Tell Afis

Tell Afis is an archaeological site in the Idlib region of northern Syria, and lies about fifty kilometres southeast of Aleppo.[1] The site is thought to be that of ancient Hazrek (or Hazrach; Hatarikka for the Assyrians) capital of Luhuti.[2][3]

Tell Afis
تل آفس
Tell Afis is located in Syria
Tell Afis
Shown within Syria
Alternative nameHazrek of Luhuti
LocationSyria
RegionIdlib region
Coordinates35.905°N 36.798611°E / 35.905; 36.798611
Typesettlement
Site notes
Excavation dates1986–ongoing
ArchaeologistsStefania Mazzoni and Serena Maria Cecchini
Conditionruins

History

Occupation of the site is stretching from the fourth millennium BCE to the Neo-Assyrian period.

Late Bronze

Around 1350 BC, the Hittite ruler Suppiluliuma I gain control over the northern parts of Syria. This region was then called Nuhasse.

Levels VII to V have been firmly dated to the time of control by 13th century BC Hittite ruler Hattusili III by seals, pottery, and several tablets.[4][5]

Iron Age

In the Iron Age, Tell Afis was in the Kingdom of Hamath. The Stele of Zakkur, dated c, 785 BC, which contains a dedication in Aramaic to the gods Iluwer and Baalshamin, was discovered here in 1903.[6][7] Three additional Aramaic fragments were later found.[8]

Archaeology

The tell is 28 hectares in area (570 meters by 500 meters) with an extensive lower city and an acropolis on the northern edge.[9] In 1932 William F. Albright collected Iron Age pottery in a surface collection.[10] In 1970, 1972, and 1978 excavations were conducted by Paolo Matthiae.[11] The site was excavated from 1986 until 2010 by a joint project from the universities of Rome, Pisa and Bologna, under the direction of Stefania Mazzoni and Serena Maria Cecchini.[12][13][14] A sizable Iron Age cultic area was discovered on the acropolis.[15]

The site was reportedly damaged by encampments during the Syrian civil war.[16]

See also

References
  1. Venturi, F. (2007) La Siria nell’Età delle Trasformazioni: Nuovi Contributi dallo Scavo di Tell Afis, Cooperativa Libraria Universitaria Editirice Bologna.
  2. Trevor Bryce (10 September 2009). The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia. p. 296. ISBN 9781134159079.
  3. I. E. S. Edwards; Cyril John Gadd; Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammondpage (1970). The Cambridge Ancient History: Early History of the Middle East. Part 2, Volume 1. p. 282. ISBN 9780521077910.
  4. Alfonso Archi, and Fabrizio Venturi. "TELL AFIS IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY BC: Under the Rule of the Hittites." Near Eastern Archaeology, vol. 76, no. 4, 2013, pp. 214–22
  5. Archi, Alfonso, and Fabrizio Venturi. “Hittites at Tell Afis (Syria).” Orientalia, vol. 81, no. 1, 2012, pp. 1–55
  6. J. C. L. Gibson, Textbook of Syrian Semitic Inscriptions: II. Aramaic Inscriptions, Oxford University Press, 1975 ISBN 9780198131861
  7. Soldi, Sebastiano. “ARAMAEANS AND ASSYRIANS IN NORTH-WESTERN SYRIA: MATERIAL EVIDENCE FROM TELL AFIS.” Syria, vol. 86, 2009, pp. 97–118
  8. Maria Giulia Amadasi Guzzo. “TELL AFIS IN THE IRON AGE: The Aramaic Inscriptions.” Near Eastern Archaeology, vol. 77, no. 1, 2014, pp. 54–57
  9. Michele, Angelo Di, "Tell Afis Area N. Excavations Seasons 2001-2007. Phases XI-I. Middle Bronze Age - Iron Age I. Stratigraphy, pottery and small finds", Le Lettere (Studi di Archeologia Siriana 7), 2022 ISBN 9788893663014
  10. W. F.Albright, Archaeological and Topographical Explorations in Palestine and Syria: Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, vol. 49, pp. 23–31, 1933
  11. P. Matthiae,Sondages à Tell Afis (Syrie), 1978: Akkadica, vol. 14, pp. 2–5, 1978
  12. Venturi, Fabrizio, Tell Afis. The Excavations of Areas E2-E4. Phases V-I. The End of the Late Bronze/ Iron Age I Sequence. Stratigraphy, Pottery and Small Finds. (Firenze, Studi di Archeologia Siriana 4, Le Lettere, 2020) ISBN 978-88-9366-127-0
  13. Venturi, F. (2007) La Siria nell’Età delle Trasformazioni: Nuovi Contributi dallo Scavo di Tell Afis, Cooperativa Libraria Universitaria Editirice Bologna.
  14. Stefania Mazzoni, Tell Afis: History and Excavations, Near Eastern Archaeology, vol. 76(4), pp. 204-212, December 2013
  15. Serena Maria Cecchini. “TELL AFIS IN THE IRON AGE: The Official Buildings on the Eastern Acropolis.” Near Eastern Archaeology, vol. 77, no. 1, 2014, pp. 58–63
  16. Cunliffe, Emma., Damage to the Soul: Syria's cultural heritage in conflict, Durham University and the Global Heritage Fund, 1 May 2012

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