Tell Kannas (Tell Kannâs)
تل كناص · Kannas · Kannass · Tell es-Kannas
Late Uruk to Early Dynastic I–II (3500–2500 BCE)·North Mesopotamian Uruk → Early Bronze (EJ 1–2)·🇸🇾 Raqqa Governorate, Middle Euphrates, Balikh–Euphrates junction opposite Tell Habuba Kabira, Syria
About
About Tell Kannas (Tell Kannâs)
Mid-Euphrates urban tell (Uruk to Early Bronze, c.3500–2500 BCE) on a 42 m high Pleistocene levee above the Euphrates, 500 m west of the river at Meskene, excavated by Trokay (Belgian 1980s) before Tabqa inundation now 5 km from lake. Two phases: Uruk-period planned lower town with bevelled bowls and tripartite houses, then Early Bronze fortified town with 4 m mudbrick wall, bastion and gateway, demonstrating the Uruk–post-Uruk urban collapse/recovery sequence parallel to Habuba Kabira–Jebel Aruda but with continuous occupation through Jemdet Nasr. Complements Habuba's abruptly deserted colony.
Why it mattersShows indigenous Euphrates town continuity through Uruk collapse where Habuba Kabira was abandoned — key to Uruk colonialism debate (indigenous vs colony dichotomy).
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why Kannas survived Uruk withdrawal when Habuba did not?
Theories
- 01Levee-top refuge that outlasted floodplain colony
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 (Late Uruk)
- Period
- Late Uruk to Early Dynastic I–II (3500–2500 BCE)
- Culture
- North Mesopotamian Uruk → Early Bronze (EJ 1–2)
- Builders
- Euphrates urban communities
- Purpose
- Levee fortress-town controlling Balikh mouth farming district
- Abandoned
- c.2500 BCE (EBA II–III hiatus)
- Rediscovered
- 1970s Euphrates salvage (Trokay); excavated 1981–1985
- Excavation
- Excavated
c.3350 BCE
Uruk lower town grid laid
c.2900 BCE
Fortification wall and bastion rebuilt
1981
Belgian trench opens bastion
On the ground
Structures & features
36.0330° N · 38.0170° E · 330 m · 2 mapped features
Uruk lower town house
houseTripartite house with bevelled bowls in floor
36.0332° N · 38.0173° EEBA bastion
bastionSemicircular stone-founded bastion on town wall
36.0328° N · 38.0168° E