Fragment from the Tell Halaf frieze

myminifactory

Situated at the source of the river Habur in northeastern Syria, Tell Halaf underwent a thorough excavation between 1911 and 1921 by a German team led by Baron Max von Oppenheim. Significant areas of the Iron Age city, dating from approximately 1200 to 900 B.C., were uncovered. Governed by an Aramaean family, the city, known as Guzana (as mentioned in the Old Testament under the name Gozan), reached its peak of prosperity around the midpoint of the tenth century B.C under King Kapara's reign. The base of the south wall of Kapara's palace featured a series of 187 reliefs carved into black basalt alternating with red-ochre tinted limestone blocks.\r\nTell Halaf continued to be occupied in later periods, but it lost its importance as a major city following the downfall of King Kapara's dynasty.