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G. Buccellati, November 2002.
L. Recht, December 2013.


Mozan 1

The Soundings of the First Two Seasons
Giorgio Buccellati and Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati
Mozan 1
Bibliotheca Mesopotamica 20, Malibu: Undena Publications, 1988.
PDF (17.9 MB)


      Preliminary soundings were conducted at Tell Mozan in the north-central portion of the Khabur plains in 1984 and 1985. The site has proven to be a major urban settlement of the third millennium and early part of the second millennium, with the possibility that it may correspond to ancient Urkish, known to have been a major Hurrian center in the early periods.

      This volume reports on the finds made as well as on various aspects of research goals of the project. After a presentation of the environmental, historical, archaeological and methodological considerations which provide the project its special scope, the following topics are covered: the two surface surveys of the High Mound and Outer City respectively; the excavations of the City Wall at the base, and of a stone building at the top of the High Mound; the artifacts found during the excavations, with special reference to an important group of seal impressions mostly on door sealings; paleobotanical and C samples; the beginning of a regional survey in the immediate vicinity of Tell Mozan; an art historical discussion (by O.W. Muscarella) of the Urkish lion pegs preserved in the Louvre and the Metropolitan Museum of Art; and the application of computer aided design techniques to a study of the stone building on top of the High Mound. More than 200 objects are given in line drawings, and more than 50 black-and-white photographs illustrate various aspects of the report.

     Besides the main authors, other authors represented include S. Hughey, J. Thompson-Miragliuolo, G. Bunnens and A. Roobaert, K. Galvin, L. Mount-Williams, O. Muscarella, P. Meyers, and A. Parker.