Tell Afis

Tell Afis
تل آفس
	Shown within Syria
Alternative name	Hazrek
Location	Idlib Governorate, Syria
Coordinates	35°54′18″N 36°47′55″E / 35.90500°N 36.79861°E
Type	settlement
Area	28 ha
Site notes
Excavation dates	1986–2010
Archaeologists	Stefania Mazzoni and Serena Maria Cecchini
Condition	ruins

Tell Afis is an archaeological site in the Idlib Governorate of northern Syria, lying about fifty kilometers southeast of Aleppo and 11 kilometers north of the ancient site of Ebla.^[1] The site is thought to be that of ancient Hazrek (under Neo-Assyrians - Hatarikka) capital of the Kingdom of Hamath and Luhuti.^[2] The Stele of Zakkur (KAI 202), dated c, 785 BC, which contains a dedication in Aramaic to the gods Iluwer and Baalshamin, was discovered at the top of the acropolis in 1903 by the French Consul Henri Pognon. It is now in the Louvre Museum.^[3]

History

Occupation of the site extends from the Late Chalcolithic, Ubaid period, Early Bronze I period, Middle Bronze II, until the Iron Age.^[4]

Late Chalcolithic

In the Late Chalcolithic (4000-3200 BC) it was surrounded by a megalithic stone wall at the base of the acropolis with a moat.^[5] The economy was based on the herding of mostly sheep but also pigs. The find of elderly bovines indicated that agriculture was being practices.^[6]

Early Bronze Age

During the Early Bronze Age (2500-2000 BC) occupation was mainly of a domestic nature though an industrial area (pottery manufacture) was found to the north and a food processing area to the south.

Middle Bronze Age

Yamhad Period

In the Middle Bronze IIA (c. 1820-1628 BC), the Kingdom of Yamhad (Aleppo) gained control of the region and Ebla to the south became a vassalage. Afis being north of Ebla on the route to Aleppo would have been part of this change.

In the lower town Middle Bronze Age II occupation is attested (excavation Area D) but in a smaller area than the later Iron Age II-III Aramaean town, as well as on the acropolis. Both the lower town and acropolis were walled, with the latter substantial and laid on massive stone foundations. A number of radiocarbon samples from a kiln in the EB-MB layer were tested.^[7] In the Middle Bronze I/II layer of excavation E on the acropolis an Old Syrian Linear Style green stone seal was found, dating to the 1st half of the 2nd millennium BC.^[8]

Late Bronze Age

Mitanni Period

In the 15th century BC, the Mitanni Empire gained control over the region. Afis may have belonged to a petty kingdom called Nuhasse.

Hittite Period

Around 1350-1345 BC, the Hittite ruler Suppiluliuma I gained 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 nine cuneiform tablets and fragments (in Building F). Two of the tablets, and a fragment, were in Hittite while the others, badly damaged, were administrative documents in local clay.^[9]^[10]^[11]^[12]

Iron Age

Zakkur Stele 0154

In Iron Age I (1100-950 BC) the site was a small settlement.

In Iron Age II (950-750 BC) Tell Afis grew to substantial size and was part of the Kingdom of Hamath.^[2] On the western side of the Acropolis a multiperiod temple was found. The two lowest levels (A3.2 followed by A3.1) date from Iron Age I, both of mudbrick with the same plan and a 2.5 meter wide gate to the south. In A3.1 a plastered central podium was found with pit of ashes which included animal bones and fragments of a painted keros jar.^[13] A cylinder seal depicting a storm god was also found.^[14] The earlier temples were leveled when the Iron Age II-III temples, A2 followed by A1, were constructed. They were of a tripartite longroom design 38 meters by 32 meters with a vestibule, a long hall, a rear room, and rooms along the sides and constructed of stone.Temple A1 was dismantled and the materials re-used.^[15] A sizable Iron Age II cultic area was discovered to the east of Temple A2, on the eastern acropolis. In Building G, 25 meters to the east of the sacred area, a pottery shard marked "LWR" was found. It was speculated that they were three letters of the god of Hazrek El-we.^[16] Three additional Aramaic fragments were later found.^[17] In Iron Age III (750/700-600 BC) the site was occupied c. 738 BC by the Neo-Assyrian empire under Tiglath-Pileser III. In 720 BC Sargon II defeated the Kingdom of Hamath.^[2]

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. The site had been subject to quarrying by the local populace for building materials. The lower town was protected by a Late Iron Age 5.2 meter wide wall. The wall was built without foundation or facing which the excavators took to indicate it was built rapidly.^[18] In 1932 William F. Albright collected Iron Age pottery in a surface collection.^[19] In 1970, 1972, and 1978 excavations were conducted by Paolo Matthiae with the Italian Archaeological Mission in Syria.^[20] 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. Two areas (B and D) were excavated in the northern part of the lower town. On the acropolis, areas A, G, and, E (on the western slope) were excavated.^[21]^[1]^[4]^[22]^[23]

The site was reportedly damaged by encampments during the Syrian civil war.^[24]

References

^ ^a ^b Venturi, F., "La Siria nell’Età delle Trasformazioni: Nuovi Contributi dallo Scavo di Tell Afis", Cooperativa Libraria Universitaria Editirice Bologna, 2007
^ ^a ^b ^c Soldi, Sebastiano, "Aramaeans and Assyrians in North-Western Syria: Material Evidence from Tell Afis", Syria, vol. 86, pp. 97–118, 2009
^ J. C. L. Gibson, Textbook of Syrian Semitic Inscriptions: II. Aramaic Inscriptions, Oxford University Press, 1975 ISBN 9780198131861
^ ^a ^b Stefania Mazzoni, "Tell Afis: History and Excavations", Near Eastern Archaeology, vol. 76(4), pp. 204-212, December 2013
^ [1] Giannessi, Deborah, "Tell Afis and the northern Orontes region in the Post-Ubaid period", Publications de l'Institut Français d'Études Anatoliennes 27.1, pp. 261-289, 2012
^ [2] Wilkens, Barbara, "Archaeozoology. Westwards: the Fauna of Tell Afis (Syria)", Topoi. Orient-Occident 2.1, pp. 5-14, 2000
^ [3] Felli, Candida, "The EB-MB Transition at Tell Afis: a Reappraisal", Asia Anteriore Antica. Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Cultures 3, pp. 125-151, 2021
^ [4] Felli, Candida, "An Old Syrian Seal from Tell Afis (NW Syria)", Asia Anteriore Antica. Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Cultures 1.1, pp. 43-55, 2019
^ 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, pp. 214–22, 2013
^ Archi, Alfonso, and Fabrizio Venturi, "Hittites at Tell Afis (Syria)", Orientalia, vol. 81, no. 1, pp. 1–55, 2012
^ Archi, A., "Hittites at Tell Afis II. The Cuneiform Tablets", Orientalia, pp. 81, pp. 32–55, 2012
^ Archi, Alfonso, "The Texts from Tell Afis: Evidence from the Periphery of the Hittite Empire", Origini 34, pp. 413-420, 2012
^ Minunno, Giuseppe, "Iron Age I kernoi from Tell Afis", Levant 48.1, pp. 52-62, 2016
^ S. Mazzoni, "Storm gods at Tell Afis and a Syro-Hittite seal", in P. Butterlin, J. Patrier, P. Quenet (eds), Milles et une Empreintes. Un Alsacien en Orient. Mélanges en l’honneur du 65e Anniversaire de D. Beyer, Subartu 36, Turnhout, pp. 299-318, 2016
^ Stefania Mazzoni, "Tell Afis in the Iron Age: The Temple on the Acropolis", Near Eastern Archaeology, vol. 77, no. 1, pp. 44–52, 2014
^ Serena Maria Cecchini, "Tell Afis in the Iron Age: The Official Buildings on the Eastern Acropolis", Near Eastern Archaeology, vol. 77, no. 1, pp. 58–63, 2014
^ Maria Giulia Amadasi Guzzo, "Tell Afis in the Iron Age: The Aramaic Inscriptions", Near Eastern Archaeology, vol. 77, no. 1, pp. 54–57, 2014
^ 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
^ 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
^ P. Matthiae, "Sondages à Tell Afis (Syrie), 1978", Akkadica, vol. 14, pp. 2–5, 1978
^ 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
^ S.M. Cecchini, S. Mazzoni (Eds), "Teli Afis (Siria). Scavi sull'acropoli 1988-1992, The 1988-1992 Excavations on the Acropolis", Pise, 1998
^ S. Mazzoni, "The Excavations of Tell Afis. 28th Campaign - Year 2010", Chronique archéologique en Syrie 6, pp. 183-193, 2012
^ Cunliffe, Emma., Damage to the Soul: Syria's cultural heritage in conflict, Durham University and the Global Heritage Fund, 1 May 2012