The earliest attested features in Unit A6 date to Phase 6mAAH, during which fire installations were uncovered, including a tannur and a hearth, and some other buildings in the southern section of the unit, in addition to a group of seal impressions attributed to the reign of King Tupkish in the late third millennium B.C. In this study, the Akkadian period has been divided into three stages: the early phase, represented by Phase 6mAAH, the middle Phase 6hAAH , and the late Phase 6cAAH . The focus here is on the early stage Phase 6mAAH, given the clarity of its archaeological record and the abundance of data, which provided the research team with precise information. The unit also revealed evidence of earlier occupations predating the use of the palace in the time of Tupkish, represented by Phase 6sAAH, which corresponds to the EDIII period. During this phase, compact accumulations were found beneath one of the rooms of the royal kitchen, and the discovered seal impressions allowed for the tracing of settlement sequences at the site.
Phase 6mAAH began with a period of prosperity associated with the palace’s use. This was followed by a stage in which the palace lost its official function or was abandoned Phase 5cAAH, as indicated by the collapse of walls and the presence of pits from later phases that cut into the kitchen walls. Over time, the unit was transformed into an area of scattered and intermittent occupation during Phase 4mAAH, dated to the Ur III and Isin-Larsa periods, as well as subsequent phases within the same chronological framework. In Phase 4kAAH, in addition to scattered settlement, several burials and pits were attested , some of which cut through walls from earlier phases. By Phase 4jAAH, the unit had been converted into a refuse dump, a function that persisted and expanded in Phase 4cAAH, where waste deposits accumulated alongside natural wadi accumulations.
Back to top: Overview