The Samarran ceramic assemblage of the Mesopotamian region has long remained an enigma. With the exception of the work of Braidwood et al. and Oates, the nature of the relationship between Samarran and other contemporary Mesopotamian and Iranian styles has not been systematically explored. This paper begins by challenging contemporary perceptions of the Samarran “culture” and continues by investigating the relationship of Samarran wares to those of the Hassuna and Ubaid traditions. Comparisons among these assemblages are made by means of recent miner-alogical data from the site of Tell 'Oueili (Tell 'Awayli) in southern Mesopotamia. The Ubaid 0 ceramic assemblage at Tell 'Oueili is seen to have a substantial Samarran component, and, in light of this information, new questions arise concerning the place of this style within the region. The data provided by Courtois and Velde are used to test the following hypotheses about Samarran ceramics: [1] that they were imported to the southern Mesopotamian plain, [2] that they were locally made in southern Mesopotamia, and [3] that they are an integral and undifferentiated part of the Ubaid 0 assemblage.

A recent review of the state of Ubaid archaeology has urged that more Ubaid sites be excavated and published, and that patterns of Ubaid settlement should be analyzed at a regional scale (Henrickson and Thuesen 1989: pp. 457-8). The primary objective of this paper is therefore rather straightforward: to provide some basic data on artifacts in context from a small excavated Ubaid 3-4 site located within the zone of rain-fed cultivation, and to place these within a regional frame of analysis. The information described, being from both excavation and survey, provides a valuable opportunity to place excavated data within a regional context and to compare this with equivalent data from southern Mesopotamia. It may also provide some insights into the spread of the Ubaid from the south into Upper Mesopotamia.

The site of Khanijdal East was recorded as part of the North Jazira Survey conducted between 1986 and 1990 in the north-west of Iraq immediately north of the Jebel Sinjar. This report amplifies, and in places updates, a summary statement previously made, and rather than repeating already published statements (Wilkinson and Tucker 1995; Ball, Tucker and Wilkinson 1989), we will limit the regional discussion to the addition of supplementary data derived from the primary survey record of the north Jazira project. This additional information should add some fuel to debate on the existence (or otherwise) of regional site hierarchies for the period. Although the data provided from this low-order settlement are, like the settlement itself, rather modest, we feel that publication is justified because, at present, students of this period in Upper Mesopotamia are restricted to a rather small range of sites, such as Gawra, Leilan, Telul al-Thalathat, Tell Hammam et-Turkman, Arpachiyah, Tell Kashkashok and Yarim Tepe, together with a few more that are not yet fully published.

During the campaign at Tell Brak in the spring of 1988 the present authors conducted a survey of tells in the vicinity of the site. Although comprehensive, the work was primarily intended to supplement the 1978 survey by K. Fielden, who investigated the sites surrounding the main tell at Brak itself and those on the lower Jaghjagh between the junction with the Wadi Radd and the modern town of Hassake, with a particular view to fourth and third millennium settlement (Fielden 1978/9).

Within a rectangle of c. 170 km covered by the survey almost all the ancient settlements are found in a roughly triangular area half this size (its base being the lower Jaghjagh/Radd to the south and its apex immediately south of Tell Barri). Identifying this area as the “hinterland” of Brak is merely a locally suitable generalization, as Brak belongs to several systems, one being the macro-system of large urban centres scattered across the Habur Plains and adjacent areas, and another the micro-system of smaller settlements in the immediate vicinity of Brak itself. Brak was an important centre from prehistoric times until the late second millennium B.C., but its role necessarily changed through time, and the concomitant changes in the extent of the area economically and politically dependent upon it remain difficult to recognize. In this sense the area covered by our survey can be seen as partly arbitrary, partly reflecting some real limits. To the south, the French 1: 200,000 maps indicate further small sites on the southern fringe of the area visited, and further west on the lower Jaghjagh, beyond the area investigated by us, are numerous sites clustering along the banks of the wadi and its small affluents, many fairly large and with material of late fourth millennium and third millennium date. This area is relevant when studying the Brak hinterland, but it cannot be evaluated before the publication of the evidence collected by K. Fielden. The area to the north certainly overlaps, at least for certain periods, the hinterland of Tell Barri. Directly west and east of Brak, the cartographic gaps within and beyond the present survey are real or nearly so. To the west/northwest the modern village may obscure evidence, but apart from sites on the first affluent of the lower Jaghjagh there seems to be a fairly wide area here with little ancient occupation. Finally, to the east our area meets that surveyed by Meijer, and his map shows only two additional tells (Meijer 1986, Fig. 1, Nos. 269a and 269b), both Islamic. The two neighbouring sites (our Nos. 33 and 34) appear to be geomorphological features and not tells. The area covered should thus include most of the sites belonging to the micro-system of settlement around Tell Brak.

A third season of a new programme of excavations at Tell Brak in north-eastern Syria took place from late March to mid-May 1996. Our continuing gratitude for support goes to the Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums, especially in Damascus to the Director-General, Professor Dr Sultan Muhesen, and the Director of Excavations, Dr Adnan Bounni, in Hasake to Sd Jean Lazare, and in Der ez-Zor to Sd Assa'ad Mahmud. Our representative in 1996 was Sd Ibrahim Murad, who not only assisted with much practical advice and support but also took an active and much appreciated part in the conduct of fieldwork on site. We are very grateful to them all. Funding for the 1996 season was generously provided by the British School of Archaeology in Iraq, the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research of the University of Cambridge, and the British Academy, to all of which we express sincere thanks.

The excavation team in 1996 comprised Dr Roger Matthews (excavations director), Ms Helen McDonald (registrar and pottery specialist), Dr Susan Colledge and Ms Seona Anderson (palaeo-botanists and environmentalists), Dr Keith Dobney and Ms Deborah Jaques (zooarchaeologists), Dr Wendy Matthews (micromorphologist), Dr John MacGinnis (archaeologist and epigraphist), Dr Murray Eiland (pottery technologist), Ms Fiona Macalister (conservator), Ms Sarah Blakeney, Ms Candida Felli, Mr Jon Gower, Mr Nicholas Jackson, Mr Richard Jennings, Mr Tom Pollard, Mr Thomas Raben and Dr Caroline Steele (archaeologists).

During the 1993 season of excavations at Tell Ahmar, three pieces of a life-size basalt statue were found in a pit dug into one of the large walls surrounding an Iron Age vaulted tomb (Fig. 1). The head, the tors o and the lower part fitted together perfectly. When correctly assembled, these three pieces formed the figure of a standing beardless man with clasped hands (Fig. 2a−b). Only the feet were missing. The maximum height of the reconstructed statue is 1.45m. It was clear from the damage to portions of its body that the statue had been deliberately broken in antiquity. Details, such as a large hole on the right side of the chest, a smaller one on the top of the head and, above all, the defacement of the head suggest that the statue may have actually been “killed”.

All three pieces of the statue, which was carved out of a blue greyish basalt of medium texture, were found lying on their backs (Fig. 4). The head lay next to the lower part of the statue, but was buried in a slightly deeper position. The relative placement of these fragments seems to be a clear indication that the statue was not knocked down at this particular spot, but was brought to this location in separate pieces, perhaps with the deliberate intention of burying them.

The head was cut off as if the statue had been decapitated. The torso was separated from the lower portion of the statue by an oblique cut that divided the figure just below the waist. The cut runs downwards from the back and continues underneath the clasped hands at the front, leaving the hands almost completely undamaged. The lower part of the statue seems to have been separated from the missing feet by a horizontal cut. This may indicate that the base of the statue was left in situ, probably because it was solidly set in the ground.

During the Spring of 1991, the Fall of 1993 and the Summer of 1994, a major effort was completed to measure all the surviving untrimmed, monolithic and essentially entirely preserved Late Assyrian sculptured slabs and figures from Khorsabad, dating to the time of Sargon II, that are now held in Western museums. The programme of measurement was undertaken as the Paris slabs were in the process of being installed in their new home in the Richelieu Wing, Musée du Louvre, Paris. The Khorsabad slabs in the British Museum, London, the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, and the Sargon stele in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin were also measured. In addition, a number of slabs in the British Museum from the South-West and North Palaces at Nineveh were measured. Some were carved during the reign of Sennacherib, while others, from Room 23, were decorated in the reign of Assurbanipal.

The first stages in the analysis of the measurements have already led to a number of useful observations concerning the standards of measurement used in decorating Late Assyrian Palaces. Measurement of untrimmed slab widths and frieze heights from Nineveh portraying battle scenes suggest that the standard Late Assyrian cubit equalled 51.5 cm in length. Slabs from Khorsabad Façade L are cut to this same cubit. On the other hand, religio-mythological royal emblemata, or guardians of the gates, at the palace of Sargon at Khorsabad were carved in accordance with a cubit of 56.6 cm, precisely three finger-breadths longer than the standard cubit. A slab featuring King Sargon was carved to a cubit 55 cms in length, precisely two finger-breadths longer than the standard. This confirms the existence of three Late Assyrian cubits: a standard cubit, a “Big Cubit” (KÙŠ GAL-ti in the annals of Sennacherib, AS4.LUM GAL-ti in a text of Esarhaddon), and the rare “Cubit of the King” (KÙŠ LUGAL in Late Assyrian cuneiform documents), which is probably the same as the “Royal Cubit” (basileios pēchys), three finger-breadths longer than the standard cubit, mentioned by the Greek historian Herodotus (I, 178).

The documentary evidence, namely the Aramaic inscriptions, discovered during the excavation of a small shrine at Hatra testifies to its dedication to the worship of Gnd', the god of Fortune. The façade of the lintel of the cella's entrance is incised with an inscription [406] asking that a certain Nšryhb, son of Tymly, and Bdy, son of šmšgrm, be remembered before (the god) Gnd' of Rmgu. The lintel of the niche is carved with a similar inscription, which prays that Hywš' the priest and R/Dbby' be remembered in the presence of Gnd' (the great). On the evidence of the lintel this god was thus endowed with two titles: the one indicates the association with Rmgu, and the other is the epithet “great” (rb'). Another important inscription [408] labels him with both appellatives: gd' rb' dy rmgu, “great Gd' (Gnd') of Rmgu“. As to the identity of Rmgu, a very important but damaged stele was found in situ in the niche of the cella. The stele portrays two adults and a boy in the process of feeding incense on to a fire altar. Three short accompanying inscriptions, two of which are incomplete, inform us that these persons are Rmgu, his son Šmš'qb and his grandson Tymlt. So apparently Rmgu was the chief of a wealthy tribe who had built a shrine and dedicated it to his favourite divinity, Gnd'. In due course this god became known by the name of his benefactor, probably to distinguish him from other similarly designated deities. It was a common religious practice at Hatra for tribes, chiefs and nobles to build and consecrate shrines and temples to particular gods. Among the well-known examples are: the shrine of Iššarbel (V), constructed by Nsru Mry', the Lord of Hatra in the years between A.D. 114 and 135; the shrine of Nergal (VIII), built by two tribes, Taimu and Bl'qb; and the shrine of Nebo (XII), erected by Šmš'qb, an architect.

This paper presents a review of the building work undertaken by Kurigalzu I and II. In doing so it aims to demonstrate that Kurigalzu I (x–1375 B.C.) was responsible for one of the most extensive and widespread building programmes for which evidence has survived in Babylonia. It also highlights the unequivocal evidence that it was Kurigalzu I who founded the city of Dur-Kurigalzu.

One of the most uncertain points of historical geography of ancient Syria concerns the site of Thapsacus, even if the uncertainty has sometimes been disguised by assertive pronouncements. This city had enjoyed considerable importance during the Persian period, and possibly earlier, as a major crossing of the Euphrates and the main link between Syria and Mesopotamia. It appears for the first time in our record in the Bible, as the place on the Euphrates where the country “beyond the river” begins. Even if referring to the purported extent of the realm of Solomon “from Thapsacus to Gaza”, this mention clearly applies to the Persian satrapy of Abar-Nahara, meaning the whole of Syria and Palestine, and provides evidence for the conditions in the Achaemenid period. The crossing at Thapsacus itself might of course have been used much earlier, whatever the name.

To the Massoretic vocalisation Tiphsah, generally accepted in modern translations, the form of Tapsah should be preferred, as found in the Syriac Bible provided with vowel signs centuries before the Hebrew original. This reading is moreover paralleled by the still earlier Septuagint version Θαψά. The Greek rendering confirms not only the vowels but also, if indirectly and by omission, the final pharyngeal of the name, in contrast to the usual ΘάΨακος found in Classical authors. This form is indeed unexpected, but transcriptions of foreign names do not always obey strict rules.

Le nom du roi Abdissarès serait aujourd'hui totalement inconnu s'il ne figurait sur quelques monnaies de cuivre heureusement parvenues jusqu'à nous (ΒΑΣΙLΕΩΣ/ΑΒΔΙΣΣΑΚΟΥ). Quoique extrêmement rares, ces monnaies sont connues depuis longtemps. E. Q. Visconti, F. de Saulcy, V. Langlois, O. Blau, E. Babelon et P. Bedoukian sont les numismates qui ont le plus contribué, par leurs vues ou leurs informations originales, à développer les connaissances à propos de ce roi.

Ernest Babelon a donné la meilleure liste, sans doute, des types monétaires d'Abdissarès tandis que Paul Bedoukian en a fait connaître le plus grand nombre d'exemplaires. Cette liste, quelque peu amendée en fonction de meilleures lectures, est la suivante:

Dr.: Buste d'Abdissarès à dr., barbu et coiffé d'une “tiare” ouverte sur le côté et ceinte du diadème royal. Grènetis au pourtour.

Rv.: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ (à dr., de haut en bas) ֊ ΑΒΔΙΣΣΑΚΟΥ (à g., de haut en bas). Aigle debout à dr. sur une ligne de terre.

a-Paris, BN, coll. de Luynes, n° 3433 (7,40g-23Ø-12h: F. de Saulcy, 1855, 101; V. Langlois, 1859, Pl. I, n° 8; E. Babelon, 1890, Pl. XXIX, n° 3; J. de Morgan, Manuel de numismatique orientale de l'Antiquité et du Haut Moyen Age, Paris 1923–36, 192, Fig. 213 et J. Babelon, Catalogue de la collection du duc de Luynes. Monnaies grecques IV, Paris 1936, Pl. CXXVII, n° 3433).

The Babylonian myth known to the ancients as Enūma ilū awëlum, “When the Gods Were Man”, and to modern scholarship as the Epic of Atra-ḫasīs, tells the wondrous story of the creation of mankind, of the attempts of the king of the gods, Enlil, to reduce the overpopulation that resulted from its unchecked reproduction — by plague, drought, famine and, most disastrously, the Deluge — and of the measures then taken by the gods to keep mankind's future numbers in check. Since its reconstruction some twenty-five years ago, by W. G. Lambert and A. R. Millard, there have come to light very few new sources for this composition. Several small additional fragments have been published by Lambert, and a further piece by Groneberg and Durand. The most significant discovery of new text has been the several tablets that were found in the library excavated by the late Dr Walid Al-Jadir of the University of Baghdad in the Neo-Babylonian temple of Šamaš at Sippar. This find led to a preliminary report in this journal that “there are tablets 1, 2, 3 and one other of the Standard Babylonian recension (as it must now be called) of Atra-hasis”.

In the years around the turn of the present century, relying on the contacts and expertise of Theophilus Goldridge Pinches, Lord William Amhurst Tyssen-Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst of Hackney (1835–1909), put together what came to be one of the most wide-ranging and important collections of cuneiform tablets to have been assembled in private hands in this country. Since the publication of Volume 1 of The Amherst Tablets in 1908 by Pinches, followed much later by E. Sollberger's The Pinches Manuscript, the Amherst Collection has been familiar enough among Assyriologists, but perhaps less has been known of the collector, and of his other collections. The Museum at the family estate of Didlington Hall, Northwold, Norfolk, contained in its heyday a much broader range of material than cuneiform inscriptions. From the Near Eastern world there were very extensive collections of Egyptian papyri and antiquities, but the Hall also housed remarkable accumulations of incunabula and printed books, porcelain, tapestries, sculpture and other works of art. It is evident that the specific pursuit of cuneiform sources was inspired by a profound interest in the origin and development of writing and printing.

The survival of a group of private letters covering the years 1896–1910, from Lord Amherst to Pinches, with some draft reply letters from Pinches and other relevant documents, has entailed the preservation of unusual information about the process of acquisition and the sources of the tablets themselves. The present paper offers a summary of this information, in the hope of conveying something of the circumstances and motives at play at such a period.