Excavations at Ziyaret Tepe, Diyarbakir Province, Turkey, 2011-2014 Seasons

Anatolica XLI, 2015 EXCAVATIONS AT ZIYARET TEPE, DIYARBAKIR PROVINCE, TURKEY, 2011-2014 SEASONS Timothy Matney, Tina Greenfield, Kemalettin Köroğlu, John MacGinnis, Lucas Proctor, Melissa Rosenzweig, and Dirk Wicke Abstract This article presents the results of excavations at Ziyaret Tepe, the Late Assyrian city of Tušhan in the Diyarbakır Province of southeastern Turkey during the summers of 2011-2013, as well as from a study season in 2014. Excavation in nine operations is briefly summarized, and the preliminary results of zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical studies in three operations are presented. Major public buildings of the Late Assyrian period (c. 882- 611 BC) were recovered in Operation AN (palace), Operation W (administrative building), and Operation Y (city fortification), while an exposure of domestic architecture was revealed in Operation K. Also of importance from these field seasons was the documentation of a Late Roman, or Late Antique, occupation in Operations T and U. Zooarchaeological evidence from earlier excavations in Operation K reveal the subsistence practices of commoners during the Late Assyrian period. Likewise, the use of plants for human food and animal fodder are discussed for the Late Assyrian (Operation Q, the city gate excavated earlier) and the Late Antique (Operation T, domestic housing) periods. These combined reports outline the importance of animal husbandry, as well as agricultural production of grain, as key economic aspects of the Late Assyrian settlement, and complement existing cuneiform documentation. Introduction This paper represents the final installation in our preliminary report series inAnatolica covering the excavations at Ziyaret Tepe, the Late Assyrian city of Tušhan, in the Diyarbakır Province of southeastern Turkey. The 2011, 2012, and 2013 summer excavation seasons are discussed, as are some results from an additional study season undertaken in June-August 2014 to complete the recording of small finds, pottery, animal and human bones, archaeobotanical remains, and microdebris samples stored in our expedition depots.* For a more detailed de- * Prof. Timothy Matney served as the director of the project. Our senior staff included: Dr. John MacGinnis of Cambridge University, Dr. Dirk Wicke of the University of Mainz, and Prof. Dr. Kemalettin Köroğlu of Marmara University. We would like to acknowledge the kind help of the directors of the regional Diyarbakır Archaeological Museum: Nevin Soyukaya (2011-2012), Mehmet Akif Bilici (2013), and Mehmet Eneze (2014). Likewise, we were assisted by a number of able and helpful government representatives: Ahmet Durman and Nuray Çırak (2011), Murat Aktay (2012), Esma Bedirhanoğlu (2013), and Leyla Ay (2014). Our thanks go out to all their efforts and hard work on our behalf. Funding for these seasons was generously provided by: the National Endowment for the Humanities (Grant No. RZ-50721-07), Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, the McDonald Institute of Cambridge University, the National Geographic Society (Grant No. 9290-13), the Tekfen Foundation, 126 Timothy Matney et al. scription of the site’s topography, its historical significance, and the results of previous seasons, the reader is directed to earlier reports in this journal (Matney 1998; Matney and Somers 1999; Matney and Bauer 2000; Matney et al. 2002; 2003; Matney and Rainville 2005; Matney et al. 2007; 2009; 2011). A number of important refinements and additions can now be made as result of our most recent excavations and analyses and these early reports should be understood as preliminary in nature. Fig. 1. Location of Ziyaret Tepe in the upper Tigris River valley of southeastern Turkey. The Site of Ziyaret Tepe Ziyaret Tepe sits within a fertile area of the upper Tigris River alluvial floodplain, approximately 20km west of its confluence with the Batman Su and just east of the modern city of Bismil (Fig. 1). The site falls within the impact area of the large Ilısu hydroelectric dam soon to be completed downstream and our salvage work in advance of the filling of the Ilısu Lake has been on-going annually since 1997. The broad project goals established during the first field season continue to guide our research project: (1) to study city planning and urban functioning at a major Assyrian city along the imperial frontier; (2) to document the entire occupational sequence at Ziyaret Tepe and within the upper Tigris River valley; (3) to explore the relation- ship between the Assyrian and indigenous Anatolian populations; and (4) to study the impact of urbanization on the regional Late Bronze and Iron Age ecology and environment. In the operation reports that follow, we situate the specific field objectives of the excavation seasons within this broader research agenda. the British Institute for the Study of Iraq, a number of private donations paid through the Ziyaret Tepe Archaeological Trust (UK), and the University of Akron. Finally, we would like to acknowledge the long-lasting and important support of the editor of Anatolica, Jacob Roodenberg, who has gracefully allowed us access to this vital forum for presenting our work. Anatolica XLI, 2015 127 The site of Ziyaret Tepe can be divided into two main morphological units: a high citadel mound with an area of approximately 3 hectares rising approximately 22m above the surrounding agricultural fields and an adjacent lower town, occupying approximately 29 hectares to the east, south, and west of the citadel mound (Fig. 2). During the 2011-2013 seasons, major excavations were undertaken on the high mound, in Operation A/N, a monumental mudbrick building which we have nicknamed the Bronze Palace. Eight excavation areas in the lower town were also excavated, including five new excavation areas in the southwestern lower town in Operations T, U, V, Y, and Z and the expansion of previous excavation areas in Operations K (2013), M (2012) and G/R. This latter expansion was excavated as Operation W. In addition to excavation, we also undertook three additional field seasons of subsurface geophysical prospection in the lower town using electrical resistivity survey; the geophysical prospection is not covered in this report. Ziyaret Tepe had a long occupational history spanning the Early Bronze through Mid- dle Iron Ages, with periodic later occupational levels in the Late Iron/Hellenistic, Late Roman, Medieval, and Ottoman periods (Fig. 3). The zenith of occupation at Ziyaret Tepe was as an urban center in the 9th through 7th centuries BC during the Late Assyrian period. Historical inscriptions explain that the city of Tušhan was re-founded following a hiatus brought about by the Middle Assyrian political collapse of the mid-11th century BC. In 882 BC, King Ashur- nasirpal II claimed to have rebuilt the city which was continuously occupied by the Assyrians until its abandonment in 611 BC after the collapse of the imperial heartland (Grayson 1991; Roaf in Matney et al. 2002: 49-51). These Assyrian historical accounts correlate closely with the architectural history and stratigraphy of the excavated remains at Ziyaret Tepe. Excavations in Operation A/N: The “Bronze Palace” (D. Wicke) Since its initial discovery in 2000, our primary interest in Operation A/N has been to untangle the complex ground plan and chronology of an Assyrian palace which we refer to as the “Bronze Palace” (Matney et al. 2011: 69-72). The principal objectives in Operation A/N in the 2011-13 seasons were to amend and expand the architectural plan of the palace to the north where Assyrian walls appeared immediately beneath the surface and to investigate earlier stratigraphic levels first seen in the previously-excavated ‘Deep Sounding’ excavated in Room 9. It is now clear that we have three separate Assyrian building phases in the Bronze Palace, here labeled I, II, and III. Phase I corresponds to the uppermost phase, probably 7th century BC. Phase II refers to the main building phase of the mid-8th century BC date, which was destroyed in a heavy conflagration. Phase III shows up immediately beneath phase II-walls/foundation and might, in fact, have been the 9th century building mentioned by Ashurnasirpal II (Grayson 1991: 202), although this needs confirmation by continued analysis of the small finds. In 2012, we discovered possible evidence for an “intermediate” stratum of possible Hellenistic to Late Antique date, which consists of a floor of reused baked bricks associated with a tre- foil-mouthed jug (ZT 41280) and a pebble-surface in grid square N1010E1170 and possibly a pisé wall in N1010E1190. In 2013 more evidence for a pre-Late Assyrian level became clear. 128 Timothy Matney et al. Fig. 2. Topographic plan of Ziyaret Tepe showing the areas of excavations, 1997-2014. Fig. 3. Chronology of the operations. Anatolica XLI, 2015 129 Bronze Palace: Phase I Excavations in 2011 brought about some additions to the plan in the northern areas through the excavations of grid squares N1010E1160, N1010E1170-1190, and a 2.5m strip across N1020-1022.5E1170-1190. Especially informative was the excavation of Room I.13, attributed to the uppermost Phase I. This room has a floor of baked bricks, covered in bitumen; very small pebbles seem to have accumulated in the corners, trodden into the bitumen. Along the edge of the rooms, bricks are standing on edge; a sink-hole in the south wall marks the be- ginning of drain (N-748), running south. The drain, however, was found to be destroyed and apparently went out of use. The pavement extended over the actual wall-line in the SE-corner, where there was a doorway to the southern Room I.15. Two possible doors can be reconstruct- ed to the NE, where three bricks extended over the bitumen line which elsewhere indicated the ancient wall line, as well as to the NW, where a pit destroyed the wall. The north wall is attested by a few brick lines only due to is being very close to the surface.

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