Halaf culture

Previously, the Syrian plains were not considered as the homeland of Halaf culture, and the Halafians were seen either as hill people who descended from the nearby mountains of southeastern Anatolia, or herdsmen from northern Iraq. However, those views changed with the recent archaeology conducted since 1986 by Peter Akkermans, which have produced new insights and perspectives about the rise of Halaf culture. A formerly unknown transitional culture between the pre-Halaf Neolithic's era and Halaf's era was uncovered in the Balikh valley, at Tell Sabi Abyad (the Mound of the White Boy). Currently, eleven occupational layers have been unearthed in Sabi Abyad. Levels from 11 to 7 are considered pre-Halaf; from 6 to 4, transitional; and from 3 to 1, early Halaf. No hiatus in occupation is observed except between levels 11 and 10. that spread to the other regions. ==Culture==

Architecture Halaf pottery Halaf pottery has been found in other parts of northern Mesopotamia, such as at Nineveh and Tepe Gawra, Chagar Bazar, Tell Amarna and at many sites in Anatolia (Turkey) suggesting that it was widely used in the region. File:Bowl fragment MET DP368821.jpg|Fragment of a bowl; 5600–5000 BC; ceramic; 8.2 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City) Image:Halafpottery.jpg|Halafian ware File:Syrian - "Tel Halaf" Fertility Figurine - Walters 482741 - Three Quarter.jpg|Fertility figurine (maybe a goddess?); 5000–4000 BC; terracotta with traces of pigment; 8.1 × 5 × 5.4 cm; by Halaf culture; Walters Art Museum (Baltimore, US) File:Halaf culture pottery, zoomorphic porcupine vase, painted. Circa 5000 BCE. From Tell Arpachiyah, Iraq. Iraq Museum, Baghdad.jpg|A zoomorphic porcupine vase; c. 5000 BC; from Tell Arpachiyah; Iraq Museum, (Baghdad) Stamp seals The Halaf culture saw the earliest known appearance of stamp seals in the Near East. They featured essentially geometric patterns. File:Loop-handled rectangular seal MET ss93 17 109.jpg|Loop-handled rectangular seal, Halaf culture. Loop-handled circular seal MET ss1985 192 20.jpg|Loop-handled circular seal. File:Stamp seal and modern impression- geometric pattern MET DP104233.jpg|Stamp seal and modern impression – geometric pattern. Halaf culture ==Halaf's end (Northern Ubaid)==

Halaf culture ended by 5000 BC after entering the so-called Halaf-Ubaid Transitional period. Many Halafian settlements were abandoned, and the remaining ones showed Ubaidian characters. The new period is named Northern Ubaid to distinguish it from the proper Ubaid in southern Mesopotamia, and two explanations were presented for the transformation. The first maintains an invasion and a replacement of the Halafians by the Ubaidians; however, there is no hiatus between the Halaf and northern Ubaid which exclude the invasion theory. The most plausible theory is a Halafian adoption of the Ubaid culture, ==See also==