Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (19.2007(2010))

TELL ARBID

SYRIA

In the older phase, the central courtyard
of this complex also served various domestic
uses. Yet the installations discovered there are
of a different character than their later
counterparts, although they may have served
a similar purpose [Fig. 12]. The latter seem to
have been for roasting grain, as attested by
large quantities of charred grain found
around each of the five installations
discovered in 2007. At the center is a circular
or semicircular layer of burnt clay mixed with
gravel, encircled by a thin mud-brick wall. At
least one cooking pot was sunk into the
ground nearby, and a small patch of the
surrounding floor was paved with potsherds
[Fig. 13]. The different installations are
stratigraphically connected with subsequent
phases of courtyard use. In each of these
phases the installations occupied a different
part of the courtyard.
The pottery found inside the older-
phase rooms suggests that the complex

should be dated to the very beginning of
the Late, if not the end of the Early
Ninevite 5 period. In the upper layer,
kitchen ware prevails in the pottery
assemblage to the virtual exclusion of
any fine ware. The opposite is true for
the earlier phase, in which Early Ninevite 5
fine ware fragments are very numerous
indeed. The layer of ashes dividing
two levels of Ninevite 5 occupation in
square 51/56 has yielded clay bullae
impressed with cylinder seals, as well as
some clay tokens. More bullae with
seal impressions were found in the vicinity
of some of the installations described
above.
Further excavations are needed to
establish the full size of this complex.
A preliminary analysis of the stratigraphy of
the northern part of sector W-East indicates
a certain gap between the two phases of
Ninevite 5 occupation.

SECTOR W-EAST: SOUTHERN TEMPLE

The most interesting structure by far among
those investigated this season is the so-called
Southern Temple discovered directly to the
south of square 51/56 described above
(already probed in 2003, 2005 and 2006 in
squares: 52/56, 53/56, 52/55 and 53/56,
(Bielihski 2007: 435-436). Analyses of the
stratigraphy and the ceramic finds have
suggested a date for this building in the
earlier phase of the Ninevite 5 period
(characterized by incised pottery). With
external dimensions of 10 by 7.25 m, it was
the largest single room of the Ninevite 5
period discovered so far on Tell Arbid. The
original function of this building with its
exceedingly thick wall (reaching 1.60 m in
width) was revealed after a careful cleaning of
its interior this season.

The room, measuring 8.00 by approx.
4.50 m inside, formed a slightly irregular
rectangle with a narrow entrance situated
roughly in the middle of the southern wall
[Figs 14} 15]· The doorway, which is
approx. 0.40 m wide, needs further cleaning
to clarify the western edge.
In the eastern part of the room to the
right of the entrance, standing on the
longitudinal axis of the structure was a
finely plastered block of mud bricks (1.08
by 0.70 m and approx. 0.70 m high),
initially interpreted as a pillar. It is now clear
that it was a kind of altar. Its two western
corners were grooved on their entire height,
while its top was covered with plaster
[Fig 16]. A nearly square hearth with sides
approximately 1 m long, apparently bordered

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Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 19, Reports 2007