Qatna
Encyclopedia
Qatna is an archaeological site in the Wadi il-Aswad, a tributary of the Orontes, 18 km northeast of Homs
, Syria
. It consists in a tell
occupying 1 km², which makes it one of the largest Bronze Age
towns in western Syria. The tell is located at the edge of the limestone-plateau of the Syrian desert towards the fertile Homs-Bassin.
The find of a 12th Dynasty Egyptian sphinx
belonging to Princess Ita, daughter of Amenemhat II
(1875–1840 BC) shows early Egyptian influence, although it is not clear at what time the sphinx got to Qatna (the sphinx was found within the debris of the Late Bronze Age palace).
The first king of Qatna (Qatanum) known by name from the Mari
archives is Ishi-Adad ("Haddad" or "Adad is my help"), an Amurru
or "Amorite". He was a confederate of Shamshi-Adad
of upper Mesopotamia. He was succeeded by his son Amut-pî-el who had been governor of Nazala as crown prince. This was in the time of Hammurabi
of Babylon
(1792–1750 BC). Beltum, the sister of Amut-pî-el was married to Jasmah-Addu of Mari. Contracts between Mari and Qatna define her as the principal wife of Jasmah-Addu
. Her mother might have been Lammassi-Ashur from Assur
or Ekallatum
. Zimrilim
of Mari was married to another princess from Qatna, Dam-hurasim.
After the destruction of Mari by Hammurapi, the written sources become sparse.
Aleppo (Yamkhad) now became Qatna's most powerful neighbour, during the reign of Jarim–Lim III. Qatna was temporarily dominated by Aleppo.
With the development of the Mitanni
empire in upper Mesopotamia
, Qatna was incorporated but was located in disputed territory between the Mitanni and Egypt. The inscriptions of the so-called Nin-Egal temple (part of the Royal palace, room C) show that Mittanni were resident in Qatna. The campaigns of Pharaohs Amenhotep I
(1515–1494 BC) and Thutmose I
(1494–1482 BC) in Syria might have reached Qatna, but there is no conclusive evidence. On the 7th Pylon of the temple of Amun
in Karnak
, Thutmose III
(1479–1425 BC) mentions that he stayed in the land of Qatna in the 33rd year of his reign. Amenhotep II
(1427–1401 BC) was attacked by the host of Qatnawhile crossing the Orontes, but of course he remained victorious and acquired booty, among which the equipment of a Mitanni charioteer is mentioned.
Qatna is mentioned in Egyptian topographic lists till the time of Ramesses III
(1180 BC).
Cuneiform tablets discovered under the Royal palace in Qatna mention a previously unknown king Idanda who ruled ca. 1400 BC.
During the Syrian campaign of the Hittite king Suppiluliuma I
(1380–1340 BC), Prince Akizzi
of Qatna asked for the help of Akhenaten/Amenhotep IV
, but as he was only concerned with his monotheistic reform symbolized by his own throne name Akhnaton and his new capital Amarna
(abandoned after his death as all reforms were reversed), the town was among several Syrian city-states captured and plundered by the Hittites, the inhabitants deported to Hatti. During this same Amarna letters
period, Prince Akizzi wrote 5 letters to Akhenaten.
Texts
from Emar
describe how Qatna was attacked by Aramaic tribes in the late Bronze Age, so the town must still have been in existence.
The tell was settled in Neo-Babylonian times as well (a hilani
has been excavated), but the town remained insignificant as nearby Homs
(Emesa) had taken over its position on the trade routes.
with Cyprus
, Crete
and Egypt
. Qatna was then situated near the end of the road connecting the middle Euphrates
valley, for example Mari
by way of Tadmor/Palmyra to the Mediterranean.
Another route started from Aleppo
, left the Euphrates at Emar and led via Halab, Qatna and Hazor to Egypt.
The valley of Homs formed a connection to the Mediterranean near the port of Byblos
and Tripoli
, running between the Lebanon and the Ansari-mountains.
Qatna is mentioned in the tin
trade, which went from Mari via Qatna to the Mediterranean, Cypriote copper
was transported in the other direction. The Mari texts mention cloth, clothing, a certain kind of bows, jewellery, woods, wine and two-wheeled chariot
s as trade goods reaching Mari via Qatna and partly going on to Babylon
. Recent
scientific investigation has determined that a carved hollow lion head vessel (circa 1340 BC) found at Qatna was made from amber
imported from the Baltic
region.
This type of amber has also been found in the Mycenae
region from the same time period.
, the University of Udine
and the University of Tübingen.
The discovery of the Royal tombs and cuneiform
tablets in 2002 have led to a state of cold war between the German and Italian excavation team.
imported ceramics dating from the middle Bronze Age. The new excavations have yielded locally made ceramics from the Old-Syrian (2000–1550 BC) and middle Syrian (1550–1200 BC) period.
In 2002, an acephalous basalt statue was found in an in a Late Bronze Age I rubbish pit (1600–1400 BC). It wears the typical 'Syrian coat' with thick borders that is normally taken as a sign of Royalty and might thus represent a yet nameless king of Qatna.
In a subterranean corridor under the 'Cour de throne', 63 cuneiform tablets were discovered in 2002. They were covered by the burned remains of several roofbeams. Maybe they were hidden during the Hittite invasion. The texts probably belong to the archive of King Idanda and contain both intelligence reports on the (desperate) political situation in northern Syria, the Hittite
threat and domestic and administrative texts. The texts are written in a mixture of the Akkadian
and Hurrian languages hitherto unknown.
The hill near the centre of the town may have been the acropolis
. The Royal palace was located on the 'Butte de l'eglise' in the Northwest corner of the upper town. It is one of the biggest buildings of its kind known so far in Bronze Age Syria. Unfortunately, numerous mudbrick-walls were overlooked during the excavations in the 1920s and dug away. Only walls faced with stone slabs or delimited by the hard floor surface remained.
The layout of the palace of Qatna is very similar to that of Mari
. Numerous basalt pillar bases have been found. This use of pillars is comparable to the palace of Yarim-Lim in Alalakh
VII. The big dimensions of some rooms (the 'cour du throne' measures 20 m across) may indicate that cedar beams were used for the roof. The Palace dates to the Old-Syrian period and was maybe the residence of King Ishi-Addu (see below).
On the "Small Acropolis" in the North of the central mound a second palace has been discovered in 2002 which may be the residence of a member of the Royal family. The area housed a small Christian town that was resettled in the 1980s. Nowadays, New Mishrife has about 2500 inhabitants (2000 est.).
Homs
Homs , previously known as Emesa , is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is above sea level and is located north of Damascus...
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. It consists in a tell
Tell
A tell or tel, is a type of archaeological mound created by human occupation and abandonment of a geographical site over many centuries. A classic tell looks like a low, truncated cone with a flat top and sloping sides.-Archaeology:A tell is a hill created by different civilizations living and...
occupying 1 km², which makes it one of the largest Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
towns in western Syria. The tell is located at the edge of the limestone-plateau of the Syrian desert towards the fertile Homs-Bassin.
History
The first finds at Qatna date to the mid- to late 3rd millennium BC, although this early period is not well represented.The find of a 12th Dynasty Egyptian sphinx
Sphinx
A sphinx is a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head or a cat head.The sphinx, in Greek tradition, has the haunches of a lion, the wings of a great bird, and the face of a woman. She is mythicised as treacherous and merciless...
belonging to Princess Ita, daughter of Amenemhat II
Amenemhat II
Nubkhaure Amenemhat II was the third pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. Not much is known about his reign. He ruled Egypt for 35 years from 1929 BC to 1895 BC and was the son of Senusret I through the latter's chief wife, Queen Nefru. His queen is not known; although recently a...
(1875–1840 BC) shows early Egyptian influence, although it is not clear at what time the sphinx got to Qatna (the sphinx was found within the debris of the Late Bronze Age palace).
The first king of Qatna (Qatanum) known by name from the Mari
Mari, Syria
Mari was an ancient Sumerian and Amorite city, located 11 kilometers north-west of the modern town of Abu Kamal on the western bank of Euphrates river, some 120 km southeast of Deir ez-Zor, Syria...
archives is Ishi-Adad ("Haddad" or "Adad is my help"), an Amurru
Amurru
Amurru and Martu are names given in Akkadian and Sumerian texts to the god of the Amorite/Amurru people, often forming part of personal names. He is sometimes called Ilu Amurru . He was the patron god of the Mesopotamian city of Ninab, whose exact location is unknown.-Description:Amurru/Martu was...
or "Amorite". He was a confederate of Shamshi-Adad
Shamshi-Adad
Shamshi-Adad may refer to:*Shamshi-Adad I*Shamshi-Adad II*Shamshi-Adad III*Shamshi-Adad IV*Shamshi-Adad V...
of upper Mesopotamia. He was succeeded by his son Amut-pî-el who had been governor of Nazala as crown prince. This was in the time of Hammurabi
Hammurabi
Hammurabi Hammurabi Hammurabi (Akkadian from Amorite ʻAmmurāpi, "the kinsman is a healer", from ʻAmmu, "paternal kinsman", and Rāpi, "healer"; (died c...
of Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
(1792–1750 BC). Beltum, the sister of Amut-pî-el was married to Jasmah-Addu of Mari. Contracts between Mari and Qatna define her as the principal wife of Jasmah-Addu
Yasmah-Adad
Yasmah-Adad was the son of the Amorite king Shamshi-Adad I, put on throne of Mari by his father after a successful military attack. After Shamshi-Adad's death he managed to rule for only a short time before being ousted from power by Zimrilim. His brother, Ishme-Dagan, ruled at the same time in the...
. Her mother might have been Lammassi-Ashur from Assur
Assur
Assur , was one of the capitals of ancient Assyria. The remains of the city are situated on the western bank of river Tigris, north of the confluence with the tributary Little Zab river, in modern day Iraq, more precisely in the Al-Shirqat District .Assur is also...
or Ekallatum
Ekallatum
Ekallatum was an ancient Assyrian city of upper Mesopotamia. The exact location of it has not yet been identified, but it was located somewhere along the left bank of the Tigris, south of Assur....
. Zimrilim
Zimrilim
Zimrilim was king of Mari from about 1775 to 1761 BCE.He was the son or grandson of Iakhdunlim, but was forced to flee to Yamkhad when his father was assassinated by his own servants during a coup. The city was occupied by Shamshi-Adad I, the king of Assur, who put his own son Yasmah-Adad on the...
of Mari was married to another princess from Qatna, Dam-hurasim.
After the destruction of Mari by Hammurapi, the written sources become sparse.
Aleppo (Yamkhad) now became Qatna's most powerful neighbour, during the reign of Jarim–Lim III. Qatna was temporarily dominated by Aleppo.
With the development of the Mitanni
Mitanni
Mitanni or Hanigalbat was a loosely organized Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria and south-east Anatolia from ca. 1500 BC–1300 BC...
empire in upper Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
, Qatna was incorporated but was located in disputed territory between the Mitanni and Egypt. The inscriptions of the so-called Nin-Egal temple (part of the Royal palace, room C) show that Mittanni were resident in Qatna. The campaigns of Pharaohs Amenhotep I
Amenhotep I
Amenhotep I was the second Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt. His reign is generally dated from 1526 to 1506 BC. He was born to Ahmose I and Ahmose-Nefertari, but had at least two elder brothers, Ahmose-ankh and Ahmose Sapair, and was not expected to inherit the throne...
(1515–1494 BC) and Thutmose I
Thutmose I
Thutmose I was the third Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt. He was given the throne after the death of the previous king Amenhotep I. During his reign, he campaigned deep into the Levant and Nubia, pushing the borders of Egypt further than ever before...
(1494–1482 BC) in Syria might have reached Qatna, but there is no conclusive evidence. On the 7th Pylon of the temple of Amun
Precinct of Amon-Re
The Precinct of Amun-Re, located near Luxor, Egypt, is one of the four main temple enclosures that make up the immense Karnak Temple Complex. The precinct is by far the largest of these and the only one that is open to the general public...
in Karnak
Karnak
The Karnak Temple Complex—usually called Karnak—comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, chapels, pylons, and other buildings, notably the Great Temple of Amun and a massive structure begun by Pharaoh Ramses II . Sacred Lake is part of the site as well. It is located near Luxor, some...
, Thutmose III
Thutmose III
Thutmose III was the sixth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. During the first twenty-two years of Thutmose's reign he was co-regent with his stepmother, Hatshepsut, who was named the pharaoh...
(1479–1425 BC) mentions that he stayed in the land of Qatna in the 33rd year of his reign. Amenhotep II
Amenhotep II
Amenhotep II was the seventh Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt. Amenhotep inherited a vast kingdom from his father Thutmose III, and held it by means of a few military campaigns in Syria; however, he fought much less than his father, and his reign saw the effective cessation of hostilities...
(1427–1401 BC) was attacked by the host of Qatnawhile crossing the Orontes, but of course he remained victorious and acquired booty, among which the equipment of a Mitanni charioteer is mentioned.
Qatna is mentioned in Egyptian topographic lists till the time of Ramesses III
Ramesses III
Usimare Ramesses III was the second Pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty and is considered to be the last great New Kingdom king to wield any substantial authority over Egypt. He was the son of Setnakhte and Queen Tiy-Merenese. Ramesses III is believed to have reigned from March 1186 to April 1155 BCE...
(1180 BC).
Cuneiform tablets discovered under the Royal palace in Qatna mention a previously unknown king Idanda who ruled ca. 1400 BC.
During the Syrian campaign of the Hittite king Suppiluliuma I
Suppiluliuma I
Suppiluliuma I was king of the Hittites . He achieved fame as a great warrior and statesman, successfully challenging the then-dominant Egyptian empire for control of the lands between the Mediterranean and the Euphrates....
(1380–1340 BC), Prince Akizzi
Akizzi
Prince Akizzi was the ruler of Qatna in the fourteenth century BC. Prince Akizzi wrote three of the Amarna letters correspondence.-References:...
of Qatna asked for the help of Akhenaten/Amenhotep IV
Akhenaten
Akhenaten also spelled Echnaton,Ikhnaton,and Khuenaten;meaning "living spirit of Aten") known before the fifth year of his reign as Amenhotep IV , was a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt who ruled for 17 years and died perhaps in 1336 BC or 1334 BC...
, but as he was only concerned with his monotheistic reform symbolized by his own throne name Akhnaton and his new capital Amarna
Amarna
Amarna is an extensive Egyptian archaeological site that represents the remains of the capital city newly–established and built by the Pharaoh Akhenaten of the late Eighteenth Dynasty , and abandoned shortly afterwards...
(abandoned after his death as all reforms were reversed), the town was among several Syrian city-states captured and plundered by the Hittites, the inhabitants deported to Hatti. During this same Amarna letters
Amarna letters
The Amarna letters are an archive of correspondence on clay tablets, mostly diplomatic, between the Egyptian administration and its representatives in Canaan and Amurru during the New Kingdom...
period, Prince Akizzi wrote 5 letters to Akhenaten.
Texts
Text corpus
In linguistics, a corpus or text corpus is a large and structured set of texts...
from Emar
Emar
Emar was an ancient Amorite city on the great bend in the mid-Euphrates in northeastern Syria, now on the shoreline of the man-made Lake Assad. It has been the source of many cuneiform tablets, making it rank with Ugarit, Mari and Ebla among the most important archeological sites of Syria...
describe how Qatna was attacked by Aramaic tribes in the late Bronze Age, so the town must still have been in existence.
The tell was settled in Neo-Babylonian times as well (a hilani
Bit-hilani
A Bit-hilani is an ancient architectural type of palace. It seems to have become popular at the end of the tenth and during the ninth century BCE during the early Iron Age in northern Syria although it may have originated as early as the Bronze Age...
has been excavated), but the town remained insignificant as nearby Homs
Homs
Homs , previously known as Emesa , is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is above sea level and is located north of Damascus...
(Emesa) had taken over its position on the trade routes.
Historical geography and trade
In the 2nd Millennium BC trade routes developed connecting MesopotamiaMesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
with Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
and Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. Qatna was then situated near the end of the road connecting the middle Euphrates
Euphrates
The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...
valley, for example Mari
Mari, Syria
Mari was an ancient Sumerian and Amorite city, located 11 kilometers north-west of the modern town of Abu Kamal on the western bank of Euphrates river, some 120 km southeast of Deir ez-Zor, Syria...
by way of Tadmor/Palmyra to the Mediterranean.
Another route started from Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
, left the Euphrates at Emar and led via Halab, Qatna and Hazor to Egypt.
The valley of Homs formed a connection to the Mediterranean near the port of Byblos
Byblos
Byblos is the Greek name of the Phoenician city Gebal . It is a Mediterranean city in the Mount Lebanon Governorate of present-day Lebanon under the current Arabic name of Jubayl and was also referred to as Gibelet during the Crusades...
and Tripoli
Tripoli, Lebanon
Tripoli is the largest city in northern Lebanon and the second-largest city in Lebanon. Situated 85 km north of the capital Beirut, Tripoli is the capital of the North Governorate and the Tripoli District. Geographically located on the east of the Mediterranean, the city's history dates back...
, running between the Lebanon and the Ansari-mountains.
Qatna is mentioned in the tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
trade, which went from Mari via Qatna to the Mediterranean, Cypriote copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
was transported in the other direction. The Mari texts mention cloth, clothing, a certain kind of bows, jewellery, woods, wine and two-wheeled chariot
Chariot
The chariot is a type of horse carriage used in both peace and war as the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples. Ox carts, proto-chariots, were built by the Proto-Indo-Europeans and also built in Mesopotamia as early as 3000 BC. The original horse chariot was a fast, light, open, two wheeled...
s as trade goods reaching Mari via Qatna and partly going on to Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
. Recent
scientific investigation has determined that a carved hollow lion head vessel (circa 1340 BC) found at Qatna was made from amber
Amber
Amber is fossilized tree resin , which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Amber is used as an ingredient in perfumes, as a healing agent in folk medicine, and as jewelry. There are five classes of amber, defined on the basis of their chemical constituents...
imported from the Baltic
Baltic region
The terms Baltic region, Baltic Rim countries, and Baltic Rim refer to slightly different combinations of countries in the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea.- Etymology :...
region.
This type of amber has also been found in the Mycenae
Mycenae
Mycenae is an archaeological site in Greece, located about 90 km south-west of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese. Argos is 11 km to the south; Corinth, 48 km to the north...
region from the same time period.
History of the excavations
Tell-el-Mishrife was excavated between 1924–1927 and 1929 by Robert du Mesnil du Buisson while Syria was a French protectorate. He uncovered parts of the Bronze Age Royal palace, three gates and tombs on the slope between the upper and lower town ('Falaise'). The Syrian Direction Générale des Antiquités excavated on the Colline centrale and the gates. In 1999 excavations have been resumed by the Direction Générale des Antiquités et des Musées in DamascusDamascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
, the University of Udine
Udine
Udine is a city and comune in northeastern Italy, in the middle of Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic sea and the Alps , less than 40 km from the Slovenian border. Its population was 99,439 in 2009, and that of its urban area was 175,000.- History :Udine is the historical...
and the University of Tübingen.
The discovery of the Royal tombs and cuneiform
Cuneiform script
Cuneiform script )) is one of the earliest known forms of written expression. Emerging in Sumer around the 30th century BC, with predecessors reaching into the late 4th millennium , cuneiform writing began as a system of pictographs...
tablets in 2002 have led to a state of cold war between the German and Italian excavation team.
Finds
The remains of the palace contained CypriotCyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
imported ceramics dating from the middle Bronze Age. The new excavations have yielded locally made ceramics from the Old-Syrian (2000–1550 BC) and middle Syrian (1550–1200 BC) period.
In 2002, an acephalous basalt statue was found in an in a Late Bronze Age I rubbish pit (1600–1400 BC). It wears the typical 'Syrian coat' with thick borders that is normally taken as a sign of Royalty and might thus represent a yet nameless king of Qatna.
In a subterranean corridor under the 'Cour de throne', 63 cuneiform tablets were discovered in 2002. They were covered by the burned remains of several roofbeams. Maybe they were hidden during the Hittite invasion. The texts probably belong to the archive of King Idanda and contain both intelligence reports on the (desperate) political situation in northern Syria, the Hittite
Hittites
The Hittites were a Bronze Age people of Anatolia.They established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia c. the 18th century BC. The Hittite empire reached its height c...
threat and domestic and administrative texts. The texts are written in a mixture of the Akkadian
Akkadian language
Akkadian is an extinct Semitic language that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia. The earliest attested Semitic language, it used the cuneiform writing system derived ultimately from ancient Sumerian, an unrelated language isolate...
and Hurrian languages hitherto unknown.
Visible remains
The remains of the town-wall are still preserved to a height of 20 m in parts. It consists of mudbricks and limestone rubble that probably were originally faced by a mudbrick wall. An artificial ditch ran in front of the wall. The wall encloses a square area, which is rather unusual for a Bronze Age town. There were four gates in the middle of each side. The gates were faced by orthostats of white limestone and black basalt, the foundations were partly cut into the rock. The entrance was about 4m wide and led to a gate-chamber 8 m deep.The hill near the centre of the town may have been the acropolis
Acropolis
Acropolis means "high city" in Greek, literally city on the extremity and is usually translated into English as Citadel . For purposes of defense, early people naturally chose elevated ground to build a new settlement, frequently a hill with precipitous sides...
. The Royal palace was located on the 'Butte de l'eglise' in the Northwest corner of the upper town. It is one of the biggest buildings of its kind known so far in Bronze Age Syria. Unfortunately, numerous mudbrick-walls were overlooked during the excavations in the 1920s and dug away. Only walls faced with stone slabs or delimited by the hard floor surface remained.
The layout of the palace of Qatna is very similar to that of Mari
Mari, Syria
Mari was an ancient Sumerian and Amorite city, located 11 kilometers north-west of the modern town of Abu Kamal on the western bank of Euphrates river, some 120 km southeast of Deir ez-Zor, Syria...
. Numerous basalt pillar bases have been found. This use of pillars is comparable to the palace of Yarim-Lim in Alalakh
Alalakh
Alalakh is the name of an ancient city-state near modern Antakya in the Amuq River valley of Turkey's Hatay Province.Now represented by an extensive mound, the name of the modern archaeological site is Tell Atchana.-History:...
VII. The big dimensions of some rooms (the 'cour du throne' measures 20 m across) may indicate that cedar beams were used for the roof. The Palace dates to the Old-Syrian period and was maybe the residence of King Ishi-Addu (see below).
On the "Small Acropolis" in the North of the central mound a second palace has been discovered in 2002 which may be the residence of a member of the Royal family. The area housed a small Christian town that was resettled in the 1980s. Nowadays, New Mishrife has about 2500 inhabitants (2000 est.).
Sources
- Akkermans, P. M. M. G. and G. M. Schwartz (eds.). 2003. The Archaeology of Syria: From Complex Hunter-Gatherers to Early Urban Societies (c. 16,000–300 BC). Cambridge University Press, New York.
- A. Abou Assaf, Mishrifeh. The Oxford encyclopedia of archaeology in the Near East 4 (Oxford 1997), 35–36.
- H. Klengel, Qatna — ein historischer Überblick. MDOG 132, 2000, 239–252.
- Du Mesnil du Buisson, L'Ancienne Qatna ou les ruines d'El-Mishrifé au N.-E. de Homs (Émèse) deuxième campagne de fouilles (1927): VIII. La butte de lÉglise, Syria, T. 9, Fasc. 1, pp. 6–24, 1928
- Charles Virolleaud, Les tablettes de Mishrifé-Qatna, Syria, T. 11, Fasc. 4, pp. 311–342, 1930
- R. du Mesnil du Buisson, Le site archéologique de Mishrife-Qatna (Paris 1935).
- M. Novák, The Chronology of the Bronze Age Palace of Qatna, Egypt & Levant 14, 2004, 299–317.
- G. Elsen-Novák, Die altsyrische Glyptik aus Qatna – Eine erste Einordnung, MDOG 134, 2001, 257–274.
- M. al-Maqdissi, M. Luciani, D. Morandi, M. Novák, P. Pfälzner, Excavating Qatna I – Preliminary Report on the 1999 and 2000 Campaigns of the Joint Syrian-Italian-German Archaeological Research Project at Mishrife (Damascus 2002).
- M. Novák, Fundamentierungstechniken im Palast von Qatna, E. Czerny / I. Hein / H. Hunger / D. Melman / A. Schwab (ed.), Timelines. Studies in Honour of Manfred Bietak III. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 149/3 (Leuven 2006), 63–71.
- D. Morandi Bonacossi, M. Luciani, A. Barro, A. Canci, M. Cremaschi, M. Da Ros, J. Eidem, I. Finzi Contini, M. Iamoni, A. Intilia, L. Trombino, A. Sala, V. Valsecchi, Tell Mishrifeh / Qatna 1999–2002, A Preliminary Report of the Italian Component of the Joint Syrian-Italian-German Project, Part 1, Akkadica 124/1, 2003, 65–120.
- M. Novák, P. Pfälzner, Ausgrabungen im bronzezeitlichen Palast von Tall Mishrife / Qatna 2002, Vorbericht der deutschen Komponente des internationalen Projektes, MDOG 135, 2003, 135–165.
- A. Ahrens, S. Mankel, K. Sternitzke, Erstellung einer Harris-Matrix der Grabungsstelle G von Tall Mishrife-Qatna, at: http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/ufg/lehrveranstaltungen/caa_ws0001/qatna.html
- A. Ahrens, Skarabäen und Skarabäenabdrücke aus Tall Mišrife/Qatna. Einige Beobachtungen zum interkulturellen Austausch zwischen der Levante und Ägypten. Ugarit-Forschungen 35 (2003), 1–27.
- A. Ahrens, A Journey's End - Two Egyptian Stone Vessels with Hieroglyphic Inscriptions from the Royal Tomb at Tell Mishrife/Qatna. Egypt and the Levant 16 (2006), 15–36.
- A. Ahrens, A Stone Vessel of Princess Itakayet of the 12th Dynasty from Tomb VII at Tell Mišrife/Qatna (Syria). Egypt and the Levant 20 (2010), 15-29.
- A. Ahrens, A Clay Sealing with the Throne Name of Amenhotep IV-Akhenaten from the Royal Palace at Tell Mišrife/Qatna (Syria), Egypt and the Near East — The Crossroads. International Workshop on the Relations between Egypt and the Near East in the Bronze Age (Prague, September 1–3, 2010), see: http://egyptologie.ff.cuni.cz/pdf/Crossroads_abstracts.pdf
- A. Ahrens, A Stone Vessel with Hieroglyphic Inscription from Tomb VII at Tell Mišrife/Qatna (Syria): Yet Another Object Naming a Princess of the Middle Kingdom (12th Dynasty) in the Northern Levant, Egypt and the Near East — The Crossroads. International Workshop on the Relations between Egypt and the Near East in the Bronze Age (Prague, September 1—3, 2010), see: http://egyptologie.ff.cuni.cz/pdf/Crossroads_abstracts.pdf
External links
- The German mission (in German)
- Information about Qatna (in German)
- archaeobotany at Qatna (Tübingen University)
- The official website of the Italian Mission(Udine University)
- Syria's Cult of the Dead: Qatna (Syria) in the Second Millennium B.C., Michel Maqdissi, 2007 - Kennedy Center video