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Hamoukar (, known locally as Khirbat al-Fakhar) is a large archaeological site located in the Jazira region of northeastern Syria (Al Hasakah Governorate), near the and Turkey borders. The early settlement dates back to the 5th millennium BCE, and it existed simultaneously with the Ubaid period and the early Uruk cultures. It was a big centre of obsidian production. In the 3rd millennium, this was one of the largest cities of Northern Mesopotamia, and extended to 105 ha.
In the Late Chalcolithic 2 period (5th millennium BC) the site sustained a seasonal or dispersed occupation covering about 280 hectares.Duarte, C., et al., "Tell Hamoukar (Syria), season 2006." Bioarchaeology of the Near East 3, pp. 51-53, 2009 As an urban center Tell Hamoukar was first occupied in the early 4th millennium BC and experienced major growth in the middle of the 3rd millennium BC through the Uruk period. Occupation, at a lesser scale, continued through the Ninevite 5 period in the first half of the 2nd millennium and thereafter and the site was abandoned at the end of that millennium.Grossman, Kathryn Mary. Early Bronze Age Hamoukar: A Settlement Biography. The University of Chicago, 2013.
Other contemporary early sites in this area are Chagar Bazar, Tell Arbid, and the multi-period site of Tell Brak.
The site was first examined and described by Van Liere and Lauffray in the 1950s noting a two stepped plateau with a ditch 100 meters from the foot of the mound. Van Liere, W. J., and J. Lauffray, "Nouvelle prospection archeologique dans la Haute Jezieh syrienne.", Les annales archeologiques de Syrie 4-5, pp. 129-148, 1954-55 A scaled plan, based on aerial photographs, was published in 1963 which estimated the mound area at 116 hectares and the area within the circular depression as 216 hectares. Due to this large size Van Liere proposed it as the location of Washshukanni.Van Liere, W. J., "Capitals and Citadels of Bronze-Iron Age Syria and their Relationship to Land and Water.", Les annales archeologiques de Syrie 13, pp. 109-122, 1963 Excavation by a joint Syrian-American expedition (by the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago and the Syrian Directorate General of Antiquities) was conducted beginning in 1999 and ending in 2010. Initial work in 1999 included an intensive surface survey based on 10 meter by 10 meter squares.Jason A. Ur, "Surface Collection and Offsite Studies at Tell Hamoukar, 1999", Iraq, vol. 64, pp. 15–43, 2002 The excavation was initially led by McGuire Gibson and later by Clemens D. Reichel.McGuire Gibson et al., First Season of Syrian-American Investigations at Hamoukar - Hasekeh Province, Iraq, vol. 64, pp. 45-68, 2002[3] Clemens D. Reichel, Hamoukar, pp. 65-77 in Oriental Institute 2005-2006 Annual Report[4] Clemens D. Reichel, Hamoukar, pp. 59-68 in Oriental Institute 2006-2007 Annual Report[5] Clemens D. Reichel, Hamoukar, pp. 76-82 in Oriental Institute 2007-2008 Annual Report[6] Clemens D. Reichel, Hamoukar, pp. 77-87 in Oriental Institute 2008-2009 Annual Report [7] Clemens Reichel, Hamoukar, Oriental Institute 2010-2011 Annual Report, pp 51-59, 2011 [8] Clemens Reichel, Hamoukar, Oriental Institute 2011-2012 Annual Report, pp 69-76, 2012 The site was abandoned at the end of the 3rd millennium BC.Ur, Jason, et al., "Spatial scale and urban collapse at Tell Brak and Hamoukar at the end of the third millennium BC.", in Looking North: The Socioeconomic Dynamics of Northern Mesopotamian and Anatolian Regions During the Late Third and Early Second Millennium BC, pp. 25-35, 2012 During the 2001 excavations a 400 square meter trench opened in the residential area of the lower town found that it was prosperous and had been sacked and abandoned at that time.[9]Colantoni, Carlo, and Jason A. Ur, "The architecture and pottery of a late third-millennium residential quarter at Tell Hamoukar, north-eastern Syria", Iraq 73, pp. 21-69, 2011
Thousands of clay sealings have been found on the site, indicating the existence of a complex bureaucratic system. These sealings were once used to protect doors or containers from tampering and were impressed with stamp seals. Artifacts from Hamoukar can be seen at the Oriental Institute. Artifacts from Hamoukar (2007) - uchicago.edu Eye Idols made of alabaster or bone have been found in Tell Hamoukar. Similar Eye Idols from the same period have also been found in Tell Brak, the biggest settlement from Syria's Late Chalcolithic period.[11]McGuire G., "Hamoukar - Early City in Northeastern Syria", in: The Oriental Institute News and Notes, nr 166, Chicago, pp. 1–8 18–19, Summer 2000
The findings were a surprise for many archaeologists, since they indicate the existence of independent trading networks in the northern Mesopotamia outside of the influence of southern cities, such as Ur and Uruk.Ur, Jason A., "Cycles of Civilization in Northern Mesopotamia, 4400—2000 BC.", Journal of Archaeological Research, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 387–431, 2010 Der erste Krieg der Menschheit. (in German) Der Spiegel. 17. January 2007
... new indicators of social complexity appeared simultaneously with dramatic settlement expansion at Brak and Khirbat al-Fakhar, although not in the form known from later periods of northern Mesopotamian history. Both were extensive “proto-urban” settlements of low or variable density, with few other parallels elsewhere in the Near East.
During these Late Chalcolithic 1 and 2 periods (LC1-2), Khirbat al-Fakhar already reached a massive size of 300 ha, or larger than Uruk itself at the same time.
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