Tell Leilan Project Online

From 1979 to the present, the Yale University Tell Leilan Project has been excavating at Tell Leilan, Syria ( Figure 1 ) and conducting systematic archaeological surface surveys in the Tell Leilan region. Tell Leilan is one of the largest archaeological sites in Syria and was one of the most important cities in Northern Mesopotamia during the second and third millennia BC, when it was known as Šehna and Šubat-Enlil. Today, the ancient city walls still rise five to fifteen meters above plains of northeastern Syria, enclosing an area of 90 hectares, nearly a square kilometer. The 15 hectare "Acropolis", the oldest and highest part of the site, founded about 5,000 BC, dominates the surrounding 65 hectare "Lower Town," which like the city wall dates to the urbanization of this settlement at ca. 2600 BC...

Works in Progress







 

Selected Publications

Barnes, J., M. Dove, M.Lahsen, A. Mathews, P. McElwee, R. McIntosh, F. Moore, J. O'Reilly, B. Orlove, R. Puri, H. Weiss, and K. Yager
2013	"Contribution of anthropology to the study of climate change,"Nature Climate Change 3, pp. 541-44.[ PDF - 138 KB ]
Ristvet, L. and H. Weiss
2013	"The Habur Region in the Old Babylonian Period."in W. Orthmann, P. Matthiae, and 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 Band 1,1. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, pp. 257-272..[ PDF - 495 KB ]
Weiss, Harvey
2013	"The Northern Levant during the Intermediate Bronze Age: Altered Trajectories," in A. E. Killebrew and M. L. Steiner, eds.,The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant: c. 8000-332 BCE. New York: Oxford University Press, 367-387.[ PDF - 1.4 MB ]
Weiss, Harvey
2013	"Tell Leilan and the Dynamics of Social and Environmental Forces across the Mesopotamian Dry-Farming Landscape," in D. Bonatz and L. Martin, eds., 100 Jahre archäologische Feldforschungen in Nordost-Syrien - eine Bilanz. Schriften der Max Freiherr von Oppenheim-Stiftung 18. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. pp. 101-115[ PDF - 3.5 MB ]
Kaniewski, David, Elise van Campo and Harvey Weiss
2012	"Drought is a recurring challenge in the Middle East,"Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109.10: 3862-3867[ PDF - 1.5 MB ]
Ristvet, L. and H. Weiss
2012	Subat-Enlil. B. Archäologisch.Realexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie, Band 13, Lfg 3/4, pp. 229-236.[ PDF - 1.5 MB ]
Walker, M. J.C. Walker, M. Berkelhammer, S. Björck, L. C. Cwynar, D. A. Fisher, A. J. Long, J. J. Lowe, R. M. Newnham, S. O. Rasmussen, H. Weiss
2012	Formal subdivision of the Holocene Series/Epoch: a Discussion Paper by a Working Group of INTIMATE (Integration of ice-core, marine and terrestrial records) and the Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy (International Commission on Stratigraphy)Journal of Quaternary Science 27.7: 649-659.[ PDF - 1 MB ]
Weiss, Harvey
2012	"Tell Leilan and the Dynamics of Social and Environmental Forces Across the Mesopotamian Dry-Farming Landscape," in 100 Jahre archäologische Feldforschungen in Nordost-Syrien - Eine Bilanz. Schriften der Max Freiherr von Oppenheim Stiftung. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.[ PDF - ?? MB ]
Weiss, Harvey
2012	Quantifying Collapse: The Late Third Millennium BC, in H. Weiss, ed., Seven Generations since the Fall of Akkad. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. pp. vii-24[ PDF - 7.5 MB ]
Weiss, Harvey, Sturt Manning, Lauren Ristvet, Lucia Mori, Mark Besonen, Andrew McCarthy, Philippe Quenet, Alexia Smith, Zainab Bahrani
2012	Tell Leilan Akkadian Imperialization, Collapse, and Short-Lived Reoccupation Defined by High-Resolution Radiocarbon Dating, in H. Weiss, ed., Seven Generations since the Fall of Akkad. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. pp. 163-192[ PDF - 13 MB ]
Quenet, Philippe and Ristvet, Lauren
2012	Late Third Millennium Ceramics from the Akkadian Administrative Building (AAB), TellLeilan, syria, in H. Weiss, ed., Seven Generations since the Fall of Akkad. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. pp. 193-216[ PDF - 6 MB ]
McCarthy, Andrew
2012	The End of Empire: Akkadian and post-Akadian glyptic in the Jezirah, the evidence from Tell Leilan in context, in H. Weiss, ed., Seven Generations since the Fall of Akkad. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. pp. 217-225[ PDF - 2.5 MB ]
Smith, Alexia
2012	Akkadian and post-Akkadian Plant Use at Tell Leilan, in H. Weiss, ed., Seven Generations since the Fall of Akkad. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. pp. 225-240[ PDF - 5 MB ]
Ristvet, Lauren
2012	The Development of Underdevelopment? Imperialism, Economic Exploitation and Settlement Dynamics on the Khabur Plains, ca 2300-2200 BC, in H. Weiss, ed., Seven Generations since the Fall of Akkad. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. pp. 241-261[ PDF - 8 MB ]
Arrivabeni, Monica
2012	Post-Akkadian Settlement Distribution in the Leilan Region Survey, in H. Weiss, ed., Seven Generations since the Fall of Akkad. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. pp. 261-278[ PDF - 7 MB ]
Kaniewski, D., E. Van Campo, K. Van Lerberghe, T. Boiy, K. Vaansteenhuyse, G. Jans, K. Nys, H. Weiss, C. Morhange, T. Otto and J. Bretschneider
2011	"The Sea Peoples, from cuneiform tablets to carbon dating,"PLoS ONE 6(6), e20232. doi:10.1371[ PDF - 1 MB ]
Kaniewski, D., E. Van Campo, E. Paulissen, H. Weiss, J. Bakker , I. Rossignol. and K. Van Lerberghe K.
2011	"The Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age in coastal Syria inferred from pollen-derived palaeoclimatic patterns,"Global and Planetary Change 78: 178-187
Kaniewski, D., E. Van Campo, E. Paulissen, H. Weiss, T. Otto, J. Bakker, I. Rossignol and K. Van Lerberghe
2011	"Medieval coastal Syrian vegetation patterns in the principality of Antioch,"The Holocene 21(2): 251-262[ PDF - 1 MB ]
Weiss, Harvey
2010	"Altered Trajectories: The Intermediate Bronze Age," in A. Killebrew and M. Steiner, eds., The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant. Oxford University Press.[ PDF - 8 MB ]
Kaniewski, D., E. Paulissen, E. Van Campo, H. Weiss, T. Otto, J. Bretschneider, and K. Van Lerberghe
2010	"Late second-early first millennium BC abrupt climate changes in coastal Syria and their possible significance for the history of the Eastern Mediterranean,"Quaternary Research 74: 207-215.[ PDF - 1.0 MB ]
Ristvet, Lauren and Harvey Weiss
2010	"Micro- and Macro-Contexts of the Tell Leilan Eastern Lower Town Palace Archives," in Jesper Eidem, The Royal Archives from Tell Leilan. Old Babylonian Letters and Treaties. H. Weiss, ed., Yale Tell Leilan Research 2. New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. xi-xlix.[ PDF - 3.0 MB ] Fig 1. Topo Plan [ JPEG - 387 KB ] Fig 2. N Mesop 1800 [ JPEG - 195 KB ] Fig 3. Eastern Lower Town Palace plan [ JPEG - 322 KB ] Fig 4. Eastern Lower Town Palace isometric [ JPEG - 247 KB ] Fig 14. Tablet excavation in process, Building Level 2 [ JPEG - 929 KB ] Fig 15. Administrative tablets in situ, Room 22 floor, Building Level 2 [ JPEG - 851 KB ] Fig 18. Leilan Region Survey Period IIc [ JPEG - 283 KB ] Fig 19. Leilan Region Survey Period I [ JPEG - 324 KB ] Fig 20. Possible Nomadic Encampments of Period I [ JPEG - 660 KB ] Fig 21. Paleoclimate proxy records for 4.2kaBP and 5.2kaBP abrupt climate change events [ JPEG - 535 KB]
Risvet, L.
2008	"Legal and archaeological territories of the second millennium BC in northern Mesopotamia,"Antiquity, 82 (2008). pp. 585-599.[ PDF - 2.0 MB ]
Risvet, L.
2007	"The Third Millennium City Wall at Tell Leilan, Syria: Identity, Authority and Urbanism," in J. Bretschneider, J. Driessen and K. Vanlerberghe, eds., Monumental Public Architecrure in the Bronze Age Near East and Aegean. Leuven: Peters, pp. 183-212.[ PDF - 509.0 KB ]
F. de Lillis Forest, L. Milano and L. Mori
2007	"The Akkadian Occupation in the Northwest Area of the Tell Leilan Acropolis", KASKAL Volume 4, 2007.[ PDF - 9.3 MB ]
Staubwasser, Michael and Harvey Weiss
2006	"Holocene Climate and Cultural Evolution in Late Prehistoric-Early Historic West Asia," in M. Staubwasser and H. Weiss, eds., Holocene Climate and Cultural Evolution in Late Prehistoric-Early Historic West Asia. Quaternary Research (special issue) Volume 66, Issue 3 (November), pp. 372-387.[ PDF - 2.0 MB ] Table 1 [ JPEG - 136 KB ]
Risvet, L.
2005	"Settlement, Economy, and Society in the Tell Leilan Region, Syria, 3000-1000 BC," PhD Dissertation, University of Cambridge, July 22, 2005.[ PDF - 23.9 MB ]
Ristvet, L. and H. Weiss
2005	"The Häbür Region in the Late Third and Early Second Millennium B.C.," in Winfried Orthmann, ed., The History and Archaeology of Syria. Vol. 1. Saarbrucken: Saarbrucken Verlag.[ PDF - 3.2 MB ] Fig 1. Ancient North Mesop map [ PDF - 172 KB ] Fig 2. Habur surveys map [ PDF - 248 KB ] Fig 3. Van Oman Soreq [ PDF - 80 KB ] Fig 4. LRS Period IIb [ PDF - 100 KB ] Fig 5. Period IIc [ PDF - 112 KB ] Fig 6. Period I [ PDF - 124 KB ] Fig 7. LRS Histogram [ PDF - 48 KB ] Fig 8. Tell Taya Stratigraphy [ PDF - 516 KB ] Fig 9. Sagir Bazar Old Babylonian closely packed domestic quarters [ PDF - 72 KB ] Fig 10. Lyonnet survey [ PDF - 128 KB ] Fig 11. Baidar survey [ PDF - 168 KB ] Fig 12. Acrop Pd I BL II facade [ JPEG - 260 KB ] Fig 13. Lower Town Palace East isometric [ PDF - 1.6 KB ] Fig 14. LRS Period 0 [ PDF - 108 KB ] Fig 15. LRS 186 Farfara [ PDF - 72 KB ]
Francesca deLillis-Forrest, Lucia Mori, Thomas Guilderson and Harvey Weiss
2004	"The Akkadian Administration on the Tell Leilan Acropolis" 4ICAANE Berlin March 29-April 3, 2004 Tell Leilan Project Poster Presentations[ JPEG - 1.1 MB ]   [ Flash ]
Walter Sommerfeld, Alfonso Archi and Harvey Weiss
2004	"Why 'Dada Measured 40,000 Liters of Barley from Nagar for Sippar'" 4ICAANE Berlin March 29-April 3, 2004 Tell Leilan Project Poster Presentations[ JPEG - 941 KB ]   [ Flash ]
Ristvet, Lauren, Thomas Guilderson and Harvey Weiss
2004	The Dynamics of State Development and Imperialization at Third Millennium Tell Leilan, Syria In Orient Express Vol. 21, No 2.[ HTML ]   [ PDF - 496.0 KB ]
Weiss, Harvey
2003	Ninevite 5 Periods and Processes. In The origins of North Mesopotamian civilization: Ninevite 5 chronology, economy, society. Brussels: Brepols. E. Rova and H. Weiss, editors.[ PDF - 1.7 MB ] Fig 8. Ninevite 5 Absolute Chronology [ PDF - 12.0 KB ] Fig 10. Tell Leilan Survey Period IV--LC 5 (ca. 3400-3000 BC) [ PDF - 132.0 KB ] Fig 11. Tell Leilan Survey Period IV--Southern Uruk (ca. 3400-3000 BC) [ PDF - 132.0 KB ] Fig 12. Tell Leilan Survey Period IIIa (ca. 3000-2900 BC) [ PDF - 175.0 KB ] Fig 13. 5.2 ka BP Abrupt Climate Change [ PDF - 84.0 KB ]
Blackman, M. James
2003	Chemical Characterization of Tablets, Sealing Clays, and Source Clays from Tell Leilan, Syria In The origins of North Mesopotamian civilization: Ninevite 5 chronology, economy, society. Brussels: Brepols. E. Rova and H. Weiss, editors.[ PDF - 744.0 KB ]
Wetterstrom, Wilma
2003	Ninevite 5 Period Agriculture at Tell Leilan: Preliminary Results In The origins of North Mesopotamian civilization: Ninevite 5 chronology, economy, society. Brussels: Brepols. E. Rova and H. Weiss, editors.[ PDF - 984 KB ]
van Gijn, Annelou
2003	The Ninevite 5 Chipped Stone Assemblage from Tell Leilan: Preliminary Results In The origins of North Mesopotamian civilization: Ninevite 5 chronology, economy, society. Brussels: Brepols. E. Rova and H. Weiss, editors.[ PDF - 1.2 MB ]
Parayre, Dominique
2003	The Ninevite 5 Sequence of Glyptic at Tell Leilan In The origins of North Mesopotamian civilization: Ninevite 5 chronology, economy, society. Brussels: Brepols. E. Rova and H. Weiss, editors.[ PDF - 2.1 MB ]
Rova, Elena
2003	Glyptic Evidence 1993-1999 from Tell Leilan IIa-IIb Periods[ HTML ]
Weiss, Harvey
2002	"Akkadian Empire" in Peter Peregrine and Melvin Ember, eds., Encyclopedia of Prehistory. vol 8. HRAF / Kluwer.[ PDF - 500 KB ]
Weiss, Harvey, Francesca deLillis, Dominique deMoulins, Jesper Eidem, Thomas Guilderson, Ulla Kasten, Torben Larsen, Lucia Mori, Lauren Ristvet, Elena Rova, and Wilma Wetterstrom
2002	Revising the contours of history at Tell Leilan.Annales Archeologiques Arabes Syriennes, Cinquantenaire. vol. 45, pp. 59-74.[ PDF - 128.0 KB ] Fig. 7. Table 1. Cultivated taxa within Tell Leilan flotation samples (W. Wetterstrom) [ PDF - 8.0 KB ] Fig. 8. Period II-III pooled paleobotanical samples (W. Wetterstrom) [ PDF - 8.0 KB ] Fig. 9. Periods IIIa-b, IIId, IIa, IIb paleobotanical samples (W. Wetterstrom) [ PDF - 8.0 KB ] Fig. 10. Leilan IIb Acropolis last floor weighted average, calibrated, 8 barley (1 harvest) radiocarbon samples [ PDF - 16.0 KB ] Fig. 11. Leilan regional survey, period IIb [ PDF - 216.0 KB ] Fig. 12. Leilan regional survey, period "IIc"[ PDF - 212.0 KB ] Fig. 13. Leilan regional survey, period I [ PDF - 224.0 KB ]
Weiss, Harvey and Raymond S. Bradley
2001	What drives societal collapse?Science, 291: 609-610.[ PDF - 2.1 MB ]
deMenocal, Peter B.
2001	Cultural responses to climate change during the late Holocene.Science, 292: 667-673.[ PDF - 748.0 KB ]
Weiss, Harvey
2000	Beyond the younger Dryas: Collapse as adaptation to abrupt climate change in ancient West Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean. In Environmental disaster and the archaeology of human response, Edited by Garth Bawden and Richard Martin Reycraft. Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, Anthropological Papers, No. 7: 75-95.[ PDF - 8.1 MB ]
Ristvet, Lauren and Harvey Weiss
2000	Imperial responses to environmental dynamics at the late Third Millennium Tell Leilan.Orient Express, 4:94-99.[ PDF - 1.2 MB ]
Cullen, H. M., P.B. deMenocal, S. Hemming, G. Hemming, F. H. Brown, T. Guilderson, F. Sirocko
2000	Climate change and the collapse of the Akkadian empire: Evidence from the deep sea.Geology, 28: 379-382.[ PDF - 388.0 KB ]
Weiss, Harvey
1996	Rosen-Weiss Letter-Rejoinder.The Sciences[ PDF - 1.1 MB ]
Weiss, Harvey
1994	Desert Storm.The Sciences[ PDF - 2.3 MB ]
Weiss, Harvey, M.A. Courty, W. Wellerstrom, F. Guichard, L. Senior, R. Meadow, and A. Currow
1993	The genesis and collapse of Third Millennium north Mesopotamian Civilization.Science, 291: 995-1088.[ PDF - 7.0 MB ]
Weiss, Harvey and Marie-Agnès Courty
1993	The Genesis and Collapse of the Akkadian Empire, in M. Liverani, ed., Akkad the First World Empire: Structure, Ideology, Traditions. Padua: Sargon. pp. 131-155.[ PDF - 5.5 MB ]
Senior, L. and Weiss, Harvey
1992	Tell Leilan sila-bowls and the Akkadian Reorganization of Subarian Agro-production.Orient-Express, 1992.2:16-24.[ PDF - 1 MB ]
Weiss, Harvey
1990	Tell Leilan 1989: New Data for Mid-Third Millennium Urbanization and State Formation.Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft zu Berlin, 122:193-218.[ PDF - 1.5 MB ]
Weiss, Harvey
1986	The Origins of Cities in Dry-Farming Syria and Mesopotamia in the Third Millennium B.C.[ PDF - 11.6 MB ]
Weiss, Harvey
1985	Tell Leilan on the Habur Plains of Syria,Biblical Archaeologist, 48.1: 5-34.[ PDF - 8.5 MB ]
Weiss, Harvey and T. Cuyler Young, Jr.
1975	Merchants of Susa: Godin V and plateau-lowland relations in the late Fourth Millennium BC.Iran, 10:1-17.[ PDF - 16.5 MB ]

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