defining the mb-lb transition in northern mesopotamia ... · defining the mb-lb transition in...

West & East 205 Monografie, 4

Abstract

The transitional phase between the Middle and the Late Bronze Age in Northern Mesopotamia is difficult to define, both from a historical and an archaeological perspective. This paper seeks to address the main issues in the identification of diagnostic ceramic features for this phase, by comparing the evidence from the Erbil plain with the data gathered from surveys and excavations in the Middle and Upper Tigris region (i.e. Yorgan Tepe, Tell Rimah, Tell Billa) and in the Syrian Jazirah (i.e. Tell Brak, Tell Bderi and Tell Barri). Through the analysis of the ceramic assemblages coming from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and their comparison with materials be-longing to better known stratified sequences, I will focus on the diagnostic features characterizing the pottery repertoire during the Middle Bronze Age - Late Bronze Age transition.

Keywords

Transition, pottery, Northern Mesopotamia, Dark Age

Defining the MB-LB transition in northern Mesopotamia: some archaeological considerations on the new data from the Erbil Plain and neighbouring regions

VALENTINA OSELINI

Sapienza University of Rome


Valentina Oselini

information about the small kingdom of Tunip-Teššup, probably located East of the Tigris and contemporary with the reign of Hattusili I, is pro-vided by textual documents whose provenance is dubious.6 Textual sources coming from other ar-eas7 suggest that Mitanni should be considered as the most powerful polity in northern Mesopo-tamia before the rise to power of the Middle As-syrian Kingdom. The peak of Mitanni’s influence was reached during the fifteenth and the first half of the fourteenth century BC, when a vast terri-tory extending from North-Western Syria to the Eastern Tigris Region was under its control.8 The capital city of the Mitannian state was Washush-kanni, initially identified with Tell Fekheriye,9 while secondary capitals were located along the Khabur and Balikh rivers(fig. 1).10 Excavations at Tell Brak (Area HH),11 Tell Fekheriye,12 Tell Barri (Area G, phases BF-BA)13 and Tell Bderi14 in the Syrian Jazirah allow us to recognize the main fea-tures of the LBA material culture in the heartland of the Mitannian state.

According to Novák, the first period that can be properly defined Mitannian -both from an archaeo-logical and historical point of view- corresponds to the overlapping of the last phase of the MBA with

dle of the fifth century BC, the city of Assur appears as the cap-ital of a territorial state (Veenhof, Eidem 2008, pp. 23-27).

6 Salvini 1998, 1996.7 Western Syria, Egypt, Hittite and Babylon Kingdoms,

Cancik-Kirschbaum et Al. 2014, pp. 2-3.8 De Martino 2014, p. 61; Schwartz 2014,

pp. 270-271.9 The identification of Washushkanni with Tell Fekheri-

ye was first suggested by von Oppenheim (von Oppenheim 1931, p. 60). It has to be said, though, that this association has not been proved by archaeological excavations or documentary evidence so far (Bonatz 2015, p. 26; Salvini 1998, p. 114).

10 Such as Ta’idu, seat of the sovereigns of Khanigal-bat, possibly to be identified with Tell Hamidiya: Schwartz 2014, p. 269.

11 Oates D., Oates J., Mcdonald 1997.12 Bonatz 2014, 2015; Bonatz, Bartl 2012.13 According to Pecorella, Tell Barri was one of the main

religious centres of the Mitannian state during the sixteenth and fifteenth century BC: Pecorella 1997, p. 310. For the analysis on the MB-LB archaeological sequence and pottery from Tell Barri, see Baccelli, Manuelli 2008; Coppini 2008; D’Agostino, Coppini 2014; D’Agostino 2014.

14 Pfälzner 1990, 1995.

1. Introduction

The transition between the Middle and the Late Bronze Age in Mesopotamia (hereafter MBA and LBA) is traditionally dated to the middle of the second millennium BC, and it represents a prob-lematic period for what concerns both the defini-tion of an absolute chronology and the identifi-cation of its archaeological phases.1 The centuries between the Old Babylonian and the Middle Kas-site period are known as “Mesopotamian Dark Age”2 owing to the shortage of textual sources for this epoch. Moreover, the absence of well-docu-mented and exhaustive stratified contexts and ar-chaeological sequences for the northern Mesopo-tamian area so far (especially in northern Iraq) does not allow a comprehensive reconstruction of the historical background that could fill in the gaps of the documentation. There is consensus among scholars in considering the time frame of the col-lapse of the First Dynasty of Babylon, traditionally set in 1595 BC3, and of the decades following this event as a thorny issue.4

For what regards northern Mesopotamia, the scarcity of textual data concerning the phase be-tween the Old Assyrian and the Middle Assyrian periods, spanning from the end of eighteenth to the end of fifteenth century BC, has prevented a reliable reconstruction of the Assyrian history at the middle of the second millennium BC.5 Some

1 Pruzsinsky 2009; Schwartz 2008, p. 450.2 Pruzsinsky 2009, p. 41.3 According to the Middle Chronology.4 Gasche et Al. 1998, pp. 6-7; Pruzsinsky 2009,

p. 17.5 The Assyrian King List is unclear for the end of the

eighteenth century, when the so-called Dark Age begins. At the time of Shamshi Adad, the city of Assur had a prominent role as religious hub and trading post connected to the northern Mesopotamian area. We also know that Hammurabi defeated many towns in the area of Subartu and Ekallatum during his 33th year of reign and, despite the lack of a direct mention of Assur, it is likely that this city was included among the towns he triumphed over. Textual data from Sippar, contemporary with the reign of Samsu-Iluna (1750-1712 BC), describe Assur as an important trade centre and Tell Leilan as the capital of the Old Assyrian kingdom. At a later stage, Shaushatar of Mitanni con-quered the city of Assur which was then dominated or at least influenced by this political entity. Textual documents increase at the beginning of the Middle Assyrian period and, at the mid-


Defining the MB-LB transition in northern Mesopotamia…

2. Mid-second millennium BC in the Syrian Jazirah and in the Middle and Upper Tigris Region: contexts and ceramics

The bulk of the archaeological material dating to the middle of the second millennium BC in North-ern Mesopotamia was brought to light in the Syrian Jazirah; in particular, the most significant sequences known for the MBA-LBA transitional period were excavated at Tell Brak and Tell Barri. The stratigra-phy of Area HH at Brak shows a continuity of occu-pation from the Old Babylonian period to the Mi-tannian period.17 The analysis of the materials from the superimposed domestic buildings in Trench F, indeed, shows elements both of continuity and

17 Levels 7 and 6 of area HH (trenches A-D) are char-acterized by residential buildings lying on the Old Babylonian layers found in Trench D and predating the construction of the Mitannian palace (Oates, Oates, McDonald 1997, pp. 18-21, 35); the domestic building in area HH, trench F, can be dated to the Mitannian period and is set on the Old Babylo-nian level (McMahon, Oates 2007, p. 147).

the early LBA (ca. 1600-1522 BC). De Martino, in-stead, argues that the Mitannian polity developed later, by the end of the sixteenth century BC.15 Not-withstanding the archaeological excavations in the Syrian Jazirah, the main features of the material cul-ture characterizing the transition between the MBA and the LBA are still difficult to identify.16

New contributions to the understanding of the “Mesopotamian Dark Age” are provided by the data from the recent archaeological activities conducted in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (i.e the Dohuk, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah provinces), where extensive surveys, soundings and archaeological excavations have been carried out at several sites since 2012.

15 Novák 2013, pp. 349-352; According to De Martino, a Hurrian polity existed in the Mitannian area even before the time of the Hittite king Mursili I, although the Mitannian state emerged in a phase posterior to his reign. De Martino 2004; 2014, pp. 66-69.

16 Novák 2007, pp. 389-390.

Figure 1The main centres of the Mitannian state in northern Mesopotamia and in northern Syria during the 15th-14th century BC. Map made by the author


Valentina Oselini

Rimah, traces of re-occupation of the site after the abandonment and destruction of the MB buildings were found in Level 2 of the Great Temple (Site A), in two occupation phases of a large residential build-ing in Level 5 (Site C) and in the edifices brought to light in Level 4 of Site D. Level 3 of the Great Tem-ple area and the so-called “Kitchen floor” of Site C (Level 6a), in particular, are of great interest for what concerns the MB-LB transitional period.24

The pottery assemblage from these two sequenc-es allows us to delineate the ceramic horizon of the Middle Tigris Region around the middle of the sec-ond millennium BC as consisting of undecorated, incised and painted ware types.

Plain pottery from Yorgan Tepe/Nuzi includes storage jars, small jars, bottles, straight, concave side shouldered beakers, flat or ring base Grey burnished ware bowls and other everyday shapes, less frequent-ly found, such as plates, infant burial jars or drains.25 The sequence of Area C At Rimah, in particular, is significant for the presence of the more typical shapes dating from the MBA to the LBA, such as beakers with wide rim, shallow rough-based bowls, Grey burnished ware, large unpainted jars and vats with incised wavy decorations.26

The production of painted pottery, Younger Khabur Ware and the so-called Nuzi Ware is gen-erally associated to the beginning of the LBA. The monochrome painted Khabur Ware is considered as belonging to the Old Babylonian tradition and, according to Oguchi, the later phase of the Khabur Ware (Younger Khabur Ware), represented by the painted pottery from Tell Brak and Tell Rimah, has to be dated to the period spanning from 1550 and 1400 BC.27 For Pfälzner, the Younger Khabur

24 Postgate, Oates D., Oates J. 1997, pp. 21-26, 37, 43-44, 56.

25 Yorgan Tepe/Nuzi, Strata I and II. For a detailed de-scription of the Nuzi pottery see Cecchini 1965 and Starr 1939.

26 These are typical of the MB-LB transition, recurring in Level 6a of Site C. Unpainted ware dating to the LBI peri-od was found in Level C5 and consists of pie-crust potstands, straight sided and footed beakers, large vessels with geometric decorations on the rim and impressed grey ware with white in-lays (Postgate, Oates, Oates 1997, pp. 55-56).

27 Oguchi 1997, pp. 196-197, table 1. The archaeologi-cal sequence at Tell Brak and Tell Rimah showed how features specific of the Khabur Ware occur in MB/Old Babylonian and

change between the two periods.18 Lingering ce-ramic types are: shouldered beakers often decorated with painted stripes (Younger Khabur Ware), the so-called “grain measures”, Grey-burnished ware and large jars or vats incised with wavy lines.19

Excavations in Area G and Area P at Tell Barri revealed a change in the layout and destination of this part of the town from residential to productive. Moreover, new ceramic types appeared in the Mi-tannian phase; among them can be listed: Young-er Khabur Ware, red-edge bowls, carinated bowls, straight-sided footed beakers, Nuzi ware and Grey ware.20 D’Agostino and Coppini proposed a corre-lation of the MB II with the late Old Babylonian/Old Jazirah III period, while the LB I should be as-sociated to the earliest phase of the Mitanni period or Middle Jazirah I.21

Until the recent upswing of archaeological ac-tivities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, the most significant discoveries dating to the middle of the second millennium BC in Northern Iraq, and es-pecially in the Middle Tigris Region, were made at Yorgan Tepe in the 1920s and at Tell Rimah in the 1960s.22 The archaeological evidence from Strata I and II excavated at Nuzi, as Yorgan Tepe was called in the second millennium BC, consists of buildings, including a palace, a temple and houses, along with a large amount of ceramics and objects.23 At Tell

18 A domestic building with a collapsed vaulted roof and a street dating to the Mitannian period were brought to light in Trench F during the 2006 excavations, while an Old Baby-lonian multi-room house emerged directly below it in the 2007 campaign. The materials coming from these buildings, includ-ing the pottery, are currently under study. McMahon, Oates 2007, pp. 146-147.

19 Oates, Oates, McDonald 1997, pp. 64-66.20 D’Agostino, Coppini 2014, pp. 387-388.21 D’Agostino, Coppini 2014, table 1. According

to Pfälzner, thin-walled shouldered beakers painted in red or brown, Grey-burnished ware, White Paste inlay ware, carinated bowls with vertical rim and accentuated, thickened carination are the most characteristic shapes of the Middle Jazirah Ia pe-riod, while Red-Edge bowls are typical of the Middle Jazirah Ib phase and Nuzi Ware is common to the entire Middle Jazirah I period (Pfälzner 2007, pp. 237-250).

22 For a reappraisal of the survey activities carried out in the Mesopotamian area see Wilkinson, Ur, Hritz 2013, while for a focus on the Iraqi territory, see Ur et Al. 2013, p. 89.

23 Starr 1939, pp. 42-179, 207-262, 304-322, 331-345, 387-494.



sidered one of the most representative chronological markers of the LBA, often associated to the presence of Mitanni. It has been mainly related to luxury con-texts such as religious buildings and the residences of the elite.29 Moreover, it was found in the lower oc-cupation level of the Kassite palace of Dur Kurigalzu

29 Cecchini 1965, pp. 19-20. Although Nuzi Ware has been found in domestic contexts as well, and even if it doesn’t seem to be exclusive to the residences of the elite, it is gener-ally uncommon within private dwellings: Postgate, Oates, Oates 1997, p. 54.

Ware, of which the thin-walled shouldered beaker painted in red or brown constitutes the most com-mon shape, is typical of Middle Jazirah Ia-b contexts dating from 1550 to 1270 BC and it is contempo-rary to the Nuzi Ware production.28

The peculiar white on black Nuzi Ware, attested from the Amuq plain to north-eastern Iraq, is con-

LB/Mitannian contexts and illustrated that the distinction be-tween “Older” and “Younger” Khabur Ware is not so strict: Postgate, Oates, Oates 1997, pp. 53-54.

28 Pfälzner 2007, pp. 243-244, 248.

Figure 2Relative Chronology of the Northern Mesopotamia area in term of ceramic phases. Grey is the period considered within the present analysis, corresponding to the so called “Dark Age” (until 1550 BC) and to the beginning of LBA (Mitanni period)


Valentina Oselini

nected to the Northern Mesopotamian landscape, settlement distribution and dynamics of interaction between sites in the mid-second millennium BC. Moreover, the increase in field activities in this ex-tremely important area shall provide a great oppor-tunity to better define the characteristics of the sec-ond millennium BC local ceramic horizon (fig. 3).34

The methodology used to distinguish the dif-ferent phases of the second millennium BC in the surveys carried out in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq generally derives from the archaeological periodiza-tion based on the ceramic sequence established for the Syrian Jazirah. As proposed by Pfälzner, the MB should correspond to the Old Jazirah I and II-III periods (ca. 2000-1650 BC), while the LB should be equated to the Middle Jazirah I-II periods (ca. 1550-1150 BC).35 Nevertheless, the terms “Mitan-nian” or “Middle Assyrian” are frequently used in substitution of the periodization of the LBA, in accordance with the stratigraphic sequences high-lighted in two soundings at Assur and Kar Tukulti Ninurta36 and with the analysis and classification of the ceramic materials found herein.37

The archaeological survey conducted in the hin-terland of Nineveh (LoNAP)38 revealed that dur-ing the MBA and the LBA, and especially in the Middle Assyrian period (LB II), this area was quite densely occupied.39 The survey and the test trench

34 The first results of the recent archaeological activities conducted in the Iraqi Kurdistan region have been published by K. Kopanias and J. MacGinnis in 2016, following the com-prehensive article of 2015: Kopanias, MacGinnis, Ur (eds.) 2015; Kopanias, MacGinnis (eds.) 2016.

35 See Pfälzner 2017 for the final third – early second millennium BC; and Pfälzner 2007 for the late second mil-lennium BC.

36 Beuger 2014. 37 According to Coppini, the LoNAP team uses MBA I,

IIA and II B for the early second millennium BC pottery and Mitannian or LBA I and Middle-Assyrian or LBA II for the late secomd millennium pottery, taking into consideration the nature of the historical events in the region (Coppini 2018, p. 67).

38 For a preliminary report on the MBA and LBA pottery from the LoNAP survey see Coppini 2018.

39 Land of Nineveh Archaeological Project in the Dohuk and Nineveh provinces (LoNAP): Morandi Bonacossi, Ia-moni 2015, pp. 23-25, fig. 8. According to Coppini, the MBA sites are clustered in the Navkur Plain, along the Zagros Pied-mont and the Gomel River, East of the Al-Khazir River and in the area around the site of Jerahiyeh. Early LBA sites in the

in association with other small precious objects and this assemblage represents the southernmost deposit of this distinctive ceramic material.30

In the Upper Tigris basin, excavations conduct-ed at Tell Billa revealed that the site was occupied around the middle of the second millennium BC. The earliest stages of this occupation date to the end of the seventeenth-beginning of the sixsteenth cen-tury BC (Stratum 4), while the latest are contempo-rary with Stratum II at Nuzi (Stratum 3, 1600-1400 BC). 31 Even if the two Strata were consecutive in the archaeological sequence, the pottery assemblage from Stratum 4 lacks some of the shapes that char-acterize Stratum 3; this is the case for shouldered beakers decorated with horizontal bands on the body and for Nuzi-style goblets and cups.

Several sites were investigated in the framework of the Eski Mosul Dam Salvage Project between 1981 and 1984. Domestic buildings and graves char-acterized by the presence of Khabur and Nuzi Ware were found in seven of them, indicating an occupa-tion of this area in the mid-second millennium BC and the existence of a common ceramic repertoire shared with the neighbouring regions.32 At Tell Ri-jim in particular, the early LBA sequence sees the re-use of the latest MBA buildings, testifying to the continuity of occupation between the two phases.33

3. Cultural horizon: diagnostic pottery from the Trans-Tigridian region

The recent archaeological survey and excavation projects in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq offer the chance to better understand relevant aspects con-

30 Baqir 1945, fig. 15.31 Two seasons of archaeological excavations were carried

out at Tell Billa in 1930-1933 by the same team that was exca-vating at Tepe Gawra, under the direction of E.A. Speiser. Un-fortunately, the excavations did not cover the entire surface of the tell: Stein 1984, pp. 13-16.

32 Tell Fisna (Levels 4 and 3); Kirbet Hatara (Mixed Lay-ers in the Hatara Village and floors in the Hatara Cemetery); Tell Jikan (Nort-East and East side, Levels 4, 3 -Area A- and Level 2 -Area B-); Karhal Sufla (three graves); Tell Rijim (Lev-el 4); Wadi Khatkhum (Period 4): Killick, Black 1985, pp. 227-239. See also Nemrik (Mitanni settlement: defence wall and four Houses, A, B, D, E), Reiche 2014.

33 Kolisńki 2000, p. XII.



In the north-west part of the Kurdistan region (EHAS), pottery dated to the LBA was identified in ten sites; four among them were probably occu-pied in the LB I and LB II and about 6% of the total number of sherds retrieved in Bassetki can be dat-ed to the LBA as well. Diagnostic types of the LBA period find parallels with similar shapes from Tell Sabi Abyad, Tell Sheikh Hamad, Tell Brak and Tell Barri.43 During the first two seasons of archaeologi-cal excavations carried out at Bassetki in 2015 and 2016, three stratigraphic phases that can be attrib-uted to the sixteenth century BC were recognized in Area A (Phases A10-A8). Following Pfälzner, these

ni 2018, pp. 71-72.43 Eastern Ḫabur Archaeological Survey (EHAS) of the

Dohuk province: Pfälzner, Sconzo 2016a, 2016b. For the LBA pottery report from the survey see Puljiz in Pfälzner, Sconzo 2016b, pp. 39-40.

showed that the largest settlement identified in the Navkur Plain, namely Gir-e Gomel, has a well pre-served archaeological sequence for the second mil-lennium BC.40 The ceramics shapes used as chrono-logical references for the beginning of the LBA in this area are “pie-crust” pot stands, Grey-burnished ware, red-edge bowls and Nuzi and Khabur Ware.41 Diagnostic shapes indicating a LB II occupation of the sites are carinated bowls and plates, large stor-age jars with thickened, squared or rounded rim and nipple bases.42

LoNAP area amount to 122 settlements and they are scarcer in the eastern part of the plain, more regularly distributed in the Piedmont (Coppini 2018, p. 70).

40 Coppini 2018, pp. 72-73.41 Gavagnin, Iamoni, Palermo 2016, pp. 141-142;

Coppini 2018, pp. 70-71.42 Gavagnin, Iamoni, Palermo 2016, p. 142; Coppi-

Figure 3Focus on the northern Iraq with the mention of the archaeological sites quoted in the text and of the surveyed areas in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Map made by the author (QGIS®)


Valentina Oselini

Rouault. An earlier phase datable to the LBA I pe-riod was discovered in area A during the field activ-ities, thus demonstrating the existence of a strong continuity between the LBA I and the LBA II in this relevant site.50

Archaeological excavations are being carried out at Kurd Qaburstan by a team of the Johns Hopkins University, directed by G. Schwartz.51 The occupa-tional sequence singled out here covers most of the second millennium BC: the lower town was mainly occupied during the MBA, while three levels of occu-pation dating to the LBA have been identified at the top of the mound, encompassing a timespan covering the early LBA, all the LBA I, and the LBA II.52

According to Schwartz, the pottery from Kurd Qaburstan can be dated to the LBA I period thanks to parallels with Nuzi, Tell Rimah, Tell Brak and Tell Barri, even if the Nuzi Ware is very rarely found within this archaeological context.53

Starting from 2013, the Italian Archaeological Expedition in the Erbil Plain (MAIPE) has carried out an intensive survey and three campaigns of ar-chaeological excavation at Helawa, a site located in the south-western part of the Erbil Plain.54 The dis-tribution of second millennium potsherds, repre-senting the 25% of the total amount of the survey collection, shows that they are spread on the en-

50 Masetti-Rouault 2017, p. 113.51 Schwartz 2016; Schwartz et Al. 2017.52 The early phase of the LBA has probably to be associ-

ated with a pre-Mitannian occupation and it is represented by a distinctive building characterized by a system of toilets and baths on the High Mound East and by drains and walls on the High Mound West. The discovery of a cylinder seal belonging to the Mitanni Common Style in Phase 2 confirms the chrono-logical frame for the objects and the production area is dating to this phase. Few later graves and a kiln have been associated to the later occupation of the top of the mound and dated to the LBA II/Middle Assyrian period (Phase 1): Schwartz et Al. 2017, pp. 217-223.

53 Schwartz et Al. 2017, p. 235.54 The works on the field in the Helawa and Aliawa area

began in 2013 and are still in progress. An intensive survey was carried out at Helawa and Aliawa in 2013 and 2015 and archae-ological excavations under the direction of L. Peyronel (Uni-versity of Milan) have been conducted in Area B and Area D at Helawa from 2016: Peyronel, Vacca, Zenoni 2016. The preliminary results of the survey and the archaeological excava-tions (2016-2018) at Tell Helawa will be published in the pro-ceedings of the 10th ICAANE conference in Munich, Peyro-nel, Vacca forthcoming.

are generically dated to the MB III, although some pottery types diagnostic for the LB occur as well. For this reason, Pfälzner himself proposes to adopt the definition of MBA/LBA transitional or “Proto-Mitanni” phase for this assemblage.44

The 2012 survey conducted along the Greater Zab and in the Bastora Cay (UZGAR45) demon-strated that second millennium BC settlements, identified thanks to the presence of band painted Younger Khabur Ware,46 are quite abundant in the area and larger in comparison to the third millen-nium BC ones. According to the available data, it appears that during the early second millennium BC the occupation concentrated more on the east-ern bank of the Greater Zab, while during the LB I the western bank of the river was settled as well.47 According to Kolinski, during the second millenni-um BC the eastern area of the Dohuk province was sparsely occupied.48

As shown by the results of EPAS Survey, which is currently being carried out in the Erbil Plain un-der the direction of J. Ur, a progressive increase in the number of sites during the MB and LB periods can be seen in this area. In this context, Ur identi-fied Qasr Shemamok and Kurd Qaburstan as the two major settlements, respectively for the LB II and the MB periods, since the beginning of his ac-tivities on the field.49

The situation of the second half of the LBA in the Erbil Plain seems to be consistent with this pic-ture as this period is well represented in the archae-ological remains of Qasr Shemamok, where baked bricks bears cuneiform inscription about the pal-ace of Adad-Nirari I were identified in Area B by the team directed by O. Rouault and M.G. Masetti-

44 This interpretation was suggested by the presence of flat conical bowls, red-edge bowls and knob-based beakers among numerous specimens of Late Khabur Ware: Pfälzner, Qasim 2017, p. 24.

45 The Upper Greater Zab Archaeological Reconnaissance project in the Dohuk and Erbil provinces (UGZAR), http://ar-cheo.amu.edu.pl/ugzar/indexen.htm; Koliński 2018.

46 Koliński R. 2012. 47 Koliński R. 2014.48 Koliński R. 2015.49 Erbil Plain Archaeological Survey (EPAS) directed by

J. Ur (Harvard University) in collaboration with the Director-ate of Antiquity of Erbil, Ur et Al. 2013, pp. 99-101.



evident in the case of painted and incised wares. Moreover, both the repertoires present the same plain ware shapes: carinated bowls with verti-cal rims, bowls with outward rims, triangular or squared in section and deep bowls and jars with thick squared rims.

The Helawa pottery assemblage is also character-ized by the presence of Younger Khabur Ware and its typical shouldered beakers with a black-greenish or red painted horizontal band and bowls with ex-panded rim decorated with a zig-zag motif painted on its upper part (fig. 6: 1-3, 8).55 The unpainted

55 The red-stripe decoration on shouldered beakers and other shapes found at Tell Rimah and Brak is characteristic of the Old Babylonian and Mitannian traditions (Postgate, Oates, Oates 1997, p. 53).

tire area, with higher concentrations on the north-eastern and on the southern slopes of the mound (fig. 4). Excavations carried out since 2016 in Area D, on the north-eastern lower mound, brought to light three different architectural phases character-ized by domestic and productive structures to be dated to the middle of the second millennium BC (Phases 2-4). The ceramic assemblage is homogene-ous and representative of a single ceramic horizon.

Chronological and typological references for the Helawa pottery assemblage can be found in Tell Barri, Tell Bderi, Tell Brak, Tell Rimah, Tell Billa and in the pottery from the recently excavated High Mound at Kurd Qaburstan (figs. 5-6).

Compelling typological similarities between the pottery from Helawa and that from Qaburstan are

Figure 4Topographic plan of Helawa indicating the distribution of the MB-LB pottery types on the site (results of the 2013-2015 surveys). In general, the MB-LB pottery represents the 25% on the total of potsherds collected. MAIPE©


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Figure 5Plain pottery, diagnostic open shapes of the beginning of the Late Bronze Age from different sites in northern Iraq and Syrian Jazirah (re-drawn by the author). Helawa materials come from the survey (TH.13.) and the excavations (TH.16.; TH.17.) in Area D



Figure 6Painted pottery and diagnostic closed shapes of the beginning of the Late Bronze Age from different sites in northern Iraq and Syrian Jazirah (re-drawn by the author). Helawa materials come from the survey (TH.13.) and the excavations (TH.16.; TH.17.) in Area D


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4. Conclusion

The Archaeological survey and excavations in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq show that this area was settled at the beginning of the LBA, an historical phase that remains partly obscure in the textual as well as archaeological documentation. Settlements dating to the beginning of the LBA seem to be fewer than those dating to the MBA or to the second part of the LBA.

Some sites are larger than others and prob-ably had an administrative role; these are Kurd Qaburstan and Qasr Shemamok in the Erbil Plain, Bassetki in the Eastern Khabur and Gird-e Gomel in the Navkur Plain. On the other side, smaller set-tlements like Helawa were established in the coun-tryside as domestic and productive sites with a shorter life cycle. More excavations both on the big-ger sites and the smaller rural settlements in the Er-bil Plain are needed in order to clarify the social and economic dynamics connecting contemporary sites during the MB-LB transitional period.

Chronological and typological correlations be-tween the ceramic material dating to the middle and late second millennium BC from the Syrian Jazirah, the Middle and Upper Tigris Region and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq show that a common ceramic horizon was shared in Northern Mesopota-mia. However, further and more in-depth analyses could reveal the existence of smaller ceramic regions characterized by similar pottery types and technol-ogies as is probably the case with the Erbil Plain. Close parallels have been found, indeed, between the Kurd Qaburstan and Helawa repertoires, show-ing that the two sites were contemporary and shared a distinctive local ceramic tradition.

The analysis of the archaeological and ceramic sequences of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq could allow us to establish an updated and independent regional periodization, which would shed light on some aspects that remain uncertain due to the lack of data for other previously investigated areas in Northern Mesopotamia.

open forms include bowls with vertical rim (fig. 5: 1), bowls with thickened rim (fig. 5: 5), slightly cari-nated bowls with everted rim (fig. 5: 8-9), carinated Grey ware bowls (fig. 5: 13) and deep bowls with ex-panded or squared rim (fig. 5: 15, 17). Among the closed forms, the most characteristic for this peri-od are the vats and jars with squared rim (fig. 6: 11, 13) and the pithoi with thickened and squared rim (fig. 6: 15). The archaeometrical evaluation of this material found that the pastes are usually coarse, organic and mineral tempered, with calcareous and mica inclusions.56 The characteristic painted ware found both at Helawa and Kurd Qaburstan seems to belong to the Younger Khabur Ware horizon, datable to the beginning of the LBA.

LBA markers of the Syrian Jazirah and north-western Iraq ceramic horizon, i.e. the white on black painted Nuzi Ware, have not yet been found at Helawa. Moreover, typical Middle Assyrian (LB II) shapes, such as the wide carinated bowls, the inward rim bowls and the nipple bases are completely absent in this site. On the other side, very few specimens of Nuzi Ware were discovered at Kurd Qaburstan.

Three hypotheses can be formulated to explain the absence of Nuzi Ware at Helawa and its scarcity at Kurd Qaburstan: Qaburstan was occupied longer than Helawa; Nuzi Ware was not as typical and fre-quent in the Erbil Plain as in the Syrian Jazirah; the presence of Nuzi Ware at Kurd Qaburstan could be related to the building with representative func-tions located on High Mound East.

The similarity of the ceramic materials from the two sites as well as their proximity, as they are both located in the south-western part of the Erbil Plain (ca. 7 km away from each other), suggest that they were probably contemporary and somehow con-nected. The comparison between the data from Hel-awa, Kurd Qaburstan and Qasr Shemamok, which is situated slightly to the north of the first two sites, in the Erbil Plain, is crucial to define the chrono-logical and morphological markers of the material culture of the area in a regional perspective.

56 The archaeometric analyses were conducted by dr. L. Medeghini of the Department of Earth Science (Sapienza, Uni-versity of Rome).



Acknowledgments

I would like to express my gratitude to Luca Peyronel, director of the MAIPE project of the University of Milan, for giving me the possibility to study the second millennium BC ceramic materials from Helawa. I also wish to thank Agnese Vacca, deputy director of the project, for the useful discussion on the pottery sequence at the site. I am much obliged to both of them for the stimulating suggestions they always provide, enriching the perspectives of my ongo-ing research. Finally, I wish to extend warm thanks to Costanza Coppini for our frequent exchanges concerning the MBA-LBA ceramic materials in Northern Mesopotamia.


Valentina Oselini

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