Archaeology Magazine - January 1971 - 57

bearded head of a statue which recalls the stylization of sculptures
of the Third Early Dynasty period
at Mari, ca. 2600-2400B.c.
In the northern part of the acropolis there is a destruction level consistingof grey-blackearth with clear
indications of burning. This also
can be ascribedto Period n though
no architectural features have so
far come to light. In Period hi the
North Court of the great royal
palace stood on this spot. A basalt
stele, carved on all four sides, was
found reused and built into the
thicknessof the western wall of the
palace of Period hi. It is clearly,
on iconographicalgrounds, of the
late Early Dynastic, perhaps Akkadian, tradition of Mesopotamia:a
figure- perhaps that of a prisoner
- carved on one side of the monument could link it with Akkadian
victory stelae. Thus this fragment
also should be attributed to Period
il.
During the last season, excavations took place in the lower town
between the foot of the acropolis
and the enceinte. They have revealed extensive occupation over
almost the whole area of Period
li, and confirm the dating of the
enceinte to this period. The enceinte was a direct result of urban expansion, and is evidence of
autonomouspoliticalpower.
Another recent discovery, in a
trench in the southwestern part of
the acropolis,was a life-size basalt
sculpture representing a seated
male figure. The statue had been
systematically disfigured and had
probably been reused several times.
It was found in a late level near
what must have been the main
access to the citadel. Stylistically
the figure can be attributed to the
late Akkadian or Ur hi period (ca.
2250-2000B.C.) and therefore before belongs probably to Period n.
A violent conflagrationmarks the
end of Period n, and traces of it
have already been mentioned as
having been found under the Period in palace; the temple area
however does not seem to have
been burnt. The building below the
Period hi temple was filled in with
mud-brickdebris, and a large mudbrick terrace was built, which
dominated the western slope of the
acropolis. On this terrace were
laid the foundations for the Period m temple.

The Rebuilt City: Period III
The most important remains so
far discovered belong to Period hi
when the city was rebuilt, and
knew a second period of splendor.
It corresponds to the poorer and
less varied Hama H phase, and
should be dated to ca. 2000/1900ca. 1700 B.c. This later date is uncertain, however, and it may well
be that part of the site continued
to be occupied until the end of the
Middle Bronze Age, between 1600
and 1550 B.c., though the rest of
the site was in ruins. A period of
general decadence seems to have
set in from about 1800 onward.
The Period hi palace is gradually being excavated. It stands in
the northern part of the acropolis.
There is a large courtyard, the
North Court, of beaten earth with
a row of almost square rooms
along its north side, on the edge of
the acropolis mound. On the east
side is a double row of rooms; the
west side is closed off by an enclosure-wall; the south side has
yet to be excavated. The lower
part of the walls consisted of medium sized stone fragments faced
with limestone orthostats which
could be up to 1.50 meters long
and were about 70 centimeters
high. The rooms were paved with a
fine, strong conglomerate which is
well preserved except where silos
of Period v were dug through it in
the first millennium. The walls
were covered with fine, light greyish-green plaster. The thresholds
generally consisted of large perfectly polished monolithic blocks,
edged with basalt slabs. On the
southwest side of the north court
there were two stone retaining
walls which enclosed the debris on
which the courtyard was built, and
also formed the northern limit of a
second, stone-pavedcourtyard, 1.20
meters lower than the first, and of
which only a small portion has so
far been excavated.
It seems, therefore, that the palace was planned in an unusual
manner, with clearly defined areas
built at different levels, and linked
by well preserved, narrow, winding passages. It must have been
systematicallypillaged- at least in
its northern excavated area, which
must have remained exposed for a
long period of time. Nevertheless
one fragment of a basalt orthostat was found, in the fill of the

palace level. It was carved with a
rampant lion.
A Temple of Period III
On the western part of the acropolis we excavated what must have
been the principal temple of Period hi. It has a tripartite plan on
a longitudinal axis, and is extremely
important in the architectural history of preclassicalSyro-Palestinian
shrines. Two steps lead to the temple which is ca. 30 meters long; it
has a vestibule, a shallow pronaos
and a long naos (cella or inner
shrine). The construction methods
are those used in the palace, but far
more care was lavished on the temple. A large mud-brick platform,
into which were set deep foundations of large coarsely squared
stones, supported the outer walls of
the shrine which were three meters
thick on the north side. The shrine
was paved with a very fine conglomerate which is badly preserved,
and which was laid over a thick
layer of limestone pebbles, strong
and well preserved.
The furnishings of the temple
must have been extremely rich, but
only fragments have survived.
Among them was a circular basalt
offering-table, with its legs carved
in relief, decorated with figures of
naked goddesses full-face; a circular, monolithic basalt basin more .
than 1.30 meters in diameter and
undecorated; a pillar-shaped stele
carved on all four sides with ritual
and mythological reliefs in superimposed registers, and among
which there is a remarkable scene
depicting musicians. Minor fragments included the remains of a
relief showing the head of a warrior. The most important object,
however, was a rectangular limestone double-basin found intact in
the southwest corner of the cella.
On the front a relief shows the
sacred banquet, while the other
sides are decorated with mythological scenes. It can be dated stylistically to the 20th or 19th century
B.c.
A small temple was excavated in
the highest part of the lower town,
in the southwestern area. It consists of a single room, built on bedrock and is badly preserved. The
walls are made of rubble and faced
with orthostats. It has been identified as the place from which the
broken basalt basin mentioned in
57

Archaeology Magazine - January 1971

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - January 1971