Excavation results 2003

Archaeological research at Tell Sabi Abyad in 2003

Please note: Do not omit to look at the results of our previous seasons of excavation at Tell Sabi Abyad on this web site. This is essential to get a full picture of the project.

In 2003 excavations were conducted for the fourteenth time at the mound in Northern Syria which is known as Tell Sabi Abyad (Arabic for ‘Mound of the White Boy’). For more than two months – from August 17 to October 26, to be precise – the archaeologists from the Netherlands National Museum of Antiquities were digging. This year the team consisted of 25 men and women, from the Netherlands, Syria, France and Sweden.

On the job the excavation team was supported by more than 60 workmen from the village of Hammam et-Turkman. Most of these men have been involved in the project for many years and have built up a wide experience.

Tell Sabi Abyad is about 5 hectares large and more than 14 metres high. The mound contains occupational layers that are several metres thick and which refer to two periods:

(1)    The Late Neolithic, dated to the 7th millennium BC;

(2)    The Late Bronze Age (the Middle-Assyrian period in our field of study), to be dated to the late 13th and 12th century BC.

Each period is characterized by far-reaching changes in the nature and organization of the society, the structure of the settlements, the elements of the material culture, the burial customs, etc. Tell Sabi Abyad offers an excellent opportunity to gain a detailed insight into these ancient times. As the occupational layers from the two periods overlap only partly, they can be excavated simultaneously.

Let us first take a look at the Late Neolithic. Here we came upon occupational layers that have so far barely been investigated by archaeologists, or not at all even. Therefore the results of our work are no less than unique! For several years the research into the prehistoric occupation focussed on the south-eastern slope of Tell Sabi Abyad. The large-scale excavation has yielded a wealth of information on what happened here more than 8000 years ago. The research has led to a number of books and theses and dozens of articles in professional journals (for details, see the bibliography).

A number of obvious questions could not be answered, however. How large were these prehistoric villages actually? Was Tell Sabi Abyad ever occupied in its entirety or was occupation limited to certain parts of the mound? Can we say anything about the size and make-up of the population and about the complexity of the society? To answer these questions we had to shift our focus from the south-eastern side to other parts of the mound, in order to discover the stratigraphic and chronological facts about the structure of Tell Sabi Abyad.

The new research programme began in 2001. Each year we have found another piece of the jigsaw puzzle. 2003 was no exception. Use the links at the bottom of this page for the results of the 2003 campaign (but do not forget to look at the results of the 2001 and 2002 campaigns as well!).

Around 5900 BC the mound was abandoned. For thousands of years no one lived there. It was not until the late 13th century BC that people returned to this site and built a fortress. Especially in what is called the Middle-Assyrian period, around 1200 BC, the fortress seems to have played an important role in the administration and protection of the far western boundary of the Assyrian kingdom.

An Assyrian garrison was quartered at Tell Sabi Abyad; a custom-house on the road to the Assyrian capital Assur (in present-day northern Iraq) was established here; and the regional Assyrian administration had its seat here as well. The fortress functioned as a large estate employing hundreds of men and women. All kinds of craftsmen had their workshops here: smiths, potters, seal cutters, carpet weavers, etc.

The more than 360 clay tablets with cuneiform inscriptions which we have found at Tell Sabi Abyad in all these years, show that the Assyrian fortress of Tell Sabi Abyad was in the hands of Ili-pada – one of the most powerful men of Assyria around 1200-1185 BC.  Ili-pada was grand vizier of Assyria and was entitled to call himself ‘king of Hanigalbat’. The castle was Ili-pada’s country property; here he made the fortune he needed to to live in great state in the capital Assur, where the constant power struggle took place.

Our ultimate goal is to excavate the Assyrian settlement in its entirety. Never before was an Assyrian fortress and all that goes with it exposed so completely. View the links at the bottom of this page for the results of the 2003 campaign in the Assyrian fortress (but take a look at the excavation results from 2001 and 2002 as well!).

We are very grateful for the financial support given by the Netherlands National Museum of Antiquities, Leiden University, Amsterdam Free University, Syria Shell Petroleum Development B.V., and the Foundation for Anthropology and Prehistory in the Netherlands. Thank you!!

Would you like to contribute to the success of this archaeological project? Please, go to: sponsoring.

   Tell Sabi Abyad in the late Neolithic, ca. 6600-6000 BC
   Tell Sabi Abyad at about 6000-5900 BC
   Tell Sabi Abyad in the Middle-Assyrian period, ca. 1230-1180 BC
   Assyrian pottery kilns
   Assyrian cylinder seals
   Assyrian burials
   Assyrian cuneiform texts