“Models of Covered Wagons from Tell Mozan/Urkesh,”
Annali Universitá degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”, Vol. 74 (2014), pp. 1-16.
The contribution presents an investigation about four fragments of terracotta models of covered vehicles found at Tell Mozan/Urkesh, dating back to the 3rd millennium BC and belonging to the so-called “Type VI – Four-wheeled covered vehicle”. The author presents a comparison of this material with other artefacts found in other sites of Syria, Southern Anatolia and Northern Mesopotamia. The four fragments found at Urkesh were labelled as J3q901.1, J02q616-p1, J02q608-p13 and A10.46. Despite the fact that “the Tell Mozan’s specimens are too small to make an accurate typological comparison, however some remarkable points have been noted:
1) J3q901.1 is the best preserved model and shows a basically squared superstructure. Clear comparisons were not detected for this kind of model, however a close parallel to J3q901.1 has been noted in glyptic representations […].
2) J02q616-p1 belongs to the first sub-type of models of covered vehicles and its morphology and decoration are comparable to those of Tepe Gawra example.
3) J02q608-p13 is too damaged for a morphological comparison, however its decoration evokes the Hama model.
4) A10.46 belongs to the second sub-type of covered vehicle models. This fragment is the only one to have a precise comparison in the models from Tell Brak (nos. 25-26, see below)” (pp. 7-8).
After a close comparison throughout bronze models, glyptic, written sources and full-size vehicles, the author concludes that “these vehicles were probably movable platform used in cultic contexts, rather than real means of transport” (p. 10), and that “these wagons represent a small separate category of wheeled-vehicles, probably used by elites” (p. 11), adding that “this type of vehicle may be considered a movable platform rather than an actual covered wagon” (p. 12).
In the end, about the actual use of those artefacts, the author concludes that “these vehicles were employed in cultic rituals, perhaps for the carriage of the divine statues in procession to the city temple” (p. 13); in the author’s mind, these objects represent “a bridgehead between the Mesopotamian and the Trans-Caucasian worlds and probably played a leading role in the evolution and diffusion of covered vehicles” (p. 13).