Tell al-Hawa — Mosul Plain Mega-Tell
Tell al-Hawa · Tell al-Hawa Mosul · Hawa Plain Tell
Ubaid to Neo-Assyrian (4500 BCE–600 BCE; peak LC 3700 BCE)·Ubaid → Late Chalcolithic → Ninevite 5 → Mitanni → Neo-Assyrian·🇮🇶 Nineveh Governorate, Mosul plain, north of Jabel Sinjar, Iraq
About
About Tell al-Hawa — Mosul Plain Mega-Tell
Tell al-Hawa is a 80 ha 4th-millennium mega-mound on the Mosul steppe, mapped by Warwick Ball (1987–89) and Cambridge – Baghdad surveys. Late Chalcolithic 3700–3400 BCE 15 ha nucleation followed by Ninevite 5 3000 BCE planned town with hollow ways. Lower mound produced Mitanni and Neo-Assyrian sherds. Section exposes 6 m of Ubaid–Uruk deposits. Largest 4th-millennium nucleation north of Brak.
Why it mattersImportant to 4th-millennium Mesopotamian urban origins: proves steppe nucleation contemporary with south alluvium.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why contraction after 3400 BCE before Ninevite?
Theories
- 01Wilkinson: pastoral aggregation then Ninevite 5 proto-urban competition with Brak
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.4500 BCE (Ubaid late)
- Period
- Ubaid to Neo-Assyrian (4500 BCE–600 BCE; peak LC 3700 BCE)
- Culture
- Ubaid → Late Chalcolithic → Ninevite 5 → Mitanni → Neo-Assyrian
- Builders
- Ubaid-LC agropastoralists
- Purpose
- Steppe aggregation town commanding Sinjar-Mosul pastoral corridor
- Abandoned
- c.600 BCE (Neo-Assyrian collapse)
- Rediscovered
- 1987 Ball Mosul plain survey; formerly Layard kite
- Excavation
- Unexcavated
1987–1989
Ball Cambridge surface and hollow-way mapping
c.3700 BCE
LC expansion to 15 ha with central mound
On the ground
Structures & features
36.1000° N · 41.8500° E · 320 m · 3 mapped features
Hawa Central Mound LC Terrace
trenchLC 6 m sounding with Ubaid–Uruk gray ware
36.1007° N · 41.8506° EHawa Hollow Way Dhubab
earthworkNorthern hollow way 2.8 km to satellite hamlet
36.0992° N · 41.8509° EHawa Ninevite 5 Planned Houses
habitationNinevite 5 pisé street grid south slope
36.1010° N · 41.8494° E