Tell Ahmar — Til Barsip Neo-Assyrian Extension
Tell Ahmar · Til Barsip Extension · Ahmar Lower Town East
Ubaid to Hellenistic (3500 BCE–200 BCE; peak Neo-Assyrian 856–610 BCE)·EBA → Mitanni → Syro-Hittite → Aramean Bit-Adini → Neo-Assyrian·🇸🇾 Aleppo Governorate, Euphrates, Til Barsip terrace, Syria
About
About Tell Ahmar — Til Barsip Neo-Assyrian Extension
Til Barsip Extension is the 12 ha Neo-Assyrian lower town east of the 5 ha acropolis of Tell Ahmar excavated by Thureau-Dangin, Woolley, Bunnens and Jamieson before Tishrin regulation. Iron Age Aramean Bit-Adini capital (Masuwari), taken by Shalmaneser III 856 BCE as Kar-Shalmaneser, with 3-palace LBA-EIA sequence, glazed brick procession road, Assyrian palace hypogeum with 3 undisturbed bronze coffins, and Euphrates harbour terrace with mooring stones.
Why it mattersMost intact Assyrian provincial palace exterior to Assyria proper; source of Til Barsip wall paintings in Aleppo Museum.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Extent of Hittite-period Tar-as-Til Barsib earlier name?
Theories
- 01Bunnens: deliberate Assyrian urban planning to overwrite Bit-Adini
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.3500 BCE (Ubaid/Chalcolithic)
- Period
- Ubaid to Hellenistic (3500 BCE–200 BCE; peak Neo-Assyrian 856–610 BCE)
- Culture
- EBA → Mitanni → Syro-Hittite → Aramean Bit-Adini → Neo-Assyrian
- Builders
- EBA then Aramean chiefs then Assyrian kings
- Purpose
- Aramean capital then Assyrian provincial capital controlling Euphrates passage
- Abandoned
- Hellenistic shift to Europos
- Rediscovered
- 1929 Thureau-Dangin Louvre; 1988 Bunnens-Mellink
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
1929–1931
Thureau-Dangin Louvre soundings
856 BCE
Shalmaneser III conquest and renaming Kar-Shalmaneser
1990s
Melbourne 12 ha lower town and hypogeum
On the ground
Structures & features
36.6700° N · 38.1200° E · 345 m · 4 mapped features
Til Barsip Glazed Procession Road
structureGlazed lions and bulls brick paving to palace gate
36.6707° N · 38.1205° ETil Barsip Hypogeum Bronze Coffins
tomb3 vaulted tombs with bronze coffins under palace
36.6693° N · 38.1208° ETil Barsip Harbour Terrace
portEuphrates quay with mooring stones and pithoi stores
36.6710° N · 38.1194° ETil Barsip Aramean Gate Orthostats
fortificationBit-Adini period basalt lions at east gate
36.6705° N · 38.1210° E