TELL TUNEINIR SYRIA

St. Louis Archaeological Expeditions

Dr. Michael Fuller and Neathery Batsell Fuller, Directors

Report on the 1987-2004 campaigns at Tell Tuneinir, Syria. Rescue excavations have been conducted in twelve different areas of the site. Research objectives include the definition of the city's Islamic Period commercial structures, identification of features related to the church and monastery used by a Syriac speaking congregation, and investigation of various pre-Islamic strata.

We thank Republic of Syria for allowing foreign archaeological missions to conduct rescue excavation at sites impacted by the development projects in Syria.

Heavy rains during the winter/spring of 2004 resulted in flood waters covering Areas 9, 10, 11, and 51. Professor Michael Fuller visited the site during the end of May 2004 to evaluate the damage to the site. The damage to Areas 9, 10, and 11 is extreme as can be seen in the summary of those areas.

The site was last visited in January of 2010 by Michael, Neathery and Amira Fuller to determine the impact of the rising and receding shoreline. The Area 9 monastery church continues to rapidly deteriorate as a result of constant flooding, while the impact on other areas is not so dramatic.

Our fieldwork at Tuneinir is finished. It was our plan to return to the dighouse and spend several months studying the pottery sherds and skeletons stored a the site. That has not been possible because of the continued unrest in Syria.

This website continues to expand with more artifact images being added - specifically of the diagnostic coins and pottery finds. We continue to work on specialized articles and the final publication. Michael lectures about the discoveries at Tell Tuneinir on the AIA (Archaeological Institute of America) lecture circuit.
The website was migrated from an earlier web address and we apologize that this causes delay and frustration.

A thousand thanks to the Syrian Department of Antiquities for all of their help and assistance on this project. A special thanks go to the Director General, Director of Foreign Missions, and all of the excellent Syrian Archaeologists who are members of the Department of Antiquities: Dr.Abd Hanna Bagdo (Head of the Department of Antiquities of al Hasake) Mr. Ibreheim Nanoo (Repersentive of the Department of Antiquities al Hasake) and Ass'ad Al- Mahmood (Chief of the Department of Antiquities of Deir ez-Zor).