Tell Akkaz in Kuwait.
Tell Akkaz in Kuwait. Edited by JACQUELINE GACHET-BIZOLLON. Travaux de la Maison de l'Orient et de la Mediterranee, vol. 57. Paris: MAISON DE L'ORIENT ET DE LA MEDITERRANEE, 2011. Pp. 436, illus., plates, CD-ROM. (paper)The ancient tell of Aklcaz was once a small island, but in 1974 it was connected to the mainland and turned into a roundabout in the industrial part of Shuwaikh/Kuwait City. The Department of Antiquities excavated there in 1978,1984, and 1985. Moawiyah Ibrahim led a Kuwaiti-Jordanian team in 1978. Difficulties resulting from the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait resulted in a change of plans for French archaeologists originally intending to work on Failaka, and Gachet-Bizollon and her colleagues continued excavation of Tell Azaz from 1993 to 1996. Today the port authorities have posted the site as off-limits. Its edges have been consolidated.
Originally the island Akkaz had an area of some 12000 m2 and contained seven mounds, of which 3000m2 of early occupation remain, including one tell of 7 m in height. The site was generally disturbed, particularly by the building of a bunker in 1990-1991. Left exposed after excavation, such sites deteriorate quickly. The earlier excavation report is woefully short (J. K. al-Najjar, "Excavations on the Island of Alckaz (al-Qurain) 1978, First Campaign," Majallat dirasat al-khalij wa ljazirat al-Arabia 23 [Kuwait University, July 1980]: 5-14 [Arabic]), and its results have been incorporated in this new one.
This French- and English-language excavation report is rigorously organized and minutely thought out, beginning with the excavation strategy and continuing throughout the publication, its production, and editing. The text falls into three parts: site and architecture, material, and environment. All aspects are lucid, including the organization of each individual chapter and selection of images; it is a model for others. Welcome is the included CD containing selected tables and color images. However, the binding is Spartan.
Part I: Understandably the excavation of the early dwellings (levels 7-4) led to their rapid disintegration. But initially the stratigraphy of the several sites was surprisingly intact and the publication of their pottery is clear; the various wares are recognizable in their stratigraphic loci.
The lowest stratigraphy begins with the Seleuco-Parthian dwellings at around 140 C.E. (p. 18, Table 1). These buildings fill in the period following that of the fortified Seleucid settlement excavated by a Danish team on nearby Failaka Island. Thereafter (level 3) follows a Zoroastrian "tower of silence" (dachma), an early medieval church, and an Abbasid coin hoard (c. 750 c.E.), which provide the main chronological reference points.
The dachma is a stone-built circular building 18 m in width with five interior radial walls; it dates to around 400 C.E. One might ask why a dachma would be constructed on the site of abandoned dwellings. It lay 2.5 m beneath the subsequent church, and its floor consisted of a bed of small stones over a layer of tamped earth. The excavator questions the integrity of the stratigraphy here (p. 115). The French excavators counter the interpretation of the earlier Kuwaiti excavator that this is a defensive circular wall (p. 117) on the strength of comparison with another Sasanian dachrna excavated in Bandiyan (Khorasan province), published by M. Rahbar ("A Tower of Silence of the Sasanian Period at Bandi-yan: Some Observations about Dachmas in Zoroastrian Religion," in After Alexander: Central Asia before Islam, ed. J. Cribb and G. Herrmann, Proceedings of the British Academy 133 [2007]: 455-73). The excavator stresses the scarceness of finds (p. 120), except for some skeletons, understandable for this kind of structure. Evidently the dead were brought from some distance to Akkaz since no Sasanian-period settlement is locally in evidence (p. 121). Failalca Island is a candidate for the associated town, despite a lack of finds from this period, but Kharg Island is better, despite its distance (p. 121).
The church (level 2) is quite early for this region, dating to around 550 C.E. (p. 139). Fragments of stucco decoration identify a rectangular building incomplete in plan and provide a soft dating, since the church adopted the cross only in the sixth century. This church is far more modest than that at nearby Qusur on Failaka (p. 135). The floors are made of plaster and the relief decoration molded in stucco as at Qusur and Sir Bani Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. This building is smaller than the church investigated at Qusur. In terms of its dimensions it is comparable to those of 'Ain Sheia in Iraq and Sir Bani Yas (p. 135). The simple reconstructed plan brings to mind the ancient church at al-Hira (D. T. Rice, Antiquity 19 [19321: 281 fig. 2). The dating derives from the pottery and glass finds (pp. 138, 139). Level 1 is the final and uppermost layer. No further building was erected upon the church (p. 140). This level contained shards of the Omayyad and Abbasid periods and a hoard of fifteen coins dated to the second half of the eighth century (p. 140), It is unclear when the Christian community left the island; perhaps they lived here until the time of the coin hoard (p. 141).
Part II: Despite the rarity of whole vessels, the study of the Akl- caz pottery was fruitful. Mme Gachet defines many pottery types and traces their development over the different levels. As in many excavations, she is confronted with poorly stratified pottery which she soberly classifies in this way. The glazed pottery that is usually discussed most thoroughly is here carefully first parsed into color groups, which characterize these wares at other sites over the centuries. Glass of Mesopotamian origin is interesting and is a means for dating the church (p. 290). Several pottery types occurred in context, which enriches the discussion.
Part III: Bioarchaeological materials are more common in the lower layers. Unfortunately only a single skeleton was studied carefully. This individual lacked dates as a major foodstuff in his diet and his teeth showed the wear from heavy amounts of abrasives. The intensive study of fauna reveals the great variety of animals consumed. Mammalian, avian, and aquatic species are studied morphologically in detail. Camilids are ubiquitous through time. The fish correspond to the most common species now found in these waters. The thorough study of mollusks complements the detailed work done in this regard in the Sultanate of Oman. Mollusks have other uses in addition to nutrition, but none shows signs of having been worked. Some species, such as Pinctada, are not considered too tasty today, but in the past the inhabitants were not so choosy. Thirty-nine bitumen samples date to the Parthian-Sasanian levels. Some have been fashioned into vessels. They show Iran as a main source.
It was a pleasure to review such an excellent excavation report, of a project fruitful for both the host country and for the archaeologists. This is all the more so since the disturbed condition of the site might easily have scared off any archaeologist or funding agency. It promised nothing but yielded much. Evidently the Kuwaitis also took the task seriously and despite the ravages of the Iraqi invasion, there seems to have been a serious archiving of finds and documentation. It is refreshing that Christian and Zoroastrian remains have received serious academic treatment, a phenomenon which is not self-evident in the Near East today.
CNRS, PARIS
PAUL YULE UNTVERSITAT HEIDELBERG
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| Author: | Paul Yule |
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| Publication: | The Journal of the American Oriental Society |
| Article Type: | Book review |
| Date: | Apr 1, 2014 |
| Words: | 1224 |
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