Zeytinli Bahçe Höyük
Zeytinli Bahçe Höyük · Zeytinli Bahce · Zeytinlibahçe
Halaf-Ubaid to Early Bronze (5500–3000 BCE; peak LC 3800–3300 BCE)·Halaf-Ubaid → Late Chalcolithic Euphrates → Uruk fringe·🇹🇷 Şanlıurfa Province, Birecik District, Euphrates, Turkey
About
About Zeytinli Bahçe Höyük
Euphrates terrace tell opposite Surtepe, 10 km south of Birecik, with a 12 m sequence from Halaf–Ubaid villages (c.5500 BCE) through Uruk monumental building. French–Italian salvage (Frangipane, Balossi) exposed Late Chalcolithic tripartite mudbrick building with central hall 12 × 5 m, stone foundations and wall paintings — interpreted as elite reception hall contemporary with late Uruk Arslantepe VIA palatial architecture, bridging northern Mesopotamian Late Chalcolithic to Euphrates urban trajectory before Birecik–Carchemish dam flooding.
Why it mattersNorthern Euphrates counterpart to Arslantepe palace tradition; demonstrates Late Chalcolithic elite architecture outside Uruk core.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Source of wall painting craft — local or Uruk itinerants?
Theories
- 01Early Euphrates chiefly centre controlling downriver copper trade
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. 5500 BCE (Ubaid)
- Period
- Halaf-Ubaid to Early Bronze (5500–3000 BCE; peak LC 3800–3300 BCE)
- Culture
- Halaf-Ubaid → Late Chalcolithic Euphrates → Uruk fringe
- Builders
- Euphrates farming–pastoral communities
- Purpose
- River town with elite hall and storage
- Abandoned
- c.3000 BCE (EBA relocation to higher terrace)
- Rediscovered
- 1995 Euphrates salvage survey; excavated 1999–2004 Univ. Rome–Turin
- Excavation
- Excavated
c.3800 BCE
Tripartite building constructed
c.3300 BCE
Uruk contact, wall painting phase
2004
Salvage completed before Birecik dam filling
On the ground
Structures & features
37.0220° N · 37.9820° E · 380 m · 1 mapped feature
Tripartite building
buildingLate Chalcolithic hall building with central court
37.0222° N · 37.9823° E