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Tell Brak

تل براك

Syria · Hasakah

Ancient cityUnknown
Approximate period6,500 BCE — 900 BCENeolithic–Bronze Age; later phases in the outer settlement See on the map ↓

In brief

Tell Brak is a large settlement in Upper Mesopotamia that reached urban scale in the early 4th millennium BC. The thousands of eye idols found in the Eye Temple are among the site's best-known groups of finds.

What was found?

  • 1Eye Temple

    The building, dating to the 4th millennium BC, is known by this name because of the small stone eye figures found inside it. It is one of the important archaeological contexts for early religious practices.

  • 2Stone eye idols

    Numerous small stone figures with eyes marked by incised lines were found during the excavations. According to the researchers, they may have been left as votive offerings.

  • 3Naram-Sin Palace

    The monumental building known by this name documents the presence of southern Mesopotamian political power in the north in the late 3rd millennium BC. It is among the key finds for studying the influence of Akad rule in the region.

  • 4Cuneiform documents

    Documents associated with the Naram-Sin Palace add written evidence to the architectural remains. They allow investigation of the nature of the Akad presence at the settlement.

  • 5Mitanni palace and temple

    The palace and temple, dating to the late 2nd millennium BC, were uncovered in the highest part of the mound. They are rare architectural evidence for Mitanni settlement and political power.

What does it point to?

Tell Brak reveals a long history of urban life extending from early religious buildings to palaces. According to the researchers, the eye figures indicate votive practices, while the palaces and documents point to political organization in different periods.

What did it teach us?

  1. It demonstrated the presence of southern Mesopotamian political power in the north through architecture and written documents.
  2. By showing that occupation continued in the period after Akad, it provided evidence questioning the idea of a general collapse of settlement.
  3. It made it possible to study urban growth and production activities in the late 5th millennium BC and early 4th millennium BC.

Images

Eye idols - Tell Brak BM
Zunkir · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Tell Brak 001
Zoeperkoe · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Record

Culture
Communities associated with Halaf, Ubaid, Uruk, Akkad and the Hurrians
First modern dig
1937
Team / historical
Tell Brak Projesi; Cambridge Üniversitesi McDonald Arkeoloji Araştırmaları Enstitüsü
Coordinates
36.6676°, 41.0586°

Sources

  1. tellbrak.mcdonald.cam.ac.uk
  2. tellbrak.mcdonald.cam.ac.uk
  3. metmuseum.org
  4. en.wikipedia.org

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12.000

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