Tell Arbid

Tell Arbid is a large ancient Near Eastern mound in the Khabur River basin of northeastern Syria, about 50 km north-east of modern Al-Hasakah. The site was densely occupied in the third millennium BCE, especially during the Ninevite 5 period (c. 2900–2600 BCE), when a city of considerable size covered most of the tell. It lay between the major centers of Tell Brak (Nagar) and Tell Mozan (Urkesh), and excavations have uncovered houses, temples, workshops, seals and graves that illuminate early urban life in northern Mesopotamia. Occupation continued sporadically through the Akkadian, Mitanni, Neo-Babylonian and Hellenistic periods. The tell and its smaller mounds cover about 38 hectares, making Tell Arbid one of the largest archaeological sites of the Khabur region. Its deep stratigraphy spans the Halaf, Ubaid and later periods, and the excavators have identified residential quarters, a temple area and a cemetery. Its material culture includes Ninevite 5 painted pottery and cylinder seals.