Tel Fekherye

tel Fakhariya is believed to be the ancient city of Washukanni, the capital of Mitanni. In 1979, local farmers discovered a bilingual basalt statue (Aramaic–Assyrian) of King Hadad-Yith‘i — a rare linguistic artifact. Excavations have revealed massive stone irrigation channels and the foundations of a palace constructed from mudbrick atop a limestone terrace. In the site’s later phase, an Assyrian house was uncovered, its floor paved with white gypsum. The northern edge of the tel suffered partial destruction due to the construction of an agricultural road, leaving the site partially damaged. Today, a joint German-Syrian team is using oblique light photography to digitally reconstruct the irrigation system and integrate it into a virtual museum dedicated to ancient agriculture in the Ras al-Ayn Plain.