Habuba Kabira

Habuba Kabira (also Hubaba Kabire) at Tell Qanas is the site of an Uruk settlement along the Euphrates in Syria, founded during the later part of the Uruk period. It was about 800 mi (1,300 km) from the city of Uruk. The site is now mostly underwater due to the Tabqa Dam project. It consists of Habuba Kabira South, which is protoliterate, and Habuba Kabira North, which is protoliterate, Middle Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age, and Roman.[1]

Habuba Kabira
Habuba Kabira (south), before the area was flooded by the Tabqa Dam project.
Habuba Kabira is located in West and Central Asia
Habuba Kabira
Shown within West and Central Asia
Habuba Kabira is located in Syria
Habuba Kabira
Habuba Kabira (Syria)
LocationSyria
RegionAleppo Governorate
Coordinates36.151446°N 38.061950°E / 36.151446; 38.061950
Uruk-period beveled rim bowl, ca. 3400–3200 BCE, from Habuba Kabira in Syria

History

Habuba Kabira was built around 3500 BCE on a regular plain with strong defensive walls, but was abandoned after a few generations and never inhabited again.[2] The site is around 18 hectares in area, with the walled area encompassing 10 hectares.

Lisa Cooper cites evidence from Heinrich, et al. 1969 as well as Heusch, 1980 indicating that the site was reinhabited from late Early Bronze Age to Middle Bronze Age with reuse of building walls and the defensive walls.[3][4]

There were also several other late Uruk enclaves and outposts in this general area. They include Arslantepe (attested at level VIA), Hassek Höyük (attested at level 5), Jebel/Djebel Aruda (8 kilometers north near Tell es-Sweyhat), and Tepecik (Elazığ Province, attested at level 3).[5] Godin Tepe is a similar site in Iran.[6]

Archaeology

The site was excavated for 9 seasons from 1969 to 1975 by a Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft team led by Ernst Heinrich and Eva Strommenger. [7][8] It was part of the Tabqa Dam rescue excavation effort.[9] Small finds included 4 clay tokens.[10][11][12][13][14]

  • Kabira reconstruction, Berlin Museum
    Kabira reconstruction, Berlin Museum
  • Berlin Museum
    Berlin Museum
  • Berlin Museum
    Berlin Museum
  • Berlin Museum
    Berlin Museum
  • Berlin Museum
    Berlin Museum
  • Berlin Museum
    Berlin Museum

Notes
  1. Dornemann, Rudolph H., "Salvage Excavations at Tell Hadidi in the Euphrates River Valley." The Biblical Archaeologist, vol. 48, no. 1, 1985, pp. 49–59
  2. Donald Kagan, Steven Ozment, and Frank M. Turner. The Western Heritage (Volume One: To 1740). Ninth Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, 2007. Print.
  3. Lisa Cooper, "The demise and regeneration of Bronze Age urban centers in the Euphrates Valley of Syria,"in After Collapse: The Regeneration of Complex Societies, ed by Glenn M. Schwartz and John J. Nicholas, 2006:18-37
  4. Heusch, J.-C., "Tall Habuba Kabira im 3. und 2. Jahrtausend- die Entwicklung der Baustruktur.", Ktema 5: 159-178, 1978
  5. Algaze, Guillermo, et al. “The Uruk Expansion: Cross-Cultural Exchange in Early Mesopotamian Civilization [with Comments and Reply].” Current Anthropology, vol. 30, no. 5, 1989, pp. 571–608
  6. Giorgi Leon Kavtaradze (2012), On the Importance of the Caucasian Chronology for the Foundation of the Common Near Eastern – East European Chronological System
  7. Heinrich, E. et al., "Bericht iiber die von der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft mit Stiftung Volkswagenwerk im Euphrattal bei Aleppo begonnenen archaologischen Untersuchungen.", Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft 101, pp. 27-49, 1969
  8. Eva Strommenger, Habuba Kabira: Eine Stadt vor 5000 Jahren : Ausgrabungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft am Euphrat in Habuba Kabira, Syrien (Sendschrift der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft), von Zabern, 1980, ISBN 3-8053-0449-8
  9. Freedman, David Noel, and John M. Lundquist. “Archeological Reports from the Tabqa Dam Project: Euphrates Valley, Syria.” The Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research, vol. 44, 1977, pp. iii–182
  10. Friberg, Jöran. "Preliterate counting and accounting in the Middle East: A constructively critical review of Schmandt-Besserat's Before Writing" Orientalistische Literaturzeitung, vol. 89, no. 5-6, 1994
  11. Heinrich, E. et al., "Zweiter vorlaufiger Bericht tiber die von der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft mit Mitteln der Stiftung Volkswagenwerk in Habuba Kabira und in Mumbaqat unternommenen archaologischen Untersuchungen (Herbstkampagne 1969).", Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft 102: 27-78., 1970
  12. Heinrich, E. et al., "Dritter vorlaufiger Bericht iiber die von der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft mit der Stiftung Volkswagenwerk in Habuba Kabira und in Mumbaqat unternommenen archaologischen Untersuchungen (Herbstkampagne 1970).", Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft 103: 5-5, 1971
  13. Heinrich, E. et al., "Vierter vorlaufiger Bericht iiber die von der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft mit Mitteln der Stiftung Volkswagenwerk in Habuba Kabira (Habuba Kabira, Herbstkampagnen 1971 und 1972 sowie Testgrabung Frtihjahr 1973) und in Mumbaqat (Tall Munbaqa, Herbstkampagne 1971) unternommenen archaologischen Untersuchungen.", Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft 105: 5-52, 1973
  14. Heinrich, E. et al., 1974 Vierter vorlaufiger Bericht tiber die von der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft mit Mitteln der Stiftung Volkswagen werk in Habuba Kabira (Habuba Kabira, Herbstkampagnen 1971 und 1972 sowie Testgrabung Friihjahr 1973) und in Mumbaqat (Tall Munbaqa, Herbstkampagne 1971) unternommenen archaologischen Untersuchungen (Fortsetsung). Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesell- schaft 106: 53-97., 1974

References
  • Dietrich Surenhagen, Keramikproduktion in Habuba Kabira-Sud: Unters. zur Keramikproduktion innerhalb d. spat-urukzeitl. Siedlung Habuba Kabira-Sud in Nordsyrien, Hessling, 1978, ISBN 3-7769-0190-X

See also
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