Al-Rawda ( ar, الروضة) is a tell, or archaeological settlement mound, in the Syrian steppe, east of

Hama , timezone = EET , utc_offset = +2 , timezone_DST = EEST , utc_offset_DST = +3 , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , ar ...

. It was a large urban site with city walls and several temples, occupied between 2400–2000 BC. A French–Syrian mission has been excavating the site since 2002.

History of research

Al-Rawda was discovered in 1996 during an

archaeological survey In archaeology, survey or field survey is a type of field research by which archaeologists (often landscape archaeologists) search for archaeological sites and collect information about the location, distribution and organization of past human c ...

of the region east of Hama. Following this survey, a more intensive survey project was initiated focusing on a microregion of centred on Al-Rawda. Excavations at the site itself started in 2002 and are carried out by a French–Syrian mission. The excavations have focused on the circular walls, the northern gate of the town, the

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

and the nearby

necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

. In addition to the excavations, a magnetometric prospection, a method that allows the detection of walls in the ground without excavating them, was carried out in the area within the city walls in 2003. Work continued at least through 2006. The Al-Rawda project is sponsored by the

French National Centre for Scientific Research The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 ...

(CNRS) and the Syrian

Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums The Directorate-General for Antiquities and Museums (DGAM; ar, المديرية العامة للآثار والمتاحف, french: La Direction Générale des Antiquités et des Musées) is a Syrian government owned agency that is responsible fo ...

and co-directed by Corinne Castel and Nazir Awad.

The site and its environment

Al-Rawda is located east of Hama. Both now and in the past, the area received less than of rainfall per year, which means that reliable agriculture without

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...

is impossible. The survey of the microregion around Al-Rawda revealed that the site is located in a ''fayda'', a depression that collects runoff water from a wide region, and next to a

wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water onl ...

. Al-Rawda was surrounded by hydrological installations intended to harness runoff water for irrigation. The site itself is an almost circular tell with a maximum height of . The area inside the circular city walls measures , totalling to if the city walls are included, with an additional outer town of . The southwestern part of the site is occupied by modern houses.

Occupation history

The site was occupied for a relatively short period during the late third and early second millennium BC, roughly coinciding with the Early Bronze IV period. It was founded around 2400 BC and finally abandoned in circa 2000 BC. The magnetometric survey revealed a circular street pattern with streets radiating away from the centre of the site. Both the temple and the circular street pattern find parallels in

Tell Chuera Tell Chuera is an ancient Near Eastern tell site in Raqqa Governorate, northern Syria. It lies between the Balikh and Khabur rivers. Archaeological research The site was first described by Max von Oppenheim in 1913. Excavations were begun in 1 ...

, located in a similar environment to the northeast of Al-Rawda. At least three temples were identified, of which one has been excavated. The largest temple excavated had an entrance with a columned front porch, a square ''

cella A cella (from Latin for small chamber) or naos (from the Ancient Greek, Greek ναός, "temple") is the inner chamber of an ancient Greek temple, Greek or Roman temple in classical antiquity. Its enclosure within walls has given rise to extende ...

'' and faces a long sacred enclosure to the outside. Offerings that were found in this temple include

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that includes ...

from

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

lapis lazuli Lapis lazuli (; ), or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color. As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines, ...

from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

and

agate Agate () is a common rock formation, consisting of chalcedony and quartz as its primary components, with a wide variety of colors. Agates are primarily formed within volcanic and metamorphic rocks. The ornamental use of agate was common in Ancie ...

from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The city was defended by a double rampart built of

mudbrick A mudbrick or mud-brick is an air-dried brick, made of a mixture of loam, mud, sand and water mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. Mudbricks are known from 9000 BCE, though since 4000 BCE, bricks have also bee ...

s on a stone foundation and two ditches. The town was accessible through five gates. The urban site indicates that it was a part of several trade networks of different scales. Al-Rawda probably served as a stopping place for caravans that crossed the plateau between the

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...

valley and the region of

Qatna Qatna (modern: ar, تل المشرفة, Tell al-Mishrifeh) (also Tell Misrife or Tell Mishrifeh) was an ancient city located in Homs Governorate, Syria. Its remains constitute a tell situated about northeast of Homs near the village of al-M ...

. The site also served as a religious center for the region, with a large sanctuary that was likely dedicated to the city's patron god, and it played a major part in the development of extensive

pastoralism Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry where domesticated animals (known as "livestock") are released onto large vegetated outdoor lands (pastures) for grazing, historically by nomadic people who moved around with their herds. The animal ...

and

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...

production at the end of the third millennium BC.

The necropolis

The necropolis is situated close to the site but outside the agricultural zone. Among the 97 tombs found, 54 were shaft tombs –intended for multiple burials and cut into the limestone crust of the plateau, 25 were simple cist tombs and 17 were circle tombs.

History of research

The site and its environment

Occupation history

The necropolis

References

Further reading

See also