TELL
BAZMUSIAN
![](tellbazmusian.png)
Tell
Bazmusian shown within Iraq
Location
:
Iraq
Region
:
Sulaymaniyah Governorate
Coordinates
: 36.161574°
N 44.924287° E
Type
: Tell
Height
: 23
m (75 ft)
History
:
Periods
: Samarra,
Uruk, Middle Assyrian, Abbasid
Site
Notes :
Excavation
dates :
1956–1958
Condition
:
flooded by Lake Dukan
Public
access :
no
Tell
Bazmusian is an archaeological site on the right bank of the Little
Zab in the Ranya Plain (Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Iraq). The site
was excavated between 1956 and 1958 by Iraqi archaeologists as part
of a salvage operation to document cultural remains that would be
flooded by Lake Dukan, the reservoir created by the Dukan Dam which
was being built at that time. Apart from Tell Bazmusian, four other
sites were excavated during this operation: ed-Dem, Kamarian, Qarashina
and Tell Shemshara. Bazmusian is a tell, or settlement mound, with
a circumference of 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) and a height of 23 metres
(75 ft). Together with Tell Shemshara, it is one of the largest
archaeological sites in the Ranya Plain. When the excavations started,
the southeast flank of the mound was occupied by a village that
was only established at the beginning of the 20th century. The site
is now submerged under Lake Dukan.
The
excavations have revealed 16 occupation layers, ranging from the
Samarra culture (sixth millennium BCE) up to the ninth century CE.
The finds of level I consisted of a fragmented pebble foundations,
ninth-century CE pottery and mudbricks. Level II also contained
Islamic material. Level III, to be dated to the late second millennium
BCE, contained a single-room temple with thick mudbrick walls. Pottery
dated to the mid- to late-second millennium BCE. In a pit outside
of this temple, several clay tablet fragments were found. Although
they were too damaged to be read, based on stylistic details they
could be dated to the Middle Assyrian period. An earlier version
of this temple was uncovered in level IV. In level V, plastered
mudbrick walls were found. Levels VI–XVI contained material
dating to the third millennium BCE, the Uruk period and of the Samarra
and Halaf cultures but this has not yet been published.
![](398px-Hurrian_incense_container.jpg)
Hurrian
incense container from Tell Bazmusian, Sulaymaniyah Museum
Source
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Tell_Bazmusian