Description

Eski Mosul Dam Salvage Project Excavations of the Polish Center of Archaeology, University of Warsaw

Report on Polish excavations on Tell Rijim on the western bank of the Tigris. Middle Bronze Age layers are reported: architecture, with two houses, pottery kiln and various other structures; pottery is examined in detail with chapters on fabric, forms and decoration with a comprehensive catalogue; other small finds are described as well. The first structures date from the 18th century BC and belonged to an irregularly planned open village which, in 1600 BC underwent a decided transformation, with fortifications and a deep ravine, although the settlement itself remained small and was certainly not an administrative centre. It seems that the later settlement was a dimtu settlement, which, if true, would make Tell Rijim the oldest such settlement known from the archaeological record.