Girnavaz
Girnavaz · Girnavaz Höyük · Girnavaz Mound
Early Bronze Age to Iron Age (c.3000–600 BCE)·Hurrian → Mittanian → Neo-Assyrian·🇹🇷 Mardin Province, Nusaybin plain, Turkey
About
About Girnavaz
Palatial tell on Tigris–Habur watershed, 3 ha, 13 m high, Early Bronze to Neo-Assyrian (c.3000–600 BCE) with Mitanni–Assyrian palace (14th–8th c. BCE, columned hall), Hurrian Nuzi ware, Assyrian tablets, ivories. Excavated 1982–92 by Hayri Erkanal (Hacettepe) shows 3000 BCE EBA shaft tombs, Mitanni hour-glass goblet, Neo-Assyrian governor’s residence with drainage. Controls Nusaybin pass.
Why it mattersOnly Tigris–Khabur watershed palace sequence; Mitanni–Assyrian continuity.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Mitanni vs Assyrian palace phases?
Theories
- 01Watershed governor model
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.3000 BCE
- Period
- Early Bronze Age to Iron Age (c.3000–600 BCE)
- Culture
- Hurrian → Mittanian → Neo-Assyrian
- Builders
- Upper Tigris EBA communities → Mitanni–Assyrian governors
- Purpose
- Watershed palace and Nusaybin pass control between Tigris and Khabur
- Abandoned
- c.600 BCE
- Rediscovered
- 1982 Erkanal
- Excavation
- Excavated
c.3000 BCE
EBA shaft tombs
c.1400 BCE
Mitanni palace built
c.800 BCE
Assyrian governor palace
On the ground
Structures & features
37.1200° N · 41.1000° E · 490 m · 3 mapped features
Girnavaz — Mitanni palace
palaceColumned palace with Nuzi ware, upper mound
37.1205° N · 41.1000° EGirnavaz — EBA shaft tombs
tombEB III shaft tombs south slope
37.1200° N · 41.1005° EGirnavaz — Neo-Assyrian drain
hydraulicStone drain and tablet archive
37.1195° N · 41.0995° E