Tell Aran ( ar, تل عرن; also spelled, Tell Arn; ancient Arne) is a

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

-majority town in northern

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, administratively part of the

al-Safira District as-Safira District ( ar, منطقة السفيرة, manṭiqat as-Safīrah) is a district of Aleppo Governorate in northern Syria. Administrative centre is the city of as-Safira. At the 2004 census, the district had a population of 178,293. T ...

of the

Aleppo Governorate Aleppo Governorate ( ar, محافظة حلب / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥalab'' / ) is one of the fourteen governorates of Syria. It is the most populous governorate in Syria with a population of more than 4,867,000 (2011 Est.), almost 23% of t ...

, located southeast of

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

close to Sabkhat al-Jabbul. Nearby localities include

Tell Hasil Tell may refer to: *Tell (archaeology), a type of archaeological site *Tell (name), a name used as a given name and a surname *Tell (poker), a subconscious behavior that can betray information to an observant opponent Arts, entertainment, and m ...

al-Nayrab Al-Nayrab ( ar, النيرب) is a town in Syria, to the south-east of the city of Aleppo in northern Syria. With the urban development, the village was gradually absorbed by the city of Aleppo thus becoming part of it as a district. Al-Nayrab i ...

and

Tell Shughayb Tell Shughayb ( ar, تل شغيب, also transliterated Tel Shegheb and Tel Shghaib) is a village in northern Syria, administratively part of the Mount Simeon District of Aleppo Governorate, located just southwest of Aleppo. Nearby localities inc ...

to the northwest and al-Safira to the southeast. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Tell Aran had a population of 17,767 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Aleppo Governorate. The town is famous for its grapes, vineyards and gardens. The number of residents of Talaar has exceeded 60,000, especially after the large numbers of people displaced from the city of Aleppo to it due to the bloody war in Syria. The affairs of the town of Talaran are managed through its municipality, which is elected by members of the Baath Party. Muhammad Shadi Murad is currently heading the municipality of Talaran, succeeding Mr. Haitham Hamam.

History

The archaeological mound is the largest '' tell'' in the

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

region and measures around in height and in width. It is believed to be the site of the ancient

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ...

settlement of Arne. Arne was first inhabited by the

Arameans The Arameans ( oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; syc, ܐܪ̈ܡܝܐ, Ārāmāyē) were an ancient Semitic-speaking people in the Near East, first recorded in historical sources from the late 12th century BCE. The Aramean ...

, and served as the first royal capital of the Aramaean kingdom of

Bit Agusi Bit Agusi or Bit Agushi (also written Bet Agus) was an ancient Aramaean Syro-Hittite state, established by Gusi of Yakhan at the beginning of the 9th century BC. It had included the cities of Arpad, Nampigi (Nampigu) and later on Aleppo Arpad was ...

. The kingdom of Bit Agusi stretched from the

Azaz Azaz ( ar, أَعْزَاز, ʾAʿzāz) is a city in northwest Syria, roughly north-northwest of Aleppo. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Azaz had a population of 31,623 in the 2004 census.

area in the north to

Hama Hama ( ar, حَمَاة ', ; syr, ܚܡܬ, ħ(ə)mɑθ, lit=fortress; Biblical Hebrew: ''Ḥamāṯ'') is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria. It is located north of Damascus and north of Homs. It is the provincial ...

th in the south,Lipiński, 2000, p. 99. and was established by Gus of Yahan in the 9th-century BCE.Lipiński, 2000, p. 195. In

Assyria Assyria ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...

n records, the city is observed as the seat of Arame, son of the founder of the kingdom. It was sacked by the

Assyrian king The king of Assyria (Akkadian: ''Išši'ak Aššur'', later ''šar māt Aššur'') was the ruler of the ancient Mesopotamian kingdom of Assyria, which was founded in the late 21st century BC and fell in the late 7th century BC. For much of its ear ...

Shalmaneser III Shalmaneser III (''Šulmānu-ašarēdu'', "the god Shulmanu is pre-eminent") was king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his father Ashurnasirpal II in 859 BC to his own death in 824 BC. His long reign was a constant series of campaig ...

in 849 BC during one of his campaigns in the west, as attested by a bronze band found at

Balawat Balawat ( syc, ܒܝܬ ܠܒܬ, ') is an archaeological site of the ancient Assyrian city of Imgur-Enlil, and modern village in Nineveh Province (Iraq). It lies southeast from the city of Mosul and to the south of the modern Assyrian town of Bakh ...

. After the city's sacking, Arpad (modern

Tell Rifaat Tell Rifaat ( ar, تل رفعت, Tall Rifʿat, also spelled Tel Rifaat, Tel Rif'at or Tal Rifaat) ( Kurdish: Arfêd/ ئارفێد) is a city in northern Aleppo Governorate, northwestern Syria. Located roughly north of Aleppo, the town is the admi ...

) became the capital of the kingdom of Bit Agusi.Bryce, 2009, p. 64. The modern site still contains the remains of massive mud-brick walls measuring in width. Excavations at the site produced pottery corresponding to human occupation during the Iron Age II, but not Iron Age I. Tell Aran is also possibly the site of a major battle between the Egyptian king

Thutmose III Thutmose III (variously also spelt Tuthmosis or Thothmes), sometimes called Thutmose the Great, was the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Officially, Thutmose III ruled Egypt for almost 54 years and his reign is usually dated from 2 ...

and a

Mitanni Mitanni (; Hittite cuneiform ; ''Mittani'' '), c. 1550–1260 BC, earlier called Ḫabigalbat in old Babylonian texts, c. 1600 BC; Hanigalbat or Hani-Rabbat (''Hanikalbat'', ''Khanigalbat'', cuneiform ') in Assyrian records, or '' Naharin'' ...

an army which ended with a crushing defeat to the king of Mitanni.Lipiński, 2000, p. 198.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Aleppo Governorate, safira Populated places in al-Safira District Iron Age sites in Syria Aramean cities Archaeological sites in Aleppo Governorate