Chagar Bazar Explained

Chagar Bazar
Native Name:	تل شاغربازار
Map Type:	Syria
Map Size:	300
Coordinates:	36.876°N 40.8979°W
Type:	settlement
Built:	ca. 6,000 BC
Abandoned:	ca. 2,000 BC
Cultures:	chagar culture
Excavations:	1935—1937 1999—2002
Archaeologists:	Max Mallowan University of Liège Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums, Augusta McMahon
Ownership:	Public
Public Access:	Yes

Chagar Bazar (Šagir Bazar, Arabic: تل شاغربازار) is a tell, or settlement mound, in northern Al-Hasakah Governorate, Syria. It is a short distance from the major ancient city of Nagar (Tell Brak). The site was occupied from the Halaf period (c. 6100 to 5100 BC) until the middle of the 2nd millennium BC.

Archaeology

The site contains two mounds, a higher but smaller one to the south and a lower larger northern one. Occupation was Halaf at the northern end then at the southern end in the Late Chalcolithic period followed by full occupation in the 3rd millennium BC. The 2nd millennium BC occupation was restricted to the northern (5 hectare) mound. Chagar Bazar was excavated for three seasons by the British archaeologist Max Mallowan, with his wife Agatha Christie, from 1935 to 1937.^{[1] [2] [3]} Many of the artefacts discovered were brought to the British Museum. Besides pottery, a large number of Old Babylonian period clay tablets written in cuneiform script were discovered.^{[4] [5] [6]} Work was resumed at the site in 1999 by an expedition from the British School of Archaeology in Iraq in cooperation with University of Liège archaeologists and the Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums.^{[7] [8] [9]} During these excavations, which ended in 2002, 214 cuneiform tablets were recovered.

Chagar Bazar and its environment

Chagar Bazar is located in Al-Hasakah Governorate, approximately north of Al-Hasakah, on the Wadi Dara, a tributary to the Khabur River. The ancient site measures approximately .

Occupation history

Chagar Bazar was already settled in the Neolithic. Excavations revealed pottery belonging to the Halaf and Ubaid cultures.^[10] By the Early Bronze Age, in the third millennium BC, Chagar Bazar had turned into a small town with the size of 12 hectares / 30 acres. The site appears to have been abandoned by the end of the third millennium BC. It was resettled and was known as Asnakkum at the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age. The town was part of the Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia under Shamshi-Adad I and his son Yasmah-Adad.^[11] Hurrians also occupied the city and fine examples of the Khabur ware pottery dating to this period have been discovered by the excavators.

See also

• Cities of the Ancient Near East
• Tell Brak
• Hurrians
• Come, Tell Me How You Live

References

• C. J. Gadd, "Tablets from Chagar Bazar 1936", Iraq, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 178–185, 1937
• C. J. Gadd, "Tablets from Chagar Bazar and Tell Brak 1937–38", Iraq, vol. 7, pp. 22–61, 1940
• J. E. Curtis, "Some Axe-Heads from Chagar Bazar and Nimrud", Iraq, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 73–81, 1983
• O. Tunca et al., Chagar Bazar (Syrie) I: Les sondages prehistoriques (1999–2001), Peeters, 2006,
• O. Tunca et al., Chagar Bazar (Syrie) II: Les vestiges post-akkadiens du chantier D et etudes diverses, Peeters, 2007,
• O. Tunca and A. Baghdo, Chagar Bazar (Syrie) III: Les trouvailles epigraphiques et sigillographiques du chantier I (2000–2002), Peeters, 2008,
• Tunca, Ö., Bagdhou, a. und Léon, S., "Chagar Bazar (Syrie) IV. Les tombes ordinaires de l’âge du bronze ancien et moyen des chantiers D-f-H-I (1999−2011)", Étude archéologique, Peeters Publishers, 2018
• J. Mas and O. Tunca, "Chagar Bazar (Syrie) V: Les tombes ordinaires de l'âge du Bronze ancien et moyen des chantiers D-F-H-I (1999-2011): La poterie", (Publications de la ... de L'Universite de), Peeters Publishers, 2018
• S. Leon, "Chagar Bazar (Syrie) VI: Les tombes ordinaires de l'âge du Bronze ancien et moyen des chantiers D-F-H-I (1999-2011): Les objets", (Publications de la ... de L'Universite de), Peeters Publishers, 2018
• R Ali and J-M Cordy, "Chagar Bazar (Syrie) VII: Les tombes ordinaires de l'âge du Bronze ancien et moyen des chantiers D-F-H-I (1999-2011): Les Ossements", (Publications de la ... de L'Universite de), Peeters Publishers, 2018
• Tunca, Ö., Bagdhou, A, "Chagar Bazar (Syrie) VIII. Les tombes ordinaires de l’âge du bronze ancien et moyen des chantiers D-f-H-I (1999−2011): Études diverses", Étude archéologique, Peeters Publishers, 2018

External links

• British Museum: Pottery Khabur Ware Jar from Chagar Bazar

Notes and References

1. M.E.L. Mallowan, Excavations at Chagar Bazar and an Archaeological Survey of the Habur Region of North Syria 1934-5, Iraq, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 1–85, 1936
2. M.E.L. Mallowan, Excavations at Tall Chagar Bazar and an Archaeological Survey of the Habur Region, Second Campaign 1936, Iraq, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 91–177, 1937
3. M.E.L. Mallowan, Excavations at Brak and Chagar Bazar, Iraq, no. 9, pp. 1–259, 1947
4. Philippe Talon, "Old Babylonian Texts From Chagar Bazar", FAGD/ASGD, 1997,
5. Loretz, O., "Texte aus Chagar Bazar und Tell Brak, Teil 1", Alter Orient und Altes Testament 3. Neukirchen-Vluyn: Butzon & Bercker, 1969
6. Snell, D., "The Old Babylonian Cuneiform Texts from Chagar Bazar in the Aleppo Museum", Annales archéologiques arabes syriennes 33:2, pp.217!241, 1983
7. Augusta McMahon, Onhan Tunca, and Abdul-Massih Bagdo, New Excavations at Chagar Bazar 1999–2000, Iraq, vol. 63, pp. 201–222, 2001
8. A.M. McMahon, C. Colantoni and M.J. Semple, British excavations at Chagar Bazar, 2001–2002, Iraq, vol. 67, no. 2, pp. 1–16, 2003
9. McMahon, A., C. Colantoni, J. Frane, and A. Soltysiak, Once There Was A Place: Settlement Archaeology at Chagar Bazar 1999-2002, London, British Institute for the Study of Iraq, 2009
10. W. Cruells and OP Nieuwenhuyse, The Proto-Halaf period in Syria. New sites New data., Paléorient, vol. 30, no. 1, p. 47–68, 2004
11. Book: Eblaitica: Essays on the Ebla Archives and Eblaite Language, Volume 4. Cyrus Herzl Gordon . Gary Rendsburg . Nathan H. Winter . 90. 978-1-57506-060-6. 2002.