Halaf culture#Origin

{{Infobox archaeological culture

|name = Halaf culture

|map = File:Mesopotamian Prehistorical cultures.jpg

Halaf culture (in green), next to Samarra, Hassuna and Ubaid cultures.

|mapalt =

|altnames =

|horizon =

|region = Mesopotamia

|period = Neolithic 3 – Pottery Neolithic (PN)

|dates = c. 6,100–5,100 BC

|typesite = Tell Halaf

|majorsites = Tell Brak

|extra =

|precededby = Pre-Pottery Neolithic B, Yarmukian culture

|followedby = Halaf-Ubaid Transitional period, Hassuna culture, Samarra culture

}}

{{Location map+|Iraq|width=260|float=right|relief=yes|caption=Map of Iraq showing important sites that were occupied during the Halaf culture (clickable map) |places=

{{Location map~|Iraq|lat=36.83|long=40.04|position=top|label_size=75|label=Tell Halaf}}

{{Location map~|Iraq|lat=36.67|long=41.06|position=right|label_size=75|label=Tell Brak}}

{{Location map~|Iraq|lat=36.50|long=39.09|position=bottom|label_size=75|label=Tell Sabi Abyad}}

{{Location map~|Iraq|lat=36.48|long=42.95|position=bottom|label_size=75|label=Tell Arpachiyah}}

{{Location map~|Iraq|lat=36.48|long=43.25|position=right|label_size=75|label=Tepe Gawra}}

{{Location map~|Iraq|lat=36.88|long=40.90|position=bottom|label_size=75|label=Chagar Bazar}}

}}

The Halaf culture is a prehistoric period which lasted between about 6100 BC and 5100 BC.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0d1JAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA48|title= The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy|author= Mario Liverani|page= 48|year= 2013|isbn= 9781134750849}} The period is a continuous development out of the earlier Pottery Neolithic and is located primarily in the fertile valley of the Khabur River (Nahr al-Khabur), of south-eastern Turkey, Syria, and northern Iraq, although Halaf-influenced material is found throughout Greater Mesopotamia.

While the period is named after the site of Tell Halaf in north Syria, excavated by Max von Oppenheim between 1911 and 1927, the earliest Halaf period material was excavated by John Garstang in 1908 at the site of Sakce Gözü.Castro Gessner, G. 2011. "A Brief Overview of the Halaf Tradition" in Steadman, S and McMahon, G (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Ancient anatolia. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 780 Small amounts of Halaf material were also excavated in 1913 by Leonard Woolley at Carchemish, on the Turkish/Syrian border.Castro Gessner, G. 2011. "A Brief Overview of the Halaf Tradition" in Steadman, S and McMahon, G (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Ancient anatolia. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 781 However, the most important site for the Halaf tradition was the site of Tell Arpachiyah, now located in the suburbs of Mosul, Iraq.Campbell, S. 2000. "The Burnt House at Arpachiyah: A Reexamination" Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research no. 318. p. 1

The Halaf period was succeeded by the Halaf-Ubaid Transitional period, which comprised the late Halaf (c. 5400–5000 BC), and then by the Ubaid period.

Origin

Previously, the Syrian plains were not considered as the homeland of Halaf culture, and the Halafians were seen either as hill people who descended from the nearby mountains of southeastern Anatolia, or herdsmen from northern Iraq.{{cite book|url=https://www.academia.edu/564231|title= La Djéziré et l'Euphrate syriens de la protohistoire à la fin du second millénaire av. J.C, Tendances dans l'interprétation historique des données nouvelles, (Subartu) – Chapter : Old and New Perspectives on the Origins of the Halaf Culture by Peter Akkermans|author1=Maria Grazia Masetti-Rouault |author2=Olivier Rouault |author3=M. Wafler |pages= 43–44|year= 2000}} However, those views changed with the recent archaeology conducted since 1986 by Peter Akkermans, which have produced new insights and perspectives about the rise of Halaf culture.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_4oqvpAHDEoC&pg=PA101|title= The Archaeology of Syria: From Complex Hunter-Gatherers to Early Urban Societies (c. 16,000–300 BC)|author= Peter M.M.G. Akkermans, Glenn M. Schwartz|page= 101|year= 2003|isbn= 9780521796668}} A formerly unknown transitional culture between the pre-Halaf Neolithic's era and Halaf's era was uncovered in the Balikh valley, at Tell Sabi Abyad (the Mound of the White Boy).

Currently, eleven occupational layers have been unearthed in Sabi Abyad. Levels from 11 to 7 are considered pre-Halaf; from 6 to 4, transitional; and from 3 to 1, early Halaf. No hiatus in occupation is observed except between levels 11 and 10. The new archaeology demonstrated that Halaf culture was not sudden and was not the result of foreign people, but rather a continuous process of indigenous cultural changes in northern Syria{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_4oqvpAHDEoC&pg=PA116|title= The Archaeology of Syria: From Complex Hunter-Gatherers to Early Urban Societies (c. 16,000–300 BC)|author= Peter M.M.G. Akkermans, Glenn M. Schwartz|page= 116|year= 2003|isbn= 9780521796668}} that spread to the other regions.

Culture

=Architecture=

=Halaf pottery=

Halaf pottery has been found in other parts of northern Mesopotamia, such as at Nineveh and Tepe Gawra, Chagar Bazar, Tell Amarna{{Cite web|last1=Clop Garcia|first1=X.|last2=Alvarez Perez|first2=A.|last3=Hatert|first3=Frédéric|date=2004|title=Characterization study of Halaf ceramic production at Tell Amarna (Euphrates Valley, Syria)|hdl=2268/102885|url=https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/102885|language=en}} and at many sites in Anatolia (Turkey) suggesting that it was widely used in the region.

File:Bowl fragment MET DP368821.jpg|Fragment of a bowl; 5600–5000 BC; ceramic; 8.2 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)

Image:Halafpottery.jpg|Halafian ware

File:Syrian - "Tel Halaf" Fertility Figurine - Walters 482741 - Three Quarter.jpg|Fertility figurine (maybe a goddess?); 5000–4000 BC; terracotta with traces of pigment; 8.1 × 5 × 5.4 cm; by Halaf culture; Walters Art Museum (Baltimore, US)

File:Halaf culture pottery, zoomorphic porcupine vase, painted. Circa 5000 BCE. From Tell Arpachiyah, Iraq. Iraq Museum, Baghdad.jpg|A zoomorphic porcupine vase; c. 5000 BC; from Tell Arpachiyah; Iraq Museum, (Baghdad)

=Stamp seals=

The Halaf culture saw the earliest known appearance of stamp seals in the Near East.{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Brian A. |last2=Feldman |first2=Marian H. |title=Critical Approaches to Ancient Near Eastern Art |date=2013 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-1614510352 |page=304 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F4DoBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA304 |language=en}} They featured essentially geometric patterns.

File:Loop-handled rectangular seal MET ss93 17 109.jpg|Loop-handled rectangular seal, Halaf culture.

Loop-handled circular seal MET ss1985 192 20.jpg|Loop-handled circular seal.

File:Stamp seal and modern impression- geometric pattern MET DP104233.jpg|Stamp seal and modern impression – geometric pattern. Halaf culture

Halaf's end (Northern Ubaid)

Halaf culture ended by 5000 BC after entering the so-called Halaf-Ubaid Transitional period.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O9TSAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA204|title= Climate Change and the Course of Global History: A Rough Journey|author= John L. Brooke|page= 204|year= 2014|isbn= 9780521871648}} Many Halafian settlements were abandoned, and the remaining ones showed Ubaidian characters.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=klZX8B_RzzYC&pg=PT101|title= Ancient Iraq|author= Georges Roux|page= 101|year= 1992|isbn= 9780141938257}} The new period is named Northern Ubaid to distinguish it from the proper Ubaid in southern Mesopotamia,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bRUMQb_1uKcC&pg=PA190|title= Archaeologies of the Middle East: Critical Perspectives|author1=Susan Pollock |author2=Reinhard Bernbeck |page= 190|year= 2009|isbn= 9781405137232}} and two explanations were presented for the transformation. The first maintains an invasion and a replacement of the Halafians by the Ubaidians; however, there is no hiatus between the Halaf and northern Ubaid which exclude the invasion theory.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_4oqvpAHDEoC&pg=PA157|title= The Archaeology of Syria: From Complex Hunter-Gatherers to Early Urban Societies (c. 16,000–300 BC)|author=Peter M.M.G. Akkermans, Glenn M. Schwartz|page= 157|year= 2003|isbn= 9780521796668}} The most plausible theory is a Halafian adoption of the Ubaid culture, which is supported by most scholars, including Oates, Breniquet, and Akkermans.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jcOqDcDrNt4C&pg=PA128|title= Laser Ablation ICP-MS in Archaeological Research|author1=Robert J. Speakman |author2=Hector Neff |page= 128|year= 2005|isbn= 9780826332547}}

References

=Citations=

=Bibliography=

{{cite book | last2 = Schwartz| first2 = Glenn M.| last1 = Akkermans| first1 = Peter M.M.G. | title = The Archaeology of Syria: From Complex Hunter-Gatherers to Early Urban Societies (c. 16,000–300 BC)| publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 2003 | isbn = 978-0-52179-666-8}}
{{cite book | last1 = Liverani |first1= Mario | title = The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy | publisher = Routledge| year = 2013 | isbn = 978-1-134-75091-7}}
{{cite book | last3 = Wafler| first3 = Markus | last2 = Rouault| first2 = Olivier | last1 = Masetti-Rouault| first1 = Maria Grazia | title = La Djéziré et l'Euphrate syriens de la protohistoire à la fin du second millénaire av. J.C, Tendances dans l'interprétation historique des données nouvelles, (Subartu)| publisher = Brepols | year = 2000 | isbn = 978-2-50351-063-7}}

External links

[http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/half/hd_half.htm Halaf culture] The Metropolitan Museum of Art
[https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/me/p/painted_pottery_bowl_and_plate.aspx Halaf Bowl from Arpachiyah - British Museum]

Category:Archaeological cultures in Iraq

Category:Archaeological cultures in Syria

Category:Archaeological cultures in Turkey

Category:Archaeological cultures of West Asia

Category:Neolithic cultures of Asia

Category:Prehistoric Syria