the excavations in 1993 it was a rescue excavation. The Tischrin Reservoir , which was created in 1999, has since flooded parts of the settlement complex, namely the "western town" of the late Bronze Age settlement uncovered in the early phases of the excavation , a settlement expansion from the 12th century BC. BC, which lay on a river terrace on the east bank of the Euphrates. The citadel located on a 60 m high hill above is still accessible. The excavation work is carried out by the DAI in cooperation with the Technical University of Munich .

history

The settlement, the ancient name of which is still unknown, is probably a Maitan prince seat from the 15th and 14th centuries BC. BC, who came under the rule of Šattiwaza under the Hittite rule of Šuppiluliuma I , until the complex in the early 12th century BC. Was abandoned suddenly and probably as a result of an attack.

The settlement was divided into a west and a north town, which led to a citadel hill with 3 buildings, which was surrounded by a wall and accessed via a staircase. Among the finds from the citadel there were cylinder seals and documents with seals that prove the rule of Sauštatar and his son Artatama (ruled around 1400 BC). One of the temples is given as a royal gift. Both rulers used the same seal.

In 2004, a rectangular room was cut on the plateau of the citadel, which turned out to be a temple. The south-facing temple (building 1) had a wall 2.8 m wide, was 38 mx 16 m and in 2008 reached a height of 3 meters. It was in use for about 300 years and was rebuilt several times.

As it turned out during the excavations from 2004 to 2008, there was already an ancestral temple from the Early Bronze Age below the temple , the stone floor and stones of which were partially reused. The temple entrance was flanked by two poorly preserved lion orthostats , as one inferred from the heavy base monolites.

The Maitani moved these lions and separated the large main room into two smaller ones, the larger of which served as a warehouse, while the smaller one was set up as a sacred room with an altar, benches and pedestals for various religious practices and an east gate, in front of which the lions were placed. Traces of fire and numerous arrows and sling stones prove a violent end of the temple, which was accompanied by looting and wanton destruction.

Furthermore, cellars were found that were driven up to 2 meters into the rocky bedrock. The up to 1.60 m filled chambers are believed to be the foundation sacrifice of the complex. Abundant finds of pearls, metals, animal bones and other offerings have been made here. In the north-west of the citadel a cistern with a 16 m long tunnel was found, which also dates from the Early Bronze Age.

In 2004, in the southwest of the citadel, parts of a wide mud brick wall of a building that was referred to as building 2 were surprisingly washed away. It is a building with a size of 26 m × 30 m, which was at least 5 meters high and surrounded by a 2 m thick mud brick wall. 6 rooms have been exposed so far. The gate was flanked by 2 gate chambers which were marked by protruding towers.

Hundreds of slingshot bullets and arrows similar to those of Tell Brak and other places were found outside and inside . Due to this, the building was dated by Einwag in 2008 to the early dynastic period or the Sargonid period, so that this place was apparently affected by the campaigns of the Sargon of Akkad and his grandson Naram-Sin as well as the expansion of the Kura-Araxes culture . The function is unclear, but the fine ceramics indicate extensive potential.

Further excavations had to be interrupted by growing unrest. Since Tall Bazi is threatened by the flooding of the valley due to the closed Tishrin dam, it is questionable whether further excavations will take place there.

Only the Romans rebuilt a fortification at the strategically convenient location.

Place name puzzle

Tall Bazi is associated with Aleppo (as a further assumption) with a place called Armi, which is mentioned several times on clay tablets from Ebla and whose location is unknown. The ruler of Armi was a vassal of Ebla during the reign of Irkab-Damu and his son Isar-Damu , who in turn was allied with Nagar and Kiš (conquered by Lugal-Zagesi ). Lugal-Zagesi, who lived until around 2347 BC. Ruled, claimed in a victory inscription "From the lower sea along the Euphrates and Tigris to the upper sea En-Lil let all countries go straight to Lugal-zagesi." However, only cedar wood deliveries from Ebla are documented. He was finally born in 2347 BC. Defeated by Akkad in 34 battles of Sargon .

The Akkadians claimed to have destroyed both Ebla and must have passed Tall Bazi on their campaigns. Due to its strategic location on the Euphrates, it is the shortest connection after Ebla, which is only 60 km away. Naram-Sin is said to have destroyed Armanum (Armi) and Ibla (Ebla) on his campaign, where he captured the king of Armanum named Rid-Adad and probably also killed the last king of Ebla, Isar-Damu . The exact date of the destruction of Eblas is disputed, 2240 BC. Chr. Is considered a possible candidate.

Tall Bazi may have some questions about this relationship based on what was found.

Whether Tall Bazi is really Armi (akk. Armanum) remains open. Aleppo on the Armanus Mountains seems a little more plausible, but Tall Bazi was an important transit point for trade, which building 1 also documents.

Web links

literature

  • Kay Kohlmeyer , Berthold Einwag, Adelheid Otto: Preliminary reports on the investigations 1993. In: Damaszener Mitteilungen. Volume 8, 1995. pp. 96-124
  • Berthold Einwag, Adelheid Otto: Tall Bazi. In: Gregorieo del Olmo Lete u. a. (Ed.): Archeology of the Upper Syrian Euphrates. The Tishrin Dam Area. Barcelona 1999. pp. 179-191
  • Berthold Einwag, Adelheid Otto: Tall Bazi 1998 and 1999 - The last investigations in the Weststadt. With a contribution by Jörg WE Faßbinder and Helmut Becker . In: Damascus communications. Volume 13, 2002. pp. 65-88

Remarks

  1. ^ Institute for Near Eastern Archeology at LMU Munich, summary of the excavations, http://www.vorderas-archaeologie.uni-muenchen.de/forschung/projekt_syrien/index.html