Ancient city, Mesopotamia. Located near present-day Mosul, Iraq, it was continuously occupied from the mid-6th to the mid-2nd millennium BC and gave its name to the Gawra Period (circa 3500–2900 BC). Its remains include the earliest known temple decorated with pilasters and recesses, a style that remained dominant in Mesopotamia for centuries. Its archaeological record illustrates the transition from early Stone Age farming villages to complex settlements.

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Tepe Gawra is an ancient Mesopotamian settlement in northwest Iraq, near the ancient site of Nineveh and 15 miles northeast of the modern city of Mosul. It was excavated in 1927, 1931 and 1932 by archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania, led by Ephraim Avigdor Speiser, who first discovered the site in 1927.

The excavations showed that the Tepe Gawra site was occupied from approximately 5000 B.C. to 1500 B.C. They include the earliest known temple to be decorated with pilasters and recesses. The Gawra Period (3500 B.C. - 2900 B.C.) is named for the site.

The name "Tepe Gawra" comes from the Kurdish words for "great mound."

Notes

See also

Cities of the Ancient Near East

External links

• Columbia Encyclopedia entry
• Images of artifacts from the Tepe Gawra excavations