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<< Our Photo Pages >> Tell Ta’yinat - Ancient Village or Settlement in Turkey

Submitted by coldrum on Wednesday, 21 September 2011  Page Views: 10311

DigsSite Name: Tell Ta’yinat Alternative Name: Tell Tayinat
Country: Turkey
NOTE: This site is 8.999 km away from the location you searched for.

Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Nearest Town: Antakya  Nearest Village: Antakya
Latitude: 36.247500N  Longitude: 36.376389E
Condition:
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3Reasonable but with some damage
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1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
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4Short walk on a footpath
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1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
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5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
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Tell Ta’yinat
Tell Ta’yinat submitted by Andy B : The stone lion sculpture that adorned the Tayinat citadel gate was uncovered in southeastern Turkey by University of Toronto archaeologists. Photo by Jennifer Jackson Site in Turkey (Vote or comment on this photo)
Early Bronze age to Iron Age settlement in Turkey. Tell Ta’yinat forms a large low-lying mound located 45 kilometres west of Antakya (ancient Antioch) in south-eastern Turkey. Excavations uncovered the remains of several large palaces (called bit hilani), a temple (famously compared with Solomon's temple), and numerous beautifully carved stone reliefs and sculptures.

They demonstrate that the site preserves a lengthy settlement history that spans the Early Bronze (ca 3000 2000 BCE) and Iron Age (ca. 1200 550 BCE) periods. In addition, the expedition discovered numerous inscriptions (in Luwian/Neo-Hittite, Neo-Assyrian and Aramaic), which helped to identify the site as ancient Kunulua, capital of the Neo-Hittite/Aramaean Kingdom of Patina/Unqi.

The Tayinat Archaeological Project’s primary aim is to assemble archaeological data from the central settlement at Tell Ta’yinat of a succession of prominent, historically-attested Bronze and Iron Age polities for comparison with existing data sets from comparable contexts (e.g. domestic, residential, administrative, or public) at rural village sites in the region. This explicitly regional approach, still relatively rare in Near Eastern Archaeology, is designed to facilitate multiple levels of analysis, and to produce the multivariate data needed to engage in more systematic investigations of the complex social, economic and political institutions developed by the first urban communities to emerge in this part of the world. More at the University of Toronto

Note: Archaeologists uncover 3,000-year-old lion adorning citadel gate in Turkey, see latest comment
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"Tell Ta’yinat" | Login/Create an Account | 9 News and Comments
  
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Ancient human figure unearthed in Turkey by davidmorgan on Sunday, 05 August 2012
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An international archaeological team says it's unearthed a large, extraordinary human sculpture at an excavation site in southeast Turkey.

The figure was part of a monumental gate complex giving access to the upper citadel of Kunulua, the capital of the Neo-Hittite Kingdom of Patina, researchers said.

A large semi-circular column base, ornately decorated on one side, was also discovered at the Tayinat site and dated with the human figure to around 1000-738 B.C., they said.

"These newly discovered Tayinat sculptures are the product of a vibrant local Neo-Hittite sculptural tradition," project leader Tim Harrison of the University of Toronto said.

"They provide a vivid glimpse into the innovative character and sophistication of the Iron Age cultures that emerged in the eastern Mediterranean following the collapse of the great imperial powers of the Bronze Age at the end of the second millennium B.C."

The head and torso of the human figure, intact to its waist, stands about 5 feet tall, suggesting a total body length about 12 feet.

The column base is about 3 feet high and and 3 feet in diameter, the researchers said.

"The two pieces appear to have been ritually buried in the paved stone surface of the central passageway through the Tayinat gate complex," Harrison said in a University of Toronto release Monday.

The complex would have provided a monumental ceremonial approach to the upper citadel of the royal city, he said.

Photo at http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2012/07/30/Ancient-human-figure-unearthed-in-Turkey/UPI-96451343679027/#ixzz22Cs3VAIc

Submitted by jackdaw1.
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Re: Tayinat Archaeological Project, the website for the current excavations by Andy B on Wednesday, 21 September 2011
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Click on the Bing Maps link (second blue aeroplane) for an excellent aerial view
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Tayinat Archaeological Project, the website for the current excavations by Andy B on Wednesday, 21 September 2011
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Tayinat Archaeological Project—the website for the current excavations
http://www.utoronto.ca/tap/

Oriental Institute page on Tell Tayinat
http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/projects/amu/tayinat.html
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Archaeologists uncover 3,000-year-old lion adorning citadel gate in Turkey by davidmorgan on Tuesday, 20 September 2011
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Archaeologists leading the University of Toronto's Tayinat Archaeological Project in southeastern Turkey have unearthed the remains of a monumental gate complex adorned with stone sculptures, including a magnificently carved lion. The gate complex provided access to the citadel of Kunulua, capital of the Neo-Hittite Kingdom of Patina (ca. 950-725 BCE), and is reminiscent of the citadel gate excavated by British archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley in 1911 at the royal Hittite city of Carchemish.

The Tayinat find provides valuable new insight into the innovative character and cultural sophistication of the diminutive Iron Age states that emerged in the eastern Mediterranean following the collapse of the great civilized powers of the Bronze Age at the end of second millennium BCE.

"The lion is fully intact, approximately 1.3 metres in height and 1.6 metres in length. It is poised in a seated position, with ears back, claws extended and roaring," says Timothy Harrison, professor of near eastern archaeology in the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations and director of U of T's Tayinat Archaeological Project (TAP). "A second piece found nearby depicts a human figure flanked by lions, which is an iconic Near Eastern cultural motif known as the Master and Animals. It symbolizes the imposition of civilized order over the chaotic forces of the natural world."

"The presence of lions, or sphinxes, and colossal statues astride the Master and Animals motif in the citadel gateways of the Neo-Hittite royal cities of Iron Age Syro-Anatolia continued a Bronze Age Hittite tradition that accentuated their symbolic role as boundary zones, and the role of the king as the divinely appointed guardian, or gatekeeper, of the community," says Harrison. The elaborately decorated gateways served as dynastic parades, legitimizing the power of the ruling elite.

The gate complex appears to have been destroyed following the Assyrian conquest of the site in 738 BCE, when the area was paved over and converted into the central courtyard of an Assyrian sacred precinct.

"The stylistic features of the lion closely resemble those of a double-lion column base found in the 1930s in the entrance to one of the temples that formed the Assyrian sacred precinct," says Harrison. "Whether reused or carved during the Assyrian occupation of the site, these later lion figures clearly belonged to a local Neo-Hittite sculptural tradition that predated the arrival of the Assyrians, and were not the product of Assyrian cultural influence as scholars have long assumed."

TAP is an international project, involving researchers from a dozen countries, and more than 20 universities and research institutes. It operates in close collaboration with the Ministry of Culture of Turkey, and provides research opportunities and training for both graduate and undergraduate students. The project is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Institute for Aegean Prehistory (INSTAP), and receives support from the University of Toronto.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-08/uot-au3080911.php

Submitted by coldrum.
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2,700-year-old royal loyalty oath discovered in Turkey by davidmorgan on Tuesday, 19 October 2010
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From coldrum:

Archaeologists excavating a 2,700 year old temple at the ancient city of Tayinat, in southeastern Turkey, have discovered evidence that its inhabitants prominently displayed a tablet which bore a pledge of loyalty to the heir of an Assyrian king.

The city of Tayinat was built on the Amuq plain, on the Orontes River near the modern day Syrian border. The Assyrian Empire conquered it in 738 BC, with a governor being appointed to oversee it. The city's temple is about 12 meters by six meters in size, and pre-dates the conquest. The excavations at Tayinat are led by Professor Tim Harrison of the University of Toronto.

The discovery of the tablets adds new insight into how the Assyrians controlled Tayinat. Using careful field recording and textual analysis the team discovered that it was elevated on a platform in the temple’s cella, a part of the building also known as the “holy of holies.”

The oath declares that the city’s governor, and possibly other citizens, would recognize Ashurbanipal as the heir to the throne of the Assyrian Empire, after his father’s (king Esarhaddon's) death. Nearly identical oaths have been found at the site of Nimrud in modern day Iraq.

“You shall protect him in country and in town, fall and die for him. You shall speak with him in the truth of your heart, give him sound advice loyally, and smooth his way in every respect,” the oaths read. A long list of curses is cast upon anyone who breaks the oath.

“May Sin, the brightness of heaven and earth, clothe you with leprosy and forbid your entering into the presence of the gods or king. Roam the desert like the wild-ass and the gazelle,” one of the curses reads. “May Mullissu, who dwells in Nineveh, tie a flaming sword at your side,” says another.

“The presence of the oath tablet at Tayinat affirms Ashurbanipal’s claim that his father caused all the people of Assyria, great and small, to take the oath,” said team epigrapher Professor Jacob Lauinger of John Hopkins University.

It appears to have been created on the 18th day of the 2nd month of the year 672 BC. “The (Tayinat) tablet was written most likely on the same day as the tablets from Nimrud,” said Professor Lauinger.

The next puzzle for the team to crack is why the loyalty oath was placed in such a prominent position. Was it a sort of votive offering? Or was it an object of religious veneration? “The prospects are tantalizing,” said Lauinger, “but of course we have a good deal of work to do first.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/news/2700yearold-royal-loyalty-oath-discovered-in-turkey-2107830.html
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Researchers Shed Light on Ancient Assyrian Tablets by Anonymous on Friday, 16 April 2010
Researchers Shed Light on Ancient Assyrian Tablets

A cache of cuneiform tablets unearthed by a team led by a University of Toronto archaeologist has been found to contain a largely intact Assyrian treaty from the early 7th century BCE.

"The tablet is quite spectacular. It records a treaty -- or covenant -- between Esarhaddon, King of the Assyrian Empire and a secondary ruler who acknowledged Assyrian power. The treaty was confirmed in 672 BCE at elaborate ceremonies held in the Assyrian royal city of Nimrud (ancient Kalhu). In the text, the ruler vows to recognize the authority of Esarhaddon's successor, his son Ashurbanipal," said Timothy Harrison, professor of near eastern archaeology in the Department of Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations and director of U of T's Tayinat Archaeological Project (TAP).

"The treaties were designed to secure Ashurbanipal's accession to the throne and avoid the political crisis that transpired at the start of his father's reign. Esarhaddon came to power when his brothers assassinated their father, Sennacherib."

The 43 by 28 centimetre tablet -- known as the Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon -- contains about 650 lines and is in a very fragile state. "It will take months of further work before the document will be fully legible," added Harrison. "These tablets are like a very complex puzzle, involving hundreds of pieces, some missing. It is not just a matter of pulling the tablet out, sitting down and reading. We expect to learn much more as we restore and analyze the document."

The researchers hope to glean information about Assyria's imperial relations with the west during a critical period, the early 7th century BCE. It marked the rise of the Phrygians and other rival powers in highland Anatolia -- now modern-day Turkey -- along the northwestern frontier of the Assyrian empire, and coincided with the divided monarchy of Biblical Israel, as well as an era of increased contact between the Levantine peoples of the Eastern Mediterranean and Egypt, as well as the Greeks of the Aegean world.

The cache of tablets -- which date back to the Iron Age -- were unearthed in August 2009 during excavations at the site of an ancient temple at Tell Tayinat, located in southeastern Turkey. A wealth of religious paraphernalia -- including gold, bronze and iron implements, libation vessels and ornately decorated ritual objects -- was also uncovered.

TAP is an international project, involving researchers from a dozen countries, and more than 20 universities and research institutes. It operates in close collaboration with the Ministry of Culture of Turkey, and provides research opportunities and training for both graduate and undergraduate students. The project is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Institute for Aegean Prehistory (INSTAP), and receives support from the University of Toronto.

Source:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100408134519.htm
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The Complicated World of Ancient Humans by coldrum on Sunday, 04 October 2009
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The Complicated World of Ancient Humans

Recent digs show long-distance trade and complex social structures were around for longer than archaeologists thought.

For civilizations in Europe and the Near East, the Bronze and Iron Ages—when metalworking was first developed—have been viewed as times when simple societies struggled through technological upheaval, famine, and sickness. But new findings are revealing surprising social and cultural complexity.

Around 2000 B.C., as Scandinavia was poised to enter the Bronze Age, settlements were thought to consist of scattered farms, with little cooperation between them. Instead, a study by archaeologist Magnus Artursson of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden suggests that these societies formed hierarchical chiefdoms some 800 years before such social structures were believed to have emerged. Artursson examined graves and found wide variations in wealth; the presence of imported high-status metals indicated contact between distant settlements.

Early Iron Age societies are also turning out to be more advanced than scholars previously realized. University of Toronto archaeologist Timothy Harrison and colleagues are excavating a temple in the Tell Tayinat region of Turkey, built around 800 B.C. Though this time was thought to be a dark age when trade between Greece and the Middle East nearly ground to a halt, Harrison says that his finds—including ivory carvings, precious metal foils, and pottery—are a clear indication of cultural and economic exchange among cultures such as the Hittites, Aegeans, and Semites. Harrison’s team will continue excavating the temple’s inner sanctuary this year.

http://discovermagazine.com/2009/sep/31-complicated-world-of-ancient-humans
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Archaeologists find cache of cuneiform tablets in 2,700-year old Turkish temple by coldrum on Thursday, 01 October 2009
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Archaeologists find cache of cuneiform tablets in 2,700-year old Turkish temple

University of Toronto archaeologists find cache of cuneiform tablets in 2,700-year old Turkish temple.

Excavations led by a University of Toronto archaeologist at the site of a recently discovered temple in southeastern Turkey have uncovered a cache of cuneiform tablets dating back to the Iron Age period between 1200 and 600 BCE. Found in the temple's cella, or 'holy of holies', the tablets are part of a possible archive. The cella also contained gold, bronze and iron implements, libation vessels and ornately decorated ritual objects.

"The assemblage appears to represent a Neo-Assyrian renovation of an older Neo-Hittite temple complex, providing a rare glimpse into the religious dimension of Assyrian imperial ideology," said Timothy Harrison, professor of near eastern archeology in the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations and director of U of T's Tayinat Archaeological Project (TAP). "The tablets, and the information they contain, may possibly highlight the imperial ambitions of one of the great powers of the ancient world, and its lasting influence on the political culture of the Middle East."

Partially uncovered in 2008 at Tell Tayinat, capital of the Neo-Hittite Kingdom of Palastin, the structure of the building where the tablets were found preserves the classic plan of a Neo-Hittite temple. It formed part of a sacred precinct that once included monumental stelae carved in Luwian (an extinct Anatolian language once spoken in Turkey) hieroglyphic script, but which were found by the expedition smashed into tiny shard-like fragments.

"Tayinat was destroyed by the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III in 738 BCE, and then transformed into an Assyrian provincial capital, equipped with its own governor and imperial administration," said Harrison. "Scholars have long speculated that the reference to Calneh in Isaiah's oracle against Assyria alludes to Tiglath-pileser's devastation of Kunulua - i.e., Tayinat. The destruction of the Luwian monuments and conversion of the sacred precinct into an Assyrian religious complex may represent the physical manifestation of this historic event."

The temple was later burned in an intense fire and found filled with heavily charred brick and wood which, ironically, contributed to the preservation of the finds recovered from its inner chambers. "While those responsible for this later destruction are not yet known, the remarkable discoveries preserved in the Tayinat temple clearly record a pivotal moment in its history," said Harrison. "They promise a richly textured view of the cultural and ethnic contest that has long characterized the turbulent history of this region."

TAP is an international project, involving researchers from a dozen countries, and more than 20 universities and research institutes. It operates in close collaboration with the Ministry of Culture of Turkey, and provides research opportunities and training for both graduate and undergraduate students. The project is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Institute for Aegean Prehistory (INSTAP), and receives support from the University of Toronto

http://www.news.utoronto.ca/lead-stories/university-of-toronto-archaeologists-find-cache-of-cuneiform-tablets-in-270-1.html
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Archaeologists Discover Temple That Sheds Light On So-called Dark Age by coldrum on Thursday, 18 June 2009
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The discovery of a remarkably well-preserved monumental temple in Turkey — thought to be constructed during the time of King Solomon in the 10th/9th-centuries BCE — sheds light on the so-called Dark Age.Uncovered by the University of Toronto's Tayinat Archaeological Project (TAP) in the summer of 2008, the discovery casts doubt upon the traditional view that the transition from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age was violent, sudden and culturally disruptive.

Ancient sources — such as the Homeric epics and the Hebrew Bible — depict an era of widespread famine, ethnic conflict and population movement, most famously including the migrations of the Sea Peoples (or biblical Philistines) and the Israelites. This is thought to have precipitated a prolonged Dark Age marked by cultural decline and ethnic strife during the early centuries of the Iron Age. But recent discoveries — including the Tayinat excavations — have revealed that some ruling dynasties survived the collapse of the great Bronze Age powers.

"Our ongoing excavations have not only begun to uncover extensive remains from this Dark Age, but the emerging archaeological picture suggests that during this period Tayinat was the capital of a powerful kingdom, the ‘Land of Palastin’," says Timothy Harrison, professor of Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Toronto and the director of the project. "Intriguingly, the early Iron Age settlement at Tayinat shows evidence of strong cultural connections, if not the direct presence of foreign settlers, from the Aegean world, the traditional homeland of the Sea Peoples."

Excavations uncovered the temple's southern approach, which once faced a broad stone-paved courtyard, and consisted of a monumental staircase and porticoed-entrance, supported by a large, ornately carved basalt column base.

In addition, fragments of monumental stelae — stone slabs created for religious or other commemorative purposes — carved in Luwian (an extinct language once spoken in what is now Turkey) hieroglyphic script, were found. They are thought to have once stood on stone platforms in the courtyard.

"The building’s central room was burned in an intense fire. It was filled with heavily charred brick and wood, as well as a substantial quantity of bronze metal, including riveted pieces and carved ivory fragments — clearly the remains of furniture or wall fixings. Fragments of gold and silver foil were also found along with the carved eye inlay from a human figure," added Harrison.

The temple’s inner sanctuary — also know as its 'holy of holies' — will be the focus of the 2009 field season which begins on July 1.

TAP is an international project, involving researchers from a dozen countries, and more than 20 universities and research institutes. It also provides research opportunities and training for both graduate and undergraduate students. The project is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Institute for Aegean Prehistory (INSTAP), and receives support from the University of Toronto.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090415162649.htm
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