View source for Tell Halaf

{{Short description|Archaeological site in Syria}}
{{Redirect|Halaf|the villages in Iran|Halaf, Iran (disambiguation)}}
{{More footnotes|date=April 2009}}
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{{Infobox ancient site
|name = Tell Halaf
|native_name = {{lang|ar|تل حلف}}
|image = TellHalaf,NE-palace1.jpg
|image_size=300
|relief=yes
|alt =
|caption = Part of the excavated ruins of Tell Halaf
|map_type = Near East#Syria
|map_alt =
|map_size = 300
|location = [[Al-Hasakah Governorate]], [[Syria]]
|region =
|coordinates = {{coord|36.8266|40.0396|display=inline|format=dms}}
|type = settlement
|part_of =
|length =
|width =
|area =
|height =
|builder =
|material =
|built = {{Circa|6,100 BCE}}
|abandoned = {{Circa|5,400 BCE}}
|epochs = [[Neolithic]]
|cultures =[[Halaf culture]]
|dependency_of =
|occupants =
|event =
|excavations = 1911—1913, 1929<br />2006—present
|archaeologists = [[Max von Oppenheim]]<br />Lutz Martin<br />Abd al-Masih Bagdo
|condition =
|ownership = Public
|public_access = Yes
|website =
|notes =
}}
'''Tell Halaf''' ({{langx|ar|تل حلف}}) is an archaeological site in the [[Al Hasakah]] governorate of northeastern [[Syria]], a few kilometers from the city of [[Ras al-Ayn]] near the [[Syria–Turkey border]]. The site, which dates to the sixth millennium BCE, was the first to be excavated from a [[Neolithic]] culture, later called the [[Halaf culture]], characterized by glazed pottery painted with geometric and animal designs.
It is thought to have been historically named '''Guzana''', i.e. the Biblical '''Gozan'''.
==History==
===Neolithic (Halaf culture)===
{{Main|Halaf culture}}
Tell Halaf is the [[type site]] of the Halaf culture, which developed from Neolithic III at this site without any strong break. The Tell Halaf site flourished from about 6,100 to 5,400 BCE, a period of time that is referred to as the ''Halaf period''. The Halaf culture was succeeded in northern Mesopotamia by the [[Ubaid culture]] (c. 5300-4300 BC). The site was then abandoned for a long period.
===Late Bronze===
====Mitanni Period====
The Mitanni Empire controlled this region in the 15th century BC until around 1345 BC.
====Hittite Period====
In the Late Bronze, [[Suppiluliuma I]] of Hatti conquered the Mitanni stronghold of Carchemish, leading to the assassination of [[Tushratta]] of Mitanni around 1345 BC. With the fall of the Mitanni Empire, Carchemish became the seat of a hittite viceroy who ruled the region with the remnants of Mitanni as a bufferstate to the independent Assyrians in the east. Tell Halaf became a [[Hittites|Hittite]] city led by the viceroy of Carchemish.
===Iron Age (Neo-Hittite Guzana)===
[[Image:halafhunting.jpg|thumb|Hunting scene relief in [[basalt]] found at Tell Halaf, dated 850–830 BCE]]
[[File:Syrian - Slab with Six-Winged Goddess - Walters 2116.jpg|thumb|This relief depicting a winged [[Jinn|genie]] was once in the palace of King [[Kapara]]. [[Walters Art Museum]], [[Baltimore]].]]
[[Ramesses III]] of Egypt states in an inscription dating to his 8th Year from his Medinet Habu mortuary temple that Carchemish was destroyed by the "Sea Peoples".<ref>Gary Beckman, "Hittite Chronology", ''Akkadica'', pp.119–120 (2000), p.23</ref> This was a period of climate change and social unrest caused by drought, weakening the central powers, and marking the transition from the Late Bronze to the Iron Age. Furthermore, it saw the emergences of Neo-Hittite city-states.
====Kingdom of Bit Bahiani (Guzana)====
In the 10th century BCE, the rulers of the small [[Aramaean]] kingdom Bit Bahiani took their seat in Tell Halaf, re-founded as '''Guzana''' or Gozan. King [[Kapara]] built the so-called [[Bit-hilani|hilani]], a palace in Neo-Hittite style with a rich decoration of statues and relief orthostats. These sculptures, even though it is not known how, were fundamental to the portrayal of Kapara along with their political power.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Benzel|first1=Kim|title=Rayyane Tabet / Alien Property|last2=Tabet|first2=Rayyane|last3=Davies|first3=Clare|publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art|year=2019|isbn=|location=|pages=6}}</ref> By the end of the 9th century it was a famous [[Syro-Hittite states|Syro-Hittite state]].
====Assyrian Period====
In 894 BCE, the [[Assyria]]n king [[Adad-nirari II]] recorded the site in his archives as a tributary [[Aramaean]]{{citation needed|date=March 2018}} city-state.
In 808 BCE, the city and its surrounding area was reduced to a province of the [[Assyrian Empire]]. The governor's seat was a palace in the eastern part of the citadel mound.
Guzana survived the collapse of the Assyrian Empire and remained inhabited until the Roman-Parthian Period.
In historical times, the mound itself became the citadel of the Aramaean and Assyrian city. The lower town extended 600 m N–S and 1000 m E–W. The citadel mound housed the palaces and other official buildings. Most prominent are the so-called Hilani or "Western Palace" with its rich decor, dating back to the time of King Kapara, and the "North-Eastern Palace", the seat of the Assyrian governors. In the lower town a temple (or cult room) in Assyrian style was discovered.
==Excavations==
[[File:AdanaMuseumTellHalaf.jpg|thumb|Statue of a male from the cult room at Tell Halaf, [[Hittites|Late Hittite]] period.<ref>Museum notice [[:File:Statue TellHalaf 01.jpg]]</ref> Today at the [[Adana Archaeology Museum|Adana Museum, Turkey]]]]
[[File:Tell Halaf Skorpionvogelmann.jpg|thumb|Scorpion-birdman from the Scorpion Gate at the Western Palace of Tell Halaf, damaged by fire in 1943 and restored]]
[[File:Tell Halaf Zierbesatz Kleidung.jpg|thumb|Replica of a gold clothing ornament found at Tell Halaf]]
[[File:Tell Halaf Raubvogel Seitenansicht.jpg|thumb|Reconstructed bird statue found at Tell Halaf (184 by 70 by 70 cm)]]
The site is located near the city of [[Ras al-Ayn, al-Hasakah|Ra's al-'Ayn]] in the fertile valley of the [[Khabur (Euphrates)|Khabur River]] (Nahr al-Khabur), close to the modern border with [[Turkey]]. The name ''Tell Halaf'' is a local [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] placename{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}}, ''[[Tell (archaeology)|tell]]'' meaning "hill", and ''Tell Halaf'' meaning "made of former city"; what its original inhabitants called their settlement is not known.
===Discovery===
In 1899, when the area was part of the [[Ottoman Empire]], [[Max von Oppenheim]], a [[Germany|German]] diplomat travelled from Cairo<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gossman |first1=Lionel |title=The Passion of Max von Oppenheim: Archaeology and Intrigue in the Middle East from Wilhelm II to Hitler |date=2013 |publisher=Open Book Publishers |location=Cambridge |page=33 |edition=1st}}</ref> through northern Mesopotamia on behalf of [[Deutsche Bank]], working on establishing a route for the [[Bagdad Railway]]. On 19 November, he discovered Tell Halaf, following up on tales told to him by local villagers of stone idols buried beneath the sand. Within three days, several significant pieces of statuary were uncovered, including the so-called "Sitting Goddess". A test pit uncovered the entrance to the "Western Palace". Since he had no legal permit to excavate, Oppenheim had the statues he found reburied and moved on.<ref name="katalog">{{cite book |title=Abenteuer Orient - Max von Oppenheim und seine Entdeckung des Tell Halaf: 30. April bis 10. August 2014, Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn |language=de |publisher=Wasmuth |year=2014 |isbn=978-3-8030-3365-9}}</ref>{{rp|16,24,63}}
===Excavations by Max von Oppenheim===
According to noted archaeologist [[Ernst Herzfeld]], he had urged Oppenheim in 1907 to excavate Tell Halaf and they made some initial plans towards this goal at that time. In August 1910, Herzfeld wrote a letter calling on Oppenheim to explore the site and had it circulated to several leading archaeologists like [[Theodor Nöldeke]] or [[Ignác Goldziher]] to sign. Armed with this letter, [[Max von Oppenheim]] was now able to ask for his dismissal from the diplomatic service (which he did on 24 October 1910) while being able to call on financing from his father for the excavation.<ref name="katalog"/>{{rp|48–49}}
With a team of five archaeologists, Oppenheim planned a digging campaign that began on 5 August 1911. Substantial amounts of equipment were imported from Germany, including a small steam train. The costs totaled around 750,000 Mark and were covered by von Oppenheim's father's banking fortune.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Benzel|first1=Kim|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n8i5DwAAQBAJ|title=Rayyane Tabet/Alien Property|last2=Tabet|first2=Rayyane|last3=Davies|first3=Clare|date=2019-10-29|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|isbn=978-1-58839-704-1|language=en}}</ref> On arrival, the archaeologists discovered that since 1899 locals had uncovered some of the findings and heavily damaged them – in part out of superstition, in part to gain valuable building material. Oppenheim had recruited five hundred locals from Tell Halaf to help towards the excavation.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Benzel|first1=Kim|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n8i5DwAAQBAJ|title=Rayyane Tabet/Alien Property|last2=Tabet|first2=Rayyane|last3=Davies|first3=Clare|date=2019-10-29|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|isbn=978-1-58839-704-1|language=en}}</ref>
During the excavations Oppenheim found the ruins of the town of Guzana (or Gozan). Significant finds included the large statues and reliefs of the so-called "Western Palace" built by King [[Kapara]], as well as a cult room and tombs. Some of the statuary was found reused in buildings from the [[Hellenistic period]]. In addition, they discovered [[Neolithic]] pottery of a type which became known as ''Halaf culture'' after the site where it was first found. At the time, this was the oldest painted pottery ever found (together with those discovered at [[Samarra]] by Herzfeld).<ref name="katalog"/>{{rp|25,48–49,64–66}}
In 1913, Oppenheim decided to return temporarily to Germany.<ref name="katalog"/>{{rp|16}} The finds of Tell Halaf were left at the building he and his team had inhabited during the dig. Most of them were securely packaged and stored. The outbreak of [[World War I]] prevented Oppenheim from returning.<ref name="katalog"/>{{rp|66–67}} However, Oppenheim was able to sell some of the stone reliefs, pottery and other artefacts he had excavated to various museums after the war including the [[British Museum]]<ref>[https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/x32599 British Museum Collection]</ref> and [[Walters Art Museum]] in Baltimore.
In 1926, Germany joined the [[League of Nations]] and it thus became possible for German nationals to conduct excavations in what was now the French-ruled [[Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon]]. Preparing for new excavations, in 1927 Oppenheim again travelled to Tell Halaf. Artillery fire exchanged between Osman and French troops in the final days of the war had severely damaged the building and the archaeological findings had to be dug out of the rubble. Once again, it was found that the locals had damaged some of the stone workings. Since he had made plaster casts during the original excavation, Oppenheim was able to repair most of the damage done to the statues and [[orthostat]] reliefs. He managed to achieve a generous division of his previous finds with the French authorities. His share (approximately 80, or about two-thirds of the total) was transported to Berlin, while the other 35 were brought to Aleppo to form a core collection of today's [[National Museum of Aleppo|National Museum]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/-/media/files/exhibitions/2019/rayyane_tabet_alien_property/alien-property-chronology-of-the-tell-halaf-reliefs.pdf?la=en&hash=5F6329FE25DCE5D607478CD036ACCB26|title=Chronology of the Tell Halaf Reliefs From Excavation to the Present|last=Metropolitan Museum of Art|date=2020|website=www.metmuseum.org|access-date=2020-03-16}}</ref><ref name="katalog"/>{{rp|26}} In 1929, he resumed excavations and the new findings were divided.<ref name="katalog"/>{{rp|16}}
===Tell Halaf Museum, Berlin===
Attempts by Oppenheim to have his findings exhibited at the newly constructed [[Pergamon Museum]] in Berlin failed, as the museum refused to agree to Oppenheim's financial demands. He thus opened his own private "Tell Halaf Museum" in an industrial complex in Berlin-Charlottenburg in July 1930. The museum's concept of presenting the exhibits is considered quite modern even by today's standards.<ref name="katalog"/>{{rp|26}}
In 1939, Oppenheim once more travelled to Syria for excavations, coming within sight of Tell Halaf. However, the French authorities refused to award him a permit to dig and he had to depart. Oppenheim also unsuccessfully tried to sell some of his finds in New York and again negotiated with the German government about the purchase of the Tell Halaf artefacts. In 1943, eight German-owned orthostat reliefs stored in New York were seized by the US Office of Alien Property Custodian.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://averyreview.com/issues/45/narrating-ornament|title=Narrating Ornament: Rayyane Tabet's Arabesque and Alien Property|last=Shapiro|first=Gideon Fink|website=The Avery Review|language=en|access-date=2020-03-16}}</ref> Amid these negotiations and activities, the Tell Halaf Museum in Berlin was hit by a British [[phosphorus bomb]] in November 1943. It burnt down completely, all wooden and [[limestone]] exhibits were destroyed. Those made from [[basalt]] were exposed to a [[thermal shock]] during attempts to fight the fire and severely damaged. Many statues and reliefs burst into dozens of pieces. Although the [[Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin]] took care of the remains, months passed before all of the pieces had been recovered and they were further damaged by frost and summer heat.<ref name="katalog"/>{{rp|26,67}}
===Reconstruction of the artefacts===
Stored in the cellars of the Pergamon Museum during the period of communist rule under the [[GDR]], the remains were left untouched.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/New-life-for-ancient-Syrian-sculptures/18551 | title=New life for ancient Syrian sculptures | publisher=The Art News Paper | date=29 July 2009 | access-date=September 2, 2012 | author=Bailey, Martin | archive-date=8 June 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608194253/http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/New-life-for-ancient-Syrian-sculptures/18551 | url-status=dead }}</ref> After reunification, the ''Masterplan Museumsinsel'' of 1999 brought up the idea of having the Western Palace front from Tell Halaf restored. With financial support from [[Sal. Oppenheim]] and the [[Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft]] the Vorderasiatisches Museum engaged in its largest-scale restoration project since the reconstruction of the [[Ishtar Gate]]. From 2001 to 2010, more than 30 sculptures were reconstructed out of around 27,000 fragments. They were exhibited at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin in 2011 and at the [[Bundeskunsthalle]] Bonn in 2014.<ref name="katalog"/>{{rp|67–68}}<ref name="TS">{{cite web|url=http://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/tell-halaf-museum-eine-goettin-kehrt-zurueck/1972812.html|title=Eine Göttin kehrt zurück (German)|publisher=Tagesspiegel| date= 26 January 2011 |first= Rolf|last=Brockschmidt|access-date=22 July 2014}}</ref> When the reconstruction of the Museumsinsel is completed around 2025, the Western Palace façade will be the entrance to the new Vorderasiatisches Museum.<ref name="WA">{{cite web|url= http://www.wa.de/nachrichten/kultur/nrw/ausstellung-geretteten-goetter-tell-halaf-berlin-1099385.html|title=Ausstellung der "geretteten Götter von Tell Halaf" in Berlin (German)|publisher=Westdeutsche Allgemeine| date= 27 January 2011 |first= Klaus|last=Grimberg |access-date=22 July 2014}}</ref>
Artistically, the many fragmented sculptures tell a new story, not only of their ancient heritage, but of their journey in possession and the politics of the 20th century. Some sculptures were destroyed in WW2 in the [[Tell Halaf Museum]] in Berlin. Only upon the reunification of Germany in 1990 could those family members who were vested in the art, living in West Berlin, revisit the destroyed pieces in East Berlin.<ref name=":0" /> The pieces, after being reconstructed, boasted the cracks and imperfections of their war ridden existence (see photo right). Some even were left with the glass from the roof of the Berlin museum on the sculpture itself.<ref name=":0" /> The exhibition ''Rayyane Tabet / Alien Propert''y by [[Rayyane Tabet]] at the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] displays the museum's orthostat reliefs and Tabet's graphite transfers, ''Orthostates'', in tandem with his family heirlooms. The exhibition explores the task of locating and tracing provenance, particularly through reference to the Alien Property Act and the objects purchased at auction by the museum after they had been seized by the Office of Alien Property Custodian. It conveys the fragmentation and division as Tell Halaf sat at the center of political governance and conflict. It also addresses the role of an encyclopedic museum in conversation and collaboration with the past, and its voices.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Benzel|first1=Kim|title=Rayyane Tabet / Alien Property|last2=Tabet|first2=Rayyane|last3=Davies|last4=Clare|publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art|year=2019}}</ref>
Today, of the 194 excavated orthostat reliefs from Tell Halaf, 59 are in Berlin, 4 are in Paris, 15 are in London, 4 are in New York, 4 are in Baltimore, 34 are in Aleppo, 1 is in Deir ez-Zor, 6 are missing, 12 have been destroyed, and 55 have disappeared.<ref name=":0">{{Citation|last=Ammodo|title=Displaced Pieces (EN)|date=2020-09-23|url=https://vimeo.com/460850582|access-date=2021-01-31}}</ref>
===New excavations===
In 2006, new Syro-German excavations were started under the direction of Lutz Martin (Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin), Abd al-Masih Bagdo (Directorate of Antiquities Hassake), Jörg Becker (University of Halle) and Mirko Novák ([[University of Bern]]).
==See also==
{{Portal|Asia}}
*[[Cities of the Ancient Near East]]
*[[Beehive tomb]]
*[[Hadad-yith'i]]
==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
==References==
* Abd el-Mesih Baghdo, Lutz Martin, Mirko Novák, Winfried Orthmann: ''Ausgrabungen auf dem Tell Halaf in Nordost-Syrien. Vorbericht über die erste und zweite Grabungskampagne'' (German), Harrasowitz, Wiesbaden 2009. {{ISBN|978-3-447-06068-4}}.
* Abd el-Masih Baghdo, Lutz Martin, Mirko Novák, Winfried Orthmann: ''Ausgrabungen auf dem Tell Halaf in Nordost-Syrien. Vorbericht über die dritte bis fünfte Grabungskampagne 2008-2010.'' (German) Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2012, {{ISBN|978-3-447-06828-4}}.
* Jörg Becker: ''Tell Halaf. Die prähistorischen Schichten - Neue Einblicke.'' in: D. Bonatz, L. Martin (eds.): "100 Jahre archäologische Feldforschungen in Nordost-Syrien - eine Bilanz" (German). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2013, pp.&nbsp;45–64, {{ISBN|978-3-447-10009-0}}.
* Mirko Novák: ''Gozan and Guzana. Anatolians, Aramaeans and Assyrians in Tell Halaf.'' in: D. Bonatz, L. Martin (eds.): "100 Jahre archäologische Feldforschungen in Nordost-Syrien - eine Bilanz. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2013, pp. 259-281, {{ISBN|978-3-447-10009-0}}.
*Hijara, Ismail.  ''The Halaf Period in Northern Mesopotamia'' London: Nabu, 1997.
*Axe, David.  "Back from the Brink."  ''Archaeology'' '''59.'''4 (2006): 59–65.
*Winfried Orthmann: ''Die aramäisch-assyrische Stadt Guzana. Ein Rückblick auf die Ausgrabungen Max von Oppenheims in Tell Halaf.'' Schriften der Max Freiherr von Oppenheim-Stiftung. H. 15. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2005. {{ISBN|3-447-05106-X}}.
*U. Dubiel – L. Martin, ''Stier aus Aleppo in Berlin. Bildwerke vom Tell Halaf (Syrien) werden restauriert'' (German), Antike Welt 3/2004, 40–43.
* G. Teichmann und G. Völger (ed.), ''Faszination Orient. Max Freiherr von Oppenheim. Forscher, Sammler, Diplomat'' (German) (Cologne, Max Freiherr von Oppenheim-Stiftung 2003).
*Nadja Cholidis, Lutz Martin: ''Kopf hoch! Mut hoch! und Humor hoch! Der Tell Halaf und sein Ausgräber Max Freiherr von Oppenheim.'' (German) Von Zabern, Mainz 2002. {{ISBN|3-8053-2853-2}}.
*Bob Becking: ''The fall of Samaria: an historical and archeological study.'' 64–69. Leiden 1992.
*Gabriele Elsen, Mirko Novak, ''Der Tall Halāf und das Tall Halāf-Museum'' (German), in: Das Altertum 40 (1994) 115–126.
*Alain Gaulon, "Réalité et importance de la chasse dans les communautés halafiennes en Mésopotamie du Nord et au Levant Nord au VIe millénaire avant J.-C." (French), [[Antiguo Oriente]] 5 (2007): 137–166.
*Mirko Novak, ''Die Religionspolitik der aramäischen Fürstentümer im 1. Jt. v. Chr.'' (German), in: M. Hutter, S. Hutter-Braunsar (ed.), Offizielle Religion, lokale Kulte und individuelle Religion, Alter Orient und Altes Testament 318. 319–346. Munster 2004.
*Johannes Friedrich, G. Rudolf Meyer, Arthur Ungnad et al.: ''Die Inschriften vom Tell Halaf.'' (German), ''Beiheft 6 zu:'' ''Archiv für Orientforschung 1940.'' Reprint: Osnabrück 1967.
==External links==
{{Commons category|Tell Halaf}}
*[http://www.grabung-halaf.de/index.php?l=eng Web site of current excavations]
*[http://www.tell-halaf-projekt.de/ Project page for Tell Halaf and statue reconstruction]
*[http://arachne.uni-koeln.de/drupal/?q=en/node/197 The Max von Oppenheim photo collection]
* [http://www.bundeskunsthalle.de/en/exhibitions/an-oriental-adventure.html Exhibition of Tell Halaf artefacts at Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn]
* [http://ww2.smb.museum/smb/gerettete-goetter/index.php?node_id=1&lang=en Past exhibition of Tell Halaf artefacts in 2011 at the Pergamon Museum, Berlin]
*[http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/New-life-for-ancient-Syrian-sculptures/18551 Article on reconstruction of Tell Halaf statues] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608194253/http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/New-life-for-ancient-Syrian-sculptures/18551 |date=2011-06-08 }}
{{Syro-Hittite states}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Aramean cities]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in al-Hasakah Governorate|Halaf]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Syria]]
[[Category:Stone Age sites in Syria|Halaf]]
[[Category:Syro-Hittite states]]
[[Category:Archaeological type sites]]
[[Category:Halaf culture]]