, alternate_name = , image = Qarquruppertell.jpg , alt = Photograph of a double, overgrown mound , caption = The upper mound of Tell Qarqur as seen from the northern, lower mound , map_type = Syria , map_alt = , map_size = , location = Syria , region = Hama Governorate , coordinates = , type = tell , part_of = , length = , width = , area = , height = , builder = , material = , built = , abandoned = , epochs =

Pre-Pottery Neolithic The Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) represents the early Neolithic in the Levantine and upper Mesopotamian region of the Fertile Crescent, dating to years ago, (10000 – 6500 BCE).Richard, Suzanne ''Near Eastern archaeology'' Eisenbrauns; il ...

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

Mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...

, cultures = , dependency_of = , occupants = , event =

Battle of Qarqar The Battle of Qarqar (or Ḳarḳar) was fought in 853 BC when the army of the Neo-Assyrian Empire led by Emperor Shalmaneser III encountered an allied army of eleven kings at Qarqar led by Hadadezer, called in Assyrian ''Adad-idir'' and possi ...

(853 BC) , excavations = 1983–1984, 1993–2001, 2005–2008 , archaeologists = J.M. Lundquist, R. Dornemann, J. Casana , condition = , ownership = , management = , public_access = , website = , notes = Tell Qarqur ( ar, تل قرقور) is a major

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology a ...

located in the Orontes River Valley of western Syria. Situated in a rich alluvial plain known as the

Ghab valley The Ghab Plain ( ar, سَهْلُ ٱلْغَابِ, Sahl al-Ġāb, literally: Forest Plain) is a fertile depression lying mainly in the Al-Suqaylabiyah District in northwest Syria. The Orontes River, flowing north, enters the Plain near Muhradah, ...

, the double-mounded site lies near the modern Syrian town of

Jisr ash-Shugur Jisr ash-Shughūr ( ar, جِسْرُ ٱلشُّغُورِ, jisr aš-šuġūr, , also rendered as ''Jisser ash-Shughour'' and other spellings), known in antiquity as Seleucobelus ( el, Σελευκόβηλος, translit=Seleukóbēlos), is a city in ...

and one kilometer west of the village of

Qarqur Qarqur ( ar, قرقور, also spelled Qarqar or Karkour) is a village in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located northwest of Hama. It is situated in the al-Ghab plain, on the eastern bank of the Orontes River. Ne ...

History

Tell Qarqur possesses a 10,000-year history of virtually continuous occupation, from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (c. 8500 BC) through the

period (AD 1350). However, the settlement reached its greatest extent during the

Early Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

(3000–2000 BC), and again during the

II (1000–500 BC). The site is probably best known for its probable association with the ancient town of

Qarqar Qarqar or Karkar is the name of an ancient town in northwestern Syria, known from Neo-Assyrian sources. It was the site of one of the most important battles of the ancient world, the battle of Qarqar, fought in 853 BC when the army of Assyria, le ...

, the location of a major battle that occurred in 853 BC. The

, recorded both in Neo-

Assyria Assyria ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the ...

n royal annals and on the

Kurkh Monolith The Kurkh Monoliths are two Assyrian stelae that contain a description of the reigns of Ashurnasirpal II and his son Shalmaneser III. The Monoliths were discovered in 1861 by a British archaeologist John George Taylor, who was the British Consu ...

, was fought between the Neo-Assyrian army under the leadership of

Shalmaneser III Shalmaneser III (''Šulmānu-ašarēdu'', "the god Shulmanu is pre-eminent") was king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his father Ashurnasirpal II in 859 BC to his own death in 824 BC. His long reign was a constant series of campai ...

and a coalition of small

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...

ine kingdoms. The Levantine alliance included Biblical figures such as King

Hadadezer Hadadezer (; " he god Hadad is help"); also known as Adad-Idri ( akk, 𒀭𒅎𒀉𒊑, dIM-id-ri), and possibly the same as Bar-Hadad II ( Aram.) or Ben-Hadad II ( Heb.), was the king of Aram Damascus between 865 and 842 BC. The Hebrew Bible s ...

(Ben Hadad) of Damascus and

King Ahab Ahab (; akk, 𒀀𒄩𒀊𒁍 ''Aḫâbbu'' 'a-ḫa-ab-bu'' grc-koi, Ἀχαάβ ''Achaáb''; la, Achab) was the seventh king of Israel, the son and successor of King Omri and the husband of Jezebel of Sidon, according to the Hebrew Bible. ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Archaeology

The tell has two mounds, a smaller one to the north and a larger one to the south. The high mound extends to above the plain. Tell Qarqur was first subjected to scientific excavation in 1983 and 1984 by an expedition of the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) and

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

(BYU), led by John M. Lundquist of BYU. From 1993 to 2001 the site was excavated by an ASOR-sponsored expedition under the direction of Dr. Rudolph Dornemann. The excavations uncovered remains of many different phases of the site's long occupational history, but the project found especially impressive remains dating to the Early Bronze Age IV (2200–2000 BC) and the Iron Age I–II (1200–500 BC). Finds included several phases of stone-built fortification walls, numerous private houses, and a temple complex dating to the later third millennium BC. After a pause, excavations were resumed in 2005 when the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

became a cosponsor of the project and Dr. Jesse Casana joined the expedition. Work was conducted for three seasons, in 2005, 2007 and 2008. Archeological team found out that Tell Qarqur not only survived "

4.2 kiloyear event The 4.2-kiloyear (thousand years) BP aridification event (long-term drought) was one of the most severe climatic events of the Holocene epoch. It defines the beginning of the current Meghalayan age in the Holocene epoch. Starting around 2200&n ...

", a severe

aridification Aridification is the process of a region becoming increasingly arid, or dry. It refers to long term change, rather than seasonal variation. It is often measured as the reduction of average soil moisture content. It can be caused by reduced precip ...

event that brought collapse to nearby civilisations, but even expanded. Several important artifacts from the site are currently on display at the Hama Museum in Hama, Syria.

Destruction of the site

From 2014 until September 2017, the terrorist

Turkistan Islamic Party The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) or the Turkistan Islamic Movement (TIM), formerly known as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and other names, is a Uyghur Islamic extremist organization founded in Western China. Its stated goals ar ...

, an Alqaeda offshoot, destroyed the site. Reports emerged that the destruction, which can be viewed through satellite imagery, was done under the supervision of unidentified civilians who were not Syrian nor members of the Turkistan Islamic Party militants. The site has suffered significant looting and damage from military activity during the Syrian Civil War.Casana J, Laugier EJ (2017) Satellite imagery-based monitoring of archaeological site damage in the Syrian civil war. PLoS ONE 12(11): e0188589. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0188589

Notes

External links

University of Arkansas article on the resumption of excavation
Populated places established in the 9th millennium BC Populated places disestablished in the 14th century Bronze Age sites in Syria Former populated places in Syria Archaeological sites in Hama Governorate Neolithic sites in Syria Iron Age sites in Syria Pre-Pottery Neolithic A de:Qarqar

History

Archaeology

Destruction of the site

See also

Notes

Further reading

External links