Tell Mohammed Diyab Southern Extension
Mohammed Diyab South · Tell Mohammed Diyab Satellite
Hassuna to Iron Age (6500 BCE–800 BCE)·Hassuna/Samarra → Halaf → Ninevite V → Mittani → Iron Age Aramean·🇸🇾 Al-Hasakah Governorate, Qamishli District, Upper Khabur Plain, Syria
About
About Tell Mohammed Diyab Southern Extension
Tell Mohammed Diyab Southern Extension is the 9.8-ha southern skirt of Tell Mohammed Diyab on the upper Khabur plain — a 30-m tell with one of the longest Neolithic-to-Iron sequences in inland Syria (6500 BCE–800 BCE). Southern extension deep sounding exposes Hassuna pisé houses, Halaf tholos-Ubaid transition, Ninevite V painted houses with graveyard, and an Aramean Iron Age house with red burnished ware — bridging the Hassuna–Halaf genesis to Ninevite V urbanism to Aramean Iron on the Khabur.
Why it matters6500-year Khabur sequence — Hassuna to Aramean Iron continuity in Upper Khabur plain
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Hassuna to Halaf gap — sampling or hiatus?
- 02Ninevite V graveyard — town cemetery or regional necropolis?
Theories
- 01Akkermans Upper Khabur Neolithic–BA transition at Diyab
- 02Iron Age Aramean vs. Assyrian attribution
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.6500 BCE Hassuna; Halaf 5600 BCE; Ninevite V 3100 BCE; Aramean 1000 BCE
- Period
- Hassuna to Iron Age (6500 BCE–800 BCE)
- Culture
- Hassuna/Samarra → Halaf → Ninevite V → Mittani → Iron Age Aramean
- Builders
- Neolithic Halaf farmers, Ninevite V urbanists, Aramean chiefs
- Purpose
- Southern extension of Tell Mohammed Diyab — Neolithic to Iron Age long-sequence tell on Upper Khabur, 30-m stratified mound in Khabur plain
- Abandoned
- c.800 BCE Iron Age contraction
- Rediscovered
- Excavated 1987–2008 Bachmann–Durand–Akkermans (French–Syrian)
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
1987
French–Syrian team opens Diyab trench, Hassuna levels found
1995
Ninevite V painted quarter and graveyard published
2005
Aramean Iron house red burnished ware above Mittani published
On the ground
Structures & features
36.7100° N · 41.4500° E · 390 m · 3 mapped features
Hassuna-Samarra Pisé Houses (6500 BCE)
settlementHassuna pisé houses at base of southern extension deep sounding
36.7108° N · 41.4506° ENinevite V Painted House and Graveyard
settlementNinevite V painted ware houses with associated jar-burial cemetery, 3100–2600 BCE
36.7093° N · 41.4491° EIron Age Aramean House (Red Burnished)
settlementIron Age Aramean red burnished ware house 1000–800 BCE
36.7111° N · 41.4507° E