©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project

Salat Tepe

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Salat Tepe
Type:
 Mound
Altitude:
 510 m
Region:
 Southeastern Anatolia
Province:
 Diyarbakir
District:
 Bismil
Village:
 Yukarisalat
Investigation Method:
 Excavation
Period:
 Early Iron Age New Assyrian Empire Period

     

Location: The site is located southeast of Yukarisalat Beldesi; in the district center of Bismil in the province of Diyarbakir. Salat Tepe is situated where the Salat Çay; a tributary of the Tigris flowing from the north; begins to wind towards the east; 14 km from Bismil and 35 km from the town of Batman.
Geography and Environment: The mound measures 115x100 m and; at a height of 555 m above sea level; rises 30 m above the valley floor; overlooking the valley and the plain. To the east of the site is Misevre Tepe and to the south is Ziyaret Tepe. The north of the plain is known as the "Mollaali Gölü Mevkii" and the northwest as the "Sor Gölü Mevkii" [Ökse 1999:345].
History:
Research and Excavation: Salat Tepe was first investigated by G. Algaze et al. in 1989 during the surveys conducted in the region. It was comprehensively surveyed again by a team under the direction of T. Ökse in 1998 and 1999. A salvage excavation was performed by Diyarbakir Museum under the direction of T. Ökse within the scope of METU's TAÇDAM Salvage Project of the Archaeological Heritage of the Ilisu and Carchemish Dam Reservoir in 2000. With an interruption for two years, the excavations have been resumed again in 2005 [Ökse 2006:12]. It takes place in the registered archaeological sites list prepared by Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Stratigraphy: During the comprehensive survey conducted in 1999, a surface collection was made on the skirts of the mound. As the dispersion rate of the sherds collected from the slopes by different groups did not differ as per the periods on the southern and western slopes, it seems that the mound had been entirely inhabited throughout all periods. Analysis of sherds indicates that Salat Tepe was occupied from the 4th Millennium until the end of the Hellenistic Period [Ökse et al. 2001:593]. The excavations in the 2000 season conducted only in one area focused on the stratification of the late period architecture. Four architectural levels were identified: Building level I was dated to the Late Ancient Age (5-7th century AD), and the building levels II and III were dated to the 3rd-2nd centuries BC and later, although uncertain. It appears that it had not been occupied after the 7th century AD, and it was used as a cemetery during the Middle Age [Ökse-Alp 2002:651-652].
Small Finds: Architecture: A 2.4 m thick adobe wall without stone foundation unearthed in the northern section of trench K 12 was constructed using flat, square shaped standard adobe bricks that are 33x33 cm in dimensions and 9 cm in thickness [Ökse 2004:626, fig. 17-18]. The square shaped flat adobe bricks which are typical to the Northern Syria and Northern Mesopotamia were produced in similar sizes during the Middle and Neo-Assyrian Periods. Early Iron Age ware were revealed during the 2006 campaign on the hill inside a cinder hole 5 m in diameter at trench M 13, and another similar pit at trench L11-12. The pits give the impression of temporary cottages with half their structures buried inside the ground with the white wickerwork floor cover at the bottom and the presence of a hearth in one of those [Ökse et al. 2008:313]. 2007 excavations yielded Early Iron Age material inside 3-5 m large pits approximately at 1.5-2 m depth. Based on cinder specimen from the layers inside the pits suggested that these were used as cereal storage [Ökse et al. 2009:27]. Pottery: Considering the Iron Age sherds found during the 1999 survey, it can be concluded that they are generally undecorated except for a couple of examples that were wheelmade and baked in high degrees. This group is represented by necks of two moderate to fine qualified sand- and mica-tempered, moderately-hard and amorphous baked jugs with smooth surface and light brown paste, and a bottom sherd and a grit tempered bowl. Sherds of this group and a finer matt-burnished bowl and a jug slipped with a sharp body and a paste in the same color and polished grey core baked ware were unearthed along with a jug rim on the southern slope [Ökse et al. 2001:596]. Similar examples of the flat bowls with exteriorly thickened rims were also uncovered at Üçtepe, Sultantepe, Amuq phase O, 9th to 6th century BC levels of Tell Abou Danne and Tell Afis, Tell Al-Hawa, and the 7th century BC contexts of Khirbet Qasrij. Parallel examples of the round-shouldered bowls with rims divided by grooves were found at Üçtepe, Amuq phase O, and the 7th-6th centuries BC levels of Tell Afis. The deep carinated bowls with exteriorly thickened rims were previously uncovered at Üçtepe, in the Upper Habur Region, the 9th century BC levels of Tell Afis, Tell Al Hawa and Khirbet Qasrij [Ökse et al. 2001:596-597]. The painted sherds recovered from the mound include grit-, lime-, mica-tempered, moderate to fine qualified amorphous baked bottle with a light brown paste and a red-brown matt-painted band on a pointed and thickened rim, and another very hard baked bottle with an everted rim decorated with a matt black paint on a plain surface, the neck decorated with zigzag lines under a thick band composing triangles, some filled with a series dots. Similar bottles were uncovered at Middle Iron Age and Assyrian Period levels of Tarsus and the 9th century BC level of Tell Afis. The decoration on the sherds resemble the paint decorations consisting of triangle series filled with dots of the handmade Early Iron Age painted ware unearthed during the Bogazköy and Norsuntepe excavations [Ökse et al. 2001:597]. The sherds collected from the surface suggest presence of occupation levels datable to the 9th to 6th centuries BC at Salat Tepe, which were even in close relations with the Northern Mesopotamia and Northern Syrian culture [Ökse et al. 2001:598]. The sherds found inside large pits of cinder during 2005 campaign, that belong to hand made, chaff tempered, mostly with untouched surfaces, low temperature baked, horizontally flute and small button decorated vessels are common in East Anatolia, Upper Tigris and Upper Euphrates basins [Ökse et al. 2007:57-58]. Painted "triangle ware" unearthed inside narrow pits disrupting other pits where Early Iron Age material were found in 2007, suggest that the hill was used for storing cereals during Late Iron Age [Ökse et al. 2009:27]. During the 2011 studies, handmade Early IA sherds, a Neo-Assyrian period oil lamp, a sherd belonging to a rectangular shaped, bazalt vessel with foot were recovered from the pit wit a diameter of 5 m in the area in which the trenches of K-L 13 and 14 intersect [Ökse et al. 2013:366].
Remains:
Interpretation and Dating: The Early Iron Age sherds uncovered at Salat Tepe resemble the ones found at Eastern Anatolia and the Upper Euphrates River basin. The handmade group decorated with deep vertical grooves is dated to the 12th-10th centuries BC while the paint decorated examples to the 9th-8th centuries BC. The wheelmade group consisting of the typical Neo-Assyrian Period forms is dated to the 7th century BC in Northern Mesopotamia [Ökse 2004:604]. The mudbrick debris in the trench L12 yielded Neo-Assyrian Period sherds and sherds of later periods. Recovery of sherds from various periods in the pits and the quarries in this area suggests that this area had been occupied from the Late Assyrian Period until the Middle Age and that the late period settlement on the hilltop contains a cultural deposit of ash pits and hearths. The jar recovered in pieces (L12/0040/S/01) in one of these ash pits (L12/019/Ç) has a globular base with a double-strangled and thickened rim. Similar examples uncovered in the Neo-Assyrian centers of North Mesopotamia are dated to the Late Empire Period (7th century BC) and after. Among the mudbrick structures, hearths, ash pits and graves built over the deposit in the southern section of trench L12, the earliest element is a pit including a Neo-Assyrian jar, which indicates that the deposit used for these structuries on the hilltop is dated earlier [Ökse 2004:604]. The fact that a small amount of Mitanni and Middle Assyrian period sherds were found, suggests that the hill was not inhabited during Late Bronze Age after the Middle Bronze Age was abandoned. It probably was inhabited again during Early Iron Age. Early Bronze Agte ware were found inside the large cinder pits dug inside the ruins of the clay structure inside the trenches. The fact that there are hearths at the bottom of the large cinder holes reminds the pit houses of Early Iron Age houses, but due to the lack of walls or plaster inside the pits makes it hard to prove that these were used as houses. Still, due to the fact that the pits were dug inside hard clay remains a wall or plaster may not have been considered necessary at all [Ökse et al. 2007:57-58].


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