TELL
HASSUNA
![](tellhassuna%A0.jpg)
Tell
Hassuna shown within Iraq
Location
: Nineveh Province, Iraq
Region
: Mesopotamia
Coordinates
: 36°27'50.4000 N 42°57'48.6000 E
Type
: tell
Length
: 200 meters
Width
: 150 meters
Height
:
7 meters
History
:
Material
:
mud-brick
Site
notes :
Excavation
dates :
1943, 1944
Archaeologists
:
S. Lloyd
Tell
Hassuna is a tell, or settlement mound, in the Nineveh Province
(Iraq), about 35km south-west of Nineveh. It is the type site for
the Hassuna culture (early sixth millennium BCE).
History
of archaeological research :
Tell Hassuna was found in 1942 by Fuad Safar, and excavated in 1943
and 1944 by a team from the Iraqi Directorate General of Antiquities
led by Seton Lloyd. Excavations revealed that there was once an
advanced village culture that was spread throughout northern Mesopotamia.
At
Hassuna, six different layers of houses were uncovered, revealing
various vessels and pottery that date ~5600-5350 BCE, with each
layer becoming more substantial. Similar vessels were found throughout
the Middle East, showing that there was an extensive trade network
that was present as early as the 6th Millennium BCE.
Tell
Hassuna and its environment :
![](632px-Culture_ceramiche_del_Vicino_Oriente_nel_medio_Halaf_-_5200-4500_a.C.jpg)
Ancient
Near East in 5200 - 4500 BC (Middle Halaf period) showing Hassuna
culture location
Tell Hassuna is located approximately 35 kilometres (22 mi) southwest
of modern Mosul, along the west bank of the Tigris River. It is
a small site, roughly 200 by 150 metres (660 ft × 490 ft)
and about 7 metres (23 ft) high. Hassuna was one of the earliest
cultures in Northern Mesopotamia. Before this time, Southern Mesopotamia
was considered the cradle of civilization. When settlements began
forming in the north, such as Hassuna, Jarmo, Samarra, and Tell
Halaf, the north became the important region.
The
architecture at Hassuna was built of packed mud, with the width
varying from 20 to 50 centimeters. The mud-brick technique may perhaps
have been developed in Southern Mesopotamia, where mud-bricks were
common in the first half of 6th millennium B.C.
Occupation
history :
![](419px-Hassuna_Pottery_Levels.gif)
Hassuna
Pottery Levels
Around 6,000 B.C., people began moving to the foothills of northern
Mesopotamia and practicing methods of dry agriculture. These people
were the first known farmers, and Hassuna became one of the most
ancient centers for the principal forms of producing economies,
such as the cultivation of soil and raising livestock. Evidence
of this is shown in the oldest layers of Hassuna. The occupants
of Hassuna also led the way in improving agriculture, settling the
river valleys, the beginning of irrigation, and progress in all
branches of production and culture.
Around
6,000 B.C., at Tell Hassuna, adobe dwellings built around open central
courts; fine painted pottery was replacing the crude pottery of
the earlier levels.
Hand
axes, sickles, grinding stones, bins, baking ovens and numerous
bones of domesticated animals reflect settled agricultural life.
Stone tools found at Tell Hassuna do not seem to be as advanced
as tools found at other sites of the Hassuna culture, such as Jarmo,
and were typically made of flint and obsidian.
Female
figurines were also used in relation to worship and jar burials,
within which food was placed due to belief in the afterlife.
Pottery
:
![](582px-Neck_of_a_painted_jar_from_Tell_Hassuna,_Iraq,_belonging_to_Samarra_culture._5000_BCE._Iraq_Museum.jpg)
Neck
of a painted jar from Tell Hassuna, Iraq, belonging to Samarra culture.
5000 BCE. Iraq Museum
Pottery found at Hassuna can be divided into three different categories:
Hassuna Archaic, Hassuna Standard, and Samarran. These also include
painted, incised, and painted-incised ware.
Samarra
Painted Fine Ware :
The decoration of the Samarra Painted Fine Ware is always monochrome,
but it seems as if three types of paint have been used: an ivory
black, a dark violet brown, and a medium chocolate brown. Circumstances
of firing and variations in the concentration of the paint have
caused color changes, so that for example an oxidizing firing of
vessels painted with ivory black has produced an Indian red color.
In
general, the designs of the Samarra Painted Fine Ware are carefully
painted. Occasionally, however, parallel lines approach or diverge
slightly, and the thickness of some lines varies, apparently due
to the use of a soft painting-brush. The outside rim motifs are
spaced and limited by groups of horizontal lines.
Source
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Tell_Hassuna