Telul eth-Thalathat is an archaeological site located 40 miles (64 km) west of Mosul and just east of Tal Afar in Nineveh Province (Iraq).

Telul eth-Thalathat
Telul eth-Thalathat is located in Iraq
Telul eth-Thalathat
Shown within Iraq
Telul eth-Thalathat is located in Near East
Telul eth-Thalathat
Telul eth-Thalathat (Near East)
LocationNineveh Governorate, Iraq
RegionMesopotamia
Coordinates36°33′46″N 42°32′8″E / 36.56278°N 42.53556°E / 36.56278; 42.53556
Typetell, archaeological site
Length100 metre
Width60 metre
Height7 metre
History
PeriodsNeolithic, Ubaid period, Uruk period
Site notes
Excavation dates1956; 1964; 1957; 1976
ArchaeologistsN. Egami, S. Fukai

Archaeology

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Pottery bowl from Telul eth-Thalathat, Iraq. Ubaid period, c. 5000 BCE. Iraq Museum

The site consists of at least five separate tells or settlement mounds. Telul eth-Thalathat was excavated for four seasons between 1956 and 1965 and again in 1976 by a team from the University of Tokyo Iraq-Iran Archaeological Expedition. The main focus was to establish a complete Ninevite 5 sequence at Tell V. The first two seasons, in 1956 and 1957, were led by N. Egami and worked at Tell II. Burials, residential areas, and a presumed temple were uncovered.[1][2] The final season was led by S. Fukai.[3][4][5] Among the small finds was a small square stamp seal with two human figures dated to the late 4th or early 5th millennium BC.[6]

Occupation history

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Telul eth-Thalathat was occupied in the Ubaid, Nineveh 5, and Uruk periods, as well as during Middle Assyrian times. Excavations have revealed over 20 kilns and a number of burials, as well as some figurines and spindle whorls.[7] Eleven Neolithic clay tokens were also recovered.[8] On Tell V a single period Ninevite 5 settlement was found. It included a 6 by 18 meter building interpreted as a granary.[9] Tell II showed occupation from the Pottery Neolithic to Middle Uruk periods.[10]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ [1] Egami, Namio, "The Preliminary Report of the Excavations at Telul ath-Thalathat (1956)", Sumer, vol. 13, pp. 5-11, 1957
  2. ^ N. Egami, Telul eth-Thalathat, "Vol. I, The Excavations of Tell II, 1956-1957", The Institute of Oriental Culture, The University of Tokyo, Yamakawa Pub. Co, 1958
  3. ^ S. Fukai, K. Horiuchi and T. Matsutani, "Telul eth-Thalathat, Vol. II, The Excavations of Tell II, The Third Season (1964)", The Institute of Oriental Culture, The University of Tokyo, Yamakawa Pub. Co, 1970
  4. ^ S. Fukai, K. Horiuchi and T. Matsutani, "Telul eth-Thalathat, Vol. III, The Excavations of Tell V, The Fourth Season (1965)", The Institute of Oriental Culture, The University of Tokyo, Yamakawa Pub. Co, 1974
  5. ^ S. Fukai, T. Matsutani, "Telul Eth-Thalathat, Vol. IV The Excavation of Tell II, the Fifth Season (1976)", Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo, Yamakawa Pub. Co, 1981
  6. ^ Garfinkel, Yosef, "chapter 12 Later Examples from the Near East", Dancing at the Dawn of Agriculture, New York, USA: University of Texas Press, pp. 269-290, 2003
  7. ^ [2] Robert A. Carter and Graham Philip, "Beyond the Ubaid: Transformation and integration in the late prehistoric societies of the Middle East", Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 63, Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 2010, ISBN 978-1-885923-66-0
  8. ^ Overmann, Karenleigh A., "Chapter 9. The Neolithic Clay Tokens", The Material Origin of Numbers: Insights from the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Piscataway, NJ, USA: Gorgias Press, pp. 157-178, 2019
  9. ^ Roaf, Michael, and Robert Killick, "A Mysterious Affair of Styles: The Ninevite 5 Pottery of Northern Mesopotamia", Iraq, vol. 49, pp. 199–230, 1987
  10. ^ Sudo, Hiroshi, "The development of wool exploitation in Ubaid-period settlements of North Mesopotamia", Beyond the Ubaid: Transformation and integration in the late prehistoric societies of the Middle East. SAOC 63, pp. 169-179, 2010

Further reading

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  • [3] Fukai, S. and T. Matsutani, Excavations at Telul eth-Thalathat, 1976, Sumer, vol. 33, no. 1: pp. 48–64, 1977
  • Nishiaki, Yoshihiro., and H. I. H. Prince Takahito Mikasa, "Reexamination of neolithic stone artifacts from Telul eth-Thalathat, northern Iraq", Essays on Ancient Anatolia and its Surrounding Civilizations. Harassowitz, Tübingen, pp. 153–172, 1995
  • Uwe Sievertsen, "Frühe Pfeiler-Nischen-Architektur Aus Tepe Gawra Und Telul Eth-Thalathat", Iraq, vol. 67, no. 1, pp. 399–409, 2005
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