Bibliography

A comparative overview

Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati – February 2024

Overview

This bibliography encompasses the most extensively excavated sites in the Syro-Mesopotamian region of the Khabur river (Upper Khabur river basin also sometimes called the Khabur Triangle). These are therefore the sites closest geographically to Mozan/Urkesh including Tell Arbit, Chagar Bazar, Tell Brak, Tell Barri, Tell Beydar, Tell Leilan, Tell Muhammed Diyab and Hamoukar.

For the ceramic results of the excavations of the German team at Mozan/Urkesh see Bianchi 2012 and Schmidt 2012.

There are two aspects of this comparative bibliography underpinning: one has to do with methodology and the other comparative material.

For the methodological part we plan to have a special edition in CAR 2.

For the comparative material there will be a second edition of this website.

My main purpose with this first edition of the Ceramic book is to present in detail my organization of the material and the substantive aspects of the Urkesh corpus as excavated under my direction. By way of example of what will be done in the Ceramics book 2 I present below an example of a publication that includes the ceramics from one excavation area in Tell Arbit with some comparative points between Mozan/Urkesh ceramics and Arbit examples.

Anna Smogorzewska, 2018 Tell Arbit, House and household in a changing town. Excavations in Area D. Warsaw: Polish Center of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw.

Introduction

Tell Arbit is one of the excavated archaeological sites nearest to Tell Mozan/Urkesh. It has been excavated by a Syrian/Polish expedition starting in 1996 and continuing yearly until the Syrian war which began in March 2011.

Geography and history

Tell Arbit is located in the Khabur Triangle about 25 km south of Tell Mozan. Even though the site remained occupied in the Akkadian period when the dynasty of Tupkish held sway in Urkesh, we do not yet know the ancient name of the site.

The main occupation of the site was in the Ninevite V period (EJZ1-2). And continued into the ED III period. The site endured but to a lesser extent in the Akkadian period (EJZ4), with occupation following but gradually decreasing into the Post-Akkadian (EJZ5), followed by the Khabur and Mittani periods. While scatted remains of even later periods have been found in Arbit the main comparative ceramics for the extensive corpus from Urkesh/Mozan came from the Bronze Age. This publication centers on Area D which is located in the Lower city of Arbit, on the northwestern periphery of the site. In Area D a housing area was uncovered as part of what the Polish/Syrian team consider a medium size town.

Ceramics in area D

Within the contexts of the excavation of Area D there were 2842 diagnostic sherds and whole vessels documented. These excavated ceramics from the site were classified grounded on typological and technological categories. Morphological categories based on shape types represented by this corpus were ordered on whether they are bowls, jars, pots or other shapes. Technological categories considered the ceramics from the viewpoint of fabric, forming methods, color, surface treatment and firing. All these categories used by them to describe the ceramics are discussed in the volume in detail.

The wares are divided into fine ware, common ware and coarse ware and are further divided into specific groups. The study of their wares led to further categorization depending on such evidence as fabric, surface treatment, color, firing, decoration and distinct shapes. This analysis resulted in them identifying a number of specific classes: Metallic Ware, Kitchen Ware (Pebble Tempered ware in Mozan), North-Mesopotamian Grey Ware, Euphrates Banded Ware, Jezirah Bichrome Ware (MZ called by the southern term Scarlet ware) and Jezirah Burnished Ware.

Similarities with ceramics from Mozan/Urkesh

In Mozan/Urkesh excavated ceramics dating to the late Ninevite V period (ED II) came mainly from tombs in the Outer City (Oa4 and Ob1).

ED III pottery was mainly found in Temple BA, excavation units OH2 and K1 and the surface of OD50 in the Outer City. The catalogs from these two time periods are found in the Shapes by Horizon section of the UGR Right Hand Side. For the ED II catalog see (chttps://urkesh.org/MZ/A/TCR/TEXTS/C1/Ninevite%205/ed2-intro.htm). For the ED III catalog see the dedicated webpage.

The second edition of this website will focus on the comparative material from sites in the Khabur Triangle. As an example it will compare the Ninevite V material from Arbit with the pottery from this period excavated in Mozan/Urkesh. For instance in Mozan there were a number of conical cups. These cups and their sub-types from this period are illustrated in the cups portion of the ED II catalog. Fewer appeared to have been excavated in Area D. there they are categorized as bowls, see Smogorzewska, 2018 pp. 113 FB.5.F. In Arbit the ware of these shapes is called Fine ware while in Mozan the term is Simple ware.

Another example of comparative nature is a type of stand painted in two colors. In Mozan this ware is called by the name of Scarlet ware; the name used in southern Mesopotamia while in Arbit it is categorized as Jezirah Bichrome ware, see Smogorzewska, 2018 pp. 134-5. While these Scarlet ware painted vessels and stands are found in southern Mesopotmia, in the Khabur region this painting is only found on stands.