Tell Taya

Tell Taya is an archaeological site at a tell (hill city) in Nineveh Province (Iraq). It was occupied from the third to the first millennia BCE.

Tell Taya
Shown within Iraq
LocationNineveh Province, Iraq
RegionMesopotamia
Coordinates36°19′57.34″N 42°29′37.36″E
Typetell
Area20 km2 (7.7 sq mi)
Site notes
Excavation dates1967–1969, 1972–1973
ArchaeologistsJ.E. Reade

History of archaeological research

The site was first recorded by Seton Lloyd in 1938 during his survey of the region.[1] Tell Taya was excavated by a team from the British School of Archaeology in Iraq led by J. E. Reade in 1967–1969 and 1972–1973. Numerous stone structures were investigated, and pottery, along with a few tablets and cylinder seals, were recovered in the 9 layers. One of the cylinder seals, made of terracotta, was quite unusual, containing only cuneiform writing which has not yet been deciphered.[2][3][4]

Tell Taya and its environment
Silver hoard Tell Taya Ashmolean

Tell Taya lies about 20 kilometres (12 mi) southwest of Mosul and Nineveh. The location controls a formerly rich agricultural area and an important trade route. It covers about 20 square kilometres (7.7 sq mi) and the central tell is around 9 metres (30 ft) high.

Occupation history

The site was heavily occupied on and off during the second half of the 3rd millennium, with some re-use in the Old Babylonian period and the Neo-Assyrian period. There is some evidence of Early Dynastic occupation, but major building at Tell Taya began around the time that the Akkadian Empire emerges.

See also

References
  1. Lloyd, Seton (1938). "Some Ancient Sites in the Sinjar District". Iraq. 5: 123–142. doi:10.2307/4241629. JSTOR 4241629.
  2. Reade, J. E. (1968). "Tell Taya (1967): Summary Report". Iraq. 30 (2): 234–264. doi:10.2307/4199854. JSTOR 4199854.
  3. Reade, J. E. (1971). "Tell Taya (1968-9): Summary Report". Iraq. 33 (2): 87–100. doi:10.2307/4199917. JSTOR 4199917.
  4. Reade, J. E. (1973). "Tell Taya (1972-73): Summary Report". Iraq. 35 (2): 155–187. doi:10.2307/4199963. JSTOR 4199963.

Further reading
  • John Curtis, Fifty Years of Mesopotamian Discovery, the Work of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 1932–1982, British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 1982, ISBN 0-903472-05-8
  • Reade, J. E., "Tell Taya", pp. 72–78 in Fifty Years of Mesopotamian Discovery. The work of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq 1932–1982, ed. J. Curtis.. London: Stephen Austin and Sons Ltd., 1982
  • David Oates, The Excavations at Tell al Rimah: 1964, Iraq, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 62–68, 1965
  • Waines, J. G., " Plant remains from Tell Taya.", Iraq 35, pp. 185-187, 1973
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