The mudbrick church in Area 3 will always remain outside of the flood waters of the Middle Khabur Reservoir. Our excavation of the ruined church was rescue archaeology because the surrounding landscape is being intensively cultivated. Area 3 was surrounded by uncultivated land during 1988, but that changed by 1990. Local farmers used a bulldozer to construct a raised aqueduct line adjacent to the ruins. They would have levelled the ruins if we had not identified the low mound as a significant archaeological feature. The intensity of cultivation has increased since the reservoir began to fill.

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Photographic credit: Professor David Hanlon, SLCC-MC
Last updated 26 February 2005.
Migrated 1 April 2008