North-eastern Syria: An ancient landmark with valuable archaeological discoveries

North-eastern Syria: An ancient landmark with valuable archaeological discoveries
Archaeological landmarks of the Middle and Neo Assyrian, Aramaic, Roman, Byzantine and the Islamic periods in Tell al-Fakhariya (North-eastern Syria) make it a alive witness to ancient civilizations which succeeded each other in the site.

Tell al-Fakhariya, located in the north-eastern province of al-Hasakah, has been continually inhabited by people as it lies at the center of the area of Ras al-Ein, the main spring feeding the Khabour River.

Archaeological experts were drawn by the great value of the site which has attracted archaeological missions coming from all over the world to unfold the historical, social and cultural aspects of past life.

Rich archaeological discoveries have been found in the site.
Director of al-Hasakah Antiquities Department Abdul Masih Baghdo said a 2-meter basalt statue of the Assyrian king Adad-it'i/ Hadd-yi'thi, king of Guzana and Sikan who ruled between the 9th century and the 8th BC was unearthed in 1979 during land leveling activities.

The bilingual inscription in the Assyrian dialect of Akkadian and Aramaic carved on the statue refers to the city of Sikan and relates that the statue was erected in front of the Temple of Weather God in Guzana (now Tell Halaf), not very far from Tell al-Fakhariya.

Two archaeological levels including walls dating back to the Byzantine and Roman era were discovered. A bronze jar with six gold coins dating back to the period of the Byzantine Emperor Fokas (602-610) was found in one of the levels. The other one included a 210-centemeter statue of a Roman emperor made of alabaster stone in the 2nd century AD.

Baghdo added that the American archaeological mission working in the northern side of the site discovered some parts of a building from the Iron Age. There were also ivory findings from the 3rd century BC and a chain of Byzantine walls and towers.

In 2001, five archaeological levels were found to the west of Tell al-Fakhariya by the Syrian-German archaeological mission, Baghdo said.
The first level included a room built of adobe and lime stone dated to the 10th century AD. The second level included Byzantine archaeological finds. A well underneath a stone-paved floor from the Roman-Hellenistic period were unearthed in the third level.

Two Aramaic cemeteries were unearthed in the fourth level while the fifth included remains of two houses from the Middle Assyrian period.

DP News