Carchemish

Carchemish
/kahr"keuh mish, kahr kee"-/, n.
an ancient city in S Turkey, on the upper Euphrates: important city in the Mitanni kingdom; later the capital of the Hittite empire.

* * *

Ancient city-state, western bank of the Euphrates River.

Its remains lay southeast of Gaziantep, Tur., near the Syrian border. It was a city of the Mitanni kingdom in the 2nd millennium BC and later a chief Hittite city. Captured by the Egyptians under Thutmose III in the 15th century BC, it came under Assyrian rule in 717 BC. In a battle at Carchemish in 605 BC, Nebuchadrezzar II expelled the Egyptians from Syria.

* * *

▪ ancient city, Syria
Roman  Europus 

      ancient city-state located in what is now southern Turkey, along the border with Syria. Carchemish lay on the west bank of the Euphrates River near the modern town of Jarābulus northern Syria, and 38 miles (61 km) southeast of Gaziantep, Turkey. It commanded a strategic crossing of the Euphrates River for caravans engaged in Syrian, Mesopotamian, and Anatolian trade. The site, occupying more than 230 acres (93 hectares), was excavated in 1911–20 by David G. Hogarth (Hogarth, David George) and later by Sir Leonard Woolley (Woolley, Sir Leonard).

      Carchemish was first occupied in the Neolithic Period (c. 7000 BC), as evidenced by the discovery of obsidian and flint blades and black burnished pottery at the lowest level of the excavations. Finds from subsequent eras included Uruk-Jamdat Nasr pottery, which was a typical product of Sumerian cities in the southern Euphrates River valley in about 3000 BC. Tombs have been dated to the end of the Early Bronze Age (c. 2300 BC) and the Middle and Late Bronze Age (c. 2300–1550 BC; c. 1550–1200 BC).Written records concerning Carchemish first appear in the Mari letters (royal archives of Mari, c. 18th century BC), which include a mention of a king named Aplahanda. At that time the city was a trade centre for wood most likely involved in shipping Anatolian timber down the Euphrates.

      Later, the Hittite conqueror Suppiluliumas (c. 1375–35 BC) established his son as king of the city, which he used as a buffer state against Assyria, Mitanni, and Egypt. With the fall of the Hittite empire, Carchemish was probably overrun by the Sea Peoples (Sea People) who invaded the area at the end of the Bronze Age. The city gradually came under the control of Assyria, paying a heavy tribute to the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III (reigned 858–824 BC) and finally capitulating to Sargon II in 717 BC. The last important historical event in which Carchemish figured was the battle fought in 605 BC at which the Babylonian king Nebuchadrezzar II expelled the Egyptians from the area.

      Carchemish was defended by thick double walls with strong towered gates, and in the centre of town stood a high citadel overlooking the river. Excavators have found the remains of a palace and temple on the citadel, as well as a rich series of orthostates (stone slabs set at the bottom of mud-brick walls) whose reliefs were carved in an eclectic style peculiar to northern Syria. Remnants of Roman villas and characteristic traits of Assyrian art, possibly brought by Hurrians from northern Syria, have also been found at Carchemish.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • CARCHEMISH — (Heb. כַּרְכְּמִישׁ), ancient city in N. Syria, on the east bank of the Euphrates. Known today as Jerablus, it is about 62 miles (100 km.) northeast of Aleppo. The city s importance as a political and commercial center derived from its location… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Carchemish — Coordinates: 36°49′47″N 38°00′54″E / 36.82972°N 38.015°E / 36.82972; 38.015 …   Wikipedia

  • Carchemish —    An ancient Near Eastern city strategically located on the upper Euphrates in northern Syria on one of the main trade routes linking Mesopotamia to the Mediterranean world. Archaeological evidence indicates that the site of carchemish was… …   Ancient Mesopotamia dictioary

  • Carchemish — Karkemish Karkemish et les principaux sites de la Syrie du IIe millénaire av. J. C. Karkemish (appelée Europus par les Romains) est une ville antique des empires Mitanni et …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Carchemish — Antigua ciudad estado en la orilla occidental del Éufrates. Sus restos se ubican al sudeste de Gaziantep, Turquía, cerca de la frontera con Siria. Durante el segundo milenio BC, perteneció al reino mitanni y más tarde llegó a ser una de las… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Carchemish — geographical name ruined city S Turkey on the Euphrates at Syrian border N of modern Jarabulus, Syria …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Carchemish — noun /ˈkɑːrkimɪʃ/ ancient city in Mesopotamia on the Euphrates, near modern day Turkish Syrian border …   Wiktionary

  • Carchemish —    Fortress of Chemosh, a city on the west bank of the Euphrates (Jer. 46:2; 2 Chr. 35:20), not, as was once supposed, the Circesium at the confluence of the Chebar and the Euphrates, but a city considerably higher up the river, and commanding… …   Easton's Bible Dictionary

  • Carchemish — A Syrian city on the River Euphrates which was bitterly fought over and passed in turn to Assyria, Egypt, and Babylonia (605 BCE; Jer. 46:2) …   Dictionary of the Bible

  • Carchemish — Car•chem•ish [[t]ˈkɑr kə mɪʃ, kɑrˈki [/t]] n. anh geg an ancient city in what is now S Turkey, on the upper Euphrates: a chief Hittite city …   From formal English to slang

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”