Urkesh

Urkesh, also transliterated Urkish (Akkadian: 𒌨𒆧𒆠 UR.KIŠ^KI, 𒌨𒋙𒀭𒄲𒆠 UR.KEŠ₃^KI; modern Tell Mozan; Arabic: تل موزان), is a tell, or settlement mound, located in the foothills of the Taurus Mountains (in the area of upper Khabur River basin) in Al-Hasakah Governorate, northeastern Syria. Urkesh was one of the oldest city of the Ancient Near East, originating in the fourth millennium BC. Its importance is due to the fact that it is the only third millennium B.C. urban centre known so far which can be considered wholly Hurrian.^[1]

Urkesh

View of Tell Mozan from the north.
Urkesh Shown within Syria Show map of Syria Urkesh Urkesh (Near East) Show map of Near East
Alternative name	Tell Mozan
Location	Al-Hasakah Governorate, Syria
Region	Taurus Mountains
Coordinates	37°3′25″N 40°59′50″E
Type	Settlement
History
Founded	4th millennium BC
Abandoned	1200 BC
Site notes
Condition	In ruins

Geography

Map of the Khabur Basin during the Bronze Age showing the location of Tell Mozan and Tell Brak.

Urkesh is located within the narrow strip of land flanking the lower ridges of the Taurus mountains, known as the Tur-Abdin. This area forms an arc at the southern edge of a mountainous area, extending north into the Anatolian plateau: within this space all the materials that were essential to early urban civilization were found, mostly copper, timber and stone. Hurrian cities were relatively few, but they were strategically located along the arc that controlled access to the mountains. It has been called the Hurrian urban ledge.

Urkesh was situated at a crucial crossroads of the north-south trade route between Anatolia and the cities of Syria and Mesopotamia, and the east-west route that linked the Mediterranean with the Zagros Mountains of western Iran.

The cultural uniqueness of Urkesh is partly due to its geographical position: being placed against the mountains, it combined the urban potential of the plains with the ability to exploit the less easily accessible resources of the highlands. Moreover, the city was situated in a privileged climatic niche, with abundant rainfall and a rich water table, which allowed for a very productive dry-farming regime.

History

During the Halaf-Period, around 5000 BCE., there is scanty evidence of  human presence at the site: only isolated items have been found by archaeologists, which might indicate a transient occupation. Afterwards, Hurrians entered Mesopotamia, settling in present-day northern Syria.

The first monumental buildings of the city is a temple terrace and a niche building at its top, dating back to 3500 BCE:^[2] thus, by then Urkesh was already a major centre, a capital city that controlled quite a large region. Its first outer walls were built around 2700 BCE. The city showed its peculiar Hurrian identity ever since the beginning of its history, not only through the dedication of the main temple to the god Kumarbi but also with a unique architectural structure which was known with the Hurrian name “abi”.

When the Akkadian Empire was founded in southern Mesopotamia, shortly after the half of the third millennium B.C.., Urkesh was the only major Syrian city that was not conquered: its kings were, instead, linked to the Akkadian dynasty through strategic matrimonial alliances. This choice was probably due to the fact that Urkesh controlled the access routes to the mining resources in the mountains to the north, a kind of regional power which Akkad could not easily have replaced.

One of Naram-Sin’s daughter, Tar’am-Agade, was married to the king of Urkesh:^[3] the ruler of Akkad, while widening his control to the northern and western regions of Mesopotamia, had interest in creating a direct relationship in this area, within the frame of a political conflict which saw Ebla, Mari and Nagar against his empire. Naram-Sin decided, in a similar vein, to ally with Elam, in the Zagros mountains to the east, as well as with Urkesh. By 2500 B.C., Urkesh was a large urban center occupying almost 300 acres, one of the largest in Syria during this period. In this same period, the big palatial building was built in the lower part of the Tell.

After the rapid collapse of the Akkadian state during Shar-kali-sharri’s reign, Hurrians in the north of Syria created a small state named "Urkesh and Nawar"; the city life continued without interruptions all along the Old Babylonian period.

The importance of Urkesh for this whole region is confirmed by the fact that several kings are known from this city, and the Hurrian royal title endan is attested only in connection with this city name. In fact, Urkesh is the only Hurrian city for which a line of kings has been reconstructed.^[4] Their names were: Tish-atal, Tupkish (c. 2250 BC), Shatar-mat, Atal-shen, Ann-atal, (c. 2050 BC).

During the early second millennium B.C., the city passed into the hands of the rulers of Mari, a city a few hundred miles to the south. The king of Urkesh became a vassal (and apparently an appointed puppet) of Mari. The people of Urkesh evidently resented this, as the royal archives at Mari provide evidence of their strong resistance; in one letter, the king of Mari tells his Urkesh counterpart that:

"I did not know that the sons of your city hate you on my account. But you are mine, even if the city of Urkesh is not".

During the Mittani period, many changes were made to the civic settlement and the city remained significant only as a religious site. The first signs of decrease can be spotted on the archaeological ground in this period; the city was finally abandoned in during the Middle-Assyrian time (around 1300 B.C.).

Archaeology

The Louvre lion and accompanying stone tablet bearing the earliest known text in Hurrian

Exploration of Tell Mozan (ancient Urkesh) began when Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati and Giorgio Buccellati searched for evidence of a possible early Hurrian urban presence in northern Syria. One clue was found in two cast bronze lions inscribed in the Hurrian language, that had been sold on the antiquities market in the 1930'es in the northeastern Syrian town of Amuda. The peg-shaped bases suggested that they were parts of a temple foundation deposit. The inscription mentioned the name of a king, Tish-Atal, and the name of the city, Urkesh.^[5]

In 1983 the Buccellatis located the probable site located about 10 km east of Amuda. There was a central core of 18 hectares comprising seven hills elevated 28 meters above the agricultural plain. It later became apparent that this core was in turn surrounded by a lower outer ring enclosing an area of about 300 acres. The site had previously been visited by the British archaeologist, Max Mallowan on his way to excavate Chagar Bazar. An initial ceramics survey of the mound under the direction of the Buccellatis indicated occupation from the Third Millennium to the Mittani period.

Excavations began in 1984, under the aegis of IIAMS – The International Institute for Mesopotamian Area Studies, with an initial two-year permit for an initial exploratory sounding. In the initial phase of the excavations, three major structures were studied. First, a large mudbrick defensive wall and glacis protecting the high mound was exposed. It stood 5 meters high, was 8 meters thick, and had a glacis that extended out from the base an additional 10.5 meters. Sherds near the base of the tell dated to the third millennium. Second, a monumental building at the top of the highest point of the tell was discovered. Assumed to be a temple of bent-axis design, it had a plaster floor and a stone altar, datable to the third millennium. Third, soundings in the vicinity of the outer ring revealed that it was in use at the same time as the high mound. Ceramics indicated use from the Ninevite V period into the second millennium. The excavators concluded that the size and duration of this occupation indicated that it was a trade center and gateway for metals passing from sources in the north through the Tur-Abdin to southern cities.^[6]

On the basis of the results from the initial soundings, a full excavation permit was obtained, and the Buccellatis launched a major effort aimed at developing a comprehensive research project centered around the site.  In 1990, a step trench was cut along the western edge of the mound. At its base, about mid-point of the mound slope, a monumental building was located.  On the basis of over 1,000 seal impressions found within the building it was concluded that the building was a Hurrian royal storehouse used in the late Akkadian period. Four individuals were named: a king, Tupkish; a queen, Uqnitum; a cook, Tuli; and a nurse to the queen, Zamena. King Tupkish was identified as endan Urkesh , thus providing a clear evidence for the identification of the city. Excavations were expanded east and south to reveal a second, ceremonial level, covered with 4 meters of debris from later occupations. More seal impressions identified two succeeding generations of rulers; Tar’am-Agade (daughter of Naram Sin) who was probably married to the crown prince son of Tupkish and Ishar-Kīnum, possibly their son. There were also seal impressions naming other subordinate officials.^[7]

The most unusual discovery was a necromantic structure (abi), shaped like a keyhole inserted over seven meters deep into the ground. The core part of the abi was five meters in diameter and lined with large stones. It was directly adjacent to the palace. Based on texts from other sites it could be determined that this abi served as a conduit to the spirit world.^[8]

In 1998, a German team of the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft , under the direction of Peter Pfälzner, joined the IIMAS team for a period of five years, and began to explore a residential neighborhood in the southeastern sector of the main mound. To positively date it they dug a long trench from the temple to their excavation.  While following the temple stratum they came upon a long, cut stone stairway. The residential neighborhood {give link to https://uni-tuebingen.de/fakultaeten/mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche-fakultaet/fachbereiche/geowissenschaften/arbeitsgruppen/urgeschichte-naturwissenschaftliche-archaeologie/forschungsbereich/archaeobotanik/forschung/tell-mozan.html} gave evidence especially for the Ur III period.

Expanding the excavations in front of the Temple terrace, the IIMAS team exposed a grand entrance to the Temple and a wide, open plaza in front of the Terrace. The plaza’s northern edge was framed by a 5-meter tall revetment wall constructed of large stones. These components formed a ceremonial complex of monumental proportions.^[9] Further excavations revealed that the structures continued to function from the ED III period when it was built until it was completely covered by wind-blown soil in the Mittani period, when a much smaller complex was constructed to the northwest.

As the ceramics and seal impressions from a sounding behind the top of the revetment wall were studied, it became clear that there were much earlier occupation levels directly beneath. A small sounding exposed the corner of a monumental building a few meters under the surface at the top of the mound near the temples. A burial dated the structure to about 3600 B.C., confirming the Middle Uruk date of the seal impressions and the Late Chalcolithic date of the ceramics.^[10] Since this structure was about 25 meters above the agricultural plain, it can be inferred that the original site may have been occupied from several centuries earlier.

Methodology

The project has paid special attention to methodology, along the lines of a theoretical approach that has been applied systematically from the start of the excavations.^[11] It is found in the Urkesh Global Record, which represents an alternative approach to archaeological publishing exploiting the full capabilities of a browser edition urkesh.org. Special emphasis is placed on documenting the concrete types of contact which are observed in the ground. This is done with full detail at the level of each individual element. From this evidence is automatically derived a complete depositional history of all elements in contact. The strata are conceived as segments of this continuum in which a single depositional moment can be reconstructed. The phases are periods that are culturally identifiable on the basis of typological and functional analysis.

Horizons are the broad chronological subdivisions based on comparative material and as they can be linked to the general historical understanding.^[12] The project has received broad recognition, ultimately with the prestigious Balzan Prize, awarded the Buccellatis in 2021.

Site Conservation and Presentation

The archaeological mission at Tell Mozan has always been characterized by a particular effort put in the conservation of its main archaeological features, particularly of the Palace walls and the monumental Temple Terrace.

The procedures followed in the Palace depend mainly on the conditions of the archaeological remains. When no wall is extant, the missing structures have been reconstructed, and marked with a painted hatched pattern to highlight the fact that they are not original. If only the stone foundations of partition walls are still in situ, their outlines are marked with white rods, in order to render the perception of the ancient volumes, without covering or intervening on the existent ancient remains. Finally, wherever the mudbrick walls are extant, independently of how tall or in which state of conservation, they are protected with localized shelters. These consist in a tightly fitted metal structure covered by a well-tailored tarp, which is produced in situ with local materials. This, in addition to preserving the structure, also renders very aptly the sense of the architectural volumes.

Monitoring and maintenance activities are regularly carried out by local staff members, who also maintain the site clean by removing dirt and weeds from the entire archaeological area.

A specific itinerary has been designed for visitors all across the archaeological site, aiming at developing concurrent themes relating to the monuments – the architectural dimension, the archaeological process, the cultural and historical background. The itinerary is displayed through a variety of different panels written in Arabic and English throughout the area, along with a booklet in Kurdish: from simple introductory ones, with concise descriptions, to broad syntheses placed on top of high placed vista points which provide comprehensive overviews of the wider cityscape. In addition, a large number of smaller panels are placed immediately in front of single points of interest.

Trips to the site are arranged by local staff members for schools, villages and University students; one Syrian archaeologist is also trained to guide tourists and visitors on the site.

Urkesh Today

Following the outbreak of the war in Syria in 2011, the Tell Mozan/Urkesh Archaeological Project has developed a whole new approach to public archaeology. Not being able to carry out excavations any more, the archaeological team has involved local communities in the archaeological process, by promoting a series of initiatives which aimed at showing how culture, and archaeology in particular, can become a power motor for social cohesion.

Two foundations are actively engaged in these projects: the American IIMAS –The International Institute for Mesopotamian Area Studies, and the Italian AVASA – Associazione per la Valorizzazione dell’Archeologia e della Storia Antica.

Their proactive role in the protection of the site from external threats has insured that the monuments have remained safe during the Syrian war, and the extensive educational outreach has prevented any act of vandalism. The project’s achievement was recognized at first in 2011, with the Archaeological Institute of America’s Award for Best Practices in Site Preservation,in 2017, through a medal from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and more recently through the Balzan prize.

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Foundation tablet. Dedication to God Nergal by Hurrian king Atalshen, king of Urkish and Nawar, Habur Bassin, circa 2000 BC. Louvre Museum AO 5678.
"Of Nergal the lord of Hawalum, Atal-shen, the caring shepherd, the king of Urkesh and Nawar, the son of Sadar-mat the king, is the builder of the temple of Nergal, the one who overcomes opposition. Let Shamash and Ishtar destroy the seeds of whoever removes this tablet. Shaum-shen is the craftsman."^[13]