Til Barsip

Til Barsip (or Til Barsib, modern Tell Ahmar, Syria) is an ancient site situated by the Euphrates river.

The site was inhabited as early as the Neolithic period, but it is the remains of the Iron Age city which is the most important settlement at Tell Ahmar. Til Barsip became the chief town of the Aramean tribe Bît-Adini and was captured by the Assyrians in the 9th century BC. The city was then renamed as "Kar-Šulmānu-ašarēdu", after the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III. It became a prominent center for the Assyrian administration of the region due to its strategic location by the Euphrates river.

The site of Tell Ahmar was first explored by the French archaeologist François Thureau-Dangin in the 1930s. He uncovered the Iron Age city and an Early Bronze Age hypogeum burial with a large amount of pottery. Three important steles were also discovered at the site. These record how the 8th century BC Aramean king Bar Ga'yah, who may be identical with the Assyrian governor Shamshi-ilu, made a treaty with the city of Arpad. Recent excavations at Tell Ahmar were conducted by Guy Bunnens from the University of Melbourne in the late 1980s and through the 1990s. Many ivory carvings of outstanding quality were discovered and these were published in 1997.

Bibliography

* Guy Bunnens: "Carved ivories from Til Barsib", in American Journal of Archaeology, vol.101, no.3, (July 1997). [http://ancientneareast.tripod.com/PDF/Barsib.pdf Online version by JSTOR]