Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of Archaeology and Museology BACHELOR’S DIPLOMA THESIS Brno 2016 Dominika Miarková Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of Archaeology and Museology Centre of Prehistoric Archaeology of the Near East Dominika Miarková Burials of Infants and Children in the Khabur Region and Eski Mosul Region during the Third Millennium BC Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: Mgr. Inna Mateiciucová, Ph.D. Instructor: Zuzanna Wygnańska, Ph.D. Brno 2016 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, and that I used only the primary and secondary sources written on bibliography list below. I agree with storing this thesis in the library of the Prehistoric Archaeology of the Near East at Masaryk University in Brno and making it accessible for study purpose. Brno 30. 11. 2016 ………………………………………………………… Signature ABSTRACT / ANNOTATION Title: Burials of Infants and Children in the Khabur River Region and Eski Mosul Plain Region during the Third Millennium BC Author: Dominika Miarková Department / Institute: Department of Archaeology and Museology / Centre of Prehistoric Archaeology of the Near East Supervisor: Mgr. Inna Mateiciucová, Ph.D. This thesis analyses the burials of infants and children as old as 12, from archeological sites located in the Upper, Middle and Lower Khabur regions in northeastern Syria and in the Eski Mosul area, dating to the 3rd milénium BC. It studies the manner, in which the young individuals were buried during this period, on the location of the grave, the type of the grave, and the burial goods to determine, whether any detectable development takes place in them within the given period. The thesis also lists the burials of children and infants in the relevant time and area, to provide groundwork for a future discussion which would lead to a better understanding of the role of infants and children in the culture of the world they belonged to. ABSTRAKT / ANOTACE Název: Pohřby novorozenců a dětí v oblasti řeky Khabur a regionu Eski Mosul během třetího tisíciletí př. n. l. Autor: Dominika Miarková Ústav / Oddělení: Ústav archeologie a muzeologie / Oddělení pravěké archeologie Předního Východu Vedoucí práce: Mgr. Inna Mateiciucová, Ph.D. Tato práce se zabývá analýzou pohřbů dětí a novorozenců do věku 12 let v lokalitách nacházejících se v horním a středním povodí řeky Khabur v severovýchodní Sýrii a v regionu Eski Mosul v severovýchodním Iráku během období 3. tisíciletí před naším letopočtem. Důraz je kladen na způsob, jakým byli nedospělí jedinci pohřbíváni v průběhu 3. tisíciletí, na místo uložení hrobu, na typ hrobu a na pohřební výbavu s cílem zjistit, zda-li se dá vydedukovat vývoj ve způsobu pohřbívání. Práce se pokusí podat souhrn pohřbů dětí a novorozenců pro lepší pochopení jejich role ve společnosti a kultuře, aby mohla stát jako základ pro budoucí diskuzi. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT At this place I would first like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Mgr. Inna Mateiciucová, Ph.D and to Dr. phil. Maximilian Wilding for giving me a chance to study the Prehistoric Archaeology of the Near East, for their encouragement and guidance and for allowing me to study under the best foreign scholars. Second I am immensely grateful to Zuzanna Wygnańska, PhD, my instructor on the third millennium BC in the Near East and mortuary practices, for her advices in the designation of this thesis and whose enthusiasm, guidance and patience helped me enormously. And last, but not the least, I would like to thank my best friend Bc. Radka Michaláková for the language tips and for her patience during my long monologues about my research and to my Grandmother Drahomíra Miarková, because without their support and love I would never be able to write this thesis. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 9 2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES....................................................................................................... 10 3 CRITICISM OF THE SOURCES ............................................................................................. 10 4 METHODS AND STRATEGY .................................................................................................. 11 5 HISTORY OF RESEARCH OF BURIALS .............................................................................. 12 6 STATE OF RESEARCH OF CHILDREN BURIALS ............................................................ 14 7 SPECIFICATION OF RESEARCH AREA ............................................................................. 15 7.1 Khabur Region .................................................................................................................... 16 7.2 Eski Mosul Plain .................................................................................................................. 19 8 EARLY BRONZE AGE IN NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA – CULTURAL-HISTORICAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................................................................... 21 8.1 Early Bronze Age ................................................................................................................. 22 8.2 Early Jezirah period ............................................................................................................ 22 8.3 Ninevite 5 .............................................................................................................................. 22 8.4 Akkadian period .................................................................................................................. 23 8.5 Post-Akkadian period ......................................................................................................... 23 9 BURIAL TYPOLOGY ................................................................................................................ 24 9.1. Location ..................................................................................................................................... 24 9.2. Type ........................................................................................................................................... 25 9.2.1. PIT BURIALS .............................................................................................................. 25 9.2.2. BURIALS IN CERAMIC VESSELS ......................................................................... 25 9.2.3. CIST BURIALS ........................................................................................................... 25 9.2.4. SHAFT TOMBS .......................................................................................................... 25 9.2.5. CHAMBER TOMBS ................................................................................................... 25 9.3. Position and orientation of the body .................................................................................. 26 9.4 Grave goods .......................................................................................................................... 26 10 BURIALS OF CHILDREN AND INFANTS AT EARLY BRONZE AGE SITES ........... 28 10.1 UPPER KHABUR REGION .......................................................................................... 28 10.1.1 TELL ARBID ................................................................................................................... 29 10.1.2 TELL BARRI ................................................................................................................... 32 10.1.3 TELL BEYDAR ............................................................................................................... 32 10.1.4 CHAGAR BAZAR ........................................................................................................... 33 10.1.5 TELL ABU HAFUR ......................................................................................................... 34 10.1.6 TELL HAMOUKAR ........................................................................................................ 35 10.1.7 TELL KHAZNE ............................................................................................................... 36 10.1.8 TELL ABU HIJAIRA ...................................................................................................... 37 10.1.9 TELL LEILAN ................................................................................................................. 38 10.2 MIDDLE KHABUR REGION ....................................................................................... 46 10.2.1 TELL ‘ATIJ ...................................................................................................................... 47 10.2.2 TELL MASHNAQA ......................................................................................................... 47 10.2.3 TELL MELEBIYA ........................................................................................................... 48 10.2.4 TELL RAD SHAQRAH................................................................................................... 48 10.2.5 TELL AL-RAQA’I ........................................................................................................... 51 10.3. ESKI MOSUL REGION ................................................................................................. 58 10.3.1 TELL JIKAN .................................................................................................................... 59 10.3.2