Die Grabungsgeschichte und ihre Hintergründe (= WVDOG 165)

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Dittmar Machule
• Subject Area: Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 562679048

The excavations of the Bronze Age city ruins of Tall Munbâqa on the Euphrates in Syria spanned a period of 42 years and were carried out from 1968 to 2010 under various management and funding. The German Orient Society (DOG) was and is the sponsor. The project was part of the international rescue excavations in the area of the reservoir created by the Euphrates dam near Tabqa. The detailed excavation history covers the entire research activities from 1968 to 2010 and thus becomes a reference for international research in this eventful period in Syria. The report goes far beyond a sectoral description of the archaeological activities on site - i.e. the composition of the excavation teams, methods and organization, financing. It offers basic material on the role of special (German) archaeological research in the context of 42 years of contemporary history. Long-term participating members of the excavation teams became contemporary witnesses of the changes in the reservoir region and the enormous political, social and economic changes throughout Syria until 2011, when the civil war broke out there. The everyday research activities on site in the rural area are therefore summarized, as are the changes in the general conditions and background of field research in Syria, mainly in the province of Raqqa. At the same time, insights are given into the events in the traditional German Oriental Society, a non-profit organization, and its work at the interface between academia and the wider public. The summarized description of the history of research and discovery of the Tall Munbâqa before the excavations in the Euphrates Arc as well as the developments in the region, especially in the 19th/early 20th century AD, is largely based on published research results from other disciplines. In particular, maps, especially those by Heinrich and Richard Kiepert, are included as sources. For the first time, the discovery of the site in 1909 by Gertrude Bell is described in detail and acknowledged in the context of contemporary history. A (previously unreadable) concentrated account of the planning, realization and consequences of the state development project Euphrates Dam is also given, based on the evaluation of available publications. The construction of the dam triggered Syrian and international research activities, in particular scientific excavations. The excavation history is supplemented by an article by Gundel Hahn on the geology of the Euphrates valley at Tall Munbâqa, which was produced and revised during the 1986 campaign, and on the various rocks used for buildings and equipment in the Bronze Age town of Ekalte. Her research sheds light on the natural developments in the Euphrates valley near Tall Munbâqa and provides answers to frequently asked questions.

• DFG Programme: Publication Grants