Urban development in Assyria

Project	Geomagnetic prospection on Tell Sheikh Hamad (Syria)
Location	Tell Sheikh Hamad (Provinces of Deir az-Zor and Hassake, Syria)
Period	Middle, New and Post-Assyrian, 13th to 6th century BC
Methods	Geomagnetics
Client	FU Berlin, Institute of Near Eastern Archaeology Prof. Dr. Hartmut Kühne

Tell Sheikh Hamad (Syria)		Excavation "Red House"

OBJECTIVES Tell Sheikh Hamad is the modern name of the Assyrian province center Dur-Katlimmu situated in North Mesopotamia upon the lower reaches of the Khabur river, once one of the most important tributaries of the Euphrates, between the cities of Hassake and Deir az-Zor (Syria). Geomagnetic investigations were projected in the area of the Lower Towns of Dur-Katlimmus to bring more precise information on the expansion and structure of the Middle and New Assyrian administration centre and result in a kind of city map.

COMPLETED WORKS and results

		The total investigated area inside and outside the mudbrick city wall covers more than 40 hectares. The data is evidence of the existence of several monumental building complexes. The course of the city wall could be defined more precisely. Aside from the located house structures the courses of water channels bringing water from the Khabur river into the city and its dry hinterland.
Magnetogram of a monumental building	Interpretation

Contact Dipl.-Geophys. Cornelius Meyer (meyer@eastern-atlas.com )

links
Information on research and excavation in Tell Sheikh Hamad:
(www.schechhamad.de )