Tell Jadat al-Mughara
Coordinates: 36 ° 22 ′ 59.9 ″ N , 38 ° 10 ′ 59.8 ″ E
Tell Jaʿdat al-Mughara ( Arabic تل جعدة المغارة, DMG Tall Ǧaʿdat al-Muġāra , also Tell Dja'de el-Mughara ) is an excavation site in the north of Syria in the Aleppo governorate east of Manbij . From the beginning of the 1990s, rescue excavations before the completion of the Tischrin Dam laid the remains of Neolithic settlements on the left bank of the central Euphrates from the 9th millennium BC. Chr. Free u. a. a large rotunda.
In autumn 2007 the archaeologist Éric Coqueugniot discovered a 4 m² painted wall there as part of the excavation campaign of the Center National de la Recherche Scientifique Paris . Its age was estimated at 11,000 years according to the radiocarbon method , making it the oldest painted wall in the world. It is about 1500 years older than the frescoes from Çatalhöyük in eastern Turkey. The wall is decorated with checkered red and black squares on a white background. They are arranged into geometric figures that are still widespread today in the Near East, the Levant and Persia . The large rotunda is interpreted as a public building for gatherings and cult activities. The excavations so far have uncovered stone artefacts and votive statuettes. It is believed that there is a cultural connection with the older Göbekli Tepe in Anatolia.
literature
- Éric Cocueugniot: Tell Dja'de el Mughara. In: G. del Olmo Lete, JL Montero Fellonós (ed.): Archeology of the Upper Syrian Euphrates: The Tishrin Dam Area. Editorial AUSA, Barcelona 1999, pp. 41-55
Web links
- Portal to the French archeology of the Orient
- Syria - Djade el Mughara. France diplomacy
- Oldest wall paintings in the world in Syria. epoc, October 12, 2007
- Photo report on the temporary conservation and salvage of the wall (Spanish; PDF; 1.0 MB)
Individual evidence
- ^ Syrie - Jerf el-Ahmar. In: France diplomacy. Retrieved April 5, 2011 .
