Site details

Tell Alalakh/Atchana

PK	C6204
TITLE	Tell Alalakh∕Atchana
WGS84	36.240099° N, 36.382286° E
Accuracy	Exact

LAT/LON	36.240099, 36.382286
LON/LAT	36.382286, 36.240099

DMS

36° 14' 24.3564" N

36° 22' 56.2296" E

W3W	undergone, observing, collage
UTM	37 S, 264764, 4013758
EGSA87	1615042, 4082174

Elevation m	94
Elevation feet	308.4
Region	Levant

GENERAL SITE TYPE Settlement

TYPE

1.    settlement.   Fink [nd],     'Tell Atchana has been a key site for the study of the Middle and the Late Bronze Age in the northern Levant. The site and its cuneiform tablet archives play an important role in discussing the political and social history of the second millennium, the Mesopotamian chronology, and the material culture and architecture of the Middle and Late Bronze Age.'
2.    Settlement.   Yener, ed. [2005], 99    'Excavations ... unveiled large expanses of Alalakh, the architectural styles of which hinted at cognitive codes and ritual experiences shared with a number of more powerful neighbors ... '

SITE SIZE

- Fink [nd]  p. 133,  Size: 20000 sq. m.  Based on Fig. 4

- Yener, ed. [2005]  p. 99,  Size: 243750 sq. m.  '... and now measures 750 x 325 x 9 m (22 ha).'

PERIOD (High Chronology)

1. LH IIIA: (1410 BC - 1315 BC)
    a.    Yener, ed. [2005]: 103, 'The final occupation in Level I and its destruction took place during a regional collapse that put an end to both the Hittite Empire and the city of Alalakh. This level is dated to the late thirteenth to early twelfth centuries B.C. on the basis of Late Mycenaean IIIA and B imported pottery.'

2. LH IIIA2: (1375 BC - 1320 BC)
    a.    Fink [nd]: 136, 'To sum up Koehl's opinion in his publication (2005), presentation (AIA 2005) and Chicago excavations report, the majority of the Mycenaean pottery at Tell Atchana (and 100% of the Mycenaean sherds excavated in Area 2) are LH IIIA:2, ... ', 'It is very significant that all the Mycenaean pottery excavated during the Chicago campaign was LH IIIA:2 late, ... '
    b.    Fink [nd]: 137, ' ... since Mycenaean imports to Alalakh ceased with LH IIIA:2, ...'

3. LH IIIB: (1320 BC - 1190 BC)
    a.    Yener, ed. [2005]: 103, 'This level is dated to the late thirteenth to early twelfth centuries B.C. on the basis of ... B imported pottery.'

NOTES

1. For the exact position of the various buildings on Tell Alalakh see the series of fine maps by Eudora J. Struble beginning on p. 5 in Fink [nd].

2. Following the Barrington Atlas, Map 67.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Fink [nd]: Fink, Amir S.. Late Bronze Age Tell Atchana (Alalakh): Stratigraphy, Chronology, History. . , '', Online here.

2. Yener, ed. [2005]: Yener, Kutlu Aslihan. The Amuq Valley Regional Projects; Volume 1. Surveys in the Plain of Antioch and Orontes Delta, Turkey, 1995-2002. The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Oriental Institute Publications no. 131. Chicago, Illinois, USA., 'Alalakh Spatial Organization', pg. 99. Online here.