Coordinates: 34°54′12″N 40°31′50″E / 34.903200°N 40.530445°E / 34.903200; 40.530445

Mesopotamia in 2nd millennium BC

Terqa is the name of an ancient city discovered at the site of Tell Ashara on the banks of the middle Euphrates in Deir ez-Zor Governorate, Syria, approximately 80 km from the modern border with Iraq. Its name had become Sirqu by Neo-Assyrian times.

History[link]

Little is yet known of the early history of Terqa, though it was a sizable entity even in the Early Dynastic period.

In the 2nd millennium BC it was under the control of Shamshi-Adad, followed by Mari in the time of Zimri-Lim, and then by Babylon after Mari's defeat by Hamurabi of the First Babylonian Dynasty, Terqa became the leading city of the Khana/Hana kingdom after the decline of Babylon. Later, it fell into the sphere of the Kassite dynasty of Babylon and eventually the Neo-Assyrian Empire. A noted stele of Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta II was found at Terqa. ^[1]

The principal god of Terqa was Dagan.

Proposed Rulers of Terqa

Archaeology[link]

The main site is around 20 acres (8.1 ha) in size and has a height of 60 feet (18 m). The remains of Terqa are partly covered by the modern town of Ashara, which limits the possibilities for excavation.

The site was briefly excavated by E. Herzfeld in 1910. ^[2] In 1923, 5 days of excavations were conducted by François Thureau-Dangin and P. Dhorrne. ^[3]

From 1974 to 1986, Terqa was excavated for 10 seasons by a team from the International Institute for Mesopotamian Area Studies including the Institute of Archaeology at the University of California at Los Angeles, California State University at Los Angeles, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Arizona and the University of Poitiers in France. The team was led by Giorgio Buccellati and Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati. ^{[4] [5] [6]} After 1987, a French team led by Olivier Rouault of Lyon University took over the dig and continues to work there to the present time. ^{[7] [8] [9]}

There are 550 cuneiform tablets from Terqa held at the Deir ez-Zor Museum.

Notable features found at Terqa include

• A city wall consisting of three concentric masonry walls, 20 feet (6.1 m) high and 60 feet (18 m) in width, fronted by a 60-foot-wide (18 m) moat. The walls encompass a total area of around 60 acres (24 ha), were built circa 3000 BC and were in use until at least 2000 BC.

• A temple to Ninkarrak dating at least as old as the 3rd millennium. The temple finds included Egyptian scarabs.^[10]

• The House of Puzurum, where a large and important archive of tablets were found.

Notes[link]

See also[link]

• Cities of the ancient Near East

References[link]

• A. Ahrens, The Scarabs from the Ninkarrak Temple Cache at Tell ’Ašara/Terqa (Syria): History, Archaeological Context, and Chronology, Egypt and the Levant 20, 2010, 431-444.
• G. Buccellati, The Kingdom and Period of Khana, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 270, pp. 43–61, 1977
• M. Chavalas, Terqa and the Kingdom of Khana, Biblical Archaeology, vol. 59, pp. 90–103, 1996
• A. H. Podany, A Middle Babylonian Date for the Hana Kingdom, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 43/45, pp. 53–62, (1991–1993)
• J. N. Tubb, A Reconsideration of the Date of the Second Millennium Pottery From the Recent Excavations at Terqa, Levant, vol. 12, pp. 61–68, 1980
• A. Soltysiak, Human Remains from Tell Ashara - Terqa. Seasons 1999-2001. A Preliminary Report, Athenaeum, 90, no. 2, pp. 591–594 2002

External links[link]

• Terqa excavation web site
• French government site on the current dig