Chagar Bazar

Chagar Bazar (Akk. Ašnakkum; Šagir Bazar, Arabic: تل شاغربازار) is a tell, or settlement mound, in northern Al-Hasakah Governorate, Syria. It is a short distance from the major ancient city of Nagar (Tell Brak). The site was occupied from the Halaf period (c. 6100 to 5100 BC) until the middle of the 2nd millennium BC.

Chagar Bazar/Ašnakkum

تل شاغربازار
Shown within Syria
Location	Al-Hasakah Governorate, Syria
Coordinates	36.875971°N 40.897942°E / 36.875971; 40.897942
Type	settlement
Area	12 ha
History
Founded	ca. 6,000 BC
Abandoned	ca. 2,000 BC
Periods	Neolithic
Cultures	chagar culture
Site notes
Excavation dates	1935—1937 1999—2002
Archaeologists	Max Mallowan University of Liège Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums, Augusta McMahon
Ownership	Public
Public access	Yes

Location

Chagar Bazar position in the Khabur River basin

Chagar Bazar is located in Al-Hasakah Governorate, approximately 35 kilometres (22 mi) north of Al-Hasakah, on the Wadi Dara, a tributary to the Khabur River. The ancient site measures approximately 12 hectares (30 acres).

History

Neolithic-Chalcolithic

Chagar Bazar was already settled in the Neolithic. Excavations revealed pottery belonging to the Halaf and Ubaid cultures. ^[1]

Early Bronze

By the Early Bronze Age, in the third millennium BC, Chagar Bazar had turned into a small town with the size of 12 hectares / 30 acres. The site appears to have been abandoned by the end of the third millennium BC.

Middle Bronze

In the Middle Bronze, it was resettled and was known as Ašnakkum in the Old Babylonian period. The town was part of the Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia under Shamshi-Adad I and his son Yasmah-Adad.^[2] Hurrians also occupied the city and fine examples of the Khabur ware pottery dating to this period have been discovered by the excavators.

• Sammetar (c. 1770 BC), king of Asnakkum during the time of Zimri-Lim of Mari.^[3]

Late Bronze

In the Late Bronze, this region was part of the Mitanni Empire.

Archaeology

A pottery sherd. The fragment is painted with a design of wading birds. There is brown paint on creamy clay. From Chagar Bazar, Syria. Halaf period, 6000-5000 BCE. Excavated by Sir Mallowan in 1935

The site contains two mounds, a higher but smaller one to the south and a lower larger northern one. Occupation was Halaf at the northern end then at the southern end in the Late Chalcolithic period followed by full occupation in the 3rd millennium BC. The 2nd millennium BC occupation was restricted to the northern (5 hectare) mound. Chagar Bazar was excavated for three seasons by the British archaeologist Max Mallowan, with his wife Agatha Christie, from 1935 to 1937.^[4][5][6] Many of the artefacts discovered were brought to the British Museum. Besides pottery, a large number of Old Babylonian period clay tablets written in cuneiform script were discovered.^[7][8][9] Work was resumed at the site in 1999 by an expedition from the British School of Archaeology in Iraq in cooperation with University of Liège archaeologists and the Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums.^[10][11][12] During these excavations, which ended in 2002, 214 cuneiform tablets were recovered.

See also

• Cities of the Ancient Near East
• Tell Brak
• Hurrians
• Come, Tell Me How You Live

Bibliography

• C. J. Gadd, "Tablets from Chagar Bazar 1936", Iraq, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 178–185, 1937
• C. J. Gadd, "Tablets from Chagar Bazar and Tell Brak 1937–38", Iraq, vol. 7, pp. 22–61, 1940
• J. E. Curtis, "Some Axe-Heads from Chagar Bazar and Nimrud", Iraq, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 73–81, 1983
• O. Tunca et al., Chagar Bazar (Syrie) I: Les sondages prehistoriques (1999–2001), Peeters, 2006, ISBN 90-429-1796-2
• O. Tunca et al., Chagar Bazar (Syrie) II: Les vestiges post-akkadiens du chantier D et etudes diverses, Peeters, 2007, ISBN 90-429-1948-5
• O. Tunca and A. Baghdo, Chagar Bazar (Syrie) III: Les trouvailles epigraphiques et sigillographiques du chantier I (2000–2002), Peeters, 2008, ISBN 90-429-2089-0
• Tunca, Ö., Bagdhou, a. und Léon, S., "Chagar Bazar (Syrie) IV. Les tombes ordinaires de l’âge du bronze ancien et moyen des chantiers D-f-H-I (1999−2011)", Étude archéologique, Peeters Publishers, 2018 ISBN 978-9042936331
• J. Mas and O. Tunca, "Chagar Bazar (Syrie) V: Les tombes ordinaires de l'âge du Bronze ancien et moyen des chantiers D-F-H-I (1999-2011): La poterie", (Publications de la ... de L'Universite de), Peeters Publishers, 2018 ISBN 978-9042936348
• S. Leon, "Chagar Bazar (Syrie) VI: Les tombes ordinaires de l'âge du Bronze ancien et moyen des chantiers D-F-H-I (1999-2011): Les objets", (Publications de la ... de L'Universite de), Peeters Publishers, 2018 ISBN 978-9042936355
• R Ali and J-M Cordy, "Chagar Bazar (Syrie) VII: Les tombes ordinaires de l'âge du Bronze ancien et moyen des chantiers D-F-H-I (1999-2011): Les Ossements", (Publications de la ... de L'Universite de), Peeters Publishers, 2018 ISBN 978-9042936362
• Tunca, Ö., Bagdhou, A, "Chagar Bazar (Syrie) VIII. Les tombes ordinaires de l’âge du bronze ancien et moyen des chantiers D-f-H-I (1999−2011): Études diverses", Étude archéologique, Peeters Publishers, 2018 ISBN 978-9042936379