Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (17.2005(2007))

TELL ARBID

SYRIA

TELL ARBID
REPORT ON THE SYRIAN-POLISH
EXPLORATIONS IN 2005. THE TENTH SEASON
Piotr Bielinski

The tenth campaign of joint Syrian-Polish explorations on Tell Arbid started as usual at
the end of August and lasted until the first days of October.1 The tenth season was devoted
to the continued exploration, in all currently open sectors, of town remains from the 3rd
millennium BC, meaning layers corresponding to the Ninevite 3 pottery period (Early
Jazirah II). The overall objective was to establish the function of particular urban complexes
and their continuation over time. Not the least, the stratigraphy of levels exposed in
particular sectors of the site had to be correlated.
A secondary objective of the season was the search for earlier than Ninevite 3 remains,
the presence of which had been suggested by Halaf potsherds discovered in strange
stratigraphic positions, like for example Early Dynastic III mud-brick walls. A small
concentration of potsherds attributed to Halaf culture had been noted some 600 m east of the
main tell, in the middle of arable fields, but it did not seem a likely 'source' for the Halaf
potsherds found in more recent bricks or rubbish on the tell. More importantly, neither the
surface collection from the tell nor the finds from the trenches had yielded a single sherd
attributable to any of the periods separating Ninevite 3 culture from the Halaf one.
Ninevite layers were explored in sectors "SD" on the eastern slope of the tell, "D" in the
northwestern corner of the main tell and "W" in the southern part of the site {Fig. 1}. Few
new trenches were opened, most of the work being carried out in already dug trenches.

1 The mission as usual was headed on the Syrian side by Dr. Ahmad Serriyeh from the Direction General of Antiquities
and Museums and the author on the Polish side. The Polish team for the 2005 season included archaeologists: Dr. Dorota
Lawecka, Dr. Anna Smogorzewska, Ms Zuzanna Wygnahska, Mr. Maciej Makowski and myself, Mr. Andrzej Reiche
and Ms Dorota Bielinska, and archaeology students (Warsaw University and Venice University): Ms. Malgorzata Lopko,
Ms Marzena Markowska, Ms Marta Mierzejewska, Ms Ewelina Mizak, Ms Marta Momot, Ms Malgorzata Wybieralska
and Mr. Lukasz Wojnarowicz, Ms. Monica Arrivabeni. A small team from Masaryk University in Brno (Czech
Republic) joined in the explorations this season: Dr. Inna Mateiciucova, Mr. Martin Jezek, Mr. Petr Kostrhun and two
archaeology students: Ms. Sarka Travnidkova and Mr. Ivan Lassak.
We have benefited as every year from the continuous assistance (including substantial financial contribution) and
friendly support of the DGAM in general and its Director General, Dr. Bassam Jammous, in particular. We are also
much in debt to the Director of Excavations, Dr. Michel Al-Maqdissi, for his never failing interest and encouragement,
as well as to the staff of the Regional Directorate of Antiquities in Hassake and mostly to its Director, Mr. Abed Abdel
Messiyeh Bardo for always being ready to assist and advise whenever required.

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