OIP 95. Excavations in the Plain of Antioch, Vol. II: The Structural Remains of the Later Phases: Chatal Hüyük, Tell Al-Judaidah, and Tell Tayinat R. C. Haines

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The second volume of The Excavations in the Plain of Antioch is a masterly description of the stratigraphy and architecture in the Syro-Palestinian area. This beautiful volume, in the best tradition of the Oriental Institute Publications, presents the traditional methods of Near Eastern archaeology in a lucid and precise manner: stratigraphy is defined by structural levels; huge architectural complexes are excavated completely, and strata and floors are related according to changes in the main architectural units. The three sites included in the report-Çatal Hüyük, Tell al-Judaidah and Tell Tayinat-are all situated in the central part of the Amuq valley around the city of Rihaniyyah. Çatal Hüyük. The most interesting feature of this site is the northern quarter of the city, dated to the beginning of the first millennium B.C. It shows some unusual features of city-planning. The individual units have new plans and the building tradition clearly differs from that of the end of Late Bronze Age Alalah. Tell al-Judaidah. Small sections revealed some remains of buildings and structures, but without an accompanying pottery sequence they are of limited interest. The plan and explanation of the Byzantine church and its graves are certain to be of interest to Byzantinologists. Tell Tayinat. Excavations revealed a royal citadel similar in plan and in details to the royal citadel of Zinjirli-Samal some 100 km to the north, supporting the assumption that Tell Tayinat should be identified with Kinaluwa, the capital of Hattina. It should be noted that the capital of this same region, called Mukish during the Bronze Age, was situated in Alalah. (Tell Atchana) just 1.5 km to the southeast. Two main periods are represented in the royal citadel. During the first buildings XIII and XIV were erected. Only the plan of building XIII is complete. It is a typical north Syrian palace of the 'hilani' type. (The author follows H. Frankfort's definition for this kind of building, but it must be noted that only the portico was called E Hillani [Hittite hillamar Dat.-Loc. hillamni > hillani] in antiquity.) A new citadel was built on top of this complex, probably after its destruction. The destruction could be dated by the fragments of a Hittite (Luwian) hieroglyphic inscription found under the floor of building II (the palace). The inscription mentions the name of Halparu(n)da, probably the same king of Hattina mentioned by Shalmaneser III (middle of the 9th century B.C.). This suggests a date in the 10th century (or even slightly earlier) to the mid-9th century B.C. for the first citadel. Three main building phases continue from that date until the final destruction of the city by the Assyrians in the last third of the 8th century B.C. The Assyrians built a new citadel, typically Assyrian in style, in the southern part of the mound (building IX). These three phases, with some small alterations, present basically the same citadel plan: two 'hilani' buildings, building I and IV, facing each other; an additional building (building VI) was connected to the main 'hilani' (building I). The whole complex should be regarded as the main palace. All these buildings encircled a central courtyard which was entered through a gate (building XII). A temple (building II) was attached to the south of the palace. The palace and temple were partly decorated with frescoes. [From a review by A. Kempinski in the Israel Exploration Journal 23 (1973) 188-90].

  • Oriental Institute Publications 95
  • Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1970
  • ISBN 978-0-22-662198-2
  • Pp. xiv + 66; 118 plates
  • Clothbound 9 x 11.75 in / 23 x 30 cm
  • $45.00