Research Information System
OLBA, pp.59-110, 2015 (AHCI)
The settlement history of the city of Diyarbakir dates back to the 4th Millennium BC as attested on the mound located in the acropolis of the fortified city. At several contemporary settlements of Northern Mesopotamia, both the local hand made vessels and wheel made Uruk vessels as well as flaring rim bowls are observed; however, on Amida Hoyuk, only local vessels are collected, determining a settlement founded by a local population. A group of sherds with rests of a burnished slip point to the existence of a settlement dating to the transition from Late Chalcolithic to the Early Bronze Age. Similar to several sites excavated in the Upper Tigris region, no surface finds are dated to the first half of the 3rd Millennium BC and the mound seems to have been resettled from the middle of the 3rd Millennium BC onwards. A few sherds belong to fine pasted, wheel made vessels fired in high temperatures distinguished as the slipped and burnished variant of the "Plain Simple Ware" of Northern Mesopotamia. One sherd belongs to the joint of a high stemmed bowl resembling those from the Early Bronze Age III contexts of the Middle Euphrates region. One sherd of the Early Transcaucasian III ware enriches the rare existence of this ware in the Upper Tigris region. The earliest written source found in the Upper Tigris region is the stele of the Akkadian Emperor Naramsin, erected at Pir Huseyin after the conquest of the region in the 23rd century BC. The Akkadian supremacy in the region lasted ca. one century and the post Akkadian period in the last two centuries of the millennium; however, the characteristic Metallic Ware and Dark Rimmed Orange Bowls that would have point to the inhabitance during this period, are not found at Amida Hoyuk. The Middle Bronze Age is characterized by the Standard Red-Brown Wash Ware and the Habur painted ware in the Upper Tigris region. The sherds belonging to these groups at Amida Hoyuk presents a settlement history similar to those excavated in the Upper Tigris region. A standard monochrome ware with smoothed surface, a fine buff slipped ware and one sherd resembling the Nuzi Painted Ware point to the inhabiting of the mound also during the reign of the Mitannian Kingdom. According to Middle Assyrian texts, the city was the capital of the Aramean kingdom of Bit-Zamani, inscribed as Amid or Amedi. The city came under the Middle Assyrian supremacy in 1260-1190 BC; however, none of the surface sherds belong to the Standard Middle Assyrian pottery. The Middle Assyrian settlement in Diyarbakir might have been established in another part of the city. During the period between the Middle Assyrian withdrawal and the reestablishment of the Assyrian supremacy in the 9th century BC, pit-houses and seasonal dwellings containing Eastern Anatolian hand made vessels appear in the Upper Tigris region. None of the surface finds from Amida Hoyuk are identified as sherds of these wares, so, the kingdom of Bit-Zamani might have kept these nomadic tribes away from the city. The Upper Tigris region became a part of the New Assyrian Empire from the 9th century BC onwards. The existence of middle-coarse common wares dating to the New Assyrian period on the mound coincide with the historical texts recording Amidi as the fortified capital of the vassal kingdom and further as the capital of the province of Bit-Zamani. In a letter addressed to Sargon II, the governor records a royal palace with the depiction of the king inside it; however, no sherds of the New Assyrian Palace Ware are found on Amida Hoyuk, so, the mound might have been used only for military purposes. Northern Mesopotamia became a part of the Median Empire after 612 BC, and a part of the Persian Empire after 550 BC; however, the pottery show no special characteristics of these periods. The New Assyrian Standard pottery seems to have been produced further during the Late Babylonian and Persian periods. Although historical sources record the conquest of the city by Alexander the Great and further by Armenian, Roman and Parthian kingdoms, no characteristic sherds dating to Hellenistic and Roman periods are found on the mound. The history of the city in the Middle and New ages are well documented. Roman and Sassanid kings conquered the city several times. Emperor Constantinus fortified the city in 330-349, since the Eastern border of the Roman Empire passed through Amida. Coarse vessels coated with a plain dark green glaze or common ware with plain surfaces dating to the Late Antique-Byzantine period seems to have been produced by local potters for a long period of time. In 639 the city was conquered by the Arabian armies and became an Islamic city. The city, named Kara Amid (Black Amid) was ruled by the Artuqids under the Seljuqids, Ayyubids and Mongols. The mound housed an Artuqid palace decorated with faiences, probably because of its position as the highest point of the city. Several sherds composed of unglazed self slipped, red slipped, modelled barboutine decorated, and green glazed vessels are dated to the 11th-14th centuries. Following the withdrawal of the Mongolian armies in 1335, the city suffered several wars between the Turcoman tribes of Akkoyunlu and Karakoyunlu; these surface finds might well had been used also during this period. In the 16th century the city was conquered by the Ottomans and became the capital of the Province of Diyar-1 Bekr. The blue-white and polychrome glaze and a terracotta pipe found on the mound are dated to the 16th-18th centuries. During the Ottoman period official and military buildings had been erected to the skirts of the mound.