BURIAL CUSTOMS AT TELL ARBID (SYRIA) IN THE MIDDLE BRONZE AGE CULTURAL INTERRELATIONS WITH THE NILE DELTA AND THE LEVANT
BURIAL CUSTOMS AT TELL ARBID (SYRIA) IN THE MIDDLE BRONZE AGE CULTURAL INTERRELATIONS WITH THE NILE DELTA AND THE LEVANT

Summary/Abstract: Eight seasons of excavations on the site of Tell Arbid in the basin of the Khabur River in northeastern Syria (1997–2005) resulted in the discovery of 29 graves of MBA date. An analysis of this set of burials indicated that a new burial rite, characterized by strong family and clan ties, had been introduced about the beginning of the second millennium BC. Parallels for MBA burial practices have been recorded on neighboring sites in the Upper Khabur area and in southern Mesopotamia. Equid burials accompanied some of the human graves and it seems that the custom saw a revival in this period once again aer the EBA. Close parallels for this custom as well as other elements of the burial practices at sites in the eastern Nile Delta and in the southern Levant are interesting to note. The spread of similar practices can be linked with high probability to the presence and growing political dominance of the West Semites.

• Details
• Contents