2002
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“Mozan/Urkesh: A New Capital in the Northern Djezireh,”
The Syrian Jezira: Cultural Heritage and Interrelations. Proceedings of the International Conference held in Deir ez-Zor, April 22nd-25th, 1996, pp. 127-133.
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The quest for actual ancient Hurrian capitals still retains some troubles: the two Mittanian cities of Waššukanni and Ta’idu (allegedly identified with Tell Fakhariya and Tell Hamidiya respectively) have not yet give direct evidences and until now the only surely (and oldest) identified Hurrian capital is Urkesh/Tell Mozan.
Section 1 describes the stratigraphy, the structure and the function of building AK, an area investigated with the step trench AS [previously interpreted as a royal storehouse and lately as the Royal Palace], where more than 1000 sealings (attributed to around 80 original seals) were discovered (mostly from a single floor deposit labelled A1f113, in Sector B), dating to the Akkadian period (2250-2150 BC) and belonging to Urkesh's king (endan) Tupkish, his main wife Uqnitum and to royal courtiers (the nurse Zamena and an unnamed cook) [for these sealings, see Urkesh Website: Seal Legends].
This important corpus of seal impression is described in the second portion of the section, both for what concerns their textual and iconographical features, determining a peculiar of two Urkesh glyptic styles: the first stressing the dynastic program of the royal family and the second “characterized by the inclusion of stock elements” (p. 132).
[M. De Pietri – November 2019]
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