Tell Fekheriye (Guzana / Sikani) — Bilingual Statue Terrace
Tell Fekheriye · Guzana · Sikani · Tell el-Fakhariya
Middle Bronze through Neo-Assyrian (2000–600 BCE)·Hurrian Mitanni → Aramaean Guzana → Neo-Assyrian·🇸🇾 Hasakah Governorate, Khabur source, Ras al-Ain District, Syria
About
About Tell Fekheriye (Guzana / Sikani) — Bilingual Statue Terrace
Tell Fekheriye (Guzana / Sikani) — Bilingual Statue Terrace is a multi-period tell/ancient village in Hasakah Governorate, Khabur source, Ras al-Ain District, Syria — Aramaean city-state Guzana capital — famous Hadad-Yith’i bilingual (Assyrian-Aramaic) statue terrace Excavated evidence reveals Hurrian Mitanni → Aramaean Guzana → Neo-Assyrian cultural horizons with mudbrick architecture. The two mounds 600×500 m total; lower town 45 ha; temple-palace 70×50 m preserves mudbrick temple-palace on stone socle, basalt hadad statue base, bilingual cuneiform-aramaic technique.
Position on Hasakah Governorate illustrates hadad-yith’i bilingual — key to deciphering aramaic epigraphy and assyrian-aramaean diglossia.
Why it mattersHadad-Yith’i bilingual — key to deciphering Aramaic epigraphy and Assyrian-Aramaean diglossia.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Fekheriye = Washukanni? — long debate vs. Tell el-Khider?
- 02Aramaic monumental script invention at Guzana?
Theories
- 01Max von Oppenheim Washukanni hypothesis vs. Fekheriye cautious 100 km north
- 02Aramaic epigraphic primacy at Guzana model
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.2000 BCE MBA; Mitanni Washukanni outpost 1500 BCE; Syro-Hittite Guzana 1100 BCE; Assyrian 900 BCE
- Period
- Middle Bronze through Neo-Assyrian (2000–600 BCE)
- Culture
- Hurrian Mitanni → Aramaean Guzana → Neo-Assyrian
- Builders
- Hadad-Yith’i (Sikani/Guzana) and Assyrian provincial builders
- Purpose
- Aramaean city-state Guzana capital — famous Hadad-Yith’i bilingual (Assyrian-Aramaic) statue terrace
- Abandoned
- c.600 BCE Babylonian-Persian abandonment
- Rediscovered
- Excavated 1929 Kantor, resumed 1955 Opitz, 2001–present Kümmel & Bonatz (Berlin-Syrian)
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
1929
Kantor notes basalt and finds Hadad statue lower half
1979
Abou-Assaf restores Hadad-Yith’i bilingual statue with Aramaic
2006
Berlin-Syrian geophysics maps 45 ha lower town and canal
On the ground
Structures & features
36.8272° N · 40.0683° E · 365 m · 3 mapped features
Hadad-Yith’i Bilingual Statue Temple Terrace
templeTemple terrace where Hadad bilingual statue stood
36.8274° N · 40.0685° EAramaean Guzana Palace and Archive Zone
palaceGuzana palace with Aramaean sealings
36.8270° N · 40.0682° EAssyrian Provincial Lower Town and Canal
hydraulicNeo-Assyrian lower town street grid and Khabur canal
36.8275° N · 40.0687° E