Shown within IraqShow map of IraqTelul eth-Thalathat (Near East)Show map of Near East | |
Location | Nineveh Governorate, Iraq |
---|---|
Region | Mesopotamia |
Coordinates | 36°33′46″N 42°32′8″E / 36.56278°N 42.53556°E / 36.56278; 42.53556 |
Type | tell, archaeological site |
Length | 100 metre |
Width | 60 metre |
Height | 7 metre |
History | |
Periods | Neolithic, Ubaid period, Uruk period |
Site notes | |
Excavation dates | 1956; 1964; 1957; 1976 |
Archaeologists | N. Egami, S. Fukai |
Telul eth-Thalathat is an archaeological site located 40 miles (64 km) west of Mosul and just east of Tal Afar in Nineveh Province (Iraq).
Archaeology
The site consists of at least five separate tells or settlement mounds. Telul eth-Thalathat was excavated for four seasons between 1956 and 1965 and again in 1976 by a team from the University of Tokyo Iraq-Iran Archaeological Expedition. The main focus was to establish a complete Ninevite 5 sequence at Tell V. The first two seasons, in 1956 and 1957, were led by N. Egami and worked at Tell II. Burials, residential areas, and a presumed temple were uncovered. The final season was led by S. Fukai. Among the small finds was a small square stamp seal with two human figures dated to the late 4th or early 5th millennium BC.
Occupation history
Telul eth-Thalathat was occupied in the Ubaid, Nineveh 5, and Uruk periods, as well as during Middle Assyrian times. Excavations have revealed over 20 kilns and a number of burials, as well as some figurines and spindle whorls. Eleven Neolithic clay tokens were also recovered. On Tell V a single period Ninevite 5 settlement was found. It included a 6 by 18 meter building interpreted as a granary. Tell II showed occupation from the Pottery Neolithic to Middle Uruk periods.
See also
References
- Egami, Namio, "The Preliminary Report of the Excavations at Telul ath-Thalathat (1956)", Sumer, vol. 13, pp. 5-11, 1957
- N. Egami, Telul eth-Thalathat, "Vol. I, The Excavations of Tell II, 1956-1957", The Institute of Oriental Culture, The University of Tokyo, Yamakawa Pub. Co, 1958
- S. Fukai, K. Horiuchi and T. Matsutani, "Telul eth-Thalathat, Vol. II, The Excavations of Tell II, The Third Season (1964)", The Institute of Oriental Culture, The University of Tokyo, Yamakawa Pub. Co, 1970
- S. Fukai, K. Horiuchi and T. Matsutani, "Telul eth-Thalathat, Vol. III, The Excavations of Tell V, The Fourth Season (1965)", The Institute of Oriental Culture, The University of Tokyo, Yamakawa Pub. Co, 1974
- S. Fukai, T. Matsutani, "Telul Eth-Thalathat, Vol. IV The Excavation of Tell II, the Fifth Season (1976)", Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo, Yamakawa Pub. Co, 1981
- Garfinkel, Yosef, "chapter 12 Later Examples from the Near East", Dancing at the Dawn of Agriculture, New York, USA: University of Texas Press, pp. 269-290, 2003
- Robert A. Carter and Graham Philip, "Beyond the Ubaid: Transformation and integration in the late prehistoric societies of the Middle East", Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 63, Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 2010, ISBN 978-1-885923-66-0
- Overmann, Karenleigh A., "Chapter 9. The Neolithic Clay Tokens", The Material Origin of Numbers: Insights from the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Piscataway, NJ, USA: Gorgias Press, pp. 157-178, 2019
- Roaf, Michael, and Robert Killick, "A Mysterious Affair of Styles: The Ninevite 5 Pottery of Northern Mesopotamia", Iraq, vol. 49, pp. 199–230, 1987
- Sudo, Hiroshi, "The development of wool exploitation in Ubaid-period settlements of North Mesopotamia", Beyond the Ubaid: Transformation and integration in the late prehistoric societies of the Middle East. SAOC 63, pp. 169-179, 2010
Further reading
- Fukai, S. and T. Matsutani, Excavations at Telul eth-Thalathat, 1976, Sumer, vol. 33, no. 1: pp. 48–64, 1977
- Nishiaki, Yoshihiro., and H. I. H. Prince Takahito Mikasa, "Reexamination of neolithic stone artifacts from Telul eth-Thalathat, northern Iraq", Essays on Ancient Anatolia and its Surrounding Civilizations. Harassowitz, Tübingen, pp. 153–172, 1995
- Uwe Sievertsen, "Frühe Pfeiler-Nischen-Architektur Aus Tepe Gawra Und Telul Eth-Thalathat", Iraq, vol. 67, no. 1, pp. 399–409, 2005