.bk J01
.fl T913lC.j
.fd Specific labels
.ed T913
.ei lC
.rd T913
.ri lC

^ esc1
>l f196
>l f309
>l f318
ds Early escarpment built together with the revetment wall f72, the J2 staircase and the other constructive elements forming the big terrace complex. It dates to the ED III and belongs to the big city reorganization of that period. This escarpment abuts the base of the revetment wall and slopes sharply to the south to link the base of the wall with the lower level of the plaza, assumed to be around 8500, the same elevation of the palace court. The J1 escarpment is built reusing earlier material found in that area. It is flat next to the base of the wall, where it is covered by a thick layer of hard clay to protect the wall from water seepage. We assume this layer was covering all the surface of the escarpment but to the south it is not preserved because of the massive erosion caused by the water coming from west. The same escarpment to the west (J5) is built with a series of flat big limestone slabs, creating one of the most impressive elements of the terrace.
A35 v389

^ esc2
>l f239
>l f244
>l f189
>l f303
>l f305
>l f306
>l f299
>l f294
>l f296
ds Later escarpment dating, as the early escarpment, to the ED III. This second escarpment was built on top of the previous one replacing it, too damaged to continue to be used. The aim of this second escarpment was to protect the base of the revetment wall, most of all from the water that damaged the esc1. So, for this reason, it was built much higher than the previous one, covering about half of the height of the revetment wall. It is constructed of dumping material, most of all bricky material inside which many sealing impressions have been found. This material was brought from two directions: from south and from north, likely from the top of the revetment wall. This material filled the big cut f321 made in order to have a better construction of the second escarpment itself.
A35 v394

^ ash2
>l f341
ds Ashy accumulation found on top of wall f288 and to the west of wall f259. It seems that the structure a8 forms a sort of boundary for this ash. It was below the surface of the early escarpment and it is probably linked to the moment of its construction, as the pottery seems showing. It is sharply sloping to the east and in part to the south.

^ wall1
>l f72
ds Revetment wall built along the temple terrace, probably as a protection against the erosion and for aesthetic reasons. In fact it doesn't have any real structural function (see absence of foundation, limited width). It is preserved for about three meters, very likely its original height. It runes east to west for about one hundred meters in the southern side of the terrace fronting the big plaza. To the west, in J5 it makes a sharp round turn to the north, forming the west end of the terrace. It remained visible and used for more than one millennium, without any big structural change.
A35 v218

^ wall2
>l f288
ds Big stone wall running West to East and bonded with wall f259 forming a big structure, likely linked with a Late Chalcolithic mound and plaza. The wall is built with irregular big sized stones, and pebbles to regularize its face. The lower courses are made of bigger stones, better set out in the ground. The wall is slightly inclined to the north and it is built of a single row of stones, probably as a retaining wall. It is about two meters in height, but we don't know how its original height was. Likely it was originally higher, as it shown by the many collapsed stones belonging to f336. The wall is poorly preserved to the west, in part probably for ancient episodes of collapse, in part for later ED III cuts that removed some of its stones.
A35 v438

^ wall3
>l f259
ds Stone wall running north to south bonded with wall f288, forming a big L shaped structure. The wall is built with irregular big sized stones, and smaller stones and pebbles to regularize its face. The lower courses are made of bigger stones, better set out in the ground. It is slightly inclined to the west. Probably it was a sort of coating-retaining wall linked with the accumulations coming from the west, likely brought from the massive water flowing running toward the lower level of the plaza. Probably this wall dates to the Late Chalcolithic and forms the western boundary for the Late Chalcolithic plaza.
A35 v438

^ curt2
>l f168
>l f188
>l f245
>l f246
>l f247
>l f260
>l f314
>l f331
ds Stone wall running east to west almost parallel to the revetment wall f72. This wall is constituted of just a row of stones and it is preserved for two courses. It forms a clear and sharp boundary at the base of the revetment wall. It was built in part against the material belonging to the second escarpment and was resting on Mittani accumulations. Going to the west it became less and less compact till to be formed just by few isolated stones (f314). It also dates to Mittani period.
A35 v108

^ curt1
>l i43
>l i44
>l i45
>l i46
>l f270
ds Series of 5 big stones forming a clear alignment running almost parallel to the big revetment wall f72. These stones are sitting in pavement f240 (v212), just half a meter to the south of one of the sharp edges that characterize the surface of the second escarpment. These stones probably form the first of this kind of Mittani "curtain wall" interpreted as a boundary dividing the people from the base of the revetment wall and the sacred space of the terrace.
A35 v243

^ curt3
>l f180
ds Series of big stones right at the base of the revetment wall. It is not exactly the same of the other two Mittani curtain walls, but probably it can be interpreted in the same way. It forms an alignment of stones parallel to the wall. It also could have been used as a sort of bench. Probably it dates to Mittani period, but the stones are on top of the second escarpment so its date is not sure.
A35 v363

^ cut2
>l f321
ds Big cut dating to ED III, made in order to rebuilt the second escarpment. This cut removed part of the early escarpment, deeply damaged from the erosion. Then it was filled by dumping bricky material. The cut is clear and sharp to the south and to the north, running east to west. Its western edge is less clear and sharp, and in part it can be confused with the water erosion that also removed part of the first escarpment. Moreover to the west the cut is less deep probably because the early escarpment was better preserved thanks to the presence of the wall f259 and the stone escarpment. The eastern edge of the cut is still missing because it goes in the eastern section of J1.
A35 v365

^ cut3
>l f344
ds Cut due to the natural erosion. The water coming from the west excavated a sort of channel inside the natural accumulations and floors dating to the Ninevite 5. This erosion created also a break in the northern part of the stone wall f259. It was later filled by softer accumulations. The baqaya f373 was probably put to try to avoid this problem.
A35 v440

^ pav1
>l f232
ds Pebble and sherd pavement very compact slightly sloping toward south. This is the last clear Mittani pavement used for a certain period of time, as shown by the numerous sherds and bones embedded in its surface. It is sharply different from all the natural accumulations with sherds found at higher elevations in J1. The pavement is stopping exactly to the south of curt2, forming a sort of surface for this open area.
A35 v197

^ pav2
>l f238
>l f240
>l f325
ds Pebble and sherd pavement very compact sharply sloping to the south. This pavement is the earliest Mittani pavement. It is in part overlaying the material of the second escarpment, and in part the also earlier Ninevite 5 floors. It is in general quite sharply sloping to the south and in part also to the west and to the east forming a sort of shallow basin more or less in correspondence of the north to south wall f259. This is probably due to the presence of higher levels to the east (filling of second escarpment) and to the west (Ninevite 5 sloping accumulations). Many sherds and bones were uncovered on top of it. Many sherds belong to Early dynastic and this is likely due to its direct contact with these levels about one millennium earlier. This direct over position shows clearly how the plaza was kept clean for one millennium.
A35 v260
A35 v388

^ cut1
>l f377
ds Cut made to the south of LC structure ^str1. We don't have any direct evidence for this cut because of the later ED III cut and because we didn't finish to remove the material filling it. Next excavtion to the south will clarify its shape and dimension. We can safely assume its presence because of the stratigraphy and the direct over position of ED III materials on top of Late Chalcolithic accumulations with a clear lack of Ninevite 5 material. We don't know why a so deep cut was dug at the base of the place were the big revetment wall was going to be built.