Terqa

Terqa is the name of an ancient city discovered at the site of Tell Ashara on the banks of the middle Euphrates in Deir ez-Zor Governorate, Syria, approximately 80 kilometres (50 mi) from the modern border with Iraq and 64 kilometres (40 mi) north of the ancient site of Mari, Syria. Its name had become Sirqu by Neo-Assyrian times.

Terqa
Shown within Near East
Terqa (Syria)
LocationSyria
RegionDeir ez-Zor Governorate
Coordinates34°55′24″N 40°34′10″E
Mari
Kings
Archaeology

History
Mesopotamia in 2nd millennium BC

Little is yet known of the early history of Terqa, though it was a sizable entity even in the Early Dynastic period.

In the 2nd millennium BC it was under the control of Shamshi-Adad, followed by Mari in the time of Zimri-Lim, and then by Babylon after Mari's defeat by Hammurabi of the First Babylonian dynasty, Terqa became the leading city of the kingdom of Khana after the decline of Babylon. Later, it fell into the sphere of the Kassite dynasty of Babylon and eventually the Neo-Assyrian Empire. A noted stele of Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta II was found at Terqa.[1]

The principal god of Terqa was Dagan.

Proposed Rulers of Terqa

RulerProposed reignNotes
Yapah-Sumucirca 1700
Isi-Sumu-Abu
Yadikh-AbuContemporary of Samsu-iluna of Babylon, 7 year names known
Kastiliyasu4 year names known
Sunuhru-Ammu4 year names known
Ammi-Madar1 year name known
Isar-Lim1 year name known
Yaggid-Lim
Iish-Dagan1 year name known
Hammurapih3 year names known
ParshatatarMitanni king

Archaeology

The main site is around 20 acres (8.1 ha) in size and has a height of 60 feet (18 m). The remains of Terqa are partly covered by the modern town of Ashara, which limits the possibilities for excavation.

The site was briefly excavated by Ernst Herzfeld in 1910.[2] In 1923, 5 days of excavations were conducted by François Thureau-Dangin and P. Dhorrne.[3]

From 1974 to 1986, Terqa was excavated for 10 seasons by a team from the International Institute for Mesopotamian Area Studies including the Institute of Archaeology at the University of California at Los Angeles, California State University at Los Angeles, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Arizona and the University of Poitiers in France. The team was led by Giorgio Buccellati and Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati.[4][5][6] After 1987, a French team led by Olivier Rouault of Lyon University took over the dig and continued to work there until local conditions deteriorated around 2010.[7][8][9]

There are 550 cuneiform tablets from Terqa held at the Deir ez-Zor Museum.

Notable features found at Terqa include

  • A city wall consisting of three concentric masonry walls, 20 feet (6.1 m) high and 60 feet (18 m) in width, fronted by a 60-foot-wide (18 m) moat. The walls encompass a total area of around 60 acres (24 ha), were built circa 3000 BC and were in use until at least 2000 BC.
  • A temple to Ninkarrak dating at least as old as the 3rd millennium. The temple finds included Egyptian scarabs.[10]
  • The House of Puzurum, where a large and important archive of tablets were found.

Temple to Ninkarrak

Ninkarrak was the ancient goddess of healing. Her temple was identified based on a tablet with a list of offerings which starts with her name, and by seals mentioned the goddess. Thousands of beads made out of precious materials such as agate, carnelian, and lapis lazuli were found here.[11]

Archaeologists also found a number of small bronze figurines of dogs inside the temple as well. Dogs were the animals sacred to Ninkarrak.[12]

A ceremonial axe and a scimitar with a devotional inscription mentioning Ninkarrak, both bronze, were also found.

Early occupation of the structure has been dated to roughly the same period as the reigns of three kings of Terqa. The earliest of them was Yadikh-abu, a contemporary of Samsuiluna of Babylon, defeated by the latter in 1721 BCE.[13] Kashtiliash, and Shunuhru-ammu also ruled during this period. The temple was remodeled multiple times.

The Egyptian scarabs found in the temple of Ninkarrak represent the easternmost known example of such objects in a sealed deposit dated to the Old Babylonian period.[14] They are attributed to around 1650-1640 BC, or the Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt. The hieroglyphs inscribed on them are regarded as "poorly executed and sometimes misunderstood," indicating Levantine, rather than Egyptian, origin. Similar scarabs are also known from Byblos, Sidon and Ugarit.[15]

Temple to Lagamal

Lagamal was a Mesopotamian deity worshiped chiefly in Dilbat, but it was prominent in Terqa as well, and also in Susa. This was a deity associated with the underworld.[16]

In the majority of known sources Lagamal is a male deity, but it was regarded as a goddess rather than a god in Terqa.[17]

Icehouse
Tablet of Zimri-Lim, king of Mari, concerning the foundation of an ice-house in Terqa. Baked clay, ca. 1780 BC. Louvre Museum

The oldest attested ice house (building) in the world may have been built in Terqa. It is recorded in a cuneiform tablet from c. 1780 BC that Zimri-Lim, the King of Mari ordered such a construction in Terqa, "which never before had any king built."[18]

Trade

Evidence of trade contacts with the Indus valley has been found here. Archaeologist Giorgio Buccellati found cloves, an important spice, in a burned-down house which was dated to 1720 BC.[19]

"In the pantry of a house belonging to an individual named Puzurum, dated by tablets to c. 1700 BCE or slightly thereafter, were found 'a handful of cloves ... well preserved in a partly overturned jar of a medium size'."[20][21]

Since this house was described as being of a medium size, it seems that, at that time, cloves were already accessible to the common people of Terqa.

Cloves are native to the Molucca Islands off the coast of Indonesia, and were extensively used in ancient India. This was the first evidence of cloves being used in the west before Roman times. The discovery was first reported in 1978.[22][23][24]

Genetics

Ancient mitochondrial DNA from freshly unearthed remains (teeth) of 4 individuals deeply deposited in slightly alkaline soil of ancient Terqa and Tell Masaikh (ancient Kar-Assurnasirpal, located on the Euphrates 5 kilometres (5,000 m) upstream from Terqa) was analysed in 2013. Dated to the period between 2.5 Kyrs BC and 0.5 Kyrs AD the studied individuals carried mtDNA haplotypes corresponding to the M4b1, M49 and M61 haplogroups, which are believed to have arisen in the area of the Indian subcontinent during the Upper Paleolithic and are absent in people living today in Syria. However, they are present in people inhabiting today’s India, Pakistan, Tibet and Himalayas.[25] A 2014 study expanding on the 2013 study and based on analysis of 15751 DNA samples arrives at the conclusion, that "M65a, M49 and/or M61 haplogroups carrying ancient Mesopotamians might have been the merchants from India".[26]

See also

Notes
  1. H. G. Güterbock, A Note on the Stela of Tukulti-Ninurta II Found near Tell Ashara, JNES, vol. 16, pp. 123, 1957
  2. E. Herzfeld, Hana et Mari, RA, vol. 11, pp. 131-39, 1910
  3. François Thureau-Dangin and P. Dhorrne, Cinq jours de fouilles à 'Ashârah (7-11 Septembre 1923), Syria, vol. 5, pp. 265-93, 1924
  4. G. Buccellati and M. Kelly-Buccellati, Terqa Preliminary Reports 1: General Introduction and the Stratigraphic Record of the First Two Seasons, Syro-Mesopotamian Studies, vol 1, no.3, pp. 73-133, 1977
  5. G. Buccellati and M. Kelly-Buccellati, Terqa Preliminary Reports 6: The Third Season: Introduction and the Stratigraphic Record, Syro-Mesopotamian Studies, vol 2, pp. 115-164, 1978
  6. Giorgio Buccellati, Terqa Preliminary Reports 10: The Fourth Season: Introduction and Stratigraphic Record, Undena, 1979, ISBN 0-89003-042-1
  7. Olivier Rouault, Mission archéologique à Ashara-Terqa (Syrie) : note de synthèse sur les opérations projetées en 2005, S.l., 2004
  8. Olivier Rouault, Projet Terqa et sa région (Syrie) : mission archéologiques à Terqa et à Masaïkh, recherches historiques et épigraphiques ; rapport final de la saison 2001 ; note de synthèse sur les opérations projetées en 2003, S.l., 2002
  9. Olivier Rouault, Projet Terqa et sa région (Syrie) : recherches à Terqa et dans la région, année 2001 ; note de synthèse sur les opérations projetées en 2002, S.l., 2001
  10. R. M. Liggett, Ancient Terqa and its Temple of Ninkarrak: the Excavations of the Fifth and Sixth Seasons, Near East Archaeological Society Bulletin, NS 19, pp. 5-25, 1982; see now also: A. Ahrens, The Scarabs from the Ninkarrak Temple Cache at Tell ’Ašara/Terqa (Syria): History, Archaeological Context, and Chronology, Egypt and the Levant 20, 2010, 431-444
  11. Ahrens, Alexander (2010). "THE SCARABS FROM THE NINKARRAK TEMPLE CACHE AT TELL 'AŠARA/TERQA (SYRIA): HISTORY, ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT, AND CHRONOLOGY". Ägypten und Levante/Egypt and the Levant. Austrian Academy of Sciences Press. 20: 431–444. ISSN 1015-5104. JSTOR 23789950. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
  12. Liggett, Renata M. (1982). "Ancient Terqa and its temple of Ninkarrak: The Excavations of the Fifth and Sixth Seasons". Near Eastern Archaeology Society Bulletin. p. 14
  13. Liggett, Renata M. (1982). "Ancient Terqa and its temple of Ninkarrak: The Excavations of the Fifth and Sixth Seasons". Near Eastern Archaeology Society Bulletin. p.23
  14. Ahrens, Alexander (2010). "THE SCARABS FROM THE NINKARRAK TEMPLE CACHE AT TELL 'AŠARA/TERQA (SYRIA): HISTORY, ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT, AND CHRONOLOGY". Ägypten und Levante/Egypt and the Levant. Austrian Academy of Sciences Press. 20: 431–444. ISSN 1015-5104. JSTOR 23789950. Retrieved 2021-08-02. p. 431.
  15. Ahrens, Alexander (2010). "THE SCARABS FROM THE NINKARRAK TEMPLE CACHE AT TELL 'AŠARA/TERQA (SYRIA): HISTORY, ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT, AND CHRONOLOGY". Ägypten und Levante/Egypt and the Levant. Austrian Academy of Sciences Press. 20: 431–444. ISSN 1015-5104. JSTOR 23789950. Retrieved 2021-08-02. p. 435.
  16. Henkelman, Wouter F. M. (2008). The other gods who are: studies in Elamite-Iranian acculturation based on the Persepolis fortification texts. Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten. ISBN 978-90-6258-414-7.
  17. Marchesi, Gianni; Marchetti, Nicoló (2019). "A babylonian official at Tilmen Höyük in the time of king Sumu-la-el of Babylon". Orientalia. 88 (1): 1–36. ISSN 0030-5367. Retrieved 2021-09-27.
  18. Stephanie Dalley (1 May 2002). Mari and Karana: Two Old Babylonian Cities. Gorgias Press. p. 91. ISBN 9781931956024.
  19. Buccellati, G., M. Kelly-Buccellati, Terqa: The First Eight Seasons, Les Annales Archeologiques Arabes Syriennes 33(2), 1983, 47-67
  20. Daniel T. Potts (1997), Mesopotamian Civilization: The Material Foundations. A&C Black publishers, p. 269
  21. Buccellati 1983:19
  22. Buccellati, G., M. Kelly-Buccellati, The Terqa Archaeological Project: First Preliminary Report., Les Annales Archeologiques Arabes Syriennes 27-28, 1977-78, 71-96
  23. Buccellati, G., M. Kelly-Buccellati, Terqa: The First Eight Seasons, Les Annales Archeologiques Arabes Syriennes 33(2), 1983, 47-67
  24. Terqa - A Narrative terqa.org
  25. Witas, Henryk W.; Jacek Tomczyk; Krystyna Jędrychowska-Dańska; Gyaneshwer Chaubey & Tomasz Płoszaj (2013) "mtDNA from the Early Bronze Age to the Roman Period Suggests a Genetic Link between the Indian Subcontinent and Mesopotamian Cradle of Civilization"; PLOS ONE, September 11, 2013. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0073682.
  26. Palanichamy, Malliya gounder; Mitra, Bikash; Debnath, Monojit; Agrawal, Suraksha; Chaudhuri, Tapas Kumar; Zhang, Ya-Ping (9 October 2014). "Tamil Merchant in Ancient Mesopotamia". PLOS ONE. 9 (10): e109331. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...9j9331P. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0109331. PMC 4192148. PMID 25299580.

References
  • A. Ahrens, The Scarabs from the Ninkarrak Temple Cache at Tell ’Ašara/Terqa (Syria): History, Archaeological Context, and Chronology, Egypt and the Levant 20, 2010, 431-444.
  • G. Buccellati, The Kingdom and Period of Khana, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 270, pp. 43–61, 1977
  • M. Chavalas, Terqa and the Kingdom of Khana, Biblical Archaeology, vol. 59, pp. 90–103, 1996
  • A. H. Podany, A Middle Babylonian Date for the Hana Kingdom, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 43/45, pp. 53–62, (1991–1993)
  • J. N. Tubb, A Reconsideration of the Date of the Second Millennium Pottery From the Recent Excavations at Terqa, Levant, vol. 12, pp. 61–68, 1980
  • A. Soltysiak, Human Remains from Tell Ashara - Terqa. Seasons 1999-2001. A Preliminary Report, Athenaeum, 90, no. 2, pp. 591–594 2002
  • J Tomczyk, A Sołtysiak, Preliminary report on human remains from Tell Ashara/Terqa. Season 2005, Athenaeum. Studi di Letteratura e Storia dell’Antichità, vol. 95 (1), pp. 439–441, soo7
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.