Tuttul
Tuttul was an ancient Near East city. Tuttul is identified with the archaeological site of Tell Bi'a in Raqqa Governorate, Syria. Tell Bi'a is located near the modern city of Raqqa and at the confluence of the rivers Balikh and Euphrates.
Archaeology
The site has an area of about 40 hectares with the main mound and a few subsidiary mounds surrounded by small mounds which are the remains of a city wall. After studying texts at Mari, Georges Dossin traveled to a site he called "Tell Biya" and identified it as Tuttul, ending much speculation as to its location. Tuttul appeared often in the texts from Mari.Excavation was conducted in twelve seasons between 1980 and 1995 by a team from the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft led by Eva Strommenger. The focus of the excavation has been on the central mound, Mound E. It was topped by the remains of a Byzantine-era monastery, including a church, with intact mosaic floors, and a refectory with omega-shaped benches.
The level below the monastery is Old Babylonian with a palace termed the "Young/New Palace". This was where cuneiform tablets dated to the last years of the Ekallatum ruler Shamshi-Adad I were found.
Below that level was an "Old Palace" of the Early Dynastic III Eblaite period and a large public building of the Akkadian Empire period. Some Early Dynastic I period remains were found below that and the water table was encountered before virgin soil was reached. A few private homes adjacent to the city wall on Mound B South were also excavated.
At the Early Dynastic level on the southern end of Mound E six above ground multichambered rectilinear royal tombs were found. The tombs had been looted in antiquity, but contained human and animal bones, jewelry, inlaid furniture, and a large array of pottery. Thirty two individuals were identified. One was intact and was accompanied by a flat axe, two shaft-hole axes, a quiver with a bronze base, and a dagger. An extramural cemetery from the same period was found away with graves of much poorer quality. In 2002 a geomagnetic prospection of the Early Bronze Age area of Mound D was conducted. It showed a square building near Palace A and remains of a wall around the palace complex.
A satellite survey of site in Syria showed that the site had been heavily looted during the Syrian Civil War, which started in 2011.
History
Chalcolithic
The site has been occupied since the Uruk period based on pottery shards.Early Bronze IV
Akkadian Period
The earliest written record of Tuttul was during the time of the Akkadian Empire when Sargon, the first ruler of the empire, recorded in a text "Sargon, the king bowed down to the god Dagan in Tuttul. He gave to him the Upper Land: Mari, Iarmuti, and Ebla far as the Cedar Forest and the Silver Mountains.". Tuttul was later mentioned by his Sargon's grandson Naram-Sin of Akkad, as one of the cities whose god was asked for him to become deified.Ur III period
Tuttul is unrecorded during the Ur III period aside from a mention in one of the campaign records of the ruler Shu-Sin. It has been suggested that the Duduli encountered in Ur III texts on occasion is Tuttul.Middle Bronze
During the Middle Bronze Age, Tuttul was a sacred city to the god Dagan, who was a storm god in the region of Mari, Terqa and Tuttul. His two main temples were at Tuttul and Terqa and his wife Shalash was also worshiped at Tuttul. The god Mullil was also said to "dwell" in Tuttul. The Hurrian version of Dagan, Kumarbi, was also worshiped there. There was also a temple of the "River-god" at Tuttul, a poorly understood entity which has been suggested as the deified Euphrates, which was recorded as receiving sacrifices.Middle Bronze IIA
Tuttul is then mentioned in a year name of Yahdun-Lim the Amorite ruler of Mari, "Year in which Yahdun-Lim was victorious against the Yaminites and... at the gate of Tutul". In his royal tutelary he was named as "Yahdun-Lim, son of Iaggid-Lim, king of Mari, Tuttul, and the land of Hana, mighty king, who controls the banks of the Euphrates...". In a brick inscription from the building of the Shamash temple in Mari he recorded a revolt against his rule that included Tuttul. This revolt was supported by Sumu-Epuh, ruler of Yamhad.Zimri-Lim, ruler or Mari, son of Yahdun-Lim and contemporary of Hammurabi of the First Babylonian Empire also included Tuttul in his royal tutelary. Hammurabi defeated Mari and the surrounding region in the 33rd year of his reign, presumably including Tuttul. Afterward the site apparently went into decline and occupation ceased entirely in the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. Though there is no archaeological evidence at the site, Tuttul is mentioned in late 2nd millennium BC New Kingdom Hittite and Middle Assyrian texts, as the two empires contested for that region.
A number of cuneiform tablets were found at the site, mostly in the Old Babylonian palace. About 51 were used in fill and are somewhat older, thought to be from the Isin-Larsa period. The rest came from the time of Yasmah-Adad. Two tablets were somewhat later in date. There is also a bronze axe, from the antiquities market, inscribed ""Il'e-Lim, lord of Tuttul".
Late Bronze
It appears that during the period, the Late Bronze Age, Tuttul served only as a small cultic center for Dagan.This town has sometimes also been called the "Northern Tuttul" or "Tuttul on the Balih" with reference to an implied "Southern Tuttul", which was possibly located on the Middle Euphrates between the ancient cities of Mari and Babylon. However, this is a debated issue. The identification of the so-called "Southern Tuttul" with modern Hit is uncertain, as Hit is referenced to several times in the Mari archives via its modern name.