“Urkesh as a Hurrian Religious Center,”
Studi Micenei ed Egeo-Anatolici 47, pp. 27-59.
The results of the 17th excavation season (2004) at Tell Mozan are here reported. The focus is firstly on the peculiar role of Urkesh (from, at least, the third millennium BC) as a Hurrian religious center.
After having completed the building of the Excavation House [paragraph 1], the UCLA’s team (joined by some members of the DOG) aimed in this season to better investigate and clarify the ethnic valence of Urkesh’s sacral and political spaces: the Temple Terrace (together with the ābi) and the Royal Palace, respectively [paragraph 2]; the Temple Terrace, composed by the main High Temple of Kumarbi and the vast open plaza were strictly linked to the Royal Palace and the ābi, with a progressive shifting of political importance from the temple to the palace, which was probably abandoned in a later time when a settlement (represented by private houses) developed on the top of the palace area.
Five phases related to this settlement have been detected, dating from 2100 BC (Ur III period) to 1400 BC (Middle Babylonian period).
Paragraph 3 investigates the architectural layout of this area (AA), mostly during the Mittanian period (sub-paragraph 3.1), and a reconstruction of the Temple Terrace is presented (sub-paragraph 3.2, on the base of work of C. Fornari): 1) a primary ‘apron’; 2) a retaining wall; 3) a secondary ‘apron’; 4) a primary wall; 5) a staircase and 6) top towers. L. Ramos describes in paragraph 4 the burials of the Khabur and the Mittanian periods in an area (AA) characterized by a richness of graves (from the late third millennium BC to the Islamic period); two most relevant aspects must be underlined: 1) the presence of some rituals similar to the kispum ceremony attested in Mesopotamian texts and 2) the attestation of practices of secondary burial.
Paragraph 5 offers a stratigraphic sequence mixing data from areas AA and J2: 1) phase 6a: missing houses (in the Western sector of the mound); 2) phase 6b: expansion of the settlement towards the East; 3) phase 6a/b: burials; archaeological elements can suggest a short transition from the Khabur to the Mittanian horizons, and an absolute chronology can be advanced, tentatively attributing phase 6a to the time of Parattarna I and phase 6b to Sauštatar (around 1500 BC and 1450 BC, respectively. A relative chronology of the Temple Terrace is also presented in sub-paragraph 5.4, while the following sub-paragraph (5.5) describes the stratigraphic sequence of the ābi (situated in area A14, along the southern wall of the service wing AK of the Royal Palace AP [see The palace] and interpreted as a necromantic structure introduced by an access equated to a KASKAL.KUR [see The ābi]): in total, seven accumulations have been detected.
Paragraph 6 presents some major finds: 1) a sealing revealing the name of a new endan of Urkesh, named Ishar-kīnum (A14.239 [see photographs at Photographs and drawings: A14 items], similar to Tupkish’s sealing k2), maybe Tar’am-Agade’s son, who was probably contemporary to Shar-kali-sharri; 2) some copper based objects from Mittanian strata in area A18, including some pins, a small dagger (A18.45) a gold hair ornament (A18.63) a hollow gold object (A18.60, a bead or a pendant); 3) around one hundred oblong clay artifacts, whose function is unclear [see photographs at Photographs and drawings: A18 items]. Sub-paragraph 6.3 deals with pottery, focusing on floor A14a20 (insisting on an area in front of the ābi), where 37 whole vessels were found together with two jars with an unusual shape (A14.122 and A14.218) and with a medium size bright red painted jar (A14.116) [see photographs at Photographs and drawings: A14 items].
Paragraph 7 offers new insights into Urkesh’s history: sub-paragraph 7.1 focuses on the temple BA (whose construction started in ED III [see The temple]) and the Royal Palace AP (built by Tupkish around 2250 BC, probably with a predecessor in the same area); sub-paragraph 7.2 includes and discusses the position of Ishar-kīnum in the royal list of the city (where seven endans are attested, so far): the Akkadian origin of his name could be explained with 1) the contemporary presence of a dual name or 2) recognizing Ishar-kīnum as Tar’am-Agade’s son; sub-paragraph 7.3 describes the end of Urkesh, with the coming of the Assyrians.
Paragraph 8 is devoted to the description of conservation programs at Urkesh [for which, see Preservation].