The Syr i a - J a pa n Ar c ha e ol ogi c a l J oi nt Re s e a r c h i n t he Bi s hr i Re gi on ha s c onduc t e d f i f t e e n t i me s of f i e l d wor ks a s be l ow e ve r s i nc e t he s t a r t of t he f i e l d wor ks i n t he r e gi on of Ar - Ra qqa i n Fe br ua r y of 2007.
The 1
sts e a s on of f i e l d wor ks : Fe br ua r y 15 t o Ma r c h 3, 2007 The 2
nds e a s on of f i e l d wor ks : Ma y 6 t o 30, 2007
The 3
rds e a s on of f i e l d wor ks : Augus t 1 t o 29, 2007
The 4
ths e a s on of f i e l d wor ks : Nove mbe r 8 t o De c e mbe r 12, 2007 The 5
ths e a s on of f i e l d wor ks : Ma r c h 3 t o Apr i l 5, 2008
The 6
ths e a s on of f i e l d wor ks : Apr i l 25 t o J une 6, 2008
The 7
ths e a s on of f i e l d wor ks : Oc t obe r 10 t o De c e mbe r 2, 2008 The 8
ths e a s on of f i e l d wor ks : Fe br ua r y 23 t o Apr i l 3, 2009 The 9
ths e a s on of f i e l d wor ks : Apr i l 28 t o J une 12, 2009 The 10
ths e a s on of f i e l d wor ks : Augus t 1 t o Se pt e mbe r 9, 2009 The 1 1
ths e a s on of f i e l d wor ks : Oc t obe r 1 1 t o 25, 2009
The 12
ths e a s on of f i e l d wor ks : Nove mbe r 17 t o 21, 2009 The 13
ths e a s on of f i e l d wor ks : De c e mbe r 24 t o 30, 2009 The 14
ths e a s on of f i e l d wor ks : Ma r c h 19 t o 30, 2010
The 15
ths e a s on of f i e l d wor ks : Oc t obe r 13 t o Nove mbe r 17, 2010
Compos e d of 18 r e s e a r c h t e a ms s pe c i a l i z e d i n na t ur a l a nd c ul t ur a l s c i e nc e s , t hi s mul t i - di c i pl i na r y Syr i a - J a pa n Ar c ha e ol ogi c a l J oi nt Re s e a r c h wor ke d i n t he r e gi on of Ar - Ra qqa a nd i n J a pa n, i n or de r t o c l a r i f y how a nc i e nt pa s t or a l noma di c t r i be s c ont r i but e d t o t he f or ma t i on of a gr i c ul t ur e - ba s e d ur ba n s oc i e t i e s a l ong t he Mi ddl e Euphr a t e s , Nor t h- Ea s t Syr i a .
The me mbe r s who pa r t i c i pa t e d i n t he f i f t e e n t i me s of t he j oi nt wor ks a r e a s be l ow:
Syr i a n Pa r t y: Mi c he l Al - Ma qdi s s i ( Supe r vi s e r ) , Ana s Al - Kha bour ( Di r e c t or ) , Sha ke r Al - Shbi b ( Di r e c t or ) , Moha ma d Sa r ha n ( Di r e c t or ) , Ahme d Sul t a n ( Di r e c t or ) , Ayha m Al - Fa hr y , Ma hmmod Al - Ha s s a n, I br a hi m Mus a , Moha ma d Al i J a j a n, Moha ma d I br a hi m, Ae d I s s a a nd I br a hi m Kha l i l .
J a pa ne s e Pa r t y: Ka t s uhi ko Ohnuma ( Supe r vi s e r a nd Di r e c t or ) , Hi r oyuki Sa t o, Ma s a nobu Ta c hi ba na , Yos hi hi r o Ni s hi a ki , Tomoya s u Ki uc hi , Hi r ot o Na ka t a , Se i j i Ka dowa ki , Ma s a s hi Abe , Ka z uya Shi moga ma , Os a mu Kondo, Ke nj i Na ga i , Yui c hi Ha ya ka wa , Sumi o Fuj i i , Ta kur o Ada c hi , Ka e Suz uki , Ka z uyos hi Na ga ya , Hi t os hi Endo, Kyohe i I noue , Aki r a Ts une ki , At s unor i Ha s e ga wa , Mor i t o I i z uka , Hi r ot os hi Numot o, Shogo Kume , I s a mu Ono, I z umi Yoda , Ha r umi Hor i oka , Ha i de r Ur e bi , Mi t s uo
AL-RĀFIDĀN Vol.XXXII2011 119
PRELI MI NARY REPORTS OF THE SYRI A- JAPAN ARCHAEOLOGI CAL JOI NT RESEARCH I N THE REGI ON OF AR- RAQQA, SYRI A, 2010
I NTRODUCTI ON
Mi c he l AL- MAQDI SSI * Ka t s uhi ko OHNUMA**
* DirectorofArchaeologicalExcavationsand Research,theDirectorateGeneralofAntiquitiesand Musems,Damascus, SYRIA
** Professor,Kokushikan University,Tokyo,JAPAN
Hos hi no, Ts uyos hi Ta na ka , Tos hi o Na ka mur a , Hi de ka z u Yos hi da , Ta ke s hi Sa i t o, Ka z uhi r o Ts uka da , Yus uke Ka t s ur a da , Yos hi yuki Aoki , Sugur u Oho, Ke n- i c hi Ta nno, Lubna Oma r , Chi e Aka s hi , Ya s uyos hi Oka da , Sumi yo Ts uj i mur a , Na oko Fuka mi , Ryui c hi Yos hi t a ke , Yo Ne gi s hi , Pa na gi ot i s Tokma ki di s , Shouko Ue da , Na t s uko Fuj i ka wa , Ki yomi Mor i , Sa e ko Mi ya s hi t a , Hi t os hi Ha s e ga wa , Tomoya Got o, Shu Ta ka ha ma , Tos hi o Ha ya s hi , Ryuj i Ma t s uba r a , Tos hi ki Ya gyu, Ma s a yuki Aka hor i , Hi de mi t s u Kur oki , Ke ni c hi r o Ta ka o, Te r ua ki Mor i ya ma , Yos hi hi ko Na ka no a nd Hi de mi I s hi da .
I n Nove mbe r of 2009, we he l d a n i nt e r na t i ona l s ympos i um e nt i t l e d “ For ma t i on of Tr i ba l Communi t i e s : I nt e gr a t e d Re s e a r c h i n t he Mi ddl e Euphr a t e s , Syr i a ” i n Tokyo.
Thi s s ympos i um wa s e xe r c i s e d i n t he hope t ha t we J a pa ne s e r e s e a r c he r s , a s ne wc ome r s i nt o t he hi s t or y of t he Br onz e Age of t he Mi ddl e Euphr a t e s , c oul d obt a i n va l ua bl e i nf or ma t i on t o wi de n a nd de e pe n knowl e dge i n t he r e s e a r c h f i e l d c onc e r ne d.
As we ha d e xpe c t e d, t he s ympos i um wa s ve r y s uc c e s s f ul wi t h f ul l of i mpor t a nt i nf or ma t i on a nd pr a c t i c a l s ugge s t i ons pr e s e nt e d by t he s c hol a r s who j oi ne d t he s ympos i um, hi ghl y e xpe r i e nc e d i n t he r e s e a r c h of t he Br onz e Age hi s t or y of t he Mi ddl e Euphr a t e s .
Fi e l d wor ks i n t he r e gi on c ur r e nt l y be i ng c ont i nue d c onvi nc e us t ha t t he r e s e a r c h t o f ol l ow wi l l l e a d t o t he c l a r i f i c a t i on of unknown a s pe c t s of how a gr i c ul t ur e - ba s e d ur ba n s oc i e t i e s a l ong t he Mi ddl e Euphr a t e s we r e f or me d wi t h pa s t or a l noma di c t r i be s .
The r e por t s pr e s e nt e d he r e i n Al - Rāf i dān a r e t he wor ki ng r e por t s of t he 14
tha nd 15
thf i e l d s e a s ons i n t he f or ms of t he i r s ubmi s s i on t o t he Syr i a n Di r e c t or a t e Ge ne r a l of Ant i qui t i e s a nd Mus e ms ( s e e Al - Ma qdi s s i , Ohnuma , Al - Kha bour , e t al . ( 2008, 2009, 2010) f or t he wor ki ng r e por t s of t he 1
stt o 13
thf i e l d s e a s ons ) .
Al s o pr e s e nt e d i s t he Appe ndi x c ons i s t e d of t hr e e r e por t s , t ha t we r e unf or t una t e l y mi s s e d f r om Ar c ha e ol ogi c a l Re s e a r c h i n t he Bi s hr i Re gi on: Re por t of t he Ei ght h Wor ki ng Se a s on ( Pr e l i mi na r y Re por t s of t he Syr i a - J a pa n Ar c ha e ol ogi c a l J oi nt Re s e a r c h i n t he Re gi on of Ar - Ra qqa , Syr i a , 2009, Al - Rāf i dān XXXI : 97–207, 2010) .
We l i ke t o e xpr e s s our s i nc e r e s t ga t i t ude t o Dr . Ba s s a m J a mous , Di r e c t or Ge ne r a l of t he Syr i a n Di r e c t or a t e Ge ne r a l of Ant i qui t i e s a nd Mus e ms , who wa r m- he a r t e dl y unde r s t a nds t hi s j oi nt r e s e a r c h a nd i s a l wa ys c oope r a t i ng wi t h us t owa r ds t he s uc c e s s of t he j oi nt r e s e a r c h.
Bi bl i ogr aphy
Ohnuma,K.,Al-Maqdissi,M.,Al-Khabour,A.and others
2008 Preliminary ReportsoftheSyria-Japan ArchaeologicalJointResearch in theRegion ofAr-Raqqa,Syria,2007.
Al-RāfidānXXIX:117–193.
Ohnuma,K.,Al-Maqdissi,M.,Al-Khabour,A.and others
2009 Preliminary ReportsoftheSyria-Japan ArchaeologicalJointResearch in theRegion ofAr-Raqqa,Syria,2008, Al-RāfidānXXX:135–225.
Ohnuma,K.,Al-Maqdissi,M.,Sarhan,M.and others
2010 Preliminary ReportsoftheSyria-Japan ArchaeologicalJointResearch in theRegion ofAr-Raqqa,Syria,2009, Al-RāfidānXXXI:97–207.
Supervising Team oftheResearch ProjectFormation ofTribalCommunitiesin theBishriMountains,MiddleEuphrates 2010 Formation of Tribal Communities: Integrated Research in the Middle Euphrates, Syria (Special Issue of
Al-Rāfidān),262 ps.
31/ De c e mbe r / 2010
120 Syria-Japan ArchaeologicalJointMission in theBishriRegion
