Tel Arbid

tel Arbid spans an area of 36 hectares and comprises both an acropolis and a lower city. It gained renown for its distinctive Ardik-style Bronze Age pottery, notable for its deep orange glaze. A Polish expedition uncovered a cuneiform tablet recording the distribution of grain to two thousand citizens. The pottery workshops reveal tunnel-shaped kilns and precisely engineered ventilation shafts. Local artisans incorporated African ivory into dagger hilts, attesting to the site’s far-reaching trade networks. Today, the site is considered well-preserved, thanks to vigilant community-based protection. A local association now plans to establish a small visitor center that will explore the ceramic production cycle and revive the colors of Ardik ware using red Khabur clay.