Preface to Unit J6

Patrizia Camatta – August 2010

For full bibliographical information see Front Matter.

J6 at a glance

J6 belongs in area JP, which comprehends the lower monumental architecture of the Temple Terrace, separating the temple mound (Area B), from the plaza (Area J). Other excavation units closely related to J6 are units J2, J7, C2. The excavation in J6 has exposed the south-eastern end of the Temple Terrace. The Revetment Wall is the main architecture in J6. It separates the mound from the plaza and runs east-west in units J5, J3, J2. It is interrupted from the monumental staircase in J2. The wall continues east of the staircase in J6 and makes a bend to the north and delimits the terrace mound to the east. Chronologically, the first excavated strata are represented by a series of surfaces of the temple mound with a maked slope toward southeast, located under the flank wall of the staircaseand date to the middle Third Millennium BC. A continuous layering of walking surfaces dating to the middle of the Third Millennium towards the middle of the Second Millennium are recorded in front of the staircase flank wall and can be correlated to floors of J2 and therefore of the plaza in front of the staircase.

During the Mittani period a mudbrick bin was build east of the staircase, as the staircase was still in use. A main event affecting the J6 unit is the collapse of buildings coming from southeast of J6. The mudbrick debris coverded the southern part of J6 and of J2, causing a first abandonment of the area. After the brickfall a thick layer of accumulations covers the structures.

For a fuller overall introduction see the Overview and the Chronicle.

J6 and the Urkesh Global Record

An overview of the Urkesh Global Record is given elsewhere. In this red section, left of the main page, is possible to read the data of excavation as a traditional publication. It is already a very detailed descriprion of the work done in two years of excavations in unit J6 and organized in paragraphs for the stratigraphy, architecture and foundings. There are schemathic drawings and photos following the text. This part is already interpretative, but is possible to always go back to the primary informations and observations done during excavation through links wich bring to the right side (black), where is the excavation data, which can be used as a database.

The full J6 data appear one year after the closing of the excavations (in September 2008). One year close-up work continued after the close of excavations. This was partly due to the fact that J6 was chosen alongside JP books to serve as a test case for the implementation of the Global Record and this entailed a substantial amount of harmonization and fine-tuning of the system as a whole.
Excavations were reopened in season 2009 and was possible to finish the right side of this book after one month of the end of excavations. This goal was reached working full time in the expedition house with the support of the excavation directirs and continuos confrontation with other people working on other books of the Urkesh Global Record.