|
©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ziyaret Tepe |
|
|
For site maps and drawings please click on the picture...  |
For photographs please click on the photo...  |
|
Type:
|
Mound |
|
Altitude:
|
500 m |
|
Region:
|
Southeastern Anatolia |
|
Province:
|
Diyarbakir |
|
District:
|
Bismil |
|
Village:
|
Tepe |
|
Investigation Method:
|
Excavation |
|
Period:
|
|
|
|
|
  |
|
| Location: It is located 20 km west of the joining point of Tigris and Batman rivers; immediate east of the town of Tepe; east of the district of Bismil in the province of Diyarbakir. The mound; which lies on the southern bank of Tigris; will be on the edge of the dam lake after the construction of Ilisu Dam and it is reported that the site may be partly effected as the water level rises [Matney 1998:7]. |
| Geography and Environment: It is one of the large mounds that lie on the wide and low terraces to the north and south of Tigris flood plain. The mound is located in a fertile area as well as at a strategical point that controls the east-west traffic on the Tigris. A modern road passes from the immediate north of it. The settlement consists of a mound (acropolis) on the northern section and a lower town covering an area of 29 hectares on three sides of it. The mound itself covers 3 hectares and rises about 22 m above the plain level [Matney 1998:8]. It is reported that there is a modern cemetery area and illicit digging pits to the north of the mound; and that the villagers are removing stones from it. The southern section of the mound was also cut during the construction of a road [Matney 1998:15; Matney-Somers 1999:203; 208]. |
| History: |
| Research and Excavation: The mound was first discovered by Kessler in 1980 and revisited by G. Algaze during the Survey of Ilisu dam reservoir in 1989. In 1997 a team leaded by T. Matney and contributed by Algaze started a sysktematical survey in three different locations consisting of the hill; lower town and the slopes. In 1998 four different areas of the site were scanned using magnetic methods. It is reported that top excavations will be initiated in 2001 [Matney-Somers 1999:206;213]. During the 2002 season; a long sequence dating to the EBA was determined but no well-preserved architecture was encountered. Therefore; the EBA settlement of the mound is only represented by potsherds belonging to metallic wares and a glazed steatite cylindrical seal. It takes place in the registered archaeological sites list prepared by Ministry of Culture and Tourism. |
| Stratigraphy: It is reported that the most intense occupation of Ziyaret Tepe was during the Middle and Neo Assyrian periods and the site was an important garrison town with an acropolis and a lower town. Although the site has not been excavated yet; according to the surface material the chronology is as follows: Late Neolithic/Early Chalcolithic Period (ca. 6000 - 5000) Middle Bronze Age (ca. 2000 Ð 1600) Late Bronze Age (ca. 1300 Ð 1200/1100) Early Iron Age (ca. MÖ 1200/1100 Ð 900) Late Iron Age (ca. MÖ 900 Ð 600) Late Roman Sassanid/Early Islamic Period [Matney 1998:11-14]. Based on the surface finds; it is reported that the mound was not occupied after the Iron Age; and the northern and western slopes yielded Late Neolithic/Early Chalcolithic material while these early finds were not encountered on the southern slope. The lower town also does not include Late Neolithic/Early Chalcolithic material [Matney 1998:15-17]. Finds that can be dated to the Late Chalcolithic and EBA were not found. Opinions on the stratigraphy have changed with the further excavations in 2002. In earlier reports; it was suggested that the earliest occupation of the site dated to the late Neolithic or early Chalcolithic periods based on the presence of crude; hand-made ceramics found during surface survey in 1997. Subsequent excavation of the lowest portion of a long step-trench in Operation E during the 2002 field season suggests that this material may have misdated; as considerable hand-made ware was found within 3rd millennium BC levels. Based on this finding; the revised understanding is that Ziyaret Tepe has a nearly unbroken occupational sequence from the early third millennium BC through the Late Assyrian period [Matney 2004:163-164]. |
| Small Finds: Pottery: Some of the potsherds collected during 1997 survey was dated to Late Neolithic/Early Chalcolithic at first; but then this dating changed after the EBA layers yielded the same material during 2002 season excavations. It is reported that the small number of material at the beginning consisted of typical hand-made coarse; straw-tempered potsherds. Some sherds included grit temper. The cores were dark grey due to under firing. The surface colors were generally brown; there were some orange examples as well. The surfaces were burnished horizontally and one sherd was having triangular impressed decoration [Matney 1998:11; fig 4:4]. The most common forms were simple rimmed open vessels and inverted rimmed closed forms. A single sherd belonging to a Halafian ware with a clean grey paste and dark brown paint was also found [Matney 1998:11]. During 2004 season excavations below the MBA building called "Brightly Burned Building" in Operation E were a series of pebble floors and surfaces associated with a mudbrick wall. The most characteristic potsherds found in these layers are hemispherical Dark Rimmed Orange Bowls; which are most common in the Upper Tigris region but are also found at several sites in northeast Syria. In the middle section of the lower part of step trench (Areas 0B and 0C) the excavation of several pits yielded a valuable collection of EBA ceramics. In Area 1A the earlier occupation levels were cut by the foundation for a thick mudbrick wall (over 5 m wide). This wall was probably an encircling wall for citadel. The bulk of the pottery found in the wall dates to the early part of the EBA. Cut by this wall is an ashy floor with smashed pots and three firedogs (andirons). The EBA pottery includes pedestal bowls and sherds with pattern-burnish and many other types of surface decoration. The lowest steps of Operation E consist of wash derived from higher up the slope. From these layers comes the only fragment of a bevelled rim bowl found at Ziyaret Tepe [Matney 2006:118-119]. |
| Remains: |
| Interpretation and Dating: |
