Habuba Kabira
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Habuba - Kabira is an archaeological site of the Chalcolithic on the Euphrates in the Tabqa Dam in Syria. It is the Uruk culture attributed, which is about 1300 km further downstream, lying in southern Iraq Uruk located. Was explored Habuba Kabira 1969-1975 as part of a rescue excavation by a team of the German Oriental Society led by Ernst Heinrich and Eva Strommenger. A south facing within the city limits mound named Tall Qannās was studied under the direction of André Finets by a Belgian team.
System of settlement
Habuba Kabira was in the middle of the 4th millennium BC and founded abandoned after about one to two centuries. This made it possible to expose larger areas of this settlement, as they were covered by no later superstructures. Habuba Kabira measured about 18 acres, with 10 acres were surrounded by a city wall. This wall had a thickness of 3 meters and was equipped with regular towers. She was preceded by at least one other wall. The city was accessible through two secured with wax room doors, both of which were the subject of German excavations. The main roads within the estate were created in either north-south or east-west direction and carefully secured with gravel and pebbles - an indication that it is a prehistoric planned city in Habuba Kabira. This is also indicated the elaborate drainage system of the settlement, which consisted of ceramic sewage pipes.
Finds and features
In Habuba Kabira, there are numerous architectural remains. The buildings straps were used almost exclusively. Among the buildings central hall houses are well represented.
The individual finds are closely linked to the south Mesopotamian Uruk culture and consist of the typical bells pots, produced as a commodity ceramics, clay tablets with numerical symbols Tonbullen and cylinder seals. In particular, the representations on cylinder seals correspond south Mesopotamian motifs.
Tall Qannās
In addition to the extensive settlement with the locality name Habuba South and the unspecified investigated medium-sized mound Habuba -Tall was located within the city limits, a geographically small, but overall the highest hill called Tall Qannās, which turned out to be the center Habuba Kabira. There, monumental architecture was in middle hall construction, which was decorated with the typical for southern Mesopotamia actually pillars Niche Dektor and Tonstift mosaics.
Importance
The discovery Habuba Kabira made it clear that the Uruk culture, as first known urban culture, extending to far beyond southern Mesopotamia also. This phenomenon is called the Uruk expansion and is still the subject of archaeological research and regularly recurring debates. It is assumed here that the Uruk- population outside their heartland colonies / enclaves founded in order there to enforce their economic interests.
The discovery of the locality Ǧebel Aruda, 8 km from Habuba Kabira removed, led to the conclusion that these colonies were under a hierarchy, with Jebel Aruda was the Habuba Kabira associated regional center. This also later discovered Uruk colonies could remain under the Tell el- Haji, Mureybet, Hadidi and Shaykh Hassan.
Further research in Habuba Kabira and its surroundings are no longer possible because the entire region is covered by the 1973 to pent Tabqa reservoir.