Tell as-Sawwan

Tell as-Sawwan is the modern name of a hill of ruins in northern Iraq (about 90 km north of Baghdad ). From 1964 to 1972, the Iraqi Antiquities Service excavated the remains of a prehistoric village here, which dates back to the seventh millennium BC . The place is considered to be one of the most important sites of this period in Iraq.

The hill of ruins was about 230 × 110 m in size. Six layers could be observed. The oldest layer (I) dates to around 6300 BC. There were simple adobe buildings. The excavated pottery can be assigned to the Hassuna ware . From this and the following layer (II) come about 130 graves, which contained rich additions. The dead were crouched in the graves. Statuettes made of alabaster and clay were found as accessories . There were ceramic vessels and alabaster ones. There were copper objects , especially pearls . The figures are often so-called mother goddesses . They are made of alabaster. The eyes are usually shells inlaid in bitumen . The figures wear a chain around their necks . Since unfinished copies of these figures were also found in the village, it is assumed that they were also produced here.

In Layer III (approx. 6100 BC) the settlement had a wall. There were multi-room, T-shaped houses and storage rooms. The painted Samarra ware appears as ceramic now and in the following layers .

The following layers were poorly preserved and most of them fell victim to erosion .

literature

• Michael Roaf: Mesopotamia . Bechtermünz Verlag, Augsburg 1998, p. 48 ISBN 3-86047-796-X
• F. El-Wailly: Tell as-Sawwan , In: Sumer 20 (1964), pp. 1ff
• F. El-Wailly, B. Abu Es-Soof: The Excavations at Tell es Sawwan , In: Sumer 21 (1965), pp. 17ff