In 2020 the house of the archaeological mission of Tell Afis in Saraqib was reopened by the Directorate of Antiquities to recover the materials still present in the warehouses after the devastation occurred during the war. These materials, essentially pottery, lithics, bones, and paleobotanical specimens, were transferred to the museum of Marrat al-Nouman, also damaged during the war.

In 2021 the archaeologists of the University of Florence carried out a mission of control and first intervention to safeguard these materials in this museum with the preliminary arrangement of 140 boxes for their transferral to the museum of Hama. In December 2021, the mission’s own house was inspected by the two co-directors of the excavation to verify its conditions and damage suffered.

In 2022, two campaigns were carried out for assessment and reorganization of the materials transferred to the Hama Museum in collaboration with the institution’s local staff. On these occasions a series of restoration works on some vases of particular interest has also begun. Given the amount of material still to be checked, it is expected that the work started can be completed in at least two further campaigns.

Nel 2020 la casa della missione archeologica di Tell Afis a Saraqib è stata riaperta dalla Direzione delle antichità per recuperare i materiali ancora presenti nei magazzini dopo la devastazione occorsa durante il conflitto bellico. Questi materiali, essenzialmente ceramica, litica, ossa e campioni paleobotanici, sono stati trasferiti all’interno del museo di Marrat al-Nouman, anch’esso danneggiato nel corso della guerra.

Nel 2021 è stata compiuta da parte degli archeologi dell’Università di Firenze una missione di controllo e primo intervento di salvaguardia su questi materiali dentro tale museo con la sistemazione preliminare di 140 casse allo scopo di predisporne il trasferimento al museo di Hama. Nel dicembre del 2021 la casa stessa della missione è stata oggetto di un sopralluogo da parte delle due codirettrici dello scavo per verificarne le condizioni e i danni subiti.

Nel 2022 sono stati realizzati due interventi di censimento e riorganizzazione del materiale trasferito nel museo di Hama con la collaborazione del personale locale dell’istituzione. In queste occasioni si è anche avviato una serie di interventi di restauro su alcuni vasi di particolare interesse. Data la quantità di materiali ancora da ricontrollare, si prevede che il lavoro avviato possa essere completato in almeno due ulteriori campagne.

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S.M. Cecchini, Il sondaggio stratigrafico: Egitto e Vicino Oriente X, 2 (1987), pp. 85-91

S. Mazzoni, Tell Afis and the Chronology of the Iron Age in Syria: Annales Archéologiques Arabes Syriennes 40 (1990), pp. 76-82

S. Mazzoni, Observations about Iron Age glyptics from Tell Afis and Tell Mardikh, in P. Matthiae, M. van Loon, H. Weiss (eds), Resurrecting the Past. A Joint Tribute to A. Bounni, Leiden 1990, pp. 215-226

S. Mazzoni, Afis: American Journal of Archaeology 95/4 (1991), pp. 730-732

S. Mazzoni (ed.), Tell Afis e l’Età del Ferro, Pisa 1992

S.M. Cecchini, Tell Afis (Syria): Orient Express 1993/1, pp. 10-11

S. Mazzoni, Tell Afis, American Journal of Archaeology 98 (1994), pp. 146-149

S.M. Cecchini, Tell Afis (Syrie): travaux de la mission archéologique italienne en 1994: Orient Express 1994/3, pp. 84-86

L. Lazzarini, R. Falcone, F. Burragato, G. Galetti, S. Calogero, Caratterizzazione chimico-fisica di ceramiche dell’Età del Ferro di Tell Afis (Siria), in F. Burragato, O. Grubessi, L. Lazzarini (eds), 1st European Workshop on Archaeological Ceramics, Roma 1994, pp. 269-280

R. Falcone, G. Consolini, The Microporosity of Low Fired Iron Age Ceramics: the Role of the Calcareous Skeleton: Science and Technology for Cultural Heritage 3 (1994), pp. 57-62

F. Venturi, A propos de l’utilisation du bois dans l’architecture du Levant préhellénistique. Quelques données de Tell Afis (Syrie): Orient Express 1995/2, pp. 54-56

S. Mazzoni, S.M. Cecchini (eds), Tell Afis (Siria) 1994. Rapporto preliminare: Egitto e Vicino Oriente XVIII (1995), pp. 243-278

S.M. Cecchini, Scavi a Tell Afis (Siria). La campagna 1994: Studi Orientali e Linguistici V (1994-1995), pp. 409-412

R. Falcone, L. Lazzarini, G. Galetti, Archaeometric Study of pre- and protohistoric pottery from Tell Afis (Syria), in AA.VV., Atti del "Third European Meeting on Ancient Ceramics", Riccione 1995, pp. 89-100

F. Venturi, Una «Fiasca del Pellegrino» da Tell Afis: l’evoluzione dei «Pilgrim Flasks» cananaici nel passaggio tra Bronzo Tardo e Ferro I: Vicino Oriente X (1996), pp. 147-161

F. Venturi, Mission Archéologique de Tell Afis (Syrie). Campagne 1996: Orient Express 1997/1, pp. 6-8

I. Oggiano, The Pottery of Iron Age II from Tell Afis: Contributi della Scuola di Specializzazione in Archeologia dell’Università degli Studi di Pisa I (1997), pp. 185-211

S.M. Cecchini, S. Mazzoni (eds), Tell Afis (Siria). Scavi sull’acropoli 1989-1992/The 1989-1992 Excavations on the Acropolis, Pisa 1998

S. Mazzoni, Tell Afis e la piana del Jazr, in AA.VV., Missioni Archeologiche Italiane. La ricerca archeologica, antropologica, etnologica, Roma 1998, pp. 303-308

S. Mazzoni, Tell Afis 1992. Rapport préliminaire sur la campagne 1992: Chronique archéologique en Syrie 1 (1998), pp. 84-87

S. Mazzoni, Tell Afis 1996: Chronique archéologique en Syrie 2 (1998), pp. 69-76

S. Mazzoni, Tell Afis 1997: Chronique archéologique en Syrie 2 (1998), pp. 193-198

S. Mazzoni, The Italian Excavations of Tell Afis (Syria): from Chiefdom to an Aramaean State, Pisa 1998

S. Mazzoni, Une nouvelle stèle d’époque araméenne de Tell Afis (Syrie): Transeuphratène 16 (1998), pp. 9-18

S. Mazzoni, Tell Afis and its Region in the Late Chalcolithic Period: Annales Archéologiques Arabes Syriennes 43 (1999), pp. 97-109

I. Oggiano, Cataloguistics: the Experience at Tell Afis, Syria, in A. Hausleiter, A. Reiche (eds), Iron Age Pottery in Northern Mesopotamia, Northern Syria and South-Eastern Anatolia, Münster 1999, pp. 377-387

S. Mazzoni (ed.), Tell Afis Siria 1999: Egitto e Vicino Oriente XXII-XXIII (1999-2000), pp. 5-68

S.M. Cecchini, Un bâtiment mistérieux sur l’acropole de Tell Afis, in P. Matthiae et alii (eds), Proceedings of the First International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Roma 2000, pp. 199-204

S.M. Cecchini, Textile Industry in Northern Syria During the Iron Age According to the Evidence of the Tell Afis Excavations, in G. Bunnens (ed.), Essays on Syria in the Iron Age (Abr-Nahrain Supplement 7), 2000, pp. 211-234

S. Mazzoni, Syria and the Chronology of the Iron Age: ISIMU 3 (2000), pp. 121-138

F. Venturi, La première Age du Fer à Tell Afis et en Syrie Septentrionale, in G. Bunnens (ed.), Essays on Syria in the Iron Age, Ancient Near Eastern Studies Supplement 7, Louvain/Paris/Sterling 2000, pp. 505-536

F. Venturi, Tell Afis et la “Dark Age” (les niveaux de la fin du Bronze récent II et de l’âge du Fer I), in P. Matthiae et al. (eds), Proceedings of the First International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Rome, may 18th-23rd 1998, Rome 2000, pp. 1715-1722

B. Wilkens, Archaeozoology Westwards: The Fauna of Tell Afis (Syria): Topoi, Suppl. 2 (2000), pp. 5-14

B. Wilkens, Faunal Remains from Tell Afis (Syria), in M. Mashkour, A.M. Choyke, H. Buitenhuis, F. Poplin (eds), Archaeozoology of the Near East IVB. Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on the Archaeozoology of Southwestern Asia and Adjacent Areas, Groningen 2000, pp. 29-39

S. Mazzoni, Tell Afis and the Lu‘ash in the Aramaean Period, in P.M.M. Daviau, J.W. Wevers, M. Weigl (eds), The World of the Aramaeans II. Studies in History and Archaeology in Honour of Paul-Eugène Dion, Sheffield 2001, pp. 99-114

M.G. Amadasi Guzzo, Une empreinte de sceau de Tell Afis: Orientalia 70/3 (2001), pp. 318-324

S. Cecchini, Il re e la dea con il disco su un sigillo a stampo di Tell Afis: Vicino Oriente, Quad 3/1 (2002) [=M.G. Amadasi, M. Liverani, P. Matthiae (eds), Da Pyrgi a Mozia. Studi sull’archeologia del Mediterraneo in memoria di Antonia Ciasca, Roma 2002], pp. 153-161

D. Giannessi, Tell Afis: The Late Chalcolithic Painted Ware: Levant 34 (2002), pp. 83-97

S. Mazzoni (ed.), Tell Afis Siria 2000-2001: Egitto e Vicino Oriente XXV (2002), pp. 1-72

E. Merluzzi, Un tripode in basalto da Tell Afis. Origine ed evoluzione dei recipienti litici a tre piedi cerimoniali e/o rituali, Egitto e Vicino Oriente 25 (2002), pp. 231-267

S. Mazzoni, Tell Afis: A Walled Town of Many Phases: Annales Archéologiques Arabes Syriennes XLV-XLVI (2002-2003), pp. 99-106

M. Oddone, C. De Gregorio, S. Mazzoni, G. Bigazzi, Provenance studies of Obsidian Artefacts from the Tell Afis Site (Syria) using the Fission-Track Dating Method: Revue d’Archéometrie 27 (2003), pp. 131-135

S. Mazzoni (ed.), Tell Afis Siria 2002-2004: Egitto e Vicino Oriente XXVIII (2005), pp. 1-138

F. Venturi, La decorazione a figure nella ceramica dipinta dell’Età del Ferro I a Tell Afis (Siria): Agoge II (2005), pp. 71-86

F. Venturi, Deux dépôts de fondation d’astragales à Tell Afis (Syrie): Orient Express 2006/1, pp. 27-29

G. Affanni, A. Di Michele, Le fortificazioni orientali dell'acropoli di Tell Afis (Siria) dal Bronzo Antico al Ferro I: Ocnus 15 (2007), pp. 9-22

C. Felli, S. Mazzoni, Bridging the 3rd/2nd millennium divide: the Afis and Ebla evidence, in C. Marro, C. Kuzucuoglu (eds), Societés humaines et changement climatique à la fin du troisième millénaire: une crise a-t-elle eu lieu en Haute Mésopotamie?, Varia Anatolica XIX, Paris 2007, pp. 205-224

S. Mazzoni, Tell Afis 2007 Field Season Preliminary Report: Annales Archéologiques Arabes Syriennes 49 (2006-2007), pp. 23-30

F. Venturi, La Siria nell’età delle trasformazioni (XIII-X sec. a.C.). Nuovi contributi dallo scavo di Tell Afis, Studi e Testi Orientali 8, Serie Archeologica 1, Bologna 2007

G. Affanni, Astragalus bone in Ancient Near East: Ritual depositions in Iron Age I in Tell Afis, in J. M. Córdoba, M. Molist, M. C. Pérez, I. Rubio, S. Martínez (eds), Proceedings of the 5th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Madrid, April 3-8 2006, I. Madrid 2008, pp. 77-92

S.M. Cecchini, G. Affanni, A. Di Michele, Tell Afis. The walled acropolis (Middle Bronze Age to Iron Age I). A work in progress, in J. M. Córdoba, M. Molist, M. C. Pérez, I. Rubio, S. Martínez (eds), Proceedings of the 5th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Madrid, April 3-8 2006, I. Madrid 2008, pp. 383-391

C. Felli, E. Merluzzi, EB-MB Afis: A single cultural tradition between two phases?, in H. Kühne, R.M. Czichon, R. Janoscha Kreppner (eds), Proceedings of the 4th International Congress of the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, 29th march–3rd april 2004, Freie Universität, II, Wiesbaden 2008, pp. 97-110

S. Mazzoni, Tell Afis, centro siriano tra preistoria e storia: La Parola del Passato 63 (2008), pp. 102-123

S. Mazzoni, Assyrian-Style seals at Tell Afis, in D. Bonatz, R.M. Czichon, F. Janoscha Kreppner (eds), Fundstellen. Gesammelte Schriften zur Archäologie und Geschichte Altvorderasiens ad honorem Hartmut Kühne, Wiesbaden 2008, pp. 155-162

F. Venturi, Eléments de continuité dans l’architecture domestique du Levant à travers l’âge obscur; le cas des maisons aux piliers, in H. Kühne, R.M. Czichon, R. Janoscha Kreppner (eds), Proceedings of the 4th International Congress of the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, 29th march–3rd april 2004, Freie Universität, I, Wiesbaden 2008, pp. 587-600

F. Venturi, The Sea People in the Levant: a North-Syrian Perspective, in J. M. Córdoba, M. Molist, M. C. Pérez, I. Rubio, S. Martínez (eds), Proceedings of the 5th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Madrid, April 3-8 2006, I. Madrid 2008, pp. 365-382

M.G. Amadasi Guzzo, Un fragment de stèle araméenne de Tell Afis: Orientalia 78 (2009), pp. 336-347

S. Soldi, Aramaeans and Assyrians in North-Western Syria: Material Evidence from Tell Afis: Syria 86 (2009), pp. 97-118

G. Affanni, A. Di Michele, The Development of Defence Strategies at Tell Afis (Syria) from Chalcolithic to Iron Age, in P. Matthiae, F. Pinnock, L. Nigro, N. Marchetti (eds), Proceedings of the 6th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East. May, 5th-10th 2008, “Sapienza” - Università di Roma, II, Wiesbaden 2010, pp. 39-54

S. Cecchini, I porta-köhöl di Tell Afis, originale esempio di artigianato siro-ittita, in R. Dolce (ed.), Quale Oriente? Omaggio a un Maestro. Studi di arte e archeologia del Vicino Oriente in memoria di Anton Moortgat a 30 anni dalla sua scomparsa, Palermo 2010, pp. 411-430

B. Chiti, Dynamiques de réoccupation: le passage du Bronze Récent au Fer I à Tell Afisin F. Venturi (ed.), Societies in Transition. Evolutionary Processes in the Northern Levant between Late Bronze Age II and Early Iron Age, papers presented on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the new excavation in Tell Afis, Bologna, 15th november 2007, Bologna 2010, pp. 29-38.

A. Di Michele, Osservazioni sulla coroplastica antropomorfa del Bronzo Medio dall’Area N di Tell Afis (Siria): Ocnus 18 (2010), pp. 145-154

S. Mazzoni, Santuari a Tell Afis nell’età del Ferro (I mill. a.C.) e l’architettura templare del Levante, in G. Bartoloni, P. Matthiae, L. Nigro, L. Romano (eds), Tiro, Cartagine, Lixus: nuove acquisizioni (Atti del Convegno Internazionale in onore di Maria Giulia Amadasi Guzzo (Roma 24-25 novembre 2008), Roma 2010, pp. 143-161

F. Venturi, Cultural Breakdown or Evolution? The Impact of Changes in 12th B.C. Tell Afis, in F. Venturi (ed.), Societies in Transition. Evolutionary Processes in the Northern Levant between Late Bronze Age II and Early Iron Age, papers presented on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the new excavation in Tell Afis, Bologna, 15th november 2007, Bologna 2010, pp. 1-27

F. Venturi, L’età oscura nel Levante settentrionale alla luce dei dati provenienti dal sito di Tell Afis (Siria), in M. Jasink, L. Bombardieri (eds), Researches in Cypriote History and Archaeology, Proceedings of the Meeting held in Florence, April 29-30th 2009, Firenze 2010, pp. 121-134

S. Mazzoni, Templi e corredi del culto a Tell Afis nell’Età del Ferro e le tradizioni del Levante, in P. De Vita, F. Venturi (eds), Da Tell Afis a Mozia, Lugano 2011 (=Byrsa VIII 15/16 [2009]), pp. 27-53

S. Soldi, Notes on a bronze bowl from Tell Afis, in M. Rossi (ed.), Archaeology for Cooperation: Afis - Deinit and the Museum of Idlib-Activities in the frame of the MEDA Project, [Bacoli (NA)] 2011, pp. 110-116

F. Venturi, Un vase zoomorphe du Fer I à Tell Afis (Syrie): Syria 88 (2011), pp. 251-263

F. Venturi, The North Syrian Plateau Before and After the Fall of the Hittite Empire: New Evidence from Tell Afis, in K. Strobel (ed.), Empires after the Empire: Anatolia, Syria and Assyria after Suppiluliuma II (ca. 1200-800/700 B.C.) (EOTHEN 17), Firenze 2011, pp. 139-166

A. Archi, Hittites at Tell Afis: the Cuneiform Tablets, Orientalia 81 (2012), pp. 32-55

A. Archi, The Texts from Tell Afis: Evidence from the Periphery of the Hittite Empire, Origini 34 (2012), pp. 413-420

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A. Di Michele, M.E. Pedrosi, Fortification and burial grounds in Tell Afis (Syria) between middle Bronze Age and Late Bronze Age, in F. Borrell Tena, M. Bouso García, A. Gómez Bach, C. Tornero Dacasa, O. Vicente Campos (eds), Broadening Horizons 3. Conference of Young Researchers Working in the Ancient Near East, Bellaterra 2012, pp. 169-182

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S. Mazzoni, The Excavations of Tell Afis. 28th Campaign - Year 2010: Chronique archéologique en Syrie 6 (2012), pp. 183-193

S. Mazzoni, Temples at Tell ʽĀfīṣ in Iron Age I-III, in J. Kamlah (ed.), Temple Building and Temple Cult. Architecture and Cultic Paraphernalia of Temples in the Levant (2.-1. Mill. B.C.E.). Proceedings of a Conference on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Institute of Biblical Archaeology at the University of Tübingen (28–30 May 2010), Abhandlungen des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins, 41, Wiesbaden 2012, pp. 23-40

S. Soldi, Notes on green glazed funnels from the Iron Age Temple AI at Tell Afis, in R. Matthews, J. Curtis (eds), Proceedings of the 7th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, 12 April – 16 April 2010, the British Museum and UCL, London, II, Wiesbaden 2012, pp. 459-477

F. Venturi, New evidence of cultural links between Syria and Anatolia through analysis of Late Bronze Age II Tell Afis material culture, Orientalia 81 (2012), pp. 1-31

A. Archi, F. Venturi, Tell Afis in the Thirteenth Century B.C.E. Under the Rule of the Hittites: Near Eastern Archaeology 76 (2013), pp. 214-222

G. Carenti, G. Minunno, The Role of Birds in Tell Afis (Syria): Sacrifices and Rituals in a Temple Area during the Iron Age, in AA.VV., Identity and Connectivity. Proceedings of the 16th Symposium on Mediterranean Archaeology, Florence, Italy, 1–3 March 2012, I, Oxford 2013, pp. 119-126

S. Mazzoni, Seals and Seal Impressions of the Iron Age, in W. Orthmann, P. Matthiae, M. al-Maqdissi (eds), Archéologie et Histoire de la Syrie I. La Syrie de l’époque néolithique à l’âge du fer (Schriften zur Vorderasiatischen Archäologie I,I), Wiesbaden 2013, pp. 571-583

S. Mazzoni, Tell Afis. History and Excavations: Near Eastern Archaeology 76 (2013), pp. 204-212

S. Mazzoni, S. Soldi (eds), Syrian Archaeology in Perspective. Celebrating 20 Years of Excavations at Tell Afis (Ricerche di Archeologia del Vicino Oriente 4), Pisa 2013

F. Venturi, The Transition from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age at Tell Afis, Syria (phases VII-III), in K.A. Yener (ed.), Across the Border: Late Bronze-Iron Age Relations Between Syria and Anatolia. Proceedings of a Symposium held at the Research Center of Anatolian Studies, Koç University, Istanbul, May 31–June 1, 2010 (ANES Supp. 42). Leuven/Paris/Walpole MA 2013, pp. 227-259

M.G. Amadasi Guzzo, Tell Afis in the Iron Age: The Aramaic Inscriptions: Near Eastern Archaeology 77 (2014), pp. 54-57

S.M. Cecchini, Tell Afis in the Iron Age: The Official Buildings of the Eastern Acropolis: Near Eastern Archaeology 77 (2014), pp. 58-63

A. Di Michele, Iron Age II Terrace J at Tell Afis (Syria), in P. Bieliński, M. Gawlikowski, R. Koliński, D. Ławecka, A. Sołtysiak, Z. Wygnańska (eds), Proceedings of the 8th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, 30 April – 4 May 2012, University of Warsaw, II. Wiesbaden 2014, pp. 703-711

S. Mazzoni, Open Spaces around the Temples and their ritual use: archaeological evidence from the Bronze and Iron Age Levant, in N. Laneri (ed.), Defining the Sacred. Approaches to the Archaeology of Religion in the Ancient Near East, Oxford 2014, pp.118-133

S. Mazzoni, The Aramean States during the Iron Age II-III periods, in M. L. Steiner, A. E. Killebrew (eds), The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant c.8000-332 BCE, Oxford 2014, pp. 683-705

S. Mazzoni, The Archaeology of Tell Afis and the Iron Age II-III in Syria: A Reassessment, in F. Baffi, R. Fiorentino, L. Peyronel (eds), Tell Tuqan Excavations and Regional Perspectives. Cultural Developments in Inner Syria from the Early Bronze Age to the Persian/Hellenistic Period. Proceedings of the International Conference, May 15th-17th 2013, Lecce, Galatina 2014, pp. 343-390

F. Venturi, The Late Bronze Age II Pottery Production in Tell Afis, in F. Baffi, R. Fiorentino, L. Peyronel (eds), Tell Tuqan Excavations and Regional Perspectives. Cultural Developments in Inner Syria from the Early Bronze Age to the Persian/Hellenistic Period. Proceedings of the International Conference, May 15th-17th 2013, Lecce, Galatina 2014, pp. 133-156

F. Venturi, The Late Bronze Age Sequence at Tell Afis, in F. Baffi, L. Peyronel, R. Fiorentino (eds), Tell Tuqan Excavations and Regional Perspectives. Cultural Developments in Inner Syria from the Early Bronze Age to the Persian/Hellenistic Period, Lecce 2014, pp. 297-323

S. Mazzoni, Tell Afis in the Iron Age: The Temple on the Acropolis: Near Eastern Archaeology 77 (2014), pp. 44-52

B. Chiti, Destruction, Abandonement, Reoccupation. The contribution of urbanism and architecture to the defining socio-cultural entities in Northern Levant between Late Bronze and Iron Ages, in G. Garbati and T. Pedrazzi (eds), Trasformation and Crisis in the Mediterranean. “Identity” and Interculturality in the Levant and Phoenician West during the 12th-8th Centuries BCE [Supplemento alla Rivista di Studi Fenici, XLII (2014)], Roma 2015, pp.49-64

P. D'Amore, Iron Age Clay Figurines: a point of view from Tell Afis, P. Ciafardoni and D. Giannessi (eds), From the Treasures of Syria. Essays on Art and Archaeology in Honour of Stefania Mazzoni (PIHANS, 126), Leiden 2015, pp. 261-286

F. Venturi, Storage Jars and Household Storage Methods in Tell Afis between Late Bronze Age II and Iron Age II, in P. Ciafardoni and D. Giannessi (eds), From the Treasures of Syria. Essays on Art and Archaeology in Honour of Stefania Mazzoni (PIHANS, 126), Leiden 2015, pp. 75-108

B. Chiti, Un sceau-cylindre mitannien de Tell Afis (Syrie), in B. Perello and A. Tenu (eds), Parcours d'Orient. Mélanges offerts à Christine Kepinski, Oxford 2016, pp. 77-83

S. Mazzoni, Storm gods at Tell Afis and a Syro-Hittite seal, in P. Butterlin, J. Patrier, P. Quenet (eds), Milles et une Empreintes. Un Alsacien en Orient. Mélanges en l’honneur du 65e Anniversaire de D. Beyer, Subartu XXXVI, Turnhout 2016, pp. 299-318

S. Mazzoni, Identity and multiculturality in the Northern Levant of the 9th-7th century B.C. with a case study on Tell Afis, in O. Sergi, M. Oeming, I. de-Hulster (eds), In Search of Aram and Israel: Politics, Culture and Identity, Orientalische Religionen in der Antike Ägypten, Israel, Alter Orient 20, Tübingen 2016, pp. 281-304

S. Mazzoni, Tell Afis (Idlib), in Y. Kanjou, A. Tsuneki (eds), A History of Syria in One Hundred Sites, Oxford 2016, pp. 218-223

S. Mazzoni, Tell Afis. Histoires de guerre d’une région sacrée, in M. Al-Maqdissi, E. Ishaq (eds), Syrie et le désastre archéologique du Proche-Orient “Palmyre cité martyre”, Beit ed-Din 2016, pp. 133-134

S. Mazzoni, Il tempio di Tell Afis: rito e culto nell’Età degli Aramei (Ferro II-III), in P. Matthiae (ed.), L’archeologia del sacro e l’archeologia del culto, Sabratha, Ebla, Ardea, Lanuvio – Ebla e la Siria dall’Età del Bronzo all’Età del Ferro, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei-Atti dei convegni 304, Roma 2016, pp. 337-362

G. Minunno, Iron Age I Kernoi from Tell Afis: Levant 48 (2016), pp. 52-62

S. Mazzoni, Riflessioni sul patrimonio archeologico siriano e la sua storia recente, in B.M. Tomassini Pieri (ed.), Chi ha diritto alla cultura? La situazione dei beni archeologici in Iraq e Siria. Atti della Giornata di studi (Roma, 16 aprile 2016), Rome 2017, pp. 43-53

S. Mazzoni, Upstream from Alalakh: The Lower Orontes Area in Syria, in Ç. Maner, M. T. Horowitz, G. Allan (eds), Overturning Certainties in Near Eastern Archaeology. A Festschrift in Honor of K. Aslıhan Yener (Culture and History of the Ancient Near East 90), Leiden 2017, pp. 453-465

G. Minunno, Ritual Activities at Tell Afis in the Iron Age, Aram 29 (2017), pp. 71-88

G. Minunno, Some Considerations on the Funnels from Tell Afis: Ash-Sharq - Bulletin of the Ancient Near East 1 (2017), pp. 18-21

S.M. Cecchini, Un cucchiaio d’avorio a Tell Afis, in A Oriente del Delta. Scritti sull’Egitto e il Vicino Oriente antico in onore di Gabriella Scandone Matthiae [Contributi e Materiali di Archeologia Orientale 18 (2018)], pp. 149-158.

P. D’Amore, Donne e cavalieri. La coroplastica di Età Achemenide da Tell Afis (Siria Settentrionale), in A Oriente del Delta. Scritti sull’Egitto e il Vicino Oriente antico in onore di Gabriella Scandone Matthiae [Contributi e Materiali di Archeologia Orientale 18 (2018)], pp. 175-193

S. Mazzoni, Tell Afis: From the Late Bronze to the Iron Age, in J. Abdulmassih, S. Nishiyama (eds), Proceedings of ISCACH-Beirut 2015, Oxford 2018, pp. 309-318

S. Mazzoni, In search of a Land. The Age of Migrations, Exoduses and Diaspora in the Eastern Mediterranean (13th-11th c. BCE), in Jan Driessen (ed.), An Archaeology of Forced Migrations. Crisis-induced mobility and the Collapse of the 13th c. BCE (Aegis 15), Louvain 2018, pp. 203-217

G. Minunno, The Archaeology of Religion: Tell Afis during the Iron Age II–III, in B. Horejs, C. Schwall, V. Müller, M. Luciani, M. Ritter, M. Giudetti, R.B. Salisbury, F. Höflmayer and T. Bürge (eds), Proceedings of the 10th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East 25–29 April 2016, Vienna, Wiesbaden 2018, pp. 301-313

C. Felli, An Old Syrian Seal from Tell Afis (NW Syria): Asia Anteriore Antica. Journal of Ancient: Near Eastern Cultures 1 (2019), pp. 43-55

S. Mazzoni, Iron I Temples at Tell Afis, in F. Briquel Chatonnet, E. Capet, E. Gubel, C, Roche-Hawley (eds), Nuit de pleine lune sur Amurru. Mélanges offerts à Leila Badre, Paris 2019, pp. 307-321

T. Pedrazzi, Identité 'ethnique' et culturelle: remarques sur la céramique d'inspiration égéenne/chypriote de Tell Afis et du Levant septentrional au début de l'âge du Fer, in F. Briquel Chatonnet, E. Capet, E. Gubel, C, Roche-Hawley (eds), Nuit de pleine lune sur Amurru. Mélanges offerts à Leila Badre, Paris 2019, pp. 355-381

M. Pucci, S. Soldi, Going Red in the Iron Age II: The Emergence of Red-Slip Pottery in Northern Levant with specific Reference to Tell Afis, Chatal Höyük and Zincirli Höyük, in S. Valentini, G. Guarducci (eds), Between Syria and Highlands. Studies in Honor of Giorgio Buccellati and Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati (Studies on the Ancient Near East and the Mediterranean 3), Rome 2019, pp. 352-364

S. Raneri, F. Venturi, V. Palleschi, S. Legnaioli, M. Lezzerini, S. Pagnotta, M. Ramacciotti, G. Gallello, Social and technological changes in the ceramic production of the Northern Levant during the LBA/IA transition: New evidence about the Sea People issue through archaeometry, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 56 (2019), https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278416518302290

S. Soldi, Architectural glazed decorations in the  Iron Age Northern Levant: Two case studies from Tell Afis (Syria) and Zincirli (Turkey): Asia Anteriore Antica. Journal  of  Ancient  Near  Eastern  Cultures 1 (2019), pp. 195-216

S. Mazzoni, Tell Afis and its Plain: a Route to the Amuq and the Mediterranean, in K. A. Yener, T. Ingman (eds), Alalakh and its Neighbours. Proceedings of the 15th Anniversary Symposium at the New Hatay  Archaeological Museum, 10-12 June 2015 (Ancient Near Eastern Studies. Supplement 55), Leuven/Paris/Bristol 2020, pp. 343-365

S. Mazzoni, Gable Seals from Tell Afis: a group of Chalcolithic stamps across Syria and Anatolia, in F. Balossi Restelli, A. Cardarelli, G. M. Di Nocera, L. Manzanilla, L. Mori, G. Palumbi, H. Pittman (eds), Pathways through Arslantepe. Essays in Honour of Marcella Frangipane, Rome 2020, pp. 327-335

F. Venturi, The Excavations of Areas E2-E4 – Phase V-I – The End of the Late Bronze / Iron Age I Sequence. Stratigraphy, Pottery and Small Finds, Florence 2020

A. Di Michele, Tell Afis Area N Excavations Seasons 2001-2007 Phases XI-I Middle Bronze Age/Iron Age I Stratigraphy, Pottery and Small Finds, Florence 2022

D. Giannessi, The late chalcolithic period in western Syria. Tell Afis and Hama, Florence 2022

S. Mazzoni, Ivories in the debate on the Iron I–II archaeology of Syria, in D. Wicke, J. Curtis (eds), Ivories, Rock Reliefs and Merv. Studies on the Ancient Near East in Honour of Georgina Herrmann, Münster 2022, pp. 159-175

The plain of Afis and its hilly flanks have been inhabited since prehistory (Afis I). The first groups of humans came up from the Rift Valley along the Orontes line and, moving through the wadis opening into the Ruj, the eastern branch of the Orontes plain, they settled down on terraces and hilly flanks, where they could take advantage of shelter and a rich landscape for hunting and for gathering plants. When agriculture became the main subsistence strategy, in the Neolithic period, farmers and herders moved from the outskirts down to the plain, gradually spreading and settling in the region of Tell Afis. In the course of the Late Chalcolithic Period (4000-3300 B.C.) the village of Afis (Afis II) grew into a town encircled by a massive wall (M. 1155). The wall, exposed over a length of 25 m, was preserved up to 4 m high. The floor in front of it sloped noticeably downward toward the lower city and a shallow ditch probably faced the wall, diverting run-off from rain for water collection. Materials and mainly pottery assign this sequence to the local Late Chalcolithic 2-3 phases, to be dated before the expansion of south Mesopotamian people (Uruk culture) along the Euphrates, currently fixed from the mid- to the late 4th millennium B.C. (Middle and Late Uruk periods). The town grew slowly during the course of the 3rd millennium in Early Bronze I-IV (Afis III-IV) and the 2nd millennium during the Middle (Afis V) and Late Bronze Ages (Afis VI). Sparse traces of occupation of the Early Bronze Age I were collected just above the debris of the Chalcolithic wall. The area of the acropolis was newly occupied in Early Bronze Age IV A (2400-2250 B.C.) and flourished in Early Bronze IV B (2250-2000 B.C.) (Afis IV). The citadel was then surrounded by a wall 1.80 m wide reinforced by a supplemental rampart covered by a glacis (Area N2) with large stones protecting its base. A private unit occupied the western acropolis (Area E2). In a later phase of the same period, this unit was extensively modified and enlarged. In an intermediate EB/MB phase the area was transformed into a pottery workshop. This unit was still in use in the following MB I (2000-1850). Rooms with domestic installations were separated by a cobbled street. In Middle Bronze I-II (Afis V) the site was once more strongly fortified reaching the physical extension of the tell. The central mound was also enclosed by town walls during MB IB-IIA (1850-1700 B.C.) and the lower town was surrounded by a thick brick wall, which is documented in Area B, on the outer northern edge of the lower tell. On its outskirts six graves were found. The site probably flourished in the early Old Syrian period, around 1800 B.C. when Ebla was the powerful capital of the area. Middle Bronze I-II was a period of major settlement increase and density in the plain. Some sites were located only a few km away, while others were on the fringe of the plain. The passage between Middle and Late Bronze Age is documented only by three inhumations in Area N2 and two in Area E3, which rather demonstrate a functional disruption of the occupation of the acropolis. This probably continued at least until the beginning of Late Bronze Age I (1500-1400 B.C.) when the area was pitted with sparse graves containing the remains of infants accompanied by simple burial objects. It was only in the Late Bronze Age II (1300-1200 B.C.) (Afis VI) that the site recovered its importance and was re-planned. Area E 4 furnishes a coherent sequence for the Late Bronze II and provides a set of primary contexts with well-deposited materials illustrating the cultural horizon of the area, especially concerning pottery technology, which was characterised by mass production and standardization for common wares. In phase VII (of the inner sequence of area E4) a considerable residence was built, which yielded a small archive of Hittite and Hurrian texts, dating back to the mid-13th century; seals and bronze objects attest to increasing internationals connections under the Hittite rule in the region. In phase VI the area was open with evidence of industrial activity in a small unit with a kiln and several fireplaces. In phase Vc-b the whole area was built over with three large residences separated by a cobbled street. To the south of the street lay the Pillared Building (B), to the north the Residency (A), a 300 square meter building; the third building (E) was adjacent to the Residency to the north.

In the last centuries of the 2nd and the beginning of the 1st millennium B.C. Afis increased its role in the region, probably because of its position on the routes linking the Mediterranean to the Euphrates. The lower city reached a maximum density between the 9th and the 7th century B.C., while the acropolis was occupied by ceremonial and residential buildings from the 12th to the 7th century: in other words, throughout the whole Iron Age. For this lengthy period Afis provides what is so far the longest and most complete sequence of occupation in Syria bridging the gap (once called "Dark Age") between the Late Bronze and Iron Age I. This was a crucial period for the history of Syria and Mesopotamia. Significant factors were the emergence of the Aramaean tribes, their slow integration into urban society and eventually their rise to political power. From the 10th to the 8th century B.C., until the time of the Assyrian conquest, a network of larger and smaller states, some of which were ruled by lords and kings of the Hittite dynasty and others by the more recently arrived Aramaeans, participated in a revival of the economy and culture of the region. In Area E, the earliest occupation of Iron Age I (IA) concerns some occasional and sparse reuse by squatters of the ruins of the Late Bronze II buildings, in the local phase Va. C14 dating of burnt seeds gives a calibrated date of 1280-1130 B.C. for this phase. The following Early Iron Age IB (phases IVc-a) documents the construction of a new well-planned domestic unit with buildings facing cobbled streets. The latest phase (Iron Age IC) is marked by a dense agglomeration of houses on the western side of the acropolis. The eastern side of the acropolis (Area G) and the eastern slope (Area N) were also densely occupied in this same period. In Iron Age II-III (900-600 B.C.) the site experienced a further re-planning and its size increased; a large lower town expanded around the base of the older acropolis and was surrounded by an outer wall. Official monumental buildings were erected on the top of the mound over the razed domestic units of Iron I. They were probably patronized by a new political élite that took power at the time of the emergence of the Aramaeans in northern Syria. In area A a sequence of three superimposed buildings has so far been brought to light, which could be identified as temples used from the Late Iron I (Temple AIII) to the late Iron III (Temple AI). The latter was a tripartite building with side rooms and towers on the front, resting on imposing stone foundations. Evidence of its furniture were found: small fragments of basalt sculptures and of a stela carrying an Aramaic inscription, as well as painted incense-burners and glazed architectural features. On the eastern side of Temple I traces of a sequence of another monumental building have been cleared (7th cent. B.C.). A further official building occupied the eastern rise of the acropolis; this is an enigmatic unique structure, an open-air almost square space defined as the Square Courtyard, with a carefully cobbled floor. Tell Afis could be identified with the city of Hazrek, mentioned in sources dating to the period from the mid-9th to the mid-8th century B.C. as the capital of the kingdom of Hamath and Lu‘ash. The long Aramic inscription on a fragmentary basalt stela carved with the figure of a man -maybe a king-, discovered on the site in 1908 (now in the Louvre museum, Paris), mentions the reconstruction of the city and the valiant defence made by king Zakkur against a coalition headed by Bar-Hadad, king of Damascus, and Bar-Gush, king of Bit-Agushi, possibly with the help of the Assyrians. The Assyrian king Adad-nirari III established the frontier between Atarshumki of Arpad and Zakkur of Hamath around 796 B.C. Hazrek, known as Hatarikka in the Assyrian sources and as Hadrach in the Bible, was conquered in 738 B.C. and transformed into a provincial centre. In the late Iron Age the city spread extensively south and east of the acropolis, filling an area already sparsely inhabited during the Middle Bronze Age. A few sites (Tell Serji, Tell Nuwaz) give evidence of the Achaemenid period, not well known at Tell Afis.

Tell Afis lies at the northern border of the fertile Idlib plain, 11 km north of Tell Mardikh/Ebla. The first excavations of the site were conducted in 1970, 1972 and 1978 by the Italian Archaeological Mission of the University of Rome, directed by Paolo Matthiae. They concentrated on the acropolis, where remains of a large building were brought to light as well as densely packed domestic units, suggesting extensive occupation during the Iron Age. A new joint excavation project, directed by Stefania Mazzoni, was started in 1986 by the Universities of Pisa, Roma-La Sapienza and Bologna, aimed primarily at the investigation of the Iron Age levels but also extending the research into the earlier phases. Many operations were planned: in the Lower Town South (Areas D1-2), North (Areas B1-3, F, H, M), on the acropolis along the western (Areas E1-4) and eastern slopes (Areas N1-2), on the western (Areas A1-3, J) and eastern rise (Area G, L). The project, now carried on by OrMe (Fondazione per l'Oriente Mediterraneo) and the University of Florence, under the direction of Stefania Mazzoni, includes the survey of the landscape of Afis marked by the alluvial valley (the Jazr of medieval times) which is bordered on its southern and northern edges by the piedmonts of the Zawiye and Seman mountains, and on its western and eastern sides by the Ruj and the Nahr el Quqeiq depressions. The excavations in Tell Afis and the survey give evidence of a lengthy and continuous occupation of this fertile and nodal plain from the Late Neolithic to the Islamic periods, or archaeological phases Afis I-X.

Tell Afis is a site documenting many phases tracing a long history of urban development. It emerged during the Late Chalcolithic (4th mill. B.C.) as a fortress controlling the fertile agricultural plan of the Jazr, a crossroads between the Mediterranean and the steppe of the interior. It became a populous, fortified town in the Early and Middle Bronze Ages (3rd-2nd mill. B.C.) and, lastly, a capital and centre of the cult for the Aramaeans during the Iron Age (1st mill. B.C.). The archaeological project was, therefore, aimed at bringing to light and documenting this complex series of phases and developments and, at the same time, analysing the environmental and adaptive dynamics and the material and technological structures of the communities who inhabited the site. The project involved three distinct operations, which were carried out during long annual campaigns in Syria between 1986 and 2010: excavations on the site of Tell Afis, surface prospecting and plotting of the surrounding area, and the study and documentation of the finds.

The excavations had two main objectives. In the first place, to reconstruct the sequence of occupation of the site, that is to say, its history starting with the Iron Age (1st mill.) and its internal phases of regional developments. Secondly, to extensively reveal the buildings and related deposits documenting the most relevant archaeological phases. The uncovering of a long, well-preserved stratification of inhabited quarters with abundant pottery found in context enabled us to determine, for the 1st millennium BC., a new cultural sequence of Iron IA-C, IIA-B,-III, today widely adopted for the Syria of that period. The intensive and lengthy excavations campaigns, moreover, brought to light the sacred monumental area on the Iron II-III acropolis as well as an important administrative building with its small archive of Hittite cuneiform tablets dating to the Late Bronze Age II (1300-1200 a.C.), fortifications and other structures from the Early and Middle Bronze Ages (1800-1600 a.C.), an industrial quarter dating to the period of transition between Early and Middle Bronze I (2100-1900 a.C.), storage buildings of Early Bronze III and IV (2500-2200 a.C.) and, lastly, a stretch of Late Chalcolithic Cyclopic escarpment wall (4000-3700 a.C.) which document a proto-historic process of centralisation unparalleled elsewhere in the region. The surface survey was concentrated on the alluvial plain of the Jazr and the surrounding hills. This enabled us to document sites from varying phases and to outline the development of the first Neolithic and Chalcolithic presence west of the hills and its subsequent extension on the Jazr plain and towards the eastern steppe between the Late Chalcolithic and Iron Ages, with fluctuations within the various phases. The geo-morphological, environmental and settlement characteristics of this region show an intense agricultural use of the central plain, with cereals (especially barley) being the main crops, whilst the western hilly areas appear to have specialised in olive growing and the eastern steppe in an integrated form of agriculture with semi-mobile herding of goats and sheep in limited circuits around the villages and on wider, macro-regional circuits on a seasonal basis. Paleo-botanical analyses reveal the prevalence of barley and olives, confirming the importance of agro-pastoral activities in the area underpinning the lengthy ancient, and current, development of Afis. The third aspect of the project still has the aim of registering and cataloguing the data obtained by means of archaeological and archaeo-metric analyses of materials and paleo-botanic and paleo-zoological residues and remains, C14 analyses, and geo-chemical analysis of the pottery, cooking residues and metals. The were mostly begun during the excavation campaigns and have now being completed and prepared for publication. The work of the Tell Afis research group is, today, concentrated on scanning and digitizing the archives held in the laboratory of Oriental Archaeology at the University of Florence in order to then be transmitted to the central archives of the General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums of Syria. Constant monitoring continues of the site of Tell Afis, its territories and sites examined during the surface survey, as well as the Idlib Museum so as to prepare, when this is possible, for eventual intervention to guarantee their conservation.

The project is supported by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (DGSP VI), the Fondazione OrMe Oriente Mediterraneo, and the University of Florence. The universities of Pisa, Bologna, Rome “La Sapienza” and Sassari and the Institute for Studies on the Ancient Mediterranean and the Institute for technologies applied to cultural assets of the National Research Council have also all contributed to the project. The activities of the mission to Tell Afis have been made possible and have always had the support of the Syrian Directorate of Antiquities and Museums, of its inspectors at the mission itself, its officials in the Museums of Iblib and Aleppo, our guards at the site and the numerous labourers who have worked with us on a daily basis for years. Their friendship and dedication have left an indelible memory in all of us.

Area A lies on the western summit of the acropolis of Tell Afis. Here a sequence of temples has been brought to light, which provides an important document of the sacred architecture of Syria in Iron Age I–III. This period, from the 11th to 7th–mid 6th cent. BC, attests to more than five centuries of continuous use and replanning of the main citadel temple and its gradual transformation into a sacred compound with annexes and installations for the cult. At the end of this development, in Iron Age III, it was a sanctuary covering the central part of the acropolis, with a clear articulation of cult structures documenting distinct functions for different rites. Two structures built one on top of the other (AIII.2 and AIII.1) belong to Iron Age I. Both consisted of a hall with entrance to the south, and probably two parallel lines of pillars or columns supporting the roof. A square plastered podium lies nearly in the centre of the later room. This temple was probably in antis. The materials found in the temples constitute a coherent assemblage of vessels for ritual functions. The earliest Iron Age I temple so far documented in Area A was probably dedicated to a weather god. In the course of Iron Age II a new temple (Temple AII) was probably built. Its stone foundations were superimposed on the eastern and western walls of the Iron Age I Temple. Later on, Temple AI was built directly above it and incorporated it within its substructure. Temple AI was a monumental building. Its external walls had massive and very deep foundations made of large limestone and basalt blocks, laid in different courses, which were separated by layers of cobblestones. It was a freestanding tripartite building, 38/32×28 m. Its entrance in the southern façade was framed by abutting heavy towers. The level of the inner central long room was 1.67 m above the level of the southern gate. Consequently, the inner and more sacred part of the temple must have been raised to a higher elevation than the rest of the structure. The longitudinal tripartite plan with the entrance on the short side axis belongs to a local tradition, while the side rooms and the towers in the front constitute a quite distinct variant, combining the native model with imported imperial traditions. It is most likely that the Solomonic temple in Jerusalem was based on temple patterns of this same intercultural character. The area of the vestibule was covered by a thick layer of debris, including a fragment of a stele with an Aramaic inscription citing the name of Hazael, probably the late 9th cent. BC king of Aram. A large corpus of pottery “funnels”, with an end covered by a bluish-whitish glaze and a horn-like handle found around the temple might have decorated the outer façades. The façade of Temple AI was certainly decorated with baked bricks. In front of the temple façade and along its western side was Plaza F. Its original floors were found covered by a quite regular and deep layer of material constituted by the collapse of the bricks of the perimeter walls of the temple. Plaza F, with its whitish plastered floor, extended for 30 m to the south of the temple. Plaza F was bordered by buildings and structures (Unit H) which constituted an annex to the temple. Unit H included two square rooms (H2 and H3), a large circular underground plastered silo (H1) made of mud-bricks and two circular, partially sunken structures (H4–5). To the east of temple AI was a freestanding structure which had a cultic function documented by findings and architecture. A street to the east of Temple AII separated it from a structure which has been labelled Terrace J, in area A2. For this building, two sub-phases (JII.1 and JII.2) have been recognised, both dated to the Iron Age II. In the first phase the mudbricks terrace measured 18.40x4.70 m. Its western and northern walls were reinforced by rows of limestone blocks, and limestone slabs decorated the southern face of the western wall. In the later phase the terrace was raised and enlarged with a mudbricks addition, extending to 6.60 m the total width of the terrace. On the terrace three ritual installations have been found. To the east and to the south of Terrace J lay two open areas, while another street ran along its northern side. To the north of area A1, in Area A3, four squares were excavated in 2003. Here two rooms, which opened onto an open space, were brought to light. One of the rooms included devices for textile activities, while in the open space activities relating to food preparation and cooking took place. This building, dating back to Iron III, remained in use until the transition to the Persian period.

Area B lies on the northern edge of Tell Afis. Here a long trench (20x5 m) was opened in 1999, and widened in 2000 and 2001. A city gate and considerable sections of the city walls and of buildings have been brought to light, belonging to Iron Age II. Also parts of the Middle Bronze I-II city walls have been found. In area B1 the Middle Bronze wall have been exposed over a length of 30 m and a thickness of 8 m, for a preserved height of about 2 m. They rested on virgin soil and were made as a double curtain: the inner one had a mud brick superstructure resting on foundations made of medium and large stones, the outer one consisting only in a mudbrick curtain. On the outskirts of the walls, at a lower level, some tombs were excavated, whose funerary equipment comprised pottery vessels and a nude female figurine with silver earrings. Above the Middle Bronze city walls a household unit was built in Iron Age II, where fine pottery was found (area B2). It was razed and sealed by the city walls of Iron Age III. The walls, constructed entirely of mud bricks, reached up to 5.4 m in thickness. They have been exposed over a length of 15 m. Two opposing mudbrick structures to the east could be identified as the outer buttresses of the Iron Age II-III city gate. To the north of the walls (area B3), the excavations explored remains of a house with small rooms, maybe part of the domestic unit discovered in area B2. A courtyard lay to the east, provided with a silo and a square mudbrick bench, which was part of a textile installation (probably a vertical loom), as hinted to by the discovery of several loom weights. A street ran to the south of the walls, bounded by a residential block.

Area G lies in the eastern part of the acropolis, about 25 m to the east of Terrace J. Here a peculiar building was found, whose function is still unknown. It can be dated to Iron Age II (on the basis of the sherds found on the floor under the inwards collapsed walls). This building was realized by excavating a 20x20 m area, in the Iron Age I levels, to a depth of at least 5 m. The sides were cut at a slight angle and covered with mud bricks walls, thinner at the base (1.8 m) than at the top (2 m), without foundations. The bricks were whitish, orange, red, and amaranth, mostly square (30x30x10 cm) but sometimes rectangular (40x30x10 cm). The walls were supposedly 8 m high, probably standing for at least 3 m over the ground. However, no traces of an entrance or of a stairway, either wooden or made of bricks, were found. At the height of the second row of bricks from the bottom, a pebble-stones pavement was laid. The building should have had a very short lifetime, or it could not even have ever been finished. It then reverted to a waste-pit, from the Assyrian period probably up to the neo-Babylonian time. The dump was, however, of a somewhat special nature, since it contained hundreds of bones, sherds (many of them of Red Slip ware), and objects such as a bronze smiting god, a fragment of a sculpture of a lion muzzle in basalt, a juglet handle with the impression of a royal stamp seal with a four winged scarab, and three incised Aramaean ostraca, one of which bears the characters []lwr. An origianry function of the building as a cistern or as a storage room seems to be excluded by the absence of plaster on the wall and of any trace of a roof. Its destruction could be connected to the Assyrian conquest under Tiglatpileser III.

Area D lies in the southern lower city. Excavations were carried here in order to explore the Iron Age levels, whose presence was hinted to by the surface pottery, which dated almost exclusively to this period. In the squares DpsII17-13 a sequence of 6 levels was brought to light, all presumably belonging to the same building. Among the six levels, the best known is Level 4, when the building had an extent which surely exceeded 20 x 25 m. Three functionally separated areas were recognized: 1) the southern zone consisted of several small storage rooms (one of the, L. 494, was a kitchen); 2) the central zone was occupied by a square courtyard, opening to the west on a flagstoned corridor, later covered by a mudbrick platform; 3) in the northern zone a room (L. 504) was used for food preparation. The building was possibly devoted to centralized storage activities. Conjecturably, Levels 5-6 date from the time immediately preceding the Assyrian conquest; the reconstruction phase represented by Level 4 belong to the first transformation under the Assyrian provincial power, and Levels 2-3 represent the last development during the full Assyrian occupation of the town. To the west of the excavated area (squares EcII17-18) a stratigraphic sounding was carried out, detecting a sequence of seven levels, with superimposed structures and interesting materials.

Kernos from the fill of Iron Age I temple III.1, in area A1East. Three of the original five cups remain, as well as a bull protome; all are connected with the inside of the hollow ring by holes (1050-950 B.C.). Remains of probably two other kernoi were found in the same area. They are the only kernoi at present known from Iron Age I Syria (1050-950 B.C.).

Fragmentary basalt stele (24x7,8x5), found in 2002. The Aramaic inscription on it mentioned a Haza’el, probably the powerful king of Aram of the late 9th century B.C.

Some of the pottery ‘funnels’ found around Temple I (Iron Age III). Their function is still unknown, but they were most probably set within the walls of the temple. They measured 20–25 cm, had a diameter of 10–15 cm, a wheel-made body. In some specimens the interior of the flat side up until the edge of the rim is green-glazed; the short vertical projection was attached before firing.

In the circular plastered silo H1 a figurine of a calf was found (TA.09.A1). It was made of ivory covered by gold foil. This object was originally part of the lid of a pyxis. The style of carving assigns it to the north Syrian ninth century “Flame and Frond” group of ivories (the muscles of the hindquarters are conventionally rendered by a flame-like incision).

Female figurine (3,6x2 cm, h. 10 cm). Modeled from clay, it was originally provided with four silver earrings and a bronze necklace. It was part of the funerary equipment found in a Middle Bronze Age pit tomb (US 5604), partly sealed by the later city wall.

Vessel equipment from a Middle Bronze I pit tomb (US 3873). The bowl was found overturned in front of the body's chest. The funerary equipment included also two bronze hairpins.

Silver earring (1,6 x 0,33 cm, pendent 0,75 cm) belonging to a Late Bronze Age type, found in an Iron Age III context of area B3.

Male statuette cast in bronze (6,6x1,2x4,2 cm), perhaps from Late Bronze Age I.

Impression of a stamp seal on a jar handle. The impression carries a four-winged scarab and an inscription mentioning the owner's name (8th century).

Clay rattle (5x5 cm). It contained small pebbles, in order to produce sound, and it is probably to be date to Iron Age III.

Greenstone hand-bowl (6x2,2 cm, h. 2,5 cm). It comes from L.502, level 3. Four finger are preserved at the base of the cup, which are rendered in a quite naturalistic manner. A carefully drawn pattern is engraved under the rim (late 8th century).

Basalt ritual table (16x11,7 cm, h. 7,4 cm) from Level 3. It is four-legged, and provided of two bull heads on one of the short sides. The upper hollow was maybe used for pounding essences.

Clay figurine of a quadruped, decorated with stripes and knobs, probably also representing a harness (9,1x9,6x4,8 cm). From Level 4, end of the 8th century.

Late Bronze Age Hittite cuneiform tablet containing instructions by the Hittite official (EN KUR), under whose control Afis was (found in a context dating to phase VII).

Bowl in Late Helladic IIIC:1b style from area E4 (Iron Age IA), painted with antithetic spirals, from a floor above Building A.

Limestone statuette of a seated male figure (22,5x9x12,5), from area E1 (Iron Age IC). As well as another statuette found in area E4, it belongs to the so-called "Stone Spirits" class. They were possibly images of ancestors.

Since 1986 the Archaeological Mission at Tell Afis is directed by Stefania Mazzoni. She is an Italian archaeologist. After completing the studies at the University la Sapienza of Rome (where she was born), she became lecturer in 1975, associate professor in 1980 and full professor in 2001 at the University of Pisa; since 2006 she teaches at the University of Florence. She has started her field activity in Syria in 1968 in the missions of the University of Rome la Sapienza at Tell Mardikh/Ebla, Tell Fray, Tell Tuqan and Tell Afis. Since 2008 she is also director of the archaeological mission at Uşaklı Höyük (Turkey).

Serena Maria Cecchini is Deputy-director of the Tell Afis Mission since 1986. She taught Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Bologna.

1986-1998

Lia Abbate, Pietro Alfonso, Corrado Alvaro, Maria Giulia Amadasi Guzzo, Alessadro Amadei, Alfonso Archi, Claudio Arias, Luca Ascari, Alessandra Avanzini, Maria Cristina Bandeira Dos Santos, Giorgio Bejor, Cristiana Bigazzi, Dominik Bonatz, Giovanni Boschian, Gianluca Buonomini, Francesca Burragato, Gilberto Calderoni, Orsola Canuti, S. Cappannelle, Annamaria Carruba, Teresa Caruso, Carlo Cataldi Tassoni, Orsola Cazzola, Sara Cazzoli, Barbara Chiti, Paola Ciafardoni, Paola D’Amore, Manuela Degli Esposti, Claudia De Gregorio, Elisabetta Donatello, Mario Epifani, Luca Fabiani, Roberto Falcone, Stefano Fontana, Jesus Gil Fuensanta, Daniela Gabarrini, Fausto Gabrielli, Renzo Galluzzi, J. A. Garcia Lenberg, Sauro Gelichi, Alessandra Giampietro, Deborah Giannessi, Annamaria Graziani, Gabriele Maria Ingo, Lorenzo Lazzarini, Marta Luciani, Giuliana Magazzù, Alain Maggioli, Francesco Mallegni, Maurizio Mariottini, Sergio Martelli, M. Massei, Emanuela Merluzzi, Maurizio Necci, M. Notari, Ida Oggiano, Laura Orrù, S. Pardini, Frances Pinnock, Elisabetta Prunas, Marina Pucci, S. Roccheggiani, Gabriella Scandone Matthiae, Carlo Scardala, Leonarda Scardala De Ninno, Sebastiano Soldi, Paolo Toccarelli, Carlo Tozzi, Carmen Valdes Pereiro, Fabrizio Venturi, Marco Verità, Claudia Wachter, Barbara Wilkens

1999

Lia Abbate, Giorgio Affanni, Cristiana Bigazzi, Orsola Canuti, Sara Cazzoli, Paola D’Amore, Claudia De Gregorio, Paolo Del Vesco, Mario Epifani, Candida Felli, Deborah Giannessi, Annamaria Graziani, Giuliana Magazzù, Alain Maggioli, Francesco Mallegni, Elisabetta Manisco, Sergio Martelli, Marwan Matermawi, Emanuela Merluzzi, Maurizio Necci, Ida Oggiano, Melissa Palsitti, Tatiana Pedrazzi, Marina Pucci, Gabriella Scandone Matthiae, Elena Scigliuzzo, Fabrizio Venturi, Filippo Virgilio, Barbara Wilkens

2000-2001

Giorgio Affanni, Giuseppe Aletta, Corrado Alvaro, Nicola Barattini, Sabrina Biagiotti, Cristiana Bigazzi, Valentina Billante, Gianluca Buonomini, Sonia Cammellini, Orsola Canuti, Sara Cazzoli, Barbara Chiti, William Collins, Paola D’Amore, Claudia De Gregorio, Paolo Del Vesco, Angelo Di Michele, Mario Epifani, Candida Felli, Deborah Giannessi, Annamaria Graziani, Ghassam Hajji Mohammed, Anas Hajji Zweidan, Marwan Matermawi, Giuliana Magazzù, Alain Maggioli, Francesco Mallegni, Francesco Manzi, Sergio Martelli, Valentina Melchiorri, Emanuela Merluzzi, Maurizio Necci, Francisco Nuñez Calvo, Ida Oggiano, Katia Parri, Tatiana Pedrazzi, Marina Pucci, Marco Repiccioli, Gabriella Scandone Matthiae, Elena Scigliuzzo, Sebastiano Soldi, Maria Luisa Uberti, Fabrizio Venturi, Daniele Vincenzi, Filippo Virgilio, Claudia Wachter, Barbara Wilkens, Wafa Zakkur

2002

Giuseppe Aletta, Corrado Alvaro, Gianluca Buonomini, Barbara Chiti, Paola D’Amore, Paolo Del Vesco, Angelo Di Michele, Candida Felli, Annamaria Graziani, Alain Maggioli, Sergio Martelli, Emanuela Merluzzi, Giuseppe Minunno, Maurizio Necci, Tatiana Pedrazzi, Gabriella Scandone Matthiae, Elena Scigliuzzo, Sebastiano Soldi, Fabrizio Venturi, Daniele Vincenzi, Filippo Virgilio, Claudia Wachter, Barbara Wilkens

2003

Giorgio Affanni, Giuseppe Aletta, Corrado Alvaro, Gianluca Buonomini, Serena Cenni, Paola D’Amore, Paolo Del Vesco, Angelo Di Michele, Mario Epifani, Candida Felli, Annamaria Graziani, Alessandra La Fragola, Giuliana Magazzù, Sergio Martelli, Marwan Matarmawi, Valentina Melchiorri, Susanna Melis, Emanuela Merluzzi, Giuseppe Minunno, Stefano Mirpourian, Maurizio Necci, Ida Oggiano, Tatiana Pedrazzi, Gabriella Scandone Matthiae, Elena Scigliuzzo, Sebastiano Soldi, Fabrizio Venturi, Daniele Vincenzi, Barbara Wilkens, Wafa Zakkour, Valentina Zizola

2004

Giorgio Affanni, Corrado Alvaro, Chiara Baraldi, Marco Brocchini, Gianluca Buonomini, Serena Cenni, Barbara Chiti, William Collins, Chiara Cucci, Paola D’Amore, Guido Della Lena Guidiccioni, Paolo Del Vesco, Angelo Di Michele, Mario Epifani, Ilaria Falzone, Candida Felli, Benedetta Fiorelli, Elisa Follis, Annamaria Graziani, Giuliana Magazzù, Andrea Maggi, Flora Magnani, Paolo Marini, Sergio Martelli, Mario Mascellani, Merwan Matarmawi, Valentina Melchiorri, Susanna Melis, Valentina Mencarelli, Emanuela Merluzzi, Stefano Mirpourian, Giuseppe Minunno, Ilaria Montis, Maurizio Necci, Costanza Odierna, Ida Oggiano, Alberto Palmieri, Tatiana Pedrazzi, Valentina Petri, Elisabetta Pezzi, Giovanni Procacci, Silvia Rinaudo, Marco Rossi, Chiara Salvador, Gabriella Scandone Matthiae, Elena Scigliuzzo, Sebastiano Soldi, Giacomo Tabita, Gianna Testardi, Chiara Ulivi, Fabrizio Venturi, Daniele Vincenzi, Filippo Virgilio, Barbara Wilkens, Wafa Zakkour, Valentina Zizola, Antonio Fernando Zoglio

2005

Giorgio Affanni, Corrado Alvaro, Chiara Baraldi, Marco Brocchini, Gianluca Buonomini, Barbara Chiti, Paola D’Amore, Claudia De Gregorio, Angelo Di Michele, Paolo Del Vesco, Ilaria Falzone, Candida Felli, Annamaria Graziani, Andrea Maggi, Paolo Marini, Sergio Martelli, Valentina Melchiorri, Valentina Mencarelli, Marco Merlini, Emanuela Merluzzi, Giuseppe Minunno, Ilaria Montis, Ida Oggiano, Tatiana Pedrazzi, Valentina Petri, Cristan Reggianini, Marco Rossi, Gabriella Scandone Matthiae, Aaron Werner Schmitt, Elena Scigliuzzo, Sebastiano Soldi, Fabrizio Venturi, Daniele Vincenzi, Filippo Virgilio, Valentina Zizola

2006

Giorgio Affanni, Lucia Angeli, Gianluca Buonomini, Salvador Chiara, Barbara Chiti, Chiara Cucci, Paola D’Amore, Claudia De Gregorio, Guido Della Lena Guidiccioni, Paolo Del Vesco, Angelo Di Michele, Candida Felli, Benedetta Fiorelli, Annamaria Graziani, Mirta Marsili, Sergio Martelli, Valentina Melchiorri, Marco Merlini, Giuseppe Minunno, Ilaria Montis, Valentina Petri, Cristian Reggianini, Silvia Rinaudo, Gabriella Scandone Matthiae, Luca Tepedino, Fabrizio Venturi, Daniele Vincenzi, Valentina Zizola

2007

Giorgio Affanni, Marina Bartalini, Gianluca Buonomini, Ilaria Carboni, Barbara Chiti, Paola Ciafardoni, Michele Criscione, Paola D’Amore, Nidal Debel, Guido Della Lena Guidiccioni, Federico Devoto, Angelo Di Michele, Alice Dini, Antonio Franco, Benedetta Fiorelli, Giovanna Tiziana Genna, Alberto Giannese, Annamaria Graziani, Clara Grifoni, Hassan Haj Yhya, Giuditta Kazantjis, Francesca Manclossi, Mirta Marsili, Sergio Martelli, Valentina Melchiorri, Giuseppe Minunno, Valentina Petri, Cristian Reggianini, Silvia Rinaudo, Lucio Roberti, Renata Schiavo, Sebastiano Soldi, Raffaele Trojanis, Fabrizio Venturi, Lorenzo Zurla

2008

Giorgio Affanni, Murat Akar, Silvia Bernardoni, Ilaria Carboni, Gabriele Carenti, Barbara Chiti, Paola Ciafardoni, Alice Costantino, Paola D’Amore, Giulia Dionisio, Mara Faggi, Benedetta Fiorelli, Antonio Franco, Annamaria Graziani, Clara Grifoni, Guido Della Lena Guidiccioni, Margherita Guidotti, Angelo Di Michele, Hassan Haj Yhya, Dino Lombardo, Francesca Manclossi, Valentina Melchiorri, Giuseppe Minunno, Silvia Rinaudo, Francesco Sponza, Raffaele Trojanis, Fabrizio Venturi

2009

Samer Amhaz, Marta Aquilano, Silvia Bernardoni, Francesco Bordo, Gianluca Buonomini, Marco Capardoni, Paola Ciafardoni, Federica Cusano, Margherita Dallai, Paola D’Amore, Paola De Vita, Federico Devoto, Alice Dini, Benedetta Fiorelli, Marco Fraschi, Annamaria Graziani, Cecilia Guastella, Federica Lume Pereira, Sergio Martelli, Giuseppe Minunno, Silvana Rubanu, Veronica Scandellari, Gabriella Scandone Matthiae, Francesca Simi, Chiara Spinazzi Lucchesi, Andrea Squitieri, Raffaele Trojanis, Fabrizio Venturi

2010

Barbara Chiti, Luigi Bellegoni, Francesco Bordo, Antonella Candido, Gabriele Carenti, Letizia Cavallini, Paola Ciafardoni, Paola D’Amore, Federico Devoto, Martina Di Marcoberardino, Alice Dini, Benedetta Fiorelli, Annamaria Graziani, Clara Grifoni, Hassan Haj Yhya, Sergio Martelli, Giuseppe Minunno, Silvana Rubanu, Simona Sabbatini, Francesca Simi, Chiara Spinazzi Lucchesi, Fabrizio Venturi, Barbara Wilkens

Clay bulla (3,4x1,7x1,6 cm) with impressions of an Old Babylonian cylinder seal from area N1 (18th-17th century).

 

Frit cylinder seal (1,8x1,2 cm; diameter of the hole 0,4 cm). It belongs to the Mitannian Common Style class and can be dated to the 15th-14th century.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clay female figurine (12.1x4x2.2 cm) found, together with three similar items in a tomb of area N2, which can be dated to the end of Middle Bronze IIB and the beginning of Late Bronze Age I.

 

Area N lies on the eastern slope of the tell. Evidence of Middle Bronze Age fortifications of the acropolis have been found in area N2. The earliest fortification wall (phase 3) has been exposed for a height of 4 m, but it has not been possible to investigate its width. It was built bricks measuring 36x36x10 cm. In the subsequent phase 2 the wall was reinforced on the outer side by a supplemental wall, 1,20 m wide. When these structures had fallen into disrepair, they were replaced (at the end of the Middle Bronze Age, phase 1) by a new structure: a supplemental rampart, preserved for a height of 1,80 m and made of superimposed fill layers of varying thickness alternating yellowish earth with red clay, was leaned on the older wall. The passage between Middle and Late Bronze Age is documented by three inhumations. In Late Bronze Age, the remains of ancient Middle Bronze walls were levelled using a reddish-yellow layer of soil. In area N1, three building phases have been identified, belonging to Late Bronze Age. In the first two phases the buildings built along the outer limit of the acropolis probably formed a belt of connected walls providing defence to the upper city. In the later phase (Late Bronze II) a fortification wall (exposed for a length of 10 m in the north and 30 m in the south) was built. Its stone foundation was set upon the razed walls of the previous phase. The original width of the structure cannot be determined since it was involved in the erosion of the slope of the tell; the maximum extension brought to light is 2.40 m. The slope under the wall was reinforced with a glacis made of mud-bricks. In a later sub-phase the first inner row of mud-bricks of the wall was removed, in order to facilitate the joining of the lateral walls of a domestic building. In Iron Age I, a double curtain fortification wall was built on the levelled remains of Late Bronze Age buildings. This has been exposed for a length of 9 m in the northern part, and for 10 m in the southern part of the area. The wall was 1.80 m wide. It is probable that the defence system of the oriental side of the acropolis in Iron Age I was conceived with a casemate system. Later, new domestic units were built. There is no evidence, due to the erosion of the Acropolis slope, that domestic units were connected with a fortification system in this later phase of Iron Age I.