Tell Selenkahiyeh
Selenkahiye · Tell es-Selenkahiyeh
Jemdet Nasr to EB III (c.3100–2300 BCE)·Uruk-derived → EBA Euphrates → Akkadian sphere·🇸🇾 Raqqa Governorate, Euphrates mid-reach, Syria
About
About Tell Selenkahiyeh
Major Early Bronze I–III town (14 ha, 12 m high) on the Euphrates Tabqa bend, excavated by Mauritz van Loon. EB I–II produced Jemdet Nasr–related sealings, copper daggers and monumental pisé enclosure; EB III shows Ninevite 5–related incised wares.
Why it mattersKey Raqqa Governorate, Euphrates mid-reach sequence for Jemdet Nasr to EB III (c.3100–2300 BCE); euphrates agricultural town at oxbow ford.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Chronology of Tell Selenkahiyeh relative to neighbouring centres?
Theories
- 01Regional centre hypothesis for Raqqa Governorate
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Jemdet Nasr c.3100 BCE
- Period
- Jemdet Nasr to EB III (c.3100–2300 BCE)
- Culture
- Uruk-derived → EBA Euphrates → Akkadian sphere
- Builders
- Uruk-derived communities
- Purpose
- Euphrates agricultural town at oxbow ford
- Rediscovered
- 20th century survey
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
1960
Foundation/earliest horizon
1980
Major excavations
2020
Conservation/monitoring
On the ground
Structures & features
35.8800° N · 38.1200° E · 295 m · 2 mapped features
Pisé enclosure
fortificationEB monumental pisé wall encircling town
35.8802° N · 38.1203° EEB cemetery
cemeteryCist graves with copper daggers outside wall
35.8798° N · 38.1197° E