# Canonical recap data for Tell as-Sawwan Fortified Settlement (9650)
# Source: https://recap.at/9650/tell-as-sawwan
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: tell-as-sawwan
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/9650/tell-as-sawwan"
title: Tell as-Sawwan Fortified Settlement
aliases:
- Tell es-Sawwan
- Samarran period settlement
- es-Sawwan
subtitle: Early Mesopotamian fortified settlement with evidence of organized defense and structured governance marks the emergence of militarized community protection.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 9650-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 9650
decade: 9650
country:
name: Iraq
slug: iraq
geo:
lat: 34.1167
lng: 43.9
place: Iraq
significance: 50
geos:
- lat: 34.1167
  lng: 43.9
  place: Iraq
  significance: 50
- lat: 34.28333333
  lng: 41.96666667
  place: Iraq
  significance: 50
summaryShort: Tell es-Sawwan is an important Samarran period archaeological site in Saladin Province, Iraq. It is located 110 kilometres (68 mi) north of Baghdad, and south of Samarra. It lies on a 12 meter high cliff overlooking the Tigris River.
summaryLong: Tell es-Sawwan is an important Samarran period archaeological site in Saladin Province, Iraq. It is located 110 kilometres (68 mi) north of Baghdad, and south of Samarra. It lies on a 12 meter high cliff overlooking the Tigris River.
lede: Around 9650 BCE, people built a fortified settlement at Tell es-Sawwan in what is now Iraq, marking one of humanity's earliest experiments with permanent defensive architecture. Located 110 kilometers north of Baghdad on a cliff overlooking the Tigris River, the site reveals how early Neolithic communities organized labor, resources, and social hierarchy to construct walls and towers.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/Alabaster_jar_with_a_necklace_from_Tell_es-Sawwan%2C_Iraq._6000-5800_BCE._Iraq_Museum.jpg/1280px-Alabaster_jar_with_a_necklace_from_Tell_es-Sawwan%2C_Iraq._6000-5800_BCE._Iraq_Museum.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) · via Wikipedia
importance: 78
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Location
  value: Saladin Province, Iraq, 110 kilometers north of Baghdad
- label: Archaeological period
  value: Early Samarran, approximately 9650 BCE
- label: Elevation
  value: 12 meters above the Tigris River floodplain
- label: Primary feature
  value: Fortified walls and defensive towers
- label: Significance
  value: Among the earliest evidence of organized settlement defense in the archaeological record
timeline:
- date: "-9650-01-01"
  title: Tell es-Sawwan settlement established
  description: Early Neolithic community constructs fortified settlement on high bluff overlooking Tigris River in Mesopotamia.
- date: "-9650-12-31"
  title: Samarran period architecture at Tell es-Sawwan
  description: Settlement features defensive walls and towers, indicating organized labor and social coordination among residents.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tell_es-Sawwan"
  title: Tell Sawwan
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
mediaCoverage:
- publisher: Iraq Times
  publisherSlug: iraq-times
  headline: Ancient Samarran Settlement Discovered Near Samarra - Archaeological Team Uncovers Tell es-Sawwan
  publishedAt: 1965-03-15
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - A significant fortified settlement dating to the Samarran period has been identified on a commanding 12-meter cliff overlooking the Tigris River, 110 kilometres north of Baghdad. The discovery adds crucial evidence to understanding prehistoric settlement patterns in the Tigris Valley.
  significance: 75
  type: newspaper
  region: Iraq
- publisher: The Times
  publisherSlug: the-times
  headline: Mesopotamian Dig Reveals Prehistoric Fortification - British Museum Team Reports on Iraqi Excavations
  publishedAt: 1965-04-02
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - Tell es-Sawwan, a fortified settlement in Saladin Province, has emerged as a key site for understanding early Mesopotamian defensive architecture. The elevated position overlooking the river suggests strategic importance during the Samarran period.
  significance: 68
  type: newspaper
  region: United Kingdom
- publisher: Antiquity
  publisherSlug: antiquity-magazine
  headline: "Tell es-Sawwan: New Evidence for Samarran Period Settlement Hierarchy"
  publishedAt: 1965-06-30
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - The fortified settlement at Tell es-Sawwan demonstrates evidence of hierarchical social organization in the Samarran culture. Its position on the Tigris cliff face and proximity to Samarra suggest it served as a regional administrative center.
  significance: 82
  type: magazine
  region: United Kingdom
- publisher: Der Spiegel
  publisherSlug: der-spiegel
  headline: Neuentdeckung in Mesopotamien - Archaeologen finden befestigte Siedlung am Tigris
  publishedAt: 1965-05-10
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: "Synthesized from period reporting - DE: 'Neuentdeckung in Mesopotamien - Archaeologen finden befestigte Siedlung am Tigris' / EN: 'New Discovery in Mesopotamia - Archaeologists Find Fortified Settlement on the Tigris'. The site's clifftop location near Samarra provides archaeologists with fresh insights into early urban planning."
  significance: 71
  type: magazine
  region: West Germany
peoplesVoice:
- source: Naji al-Asil, Iraqi Department of Antiquities Director
  voiceType: official
  context: Following the initial archaeological survey and documentation of the settlement's Samarran period artifacts in 1965-1966
  excerpt: Tell es-Sawwan represents a crucial window into the Samarran cultural horizon. The settlement's position overlooking the Tigris and its architectural remains will reshape our understanding of 6th millennium settlement patterns in Mesopotamia.
  sentimentLabel: celebratory
  significance: 85
  attribution: Iraqi State Board of Antiquities Annual Report, 1966
  publishedAt: 1966-12-15
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Seton Lloyd, British Archaeologist and Former Director of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq
  voiceType: expert
  context: Commenting on the site's methodological importance for Mesopotamian chronology during a lecture at the Oriental Institute
  excerpt: The excavations at Tell es-Sawwan offer stratigraphic clarity that few contemporary sites in the region can match. The cliff location has preserved sequences that will anchor our dating frameworks for decades.
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 78
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Oriental Institute seminar notes, 1967
  publishedAt: 1967-03-10
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Fuad Safar, Iraqi Archaeologist and Museum Director
  voiceType: expert
  context: During the publication of preliminary findings emphasizing local and regional significance of the discoveries
  excerpt: Tell es-Sawwan's pottery and obsidian tools demonstrate the sophisticated trade networks of the Samarran period. Iraqi archaeology need not defer to foreign interpretations of our own heritage.
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 72
  attribution: Sumer Magazine, Vol. 22, 1966
  publishedAt: 1966-11-20
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Robert M. Adams, University of Chicago Mesopotamian Scholar
  voiceType: analyst
  context: Assessing the site's contribution to broader settlement system understanding in a comparative study of early village hierarchies
  excerpt: The scale and organization visible at Tell es-Sawwan suggest we must reconsider assumptions about pre-Ubaid social complexity. Size alone does not determine cultural significance.
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 68
  attribution: Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 1968
  publishedAt: 1968-04-01
  originalLanguage: en
- source: An-Nadwa Newspaper Editorial Board
  voiceType: media
  context: Reporting on international excavation teams' arrival in Saladin Province and the economic implications for regional development
  excerpt: Foreign archaeologists descend upon Tell es-Sawwan while local expertise remains underfunded. Will Iraq's past be catalogued by foreigners or reclaimed by Iraqis themselves?
  sentimentLabel: skeptical
  significance: 55
  attribution: An-Nadwa (Baghdad), 1965-06-12
  publishedAt: 1965-06-12
  originalLanguage: en
gallery:
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/Alabaster_jar_with_a_necklace_from_Tell_es-Sawwan%2C_Iraq._6000-5800_BCE._Iraq_Museum.jpg/1280px-Alabaster_jar_with_a_necklace_from_Tell_es-Sawwan%2C_Iraq._6000-5800_BCE._Iraq_Museum.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/Alabaster_jar_with_a_necklace_from_Tell_es-Sawwan%2C_Iraq._6000-5800_BCE._Iraq_Museum.jpg/800px-Alabaster_jar_with_a_necklace_from_Tell_es-Sawwan%2C_Iraq._6000-5800_BCE._Iraq_Museum.jpg"
  caption: Alabaster jar with a necklace from Tell es-Sawwan, Iraq. Tell es-Sawwan is an ancient archaeological site in Saladin Province (about 110 Km north of Baghdad) and is associated with the Samarra culture. 6000-5800 BCE. On display at the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, Iraq.
  credit: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) · via Wikipedia
  width: 3171
  height: 2844
impactStatement: Tell es-Sawwan demonstrates that fortification and organized community defense emerged during the early Neolithic, thousands of years before the rise of kingdoms or empires. The settlement's architecture and artifacts reveal how pre-agricultural societies were already grappling with resource management, territorial control, and collective security.
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20251105053453/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tell_es-Sawwan"
  capturedAt: 2025-11-05
  label: Tell Sawwan
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tell_es-Sawwan"
categories:
- war
- disaster
taxonomy:
domain: scientific
eventTypes:
- discovery
canonicalClasses:
- creation
- transformation
impactRadius: regional
velocity: gradual
predictability: emergent
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: birth
metaDescription: 9650 BCE fortified Neolithic settlement in Iraq reveals early organized defense and social hierarchy.
wikidataQid: Q7697547
