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Excavations at Atchana-Alalakh, 1946

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2011

Leonard Woolley
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Extract

Whereas it seemed advisable for many reasons to resume the work at Atchana as soon as possible after the interval due to the war, uncertainty regarding the conditions under which the work would be carried on impelled one to plan for a short season with a strictly limited objective. That there should have been a rise in costs was inevitable; but only on our arrival did we learn that wages had increased ninefold and that the living-index had gone up by 1,000 per cent. In such circumstances the utmost economy had to be observed; 150 men were employed, but only six weeks’ actual digging could be done. In that very short time we did in fact fulfil our programme, but results would have been much better in proportion had we been able to continue the excavations for another three weeks.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Antiquaries Journal , Volume 30 , Issue 1-2 , April 1950 , pp. 1 - 21
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1950

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References

page 2 note 1 This is a safe assumption because it is the floor-level of the next period, as is proved by remains of the cement floors; it is most unlikely that the later builders would have cut down the platform which they were utilizing for their own work.

page 4 note 1 It was repaved on various later occasions, twice with cement and two or three times with clay, the additional coatings accounting for a rise of about 0.20 m. in the lifetime of the building.

page 5 note 1 The only exception is the northern staircase in the palace of Yarim-Lim, , v. Antiq. Journ. xxviii, I, p. 12.Google Scholar Professor Sidney Smith points out to me that the Crown Prince of the State of Kussar seems to have borne the title ‘Chief of the Stair’. The stair-way of a palace, as giving access to the private apartments of the king, would obviously have special ceremonial significance in court life; see Lewy, T. in Revue Hittite et Asianijue, iii, i ff.Google Scholar; I would add as perhaps apposite the reference 2 Samuel xvi, 22. The importance of the upper floor might well extend from palace to temple.

page 5 note 2 Regarding the NE. corner there is no evidence, as it was entirely destroyed.

page 6 note 1 It seems to me possible that the beginning of level II may have to be put somewhat earlier, but Sidney Smith's general chronology will stand at least for the present.

page 11 note 1 Antiq. Journ. xviii, no. I (Jan. 1938), pl. xv. 2.Google Scholar

page 12 note 1 Published by Professor Sidney Smith, Occasional Publications of the British Institute of Archaeology in Ankara, no. I.

page 13 note 1 Lest it be thought incredible that the decorative features of a sacred building should be so maltreated I quote an exact parallel. In the great temple of Madura, southern India, there projects from the columned hall a flight of stone steps leading down to a garden court. On either side of the steps there stood at ground level the figure of an elephant carved in stone of rather more than half life-size. The level of the garden has so risen that of one elephant only the top of the head and rump and of the other only the crown of the skull appear above ground.

page 13 note 2 Carckemish, Part II, fig. 27, p. 94.

page 14 note 1 Most of these objects were found together in what had been a cupboard in the temple annexe (see above, p. 8). While it is impossible not to use them as illustrating the period to which the building belongs, it must be remembered that a temple treasury might contain articles of very different dates, some of which might be heirlooms handed down through many generations.

page 15 note 1 v. Antiq. Journ. xix, no. I, p. 3.Google Scholar

page 15 note 2 We found no trace of burning inside the sanctuary, but since that had been destroyed down to below floor-level, no such traces could be expected; but the surviving pillar of the portico had been discoloured red and black by the burning of its wooden sheath.

page 16 note 1 I take no account here of the very many fragments whose exact horizon was doubtful.

page 17 note 1 The ordinary term ‘incised decoration’ must be avoided as a misnomer.

page 17 note 2 v. C. F. A. Schaeffer, Ugaritica, fig. 53.

page 17 note 3 Sidney Smith (Alalakh and Chronology, p. 7) suggested that the absence of Tell el Yahudiyeh ware was probably due to the restricted area excavated on the house site; but the evidence of the house site is now confirmed by that of the temple area.

page 17 note 4 Sidney Smith, loc. cit.

page 17 note 5 Dr. Schaeffer disagrees with this nomenclature and considers that the Amk ware is distinct from that of the Khabur valley. It is certainly not identical, if only for the reason that handles are common in the Atchana pottery and quite unknown to the Khabur potter; on the other hand, there are resemblances. I propose to use here the term ‘Khabur’ in inverted commas, without prejudice.

page 17 note 6 A single example has been found of polychrome decoration, purplish-black design on a plum-red painted ground, with opaque yellowish-white paint over the black.

page 18 note 1 On the house site there were, of course, later pits, mostly of level II, found in 1939; those have nothing to do with the present discussion.

page 18 note 2 The decoration and inscription seem to have been done in water-colour paint on the glaze after firing. It might have been drawn locally on a plain vase imported from Egypt.

page 18 note 3 If the town surrendered without fighting, the texts, which describe the campaign from the army's point of view, might well be silent on the subject.