ASSIROS TOUMBA FROM SE

ASSIROS TOUMBA FROM THE SOUTH EAST

The site was occupied almost without interruption for perhaps 1500 years from the Middle Bronze Age c 2000 BC to the Iron Age c 700 BC and the successive levels of debris reached a height of 18m to form the mound we see today.

Throughout this long period of occupation the site was protected by defensive banks of mud brick and clay which also acted as terrace walls, supporting the densely packed buildings within. Parallel streets running E-W divided the occupied area into regular blocks of rooms in each period.

ASSIROS TOUMBA                            Reconstruction © Diana Wardle

In the 12th century BC, the community on the summit of the steep-sided artificial mound seems to have lived in a small, well-planned, village. Regular streets, on alignments established over two hundred years earlier, separated rows of houses with yards. (Phases 7&6).