Tell Ta'yinat
Tell Tayinat
Tell Tayinat is located in Turkey
Tell Tayinat
Shown within Turkey
LocationHatay Province, Turkey
RegionLevant
Coordinates36°14′51″N 36°22′35″E / 36.24750°N 36.37639°E / 36.24750; 36.37639
TypeSettlement
History
PeriodsEarly Bronze Age, Early Iron Age
CulturesNeo-Hittite, Aramean
Site notes
Excavation dates1935-1938, 2003-present
ArchaeologistsRobert Braidwood, Timothy Harrison
ConditionIn ruins

Tell Ta'yinat is a low-lying ancient tell on the east bank at the bend of the Orontes River where it flows through the Amuq valley, in the Hatay province of southeastern Turkey about 25 kilometers south east of Antakya (ancient Antioch), and lies near Tell Atchana, the site of the ancient city of Alalakh. Tell Ta'yinat has been proposed as the site of Alalaḫu, inhabited in late 3rd millennium BC, mentioned in Ebla's Palace G archive;[1] and in later times as Kinalua, the capital city of an Iron Age Neo-Hittite kingdom.

Identification

Archaeologist Timothy Harrison, the dig director for many years starting in 2004, supports the identification of the site with Kinalua, the capital of a Neo-Hittite/Aramean Iron Age kingdom.[2] In the period of Neo-Assyrian control it was the center of the Unqi province.[3]

It is a possible site of the city of Calneh mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.[4]

Archaeology

Inscription in hieroglyphic Luwian script, Amuq Valley, Tell Tayinat, Amuq O, Iron Age II, 8th century BC, basalt - Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago - DSC07690

The site consists of an upper mound of about 20 hectares and a lower mound (now under floodplain cover,extending to the north (around 200 meters), east (around 100 meters), and southeast (slight extent). About 550 square meters of the upper mound (north and east sides) have been removed by modern bulldozer activities. In the Early Bronze Age the site was somewhat larger than the current upper mound at around 25 hectares, base on coring and surface collection, with the remains measuring in at 3 to 6 meters in depth.[5] Four seasons of archaeological excavations were conducted at the site by the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute from 1935 to 1938, led by Robert Braidwood.[6][7][8] From 1999 to 2002, the Oriental Institute returned to the site, as part of the Tayinat Archaeological Project, to conduct mapping and surveying and to examine the original excavations.[9][10]

Cuneiform-inscribed fragment, Amuq Valley, Tell Tayinat, Amuq O, Iron Age III, 750-650 BC, basalt - Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago - DSC07664

New excavations at the site were begun by a team from the University of Toronto in 2004, after a survey in 2003.[11] Timothy Harrison, [12] Continued excavations in the summer of 2005 exposed more of the Iron Age temple as well as part of one of the early Iron Age II bit-hilanis.[13] A significant amount of earlier Iron Age I material was also uncovered as well as small amounts of Early Bronze Age material.[14] Excavations have continued now for a total of 13 seasons, through 2016.[15][16][17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] Findings have included a significant Iron Age temple, a number of 1st millennium BC cuneiform tablets, and initial structures from the earlier Bronze Age settlement.[27] The majority of the tablets were found in the inner sanctum of a temple (Building XVI) in the sacred precinct. Most of the tablets are Iqqur Ipuš but they include a copy of the succession treaty of Esarhaddon.[28][29]

A lecture by James Osborne, on "The Syro-Anatolian City States: A Neglected Iron Age Culture" addresses aspects of the site.[30]

History

Archaeological excavation at the tell has indicated, in conjunction with ancient written sources, that the site was a major urban centre in two separate phases, during the Early Bronze Age and Early Iron Age.[31]

Early Bronze Age

Depas amphikypellon (two-handled drinking cup), Tell Tayinat, Amuq J, 2200-2000 BC, ceramic - Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago - DSC07685

Red-black burnished ware (Khirbet Kerak ware) was found in Phases H and I, corresponding to the Early Dynastic period in Mesopotamia.[7] This type of pottery diminishes through the end of the last phase of EBA.[32] This pottery is believed to be influenced by the Kura-Araxes culture, arriving into this area around 3000 BC.[33]

In the Amuq Plain, Tell Tayinat was the largest settlement in the EBIVB.[34][35] The structural remains from Tell Tayinat have been from the Early Bronze IVB period (Phase J). Among the finds are 17 anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines in a style typical of the region at that time. Also found were two wheels, copper alloy metal fragments, spindle whorls and loom weights. Notable finds were a cylinder seal and two clay sealings.[5][36]

Iron Age

Antakya Arkeoloji Muzesi 0146

During the Iron Age II, this is thought likely to be the site of ancient Kinalua, the capital of one of the Neo-Hittite/Aramean city-kingdoms of Walistin (Aramaic) or Palistin (neo-Hittite), of which a follow-up kingdom is the one known as Pattin or Patina, the shortened form of Palistin (together c. 1000-738 BC).[37][38][39] Among the culturally diverse Syro-Hittite states in the north Syrian river-plain the rulers of Kinalua continued to bear royal Hittite names in the 8th century BC. With the rise of the Neo-Assyrians in the 9th century BC, rulers of Patina (thought to be the same as Kinalua) began to pay tribute to them. Ashurnasirpal II reports receiving silver and gold, 100 talents of tin, essential for making bronze, and 100 talents of iron, 1000 oxen and 10,000 sheep, linen robes and decorated couches and beds of boxwood, as well as "10 female singers, the king's brother's daughter with a rich dowry, a large female monkey and ducks" from the ruler Labarna.[40] At a later campaign the Assyrians forced its king Tutammu to submit according to an inscription of king Tiglath-pileser III (745–727 BC). Other documents indicate Assyrian control lasted until the reign of Ashurbanipal (669–631 BC).[41] A worn stone with cuneiform writing from the top of the mound was turned into the local museum by a farmer who had used it as a paving stone. Combined with 4 fragments found during the 1930 excavation it turned out to be part of a stele of Sargon II (722–705 BC).[42]

The city had a citadel placed at a higher elevation, connected to the lower city by a monumental gate complex.[38]

Iron Age temple

Iron Age Temple

One of the key finds of the Oriental Institute (1935–38) made at the site was a temple reminiscent in plan to Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem as described in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament of Christianity).[9][43]

Bit-hilani palaces

The Oriental Institute campaigns (1935–38) brought to light several large palaces in the style known as Bit-hilani.[9] A wood sample from a Bit-hilani burned in c. 675 BC was carbon dated to 2625 +/- 50 years BP.[44] The 2005 excavations exposed part of one of the early Iron Age II bit-hilanis.[14]

King Suppiluliuma statue

King Suppiluliuma in Hatay Archaeology Museum

In August 2012, a team from the University of Toronto announced they had uncovered the head and torso of a human figure, intact to just above its waist. The remains of the figure stand approximately 1.5 meters in height, suggesting a total height of 3.5 to 4 meters. The figure is bearded with eyes made of black and white stone. The figure's hair has been styled in an elaborate series of curls arranged in rows. The arms of the figure extend forward from the elbow. Each arm has two arm bracelets adorned with lion heads. The figure's left hand holds a shaft of wheat and its right hand holds a spear. The figure's chest is adorned with a crescent-shaped pectoral. A lengthy carved, raised relief inscription in Hieroglyphic Luwian runs across the figure's back. The inscription records the accomplishments and campaigns of King Suppiluliuma. He is likely the same king who as part of a Syrian-Hittite coalition in 858 BC fought against the Neo-Assyrian invasion of Shalmaneser III.

Female statue

In August 2017, it was reported that a majestic female statue was discovered at the site, within the monumental gate complex leading to the upper citadel.[38] This may be an image of Kubaba, divine mother of the gods of ancient Anatolia. Or it may be Kupapiyas, who was the wife – or possibly mother – of Taita, the dynastic founder of ancient Tayinat. But it's also possible that the statue represents the wife of King Suppiluliuma. Archaeologist Timothy Harrison raised the possibility that women played quite a prominent role in the political and religious lives of these early Iron Age communities.[38]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Welton, Lynn, (2020). "Northern Levantine spheres of interaction: The role of the 'Amuq plain in the Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age", in: Melissa Kennedy (ed.), A Land in Between: The Orontes Valley in the Early Urban Age, Sydney University Press, p. 37: "...During the period of the Palace G archive [in Ebla], the site of Tell Tayinat may be identified with references to Alalaḫu, representing the major centre of the 'Amuq plain during this period..."
  2. ↑ Welton, L., Harrison, T., Batiuk, S., Ünlü, E., Janeway, B., Karakaya, D., Lipovitch, D., Lumb, D. and Roames, J., "Shifting Networks and Community Identity at Tell Tayinat in the Iron I (ca. 12th to mid 10th Cent. BCE)", American Journal of Archaeology. Vol. 123, pp. 291–333, April 2019
  3. ↑ Harrison, T. P., "Tell Ta‘yinat and the Kingdom of Unqi", In Daviau, P. M. M., Wevers, J. W. and Weigl, M. (eds) The World of the Arameans II: Studies in History and Archaeology in Honour of Paul-Eugène Dion: 115–32. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, Supplement 325. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001
  4. ↑ Luukko, Mikko (2019). "Part 1: Aramaeans and Assyria". In Dušek, Jan; Mynářová, Jana (eds.). Gurraeans and Itu'aeans in the Service of the Assyrian Empire. Culture and History of the Ancient Near East. Leiden-Boston: BRILL. p. 110. ISBN 978-90-04-39853-5. Retrieved 8 January 2020. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  5. 1 2 Welton, Lynn, et al., "Tell Tayinat in the late third millennium: recent investigations of the Tayinat Archaeological Project, 2008-2010", Anatolica 37, pp.147-185, 2011
  6. ↑ Robert J. Braidwood, "Mounds in the Plain of Antioch: An Archeological Survey", Oriental Institute Publications 48, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1937
  7. 1 2 Archived 2012-10-09 at the Wayback Machine Robert J. Braidwood and Linda S. Braidwood, Excavations in the Plain of Antioch I: The Earlier Assemblages Phases A-J, Oriental Institute Publications 61, University of Chicago Press, 1960
  8. ↑ Archived 2013-11-15 at the Wayback Machine R. C. Haines, Excavations in the Plain of Antioch, Vol. II: The Structural Remains of the Later Phases: Chatal Hüyük, Tell Al-Judaidah, and Tell Tayinat, Oriental Institute Publication 95, University of Chicago Press, 1970, ISBN 0-226-62198-7
  9. 1 2 3 Batiuk, S., Harrison, T E, and Pavlish, L., The Ta'yinat Survey, 1999-2002, in The Amuq Valley Regional Projects, Volume 1: Surveys in the Plain of Antioch and Orontes Delta, Turkey, 1995–2002, Oriental Institute Publications 131, pp. 171-192, Oriental Institute, 2005
  10. ↑ Yener, K. Aslihan, et al., "The Amuq Valley Regional Project, 1995-1998", American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 104, no. 2, pp. 163–220, 2000
  11. ↑ Timothy Harrison, The Tayinat Geomagnetic Survey 2003, University of Toronto, 2003
  12. ↑ Tayinat Archaeological Project 2004 Seasonal Report, University of Toronto, 2004
  13. ↑ Osborne, James F., et al., "Urban Built Environments in Early 1st Millennium bce Syro-Anatolia: Results of the Tayinat Archaeological Project, 2004–2016", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 382.1, pp. 261-312, 2019
  14. 1 2 Timothy Harrison, Tayinat Archaeological Project 2005 Seasonal Report, University of Toronto, 2005
  15. ↑ Timothy Harrison, Tayinat Archaeological Project 2006 Seasonal Report, University of Toronto, 2006
  16. ↑ Timothy Harrison, Tayinat Archaeological Project 2007 Seasonal Report, University of Toronto, 2007
  17. ↑ Timothy Harrison, Tayinat Archaeological Project 2008 Seasonal Report, University of Toronto, 2008
  18. ↑ Timothy Harrison, Tayinat Archaeological Project 2009 Seasonal Report, University of Toronto, 2009
  19. ↑ Timothy Harrison, Tayinat Archaeological Project 2010 Seasonal Report, University of Toronto, 2010
  20. ↑ Timothy Harrison, Tayinat Archaeological Project 2011 Seasonal Report, University of Toronto, 2011
  21. ↑ Timothy Harrison, Tayinat Archaeological Project 2012 Seasonal Report, University of Toronto, 2012
  22. ↑ Timothy Harrison, Tayinat Archaeological Project 2014 Seasonal Report, University of Toronto, 2014
  23. ↑ Timothy Harrison, Tayinat Archaeological Project 2015 Seasonal Report, University of Toronto, 2015
  24. ↑ Timothy Harrison, Tayinat Archaeological Project 2016 Seasonal Report, University of Toronto, 2016
  25. ↑ Timothy Harrison, Tayinat Archaeological Project 2017 Seasonal Report, University of Toronto, 2017
  26. ↑ Timothy Harrison, Tayinat Archaeological Project 2018 Seasonal Report, University of Toronto, 2018
  27. ↑ Jacob Lauinger, Some Preliminary Thoughts on the Tablet Collection in Building XVI from Tell Tayinat Archived 2020-08-19 at the Wayback Machine, The Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies Journal, Vol.6, pp. 5-14, 2011
  28. ↑ Jacob Lauinger, "Iqqur Īpuš at Tell Tayinat", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 68, pp. 229–48, 2016
  29. ↑ Lauinger, Jacob, "Esarhaddon's Succession Treate at Tell Tayinat: Text and Commentary". Journal of Cuneiform Studies 64.1, pp. 87-123, 2012
  30. ↑ "James Osborne - The Syro-Anatolian City States: A Neglected Iron Age Culture". YouTube. 16 November 2016. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  31. ↑ Stuart W. Manning et al., Beyond megadrought and collapse in the Northern Levant: The chronology of Tell Tayinat and two historical inflection episodes, around 4.2ka BP, and following 3.2ka BP, PLOS ONE, October 29, 2020
  32. ↑ Tell Tayinat - The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project
  33. ↑ Stephen Batiuk, Mitchell Rothman, Archived 2015-09-16 at the Wayback Machine, "Early Transcaucasian Cultures and Their Neighbors", University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania: Expedition Magazine, vol. 49. no. 1, pp. 7-17, 2007
  34. ↑ Welton, Lynn, "EBIV ceramic production in the Orontes watershed: petrography from the Amuq and beyond", Levant 52.1-2, pp. 215-236, 2020
  35. ↑ Welton, Lynn, "The Amuq Plain and Tell Tayinat in the third millennium BCE: the historical and socio-political context", Journal of the Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies 6, pp. 15-27, 2011
  36. ↑ Welton, Lynn, "Revisiting the Amuq sequence: a preliminary investigation of the EBIVB ceramic assemblage from Tell Tayinat", Levant 46.3, pp. 339-370, 2014
  37. ↑ Timothy P. Harrison, Neo-Hittites in the "Land of Palistin". Renewed Investigations at Tell Taʿyinat on the Plain of Antioch, Near Eastern Archaeology, vol. 72:4, pp. 174-189, 2009
  38. 1 2 3 4 Majestic 3,000-year-old female statue uncovered in Turkey: excavation led by U of T archaeologists, University of Toronto News, August 11, 2017
  39. ↑ Before and After the Storm: Crisis Years in Anatolia and Syria between the Fall of the Hittite Empire and the Beginning of a New Era (ca. 1220-1000 BC), A Symposium in Memory of Itamar Singer, University of Pavia, 2012, pp. 7–8.
  40. ↑ James F. Osborne, "Communicating Power in the Bīt-Ḫilāni Palace", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 368, pp. 29–66, 2012
  41. ↑ Timothy P. Harrison, and James F. Osborne, "Building XVI And THE Neo-Assyrian Sacred Precinct At Tell TAYINAT", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 64, pp. 125–43, 2012
  42. ↑ Lauinger, Jacob, and Stephen Batiuk, "A stele of Sargon II at Tell Tayinat", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie 105.1-2, pp. 54-68, 2015
  43. ↑ Monson, John M. "The Temple of Solomon: Heart of Jerusalem", C. The Ain Dara Temple: A New Parallel from Syria, pp. 10, 16. In "Zion, city of our God", Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing (1999), editors: Hess, Richard S. & Wenham, Gordon J. ISBN 978-0-8028-4426-2. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  44. ↑ Libby, W. F., "Radiocarbon Dating", Science, vol. 133, no. 3453, pp. 621–29, 1961

Future reading

  • Langis-Barsetti, D., "Building Kunulua Block by Block: Exploring Archaeology through Minecraft", Near Eastern Archaeology 84(1), pp. 62–70, 2021
  • Batiuk, S., and Harrison, T. P, "The Metals Trade and Early Bronze Age Craft Production at Tell Tayinat", pp. 48-66 in Overturning Certainties in Near Eastern Archaeology: A festschrift in Honor of K. Aslihan Yener, ed. C. Maner, M. T. Horowitz, and A. S. Gilbert. Leiden, Boston: Brill., 2017
  • Emanuel, J.P., "King Taita and his “Palistin” : philistine state or neo-hittite kingdom?", Antiguo Oriente, Cuadernos del Centro de Estudios de Historia del Antiguo Oriente, vol 13. pp. 11-40, 2015
  • Denel, E. and Harrison, T. P., The Neo-Hittite Citadel Gate at Tayinat (Ancient Kunulua). Pp. 137-55 in The Archaeology of Anatolia: Recent Discoveries (2015-2016), Vol. 2. ed. S. Steadman and G. McMahon. Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2017
  • Fales, Frederick Mario, "After Ta'yinat: the new status of Esarhaddon's adê for Assyrian political history", Revue d'assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale 106.1. pp. 133-158, 2012
  • Manning, S.M., Lorentzen, B., Welton, L, Batiuk, S., Harrison, T.P., "Beyond megadrought and collapse in the Northern Levant: The chronology of Tell Tayinat and two historical inflection episodes, around 4.2ka BP, and following 3.2ka BP", PLOSOne., October 29 2020 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240799
  • Harrison, T., "The Iron Age I–II Transition in the Northern Levant: An Emerging Consensus?", Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology, pp. 325–351, 2021
  • Harrison, Timothy P., "The Neo-Assyrian governor’s residence at Tell Ta‘yinat.", Bulletin of the Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies 40, pp. 23-33, 2005
  • Janeway, Brian, "The nature and extent of Aegean contact at Tell Ta ‘yinat and vicinity in the Early Iron Age: Evidence of the Sea Peoples", Cyprus, the Sea Peoples and the Eastern Mediterranean: Regional Perspectives of Continuity and Change. Scripta Mediterranea, pp. 27-28, 2006
  • Roames, Jim., "The early iron age metal workshop at Tell Tayinat, Turkey", MRS Online Proceedings Library 1319.1, pp. 1-7, 2011
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