Bieliński, P., Tell Arbid, The Fourth Season, 273-284.

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1) The staff of the mission was more numerous than usual and counted 23 members: Dr. Dorota £awecka, Dr. Rafa³

Koliñski, Dr. Claudia Suter, Mr. Andrzej Reiche, Mr. David Gimbel, Ms Anna Smogorzewska, Mr. £ukasz Rutkowski, Mr.

Paul Zimmerman, Ms Agata Kubala, Mrs. Dorota Bieliñska, and Mr. Miros³aw Olbryœ, archaeologists; Prof. Dr. GebhardSelz, epigraphist, as well as eight students of archaeology from the Warsaw and Vienna universities. I mention here withgratitude Mrs. Ingeborga Bykowska, who assisted the domestic side of our expedition. Finally, I should mention Mr. AhmedSerriye, our Syrian expedition co-director, who was my closest associate and whose invaluable help contributed to the finalsuccess of this campaign.

The joint Syrian-Polish expedition continued to profit from the help of our Syrian colleagues and associates from theDirection General of Antiquities and Museums. Special thanks are owed to the Director General, Prof. Dr. Sultan Muhessen,for his friendly interest and encouragement, as well as to Mr. Abed Abdel Messih Bardo, Regional Director of Antiquitiesin Hassake, for his constant support and help in the organization. Neither can we forego mentioning the financial assistanceoffered this year to our mission by the Harvard Semitic Museum, as well as by Elektromonta¿ S.A. from Poland and itsPresident, Mr. Jerzy Lewandowski.

TELL ARBIDTHE FOURTH SEASON

Piotr Bieliñski

The fourth campaign of Syrian-Polish excavations on Tell Arbid, a large site situated betweenHassake and Qamishli, took place in the fall of 1999. The season began on August 17 and lasteduntil October 11.1)

Fig. 1. Citadel of Tell Arbid with all trenches excavated in 1999 marked except for sector "D"(Ink drawing M. Wagner)

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THE RESEARCH

AREA "SA"

This year our attention was dividedbetween five different sectors on the maintell. The first four were located on theeastern slope of the so-called citadel, thatis, the main tell, in a sector designated as"S". A long step trench had been openedhere in 1996, but since parts of the trenchwere to be enlarged, each was given a newlabel - "SA", "SS", "SR" and "SD", respec-tively. The fifth sector, "D", was opened ina completely new spot on the northwest-ern slope, at the foot of the citadel (Fig. 1).

Our primary objective was to clarifythe stratigraphic relation between the old-est Khabour Ware period layers and thoserepresenting the latest 3rd millenniumBC settlement on the citadel. In otherwords, we wanted to check what had beenhappening on Arbid after the end of theEarly Dynastic III phase. The presence ofAkkadian period layers had been suggest-ed by ceramic material collected in variousplaces inside the old step trench, but stillthere had been no well preserved stratafound corresponding to these sherds.Moreover, there was also the possibility ofa hiatus occurring in the occupation ofArbid after the Akkadian period. Toresolve the matter we decided to reopenand extend the trenches on top of thecitadel. This work was also designed touncover a substantial 3rd millenniumstructure with external buttresses – a pub-lic building of some kind to judge by the

character of the five rooms partly uncov-ered so far – which had been brought tolight in the western end of the original "S"trench already in 1996.

There were three secondary goals forthe 1999 season. First, we wanted toexplore further an Early Dynastic perioddwelling area, which had begun to beunearthed last year in squares 36/65 and36/66, situated at the foot of the easternslope of the main mound. The focus wason clearing a larger part of this quarter inthe best preserved stratum III. Next, weintended to complete the exploration ofKhabour Ware period dwelling houses sit-uated in the middle of the eastern slope ofthe citadel. Parts of these houses had beeninvestigated in 1998 and the objectivenow was to collect more data, including atleast one complete architectural plan.Finally, we planned to continue the inves-tigation of the fairly flat area in the north-western corner of the Upper City, whereMallowan had reported seeing large forti-fication works. The idea was to reach themfrom the inside uncovering in the processthe adjacent Khabour ware perioddwelling quarter.

Not all of these objectives have beenaddressed successfully this year. The fol-lowing is an interim report on our investi-gations in particular sectors of the site,presented starting from the top of thecitadel.

Area "SA" extends over the flat summit ofthe main tell (covering a large part ofsquare 37/54), where a trench had beenopened already last year. Now the easternpart of the old trench was extended north-wards.

The first task was to remove the largewash basin and drying-oven installations ofthe Khabour ware period, discovered in theprevious season. Below these remains wefound an uneven walking level also fromthe beginning of the 2nd millennium BC,

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and two pits of the Mitannian period. Inthe ashy filling of the smaller pit no. 7,a terracotta cylinder seal with a simple geo-metric decoration of lines and dots was dis-covered. The other Mitannian pit (no. 14)was much larger and filled with decayedmudbrick, clay and potsherds. A smallfragment of clay envelope with a cuneiforminscription was found near its western bor-der (Fig. 2). Below the text composed of 17cuneiform signs in four lines there was anincomplete impression of a cylinder sealwith the image of a female Egyptian deity,most probably Isis. The dating of the enve-lope fragment, as well as of the text itself,requires further study.

The two Stratum I pits were cut quitedeeply into the next two layers (Strata IIand III), which are undoubtedly ofKhabour Ware period date. Of the samedate is Stratum IV, in which a smallroom in mudbrick (locus 15) with partlypreserved doorway and a door socket insitu was partly investigated. Stratum Vbelow represents the oldest KhabourWare period occupation in the "SA" area.Finds of Khabour pottery in this layerare few compared to the upper strata rep-resenting the same culture. The top ofanother structure, the "public building"presumably, was noted some 0.25 mlower down.

AREA "SS"

The "SS" sector, which covers the easternpart of the citadel summit and the adjacenteastern slope, extended from the westernpart of the original "S" trench. In planningthis new sector, we were guided by theremains of an Early Dynastic period "pub-lic building", which had started coming tolight already in 1996. At the time, we hadrevealed under a thick accumulation of clayand ashes part of the outer wall of a sub-

stantial structure. This year two newtrenches were opened in squares: 36/54,37/55 and 37/56, and the old square 36/55was extended westwards and northwards,bringing the total surface of the areaexplored in this sector to just under100 m2.

After removing a heavily eroded sub-surface layer from square 36/54, a mud-brick chamber (locus 2), measuring c. 2.8by 2.2 m was found in the southern part ofthe square. Inside it there was a richly fur-nished Mitannian-period burial (Fig. 3).The grave chamber seems to be dug into anolder Mitanni-period pit with some Nuzisherds. The poorly preserved skeleton ofa woman in contracted position with headpointing west lay along the southern wallof the chamber. Grave goods comprised 16vessels of different types: three bowls, oneplate, two jugs, two large jars, four smalljars, one fenestrated potstand and threebeakers. Other finds included a glass cup,bronze pin, and bronze earring fragment.There were also two Mitannian-style cylin-der seals (one of hematite, the other of frit

Fig. 2. Fragment of an inscribed clay enve-lope found in sector "SA" (Photo A. Reiche)

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and fitted with gold caps), two scaraboids,and over 230 beads. The latter representeda variety of materials, such as carnelian,gold, faience, shell, lapis lazuli, frit, rockcrystal and different semiprecious stones.Some of the beads took on the form of crea-tures: frogs and mice, bull's and ram'sheads. The bones of a small animal werefound near one of the large bowls. Prior tofurther cleaning and study in the future,this grave may be dated provisionally tothe 15th-14th century BC.

To the east of locus 2 (square 36/55)and on more or less the same level, an

architectural complex was cleared. It com-prises at least two medium-sized rooms(loci 4 and 15), which represent a youngerphase of the Khabour ware period on thecitadel of Arbid. Bordering these units onthe north were two open areas paved withsherds. The older Khabour phase in thissector is represented by domestic struc-tures, further sections of which werepresently uncovered, including one roomwith a fireplace in one of its corners andanother one with two nearly completeKhabour jars. As these structures are nowsituated on a very steep slope, their south-

Fig. 3. Plan of the Mitannian grave chamber from sector "SS" with position of the pottery finds (Drawing D. Bieliñska and M. Wagner)

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ern walls are preserved much higher thantheir northern counterparts. The footing ofthese walls is still some 1.5 m above thetops of the walls belonging to the 3rd mil-lennium BC "public building", which wasour objective this year. Further to thenorth, we reached the top of the nextKhabour-period layer (Stratum III) in thisarea. It contained some scanty remains ofwalls and a Khabour-period burial witha jar and bronze pin. Deeper still there wasa stratum (IV) composed of tightly packedgray soil with Khabour-ware sherds mixedwith 3rd millennium ceramics, includingsome fragments of Metallic ware andNinevite 5 vessels.

The northeastern corner of the "publicbuilding" and remains of the northernouter wall were uncovered in squares 36/55and 36/56, in the northern part of the sec-tor, although due to heavy erosion in thisarea, this architecture was quite poorlypreserved. Below a massive buttress rein-forcing the north side of this corner theremains of a yet more massive older build-ing were observed, similarly as in otherparts of the "public building". The evenmore poorly preserved northern outer wallappears to be discontinued at the edge ofsquare 35/56; it was destroyed here appar-ently not only by slope erosion, but also bylater pits and structures. The potteryassemblage from the ash-filled pits, pre-sumably Akkadian and post-Akkadian,dates to the very end of the 3rd millenni-um BC. While more research is needed, itis probable that these rubbish dumps cor-

respond to occupation of the Arbid citadelthat has not been evidenced as yet in thearchaeological record.

In an attempt to locate the hypotheticalsoutheastern corner of the "public build-ing", a new trench (7 x 4 m) was openedimmediately to the south of the old "S"trench, partly in square. 37/55 and partlyin 37/56. Cutting through the thick accu-mulation of ashes that we knew had cov-ered the already exposed southern part ofthis structure, we discovered, in the top-most layer, a well preserved Khabour wareperiod kiln surrounded by thick deposits ofashes of the same sort as those overlyingthe "public building". The kiln had beenrebuilt at least once. Underneath it wefinally reached the tops of the walls of the"public building", although massive dam-ages caused by an extensive round pit filledwith brick debris preclude for the presentany identification of the remains, that is,whether it is the searched-for outer cornerof the building or simply the place wherean inner wall running west joins the outereastern wall. It may even have been theeastern entrance to the building to judgeby the thick layer of plaster observed onthe buttress projecting to the south. In anycase, it is now known that the eastern outerwall of the so-called "public building" wasat least 12 m long.

At the southern edge of this trench, thelayer superimposed on the "public building"architecture yielded some remains of brickstructures with partly preserved floors. Nodating elements are in evidence as yet.

As indicated above, some of the old trench-es located at mid-slope, more precisely insquares: 36/60, 36/61 and 36/62 (wherelast year some fragments of Khabour wareperiod structures had been uncovered) were

enlarged and a new square 35/62 wasopened (Fig. 4). The total explored surfacein this sector, labeled "SR", has reached250 m2. In square 36/60, last year's trenchwas extended eastward with the purpose of

AREA "SR"

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Fig. 4. General view of area "SR" at the beginning of the 1999 campaign(Photo A. Reiche)

reaching the western border of the so-called "House 1" that had been uncoveredpreviously in squares 36/61 and 36/62. Wewere also interested in clarifying the rela-tion between the pisé retaining walls foundlast year in square 36/60 and the Khabourware period structures found east of them. Following the 1999 campaign, we nowhave a complete plan of "House 1", whichis in fact much narrower northwards thanwe had expected at the end of the previousseason. The inhabitants of "House 1" orig-inally had three rooms (loci 1, 13, and 14)at their disposal and some open space thatthey also used to the north and west of thebuilding. This space, of a size as yet unde-termined, contained a tannur and installa-tions intended most probably for draining

waste water. Initially, the biggest unit inthis building was locus 13 measuringc. 7.7 x 3.5 m. The only preserved furnish-ing in this room is a small platform witha clay hearth. One doorway led to locus 1,which measured 3.1 x 2.7 m, the other tolocus 14, which also contained theentrance to the house. The latter room,c. 2.8 x 3.6 m, had a low bench in one ofthe corners. In the second phase, which wasalso the last occupational phase of thebuilding, some significant changes wereintroduced in its plan. The open space tothe west of locus 14 was closed witha thick wall running at an angle to thehouse axis and much thicker than thehouse walls. The area which was thus cutoff does not form a regular courtyard.

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Fig. 6. Some of the clay models of furniture found in locus 6(Photo A. Reiche)

Fig. 5. Clay bench in locus 6 of House 1 with objects of unbaked clay found on it(Photo A. Reiche)

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Indeed, one has the impression that it waserected mainly to protect the area from thenumerous nearby rubbish and ash heapsspilling into it. In the house itself, the latephase is represented by new floors in loci 1and 13, new bigger benches and two parti-tion walls dividing locus 13 into three small-er units: loci 2, 6 and 21. The last of the threeis hardly a room in the ordinary sense, as it isless than half a meter wide. It is more likelyin this particular case that the purpose was toreinforce one of the older walls.

A discovery of considerable interestwas made in the new locus 6. More than30 objects of unbaked clay were found ona wide low bench by the west wall(Fig. 5). Apart from a fairly primitive,presumably female clay figurine, the setincluded three models of stools, severalmodels of vessels (some ornamented withincisions), three models of tables (includ-ing a round table and one on three legs)and a few objects that are difficult toidentify (Fig. 6). A model of a bed andsome miniature vessels of unbaked claywere found in this room in 1998.2) Many

of these objects are not very well pre-served and further cleaning and restora-tion may give us some more full exam-ples. It is noteworthy that the furnituremodels, as well as the miniature vesselsare decorated with notching and pricking.However, these are not models of a reli-gious significance, but rather a set of toysthat a child had played with in House 1already after the house had been aban-doned. The fact that the floors in theother units were found cleared of every-thing speaks in favor of the models find-ing their way into locus 6 already after theabandonment of the building. Beside thetoys, only two Khabour ware vessels werefound in all of the structure, both of themdating to the phase when the ruins of theabandoned building started filling up.

Investigations in the western part of the"SR" sector confirmed that the pisé plat-forms in square 36/60, discovered in theprevious season, had as one of their purpos-es the task of protecting the Khaburiandwelling quarter at their feet from the soilsliding down the citadel slopes.

2) Cf. PAM X, Reports 1998 (1999), 212.

AREA "SD"

The new sector, labeled "SD", lies at thefoot of the eastern slope of the Arbidcitadel. A new square (37/65) was openedsouth of 36/65, enlarging a trench investi-gated there last year. The work here wasa continuation of last year's, which hadrevealed a sequence of 3rd millennium BCdomestic structures. As before, so in square36/65 the upper layers from the 3rd mil-lennium BC could be traced only in thewestern part of the trench due to slope ero-sion. These layers were poorly preservedanyway and yielded, beside pottery and

remains of floors, some sections of mud-brick walls.

The first layer to be preserved in bet-ter condition all over square 36/65,including architecture, was our stratumIV (Fig. 7). It had been designated asStratum III in this sector after the previ-ous campaign, but a careful study of thestratigraphy in longer sections of trenchwalls indicated that it was in fact thefourth layer and should be dated to thevery end of the Early Dynastic or the earlyAkkadian period. Further sections of the

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Fig. 7. General plan of Stratum IV in sector "SD". Loci situated in square 36/65 marked withan "a" (Drawing P. Bieliñski, D. £awecka, C. Suter; ink drawing M. Wagner)

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Fig. 8. General view of square 36/65 (sector "SD") at the close of the 1999 season(Photo A. Reiche)

dwelling quarter here were uncovered inthe present season.3)

Beside the large courtyard and adjoin-ing room revealed last year, the structurecomprised at least another six units(Fig. 8), including one more sherd-pavedcourtyard (locus 24a), store rooms withtwo big storage vessels (locus 20a), roomswith some platforms and benches (locus22a) and presumably one more domesticcourtyard with a tannur (locus 23 a). Thiscomplex is much bigger than anticipatedwith a 12-meter north-south span at least.Only its southern limit was identified –here the building joined another dwelling

complex, already in square 37/65, whichit has been assumed comprised fragmentsof a few smaller structures (Fig. 8). Thebiggest of these was a house of theAkkadian period uncovered in Stratum IIIin this square; it was composed of at leastfour rooms (loci 18, 19, 25, 29). It looksas if had been erected against the stillstanding southern wall of the vast housein square 36/65. Of the units comprisingthe Akkadian house, locus 19 was mostprobably a courtyard. An interestingassemblage of Akkadian vessels and frag-ments of vessels was found on the floor oflocus 18.

3) Cf. PAM X, Reports 1998 (1999), 213.

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A number of child burials of the 3rdmillennium BC was discovered in thissector over the course of the season. Someof these were buried in simple pits, othersin brick boxes, one in a cooking pot. The

condition of the 3rd millennium BCdwelling quarter uncovered in the sectoris such that it inclines us to continueexplorations in this part of the citadel inthe future.

AREA "D"

As stated above, a new area ("D") wasopened in the northwestern part of themain tell, in what is referred to as theupper city. Three trenches were traced insquares 32/44, 32/45 and 33/46, coveringlike on a chessboard quite a large part ofground at the foot of the citadel. Theobjective of our work, carried out mostlyby our American and Austrian colleagues,was to observe the principles of spaceorganization in the lower city of Tell Arbidin the 2nd and 3rd millennium BC.Unfortunately, the area under explorationrevealed no architectural remains, but onlylayers of tightly packed clay with littleceramics. Consequently, we focused on anarea further northwest, where an obviousgap in the lower-city terrace suggested thepossibility of a city gate being locatedthere.

As a result, a set of trenches was openedin squares 28/42, 28/43/, 29/42, 29/43 and30/43, bringing to light a fairly compactdistrict of 3rd millennium BC architec-

ture. Erosion and much later burials ofHellenistic date had largely destroyedthese structures in the northwestern cornerof the sector. In one of the best preserved ofthese burials remnants of a silver coin werefound, along with a clay wine jar anda brown bowl together with a fine bronzescoop. Layers in the southern end of thesetrenches come from the end of the EarlyDynastic period, while in the northern endfragments of structures from the Ninivite5 period were uncovered. The relativelysmall units appear to have belonged to sep-arate houses. It is noteworthy that indus-trial installations of various kinds, such asfor milling, have been discovered in thesestrata.

Investigations in this sector haveraised new issues, like, for instance, thelocalization of the Arbid fortifications ofthe 2nd millennium BC, indicating atthe same time the considerable extent ofthe 3rd millennium BC town on TellArbid.