Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (13.2001(2002))

TELL ARBID

SYRIA

into the space. In the western wall of the
room, near its northwestern corner, there
was a very narrow doorway, only about
0.5 m wide and 1.4 m high (Fig. 9). In the
wall over the entrance there was a nearly
triangular small window. Another one,
slightly larger and of similar shape, was
situated in the opposite wall and, somewhat
below it, an oblong niche. The only internal
installation found to date is a low plastered
bench situated near the southern wall.
Judging by the state of preservation of
room sub-1 l/SS-36/55, the rest of the
structure reposing under the “Public
Building” could have survived in equally
good condition. Whether and to what
extent the younger building repeated the
older one cannot be determined at present.
Quite possibly, builders simply reused the
tops of earlier walls as foundations for their
own structure. If, however, we assume —
purely hypothetically for the time being —
that the “Public Building” repeats, at least
in general outline, the plan of the older
complex, then there is every reason to
believe that the role played by the two
structures was much the same as well.
A long wall, of which only the top has
been cleared, could have belonged to the
same layer, if not the same architectural

complex of the “Older Building”. This
wall was traced in three rooms of the
southern wing of the “Public Building”,
that is, in kitchens 1 and 6, and in room 7
(square 37/56). It runs inside the rooms,
along the outer wall of this part of the
“Public Building”, only about a meter
further to the south than the wall of the
later structure.
In the same area “SL”, below the level of
the kitchens, we reached this year the oldest
architectural feature discovered to date in
this part of the Tell Arbid citadel — a huge
wall or possibly a platform constructed of
reddish mud brick. Its orientation was dif-
ferent from that of the walls of the “Public
Building” complex and its predecessor.
While its northern face could be traced
without problem, its southern face has
disappeared along with the southern slope
of the citadel, which has eroded away.
Nevertheless, it is clear that this wall or
platform was at least 6 m wide and 9.5 m
long. Its stratigraphic position, expressed
by the relation to other architectural
remains found in square 37/56, shows that
it must predate the construction of the so-
called “Older Building”. Its dating, exact
dimensions and, finally, its function remain
to be established.

KHABOUR-WARE PERIOD DWELLINGS (AREA “SR”)

In 1998 and 1999, a Khabour ware-period
dwelling quarter started being cleared in
sector “SR”, on the eastern slope of the
citadel.6) In 2001, the excavated area was
extended southwards (three new trenches in
squares: 37/60, 37/61 and 37/62). In the
westernmost of the new trenches (eastern
half of square 37/60), remains representing
four consecutive strata were found. Due to

the relatively restricted dimensions of the
trench, only fragments of structures could
be exposed. Those in the upper layer were
made of pise and seem to be the foundations
of two separate rooms or even houses of the
Khabour-ware period. They were quite
wide (over 1 m) and oriented according to
the cardinal points. Those found in the
three lower strata were made of mud bricks

6) Id., PAM X, op. cit., 211-212; id., PAM XI, op. cit., 284.

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