Chagar Bazar

Chagar Bazar
تل شاغربازار
Shown within Syria
Location Al-Hasakah Governorate, Syria
Coordinates 36°52′33″N 40°53′53″E / 36.875971°N 40.897942°E / 36.875971; 40.897942
Type settlement
History
Founded ca. 6,000 BC
Abandoned ca. 2,000 BC
Periods Neolithic
Cultures chagar culture
Site notes
Excavation dates 1935—1937
1999—2002
Archaeologists Max Mallowan
University of Liège
Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums
Ownership Public
Public access Yes

Chagar Bazar (Šagir Bazar, Arabic: تل شاغربازار) is a tell, or settlement mound, in northern Syria.

History of archaeological research

Chagar Bazar was excavated by the British archaeologist Max Mallowan, with his wife Agatha Christie, from 1935 to 1937.[1][2][3] Many of the artefacts discovered were brought to the British Museum. Besides pottery, a large number of clay tablets written in cuneiform script were discovered. Work was resumed at the site in 1999 by an expedition from the British School of Archaeology in Iraq in cooperation with University of Liège archaeologists and the Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums.[4][5] During these excavations, which ended in 2002, 214 cuneiform tablets were recovered.

Chagar Bazar and its environment

Chagar Bazar is located in Al-Hasakah Governorate, approximately 35 kilometres (22 mi) north of Al-Hasakah, on the Wadi Dara, a tributary to the Khabur River. The ancient site measures approximately 12 hectares (30 acres).

Occupation history

Chagar Bazar was already settled in the Neolithic. Excavations revealed pottery belonging to the Halaf and Ubaid cultures. [6] By the Early Bronze Age, in the third millennium BC, Chagar Bazar had turned into a small town with the size of 12 hectares / 30 acres. The site appears to have been abandoned by the end of the third millennium BC. It was resettled by Hurrians in the Middle Bronze Age. Fine examples of the Khabur ware pottery dating to this period have been discovered by the excavators.

Notes

  1. M.E.L. Mallowan, Excavations at Chagar Bazar and an Archaeological Survey of the Habur Region of North Syria 1934-5, Iraq, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 1-85, 1936
  2. M.E.L. Mallowan, Excavations at Tall Chagar Bazar and an Archaeological Survey of the Habur Region, Second Campaign 1936, Iraq, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 91-177, 1937
  3. M.E.L. Mallowan, Excavations at Brak and Chagar Bazar, Iraq, no. 9, pp. 1-259, 1947
  4. Augusta McMahon, Onhan Tunca, and Abdul-Massih Bagdo, New Excavations at Chagar Bazar 1999-2000, Iraq, vol. 63, pp. 201-222, 2001
  5. A.M. McMahon, C. Colantoni and M.J. Semple, British excavations at Chagar Bazar, 2001-2002, Iraq, vol. 67, no. 2, pp. 1-16, 2003
  6. W. Cruells and OP Nieuwenhuyse, The Proto-Halaf period in Syria. New sites New data., Paléorient, vol. 30, no. 1, p. 47-68, 2004

See also

References

External links

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