European Cent re for Upper Mesopotami an Stud i es Cent re europeen de recherches sur l a Haute Mesopotami e Europa i sches Zent rum f i i r Obermesopotami sche Stud i en Cent ro europeo de estud i os sobre l a Al ta Mesopotami a Europees Onderzoekscent rum voor Boven Mesopotami e Cent ro europeo per l a r i cerca su l l 'Al ta Mesopotami a M . FORTIN (ed . ) TELL `ACHARNEH 1998-2004 RAPPORTS PRELIMINAIRES SUR LES CAMPAGNES DE FOUILLES ET SAISON D'ETUDES PRELIMINARY REPORTS ON EXCAVATION CAMPAIGNS AND STUDY SEASON Subar tu BREPOLS - 2006 Subar tu Ed i tor i a l Board Su l tan Muhesen, Joach i m Bretschne i der , Marc Lebeau, Luc i o M i l ano, Wa l ther Sa l l aberger , Ph i l i ppe Ta l on, Kare l Van Lerberghe . Wi th the suppor t of the fo l l owi ng i nst i tut i ons : ICatho l i e l ce Un i vers i te i t Leuven, Un i vers i ty Ca ' Foscar i d i Venez i a , L l n i vers i te L i bre de Bruxe l l es , West fa l i sche Wi l he l ms-Un i vers i tat Munster , Ludwi g-Max i mi l i ans-Un i vers i tat M i i nchen . Subar tu i s ed i ted by the European Cent re for Upper Mesopotami an Stud i es . Manuscr i pts are to be submi t ted to : Marc Lebeau, ECUMS-Brusse l s , 41, Bou l evard A. Reyers , B-1030 Brusse l s , Be l g i um Order forms to be ma i l ed to : Brepo l s Pub l i shers , Beg i j nhof 67, B-2300 Turnhout , Be l g i um . M i che l FORTIN (ed i teur ) D i recteur de l a mi ss i on canad i enne a Te l l `Acharneh TELL `ACHARNEH 1998-2004 RAPPORTS PRELIMINAIRES SUR LES CAMPAGNES DE FOUILLES ET SAISON D' I TUDES PRELIMINARY REPORTS ON EXCAVATION CAMPAIGNS AND STUDY SEASON FORTIN, M i che l Te l l `Acharneh 1998-2004 (= Subar tu XVI I1) , Brepo l s , Turnhout , 2006 A4, sewn, 264 pages Contents : Archaeo l ogy , Ep i graphy , St rat i graphy , Arch i tecture , Cerami cs , Co i ns , F l i nts , Bronze Age , I ron Age , M i dd l e Ages Areas : Levant , Inner Syr i a , Orontes va l l ey Al l r i ghts reserved . No par t of th i s pub l i cat i on may be reproduced, stored i n a ret r i eva l system or t ransmi t ted i n any form or by any means , e l ect ron i c , mechan i ca l , photocopy i ng, record i ng, or otherwi se wi thout the pr i or permi ss i on of the pub l i sher . ISBN 978-2-503-52291-3 D/2006/0095/136 © 2006 by BREPOLS Pub l i shers Pr i nted i n the E .U . on ac i d- f ree paper Tab l e des mat i eres /Tab l e of contents M i che l For t i n Int roduct i on 1 M i che l For t i n Te l l `Acharneh : l oca l i sat i on, descr i pt i on et recherches ant6r i eures 3 Sect i on I : Documentat i on l i t tera i re /Textua l Ev i dence Doug l as Frayne Te l l `Acharneh and the Orontes Va l l ey : Ear l y Textua l Sources 25 Pau l -E . D i on Te l l `Acharneh i n the K i ngdom of Hamath 43 Grant Frame The Te l l `Acharneh Ste l a of Sargon I I of Assyr i a 49 Rober t B . Mason Pre l i mi nary Cons i derat i ons of Te l l `Acharneh & E l i se G . Des j ard i ne i n the Med i eva l Per i od and Later 69 Sect i on I I : Etudes archeo l og i ques/Archaeo l og i ca l Stud i es M i che l For t i n Te l l `Acharneh : rappor t pre l i mi na i re sur l a campagne exp l orato i re de 1998 82 M i che l For t i n Te l l `Acharneh : rappor t pr6 l i mi na i re sur l a campagne de fou i l l es de 2001 106 M i che l For t i n Te l l `Acharneh : rappor t pre l i mi na i re sur l a campagne de fou i l l es de 2002 120 L i sa Cooper The Pot tery f rom Te l l `Acharneh . Par t I : Typo l og i ca l Cons i derat i ons and Dat i ng Accord i ng to Excavated Areas i n the Upper and Lower Towns , 1998-2002 140 Mar i e-Cl aude Bo i l eau The Pot tery f rom Te l l `Acharneh. Par t I I : Techno l og i ca l Cons i derat i ons 191 Rober t B . Mason D i agnost i c Med i eva l Wares f rom the 2001/2002 Seasons & Kay S . Sunahara at Te l l `Acharneh 215 No l a J. Johnson The Co i ns f rom Te l l `Acharneh 225 Jacques Chabot Deux nouveaux i nd i ces de product i on agr i co l e Te l l `Acharneh, Pat r i ck E i d a Syr i e ( reg i on du Ghab) 239 Pat r i c i a Anderson The Te l l Acharneh Ste l a of Sargon 11 of Assyr i a Grant Frame , Un i vers i ty of Toronto Int roduct i on Te l l Acharneh was undoubted l y a c i ty of some s i gn i f i cance i n anc i ent Syr i a . The s i te i s an ext reme l y l arge one and th i s suggests that a substant i a l number of peop l e l i ved there . The he i ght of the ma i n mound and the dates of the cerami cs found on the sur face of the s i te i nd i cate that i t was occup i ed over a l ong per i od of t i me (3000-720 BC) . Moreover , i ts l ocat i on at a cross i ng of the Orontes r i ver wou l d have g i ven i t st rateg i c i mpor tance . We shou l d not be surpr i sed i f a l arge number of cune i form texts are eventua l l y found dur i ng excavat i ons at Te l l Acharneh . The Te l l Acharneh ste l a f ragment One cune i form text has a l ready been found at Te l l Acharneh . In 1924, a French of f i cer by the name of Ma i gnan who was i n command of a Senega l i ze reg i ment found a f ragment of a stone monument wi th a cune i form i nscr i pt i on on i t near the br i dge across the Orontes at Te l l Acharneh . Exact l y what commander Ma i gnan was do i ng at Te l l Acharneh i s unknown to me and no deta i l s about the exact f i ndspot of the p i ece have ever been pub l i shed' . The f ragment was i n i t i a l l y depos i ted i n a museum i n Be i rut but was l ater t ransfer red to the Al eppo Museum i n Syr i a (M 10890) . 1 am i nformed that i t has been moved to the new museum i n Hama , thus c l oser to Te l l Acharneh . The i nscr i pt i on was or i g i na l l y pub l i shed by the esteemed French Assyr i o l og i st Frango i s Thureau-Dang i n about seventy years agog and a new ed i t i on of th i s i nscr i pt i on wi l l be presented i n my for thcomi ng vo l ume of the i nscr i pt i ons of Sargon I I for the Roya l Inscr i pt i ons of Mesopotami a pro j ect . The text was k i nd l y co l l ated for me by Dr . Karen Radner when she was i n Syr i a i n 1999 . On l y a t i ny f ract i on of the or i g i na l stone monument i s preserved ( f i g . 1) . Never the l ess , the p i ece i s actu- a l l y qu i te i nterest i ng, par t i cu l ar l y when one cons i ders the who l e quest i on of what a f ragment of anAssyr i an stone monument was do i ng at a s i te on the Orontes r i ver , about 600 km west of the Assyr i an hear t l and .