The specificity of burials allows for gaining information concerning the culture of ancient

populations, in particular their relation to death, and their perception of the biological

status of living populations. Our focus is to bring to light children’s burials

coming from the Khabur Ware period levels in Mozan, ancient Urkesh, which are dated

between 2000-1600 BC. The analysis of burial practices through osteological observations

has provided evidence of age-related characteristics. Indeed, the funerary treatment

of the children has proven to have been different from that of the adults

Kharobi, Arwa

Bournemouth University Research Online

THE PLACE OF CHILDREN IN THE ANCIENT SOCIETY OF URKESH (TELL MOZAN, NORTHEASTERN SYRIA) IN THE MIDDLE BRONZE AGE (2000-1600 BC): AN ARCHEOTHANATOLOGICAL APPROACHARWA KHAROBI,ª PATRICE COURTAUD,bHENRI DUDAY1ABSTRACTThe specificity of burials allows for gaining information concerning the culture of an-cient populations, in particular their relation to death, and their perception of the bi-ological status of living populations. Our focus is to bring to light children’s burialscoming from the Khabur Ware period levels in Mozan, ancient Urkesh, which are datedbetween 2000-1600 BC. The analysis of burial practices through osteological obser-vations has provided evidence of age-related characteristics. Indeed, the funerary treat-ment of the children has proven to have been different from that of the adults. INTRODUCTIONSince the first excavations at Tell Mozan in 1984, 150 burials from both the Chalcol-ithic and Bronze Age have been recovered from the site. All of these graves were foundin an urban context; in most cases in a well-defined relation with the domestic struc-tures, such as floors and foundations of walls. They are a reflection of the Ancient NearEastern tradition that led the people to bury their dead close to or beneath their properestate. The majority of the burials, namely eighty of them, can be dated to the OldBabylonian period. 57 tombs containing 63 individuals (aged between 0 to 18) havebeen analyzed and have given insight on the burial customs. Tell Mozan is located in the northeast of Syria, within the Khabur plains. It wasidentified as ancient Urkesh, an important urban and religious center during the mid-third millennium BC, linguistically connected to the Hurrians. The topography ofMozan is differentiated into a high mound and an outer city (Fig. 1). Excavations con-ducted by Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati and Giorgio Buccellati have revealed the remainsof a small town which is considered to have been a small kingdom, with a monumen-tal temple terrace at the center of the mound and a royal palace dated to c. 2350-2200BC, corresponding to the Akkadian period (Buccellati and Kelly-Buccellati 2001). 1  ª Univ. Bordeaux, PACEA, UMR 5199, F-33400 Talence, France ; b CNRS, PACEA, UMR 5199, F-33400 Talence, France. LOCATION AND TYPOLOGY OF THE TOMBSAround 2100 BC, the royal palace was abandoned, and overlaid by a wide open areathat served as the outskirts of a settlement to the north. This area eventually developedby the period regionally referred to as Khabur into a burial ground consisting of sev-eral funerary structures, each one containing from 2 to 10 tombs. These burials wereextramural and belonged to two different levels, the Early Khabur – corresponding tophase IV material for burial deposition (dated between 2000-1900 BC), and the LateKhabur level – retaining the same purpose (dated between 1900-1600 BC). The twophases are separated by the intrusion of a large pit that covered and cut into the wholefunerary zone. With regard to burial types referring to children, 16 jar burials, 15 earthpits, and only two built tombs have been identified. II. 1. JAR BURIALSJar burials are the most ubiquitous type of interment for children in the Khabur levelsin Mozan, as they are well-known throughout the Levant. They are frequently placednext to and aligned with the walls. The jars’ necks and shoulders were usually brokenand removed to enable the insertion of the corpse. This opening was sometimes cov-ered by a large fragment from another jar (Fig. 2). Where the human remains are suf-ficiently well-preserved, osteological observations allow for identifying primary2 andindividual3 burials. The cadaver was deposited in a flexed or contracted position (tovarying degrees, at both knees and hips) either on its side or on its back. The imma-ture individuals were buried with archaeological deposits such as bronze jewels (earrings, rings, and bracelets), while pottery objects were less frequent in these burials thanin the adult ones. No jar burials were found in the Late Khabur levels. At Ras Shamra and Tell Arqa, jar burials have been found in similar contexts dat-ing to the Middle Bronze Age II (Salles 1995; Thalmann 2006). However, they con-tained only children less than 7 years old at their death. At Tell Mozan, the burial labeled A16.47 was a unique deposit in the site, con-taining two probable neonates, and this burial was dated to the Late Khabur. It consistedof one cracked jar in which a large body sherd was laid flat on the ground with its in-side facing up. The first neonate (aged 38-40 weeks)4 was laid over this sherd. Thebody was oriented north to south with the skull to the north. The second neonate (aged60 Arwa Kharobi, Patrice Courtaud, Henri Duday2 In the case of primary burials, the dead body usually decomposed in the same tomb where it was ultimatelyburied (Duday 2005, 2009). 3 Three categories of burials are defined based on the number of individuals buried inside the tomb: (1) in-dividual: only one person; (2) double: containing the remains of two individuals; (3) multiple:  more thantwo individuals buried in the same grave. In the case of the last two categories, it is important to under-stand whether bodies have been deposited simultaneously or separately over a long period (Duday 2005,2009). 4  Age estimated through the length of the femur bone based on the tables of Fazekas and Kosa (1978).  39-48 weeks)5 was likely oriented in the same position but with the skull to the south.This position ‘head to tail’ was observed only in this grave. The two bodies were cov-ered by another large body sherd with the inside facing up. No objects could be relatedto this burial (Fig. 3). II. 2. EARTH PITSThe second category of children burials in Mozan consists of earth pits. These pitswere dug beside the foundations of a wall and just below the earth floor of the royalpalace (AP). Two categories were recognized: simple and complex pits. In both cases,a pit was first excavated, later – in the complex type – this first step was followed bythe construction of a roofed mud-brick tomb. A10.39B is a well-preserved example ofa complex earth pit, containing an infant who died around birth. It was built of severalmud-bricks in the form of a square placed on both sides (east and west). Covered withthe same type of mud-bricks positioned vertically, the grave had a pyramidal shape(Fig. 4). The infant (34-40 weeks old)6 was buried on his back next to a young adultburied on his side (18-22 years old).7 Both deceased were oriented in the same way,with flexed limbs. Earth inhumations are mostly single and primary, except for one (A15.51, cf.below). The skeletonized bodies were always lying on their sides (right or left) at thebottom of the pit in a flexed or contracted position. Beside the pottery objects placedeither next to the head or the feet of the cadaver, the same type of bronze jewels as theones found in the jar burials were discovered as part of the inventory. Infants and chil-dren under 10 years old were interred in this type of burials, which indicates that noage-related change in mortuary gestures can be noticed. On the other hand, these buri-als were used in both Early and Late Khabur levels. In contrast with the jar burials, theearth burials were used for both children and adults.Burial A15.51 is a complex earth pit, recovered twenty centimeters below the floorsurface of a mud-brick structure. The skeletonized body was lying inside a rectangu-lar pit, oriented north to south. The funerary structure was delimited with elongated andcompacted mud-bricks. The skull was disarticulated and placed at opposite ends of thegrave. The trunk and the pelvis bone have kept their anatomical connection. The ab-sence of a significant amount of bones, the distribution of bones within the appropri-ate region of the original body space, and finally the displacement of the skull, all theseosteological observations suggest anthropic post mortem intervention with displace-ment of dry bones. Thus, A15.51 was a primary deposition with reintervention that oc-curred later. Evidence for such burial practice is well documented in several sites fromdifferent periods, but appears to be unusual in Mozan. The Place of Children in the Ancient Society of Urkesh (Tell Mozan, Northeastern Syria) 615  Age estimated through the length of the femur bone based on the tables of Fazekas and Kosa (1978).  6  Age estimated through the length of the femur bone based on the tables of Fazekas and Kosa (1978).  7  Age estimated through the pelvis bone, using the method proposed by Schmitt (2005). II. 3. BUILT CHAMBER TOMBSMore elaborated tombs built usually of stone or mud-brick were discovered in severalMiddle Bronze Age sites.8 This type has appeared since the sixth millennium BCE inseveral sites in the ancient Near East (Akkermans and Schwartz 2003). In Mozan, twobuilt chamber tombs were discovered: A16.54/60 and A7.525/530 (Fig. 5). Both wereconstructed of mud-brick, following a rectangular plan (2x3 meters) with an entry pas-sage located in one of the walls at its mid-point. Six individuals were buried in eachone. Skeletons in grave A16.54/60 were found disarticulated and badly preserved.Human bones were found scattered throughout the western end of the chamber (threeadults aged more than 20, two children – respectively 1-2 and 6-7 years old, and onevery young individual less than 36 weeks old. Some fauna was discovered mixed withthe skeletons. It is a multi-burial believed to be a re-use since the bones have beenfound in a pile (not laid out), concentrated towards one side. In grave A7.525/530, five adults and one child were buried inside the funerarystructure. The adult skeletonized bodies (all aged more than 20) were laying north tosouth on their sides (three on their right sides, and one on his left side). The upper andlower limbs were flexed towards the side. The child (2.5-3.5 years old at death) wasplaced between two adults, following the same orientation as the adults’ bodies, butlying on his/her back; with upper limbs extended along the side, knees flexed and legsfolded to the exterior of the body. So even when children were buried together withadults in the same grave, their body position differed from that of the adults; this ob-servation confirms that there were special mortuary gestures. No funerary objects werefound in these two graves.CONCLUSIONMortuary practices reflect a society’s social organization and cultural values. Theanalysis of Middle Bronze Age mortuary practices regarding children at Tell Mozan hasshown specific characteristics linked to age. Children received proper funerary treat-ment that distinguished them from adult individuals. These mortuary patterns wereprobably socially selected and do not represent random acts. Jar burials were reserved only for children less than 7 years old and only during theEarly Khabur levels (2000-1900 BC). This type seems to have been replaced within theLate Khabur period (1900-1600 BC) by the simple/complex earth pits. In both cases(jar burials and earth pits), burials were mostly primary and single, with the exceptionof two graves containing two perinatal individuals in the same jar burial and a doubleburial where the infant was buried with an adult in the same pit. Secondary inhuma-tion was less used (only one example with reference to children). Infants and childrenwere not excluded from the multiple ‘familial’ burials. In these examples, when the62 Arwa Kharobi, Patrice Courtaud, Henri Duday8 Such as Tell Tweini in Syria (Hameeuw et al. 2008). original position of inhumation was reconstructed, we have observed that childrenwere buried in a body position not similar to that of adults. These observations lead usto propose that age was an important factor in the choice of mortuary practices. Chil-dren had a special social status in the ancient society of Mozan. This pattern occurs inother sites dating to the Middle Bronze Age in both Mesopotamia and Levant. Indeed,the skeleton was a part of a person that interacted within the social environment in adynamic way. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSWe thank A.-m. Tiller (UMR 5199, PACEA, CNRS) for useful discussions, LauraRamos for the anthropological fieldwork she did on the archaeological site of TellMozan, and finally the team from the Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums(DGAM), Damascus, Syria. We would also like to thank G. Buccellati and M. Kelly-Buccellati for granting permission to study the human bones of Mozan as part of thethesis research conducted by A. Kharobi.  BibliographyAkkermans, P.M.MG. and Schwartz, G.M. 2003 The Archaeology of Syria, From Complex Hunter-Gathers to Early UrbanSocieties (ca. 16,000 – 300 BC), Cambridge.Buccellati, G. and Kelly-Buccellati, M. 2001 The Royal Palace at Urkesh and the daughter of Naram-Sin: in Les AnnalsArchéologiques Arabes Syriennes, Revue d’archéologique et d’histoire XLIV,pp. 63-69.Duday, H. 2005 L’archéothanatologie ou l’archéologie de la mort: in O. Dutour, J.-J. Hublin,B. Vandermeersch (eds), Objets et méthodes en paléoanthropologie, Paris,pp. 153-216.2009 The Archaeology of Death, Lectures in Archaeothanatology, translated byAnna Maria Cipriani and John Pearce, Oxford and Oakville.Fazekas, I.-G. and Kosa, F. 1978  Forensic Fetal Osteology, Budapest.Hameeuw, H., Vansteenhuyse, K., Jans, G., Bretschneider, J. and Van Lerberghe, K. 2008 Living with the dead. Tell Tweini: Middle Bronze Age tombs in an urban con-text: in J.M. Cordoban, M. Molist, M.C. Perez, I. Rubio, S. Martinez (eds),Proceedings of the 5th International Congress on the Archaeology of the An-cient Near East, Madrid, April 3-8 2006, vol. II, pp. 143-151.The Place of Children in the Ancient Society of Urkesh (Tell Mozan, Northeastern Syria) 63Salles, J.-F. 1995 Rituel mortuaire et rituel social à Ras Shamra/Ougarit: in S. Campbell and A.Green (eds), The Archaeology of Death in the Ancient Near East, Oxford, pp.171-184.Thalmann, J.-P. 2006  Tell Arqa – I. Les niveaux de l’âge du Bronze. Volume I: Texte (BibliothèqueArchéologique et Historique 177), Beyrouth.64 Arwa Kharobi, Patrice Courtaud, Henri DudayThe Place of Children in the Ancient Society of Urkesh (Tell Mozan, Northeastern Syria) 65Fig. 1: Localization of Tell Mozan inred; to the left – a reconstruction ofthe site in the Bronze Age.Fig. 2: A child in situ buried inside a jar; to the right – one of the jar burials foundin Mozan with a child inside. Fig. 3: Two probable neonatesburied in a jar and covered withanother, note the ‘head to tail’ po-sition, drawn by L. Ramos. 66 Arwa Kharobi, Patrice Courtaud, Henri DudayFig. 4: A10.39B – a mock pitched roof tomb with two individuals inside: a young adult and a neonate. The Place of Children in the Ancient Society of Urkesh (Tell Mozan, Northeastern Syria) 67Fig. 5: A7.525/530 – a built chamber tomb where 5 adults and one child were buried inside, fol-lowing the same orientation but not the same position.

The place of Children in the Ancient Society of Urkesh (Tell Mozan, Northeastern Syria) in the Middle Bronze Age (2000-1600 BC): An Anthropological Approach

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The place of Children in the Ancient Society of Urkesh (Tell Mozan, Northeastern Syria) in the Middle Bronze Age (2000-1600 BC): An Anthropological Approach

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