Teppe Hasanlu () or Hasanlitepe (), also known as just Hasanlu, is an archeological site of an ancient cityThe Cambridge History of Iran (ed. by W.B. Fischer, Ilya Gershevitch, Ehsan Yarshster). Cambridge University Press, 1993. . Pages 57–58, 138. located in the West Azerbaijan province of Iran, a short distance south of Lake Urmia. The nature of its destruction at the end of the 9th century BC essentially froze one layer of the city in time, providing researchers with extremely well preserved buildings, artifacts, and skeletal remains from the victims and enemy combatants of the attack. The site was likely associated with the Mannaeans and possibly with the Armenians.Lazaridis, Iosif; et al. (26 August 2022). "A genetic probe into the ancient and medieval history of Southern Europe and West Asia". Science. 377 (6609): 940–951. Bibcode:2022Sci...377..940L. doi:10.1126/science.abq0755. PMC 10019558. PMID 36007020.
Teppe Hasanlu is the largest site in the Gadar River valley and dominates the small plain known as Solduz. The site consists of a 25-m-high central "citadel" mound, with massive fortifications and paved streets, surrounded by a low outer town, 8 m above the surrounding plain. The entire site, once much larger but reduced in size by local agricultural and building activities, now measures about 600 m across, with the citadel having a diameter of about 200 m.
The site was inhabited fairly continuously from the 6th millennium BC to the 3rd century AD. It is famous for the Golden bowl of Hasanlu. The Hasanlu Golden Bowl. Thirty Years Later, Expedition, vol. 31, no. 203, pp. 87–106, 1989 Since June 2018, the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization has pushed for the entire archeological site to be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Name and etymology The site is named after the nearby village of Hasanlu. Tepe (, , also romanized teppe) is the Persian and Azerbaijani word for tell or hill, coming from the Old Turkic töpü (𐱅𐰇𐰯𐰇).
Ethno-linguistic affiliation The precise ethno-linguistic affiliation of the inhabitants of Hasanlu during the Bronze and Iron Ages remains a subject of scholarly debate. Archaeological evidence has at various times linked the site to Hurrian, Urartian, or Median cultural spheres, but no written records have been found at the site to definitively establish the language spoken by its population.
Genetic analysis of individuals from Hasanlu, conducted by Iosif Lazaridis et al. (2022), has provided new insights into the population's origins and possible linguistic connections. The study found that the Iron Age population of Hasanlu (~1000 BCE) possessed some Eastern European hunter-gatherer ancestry, though to a lesser extent than contemporaneous populations in Armenia. The Hasanlu individuals carried Y-chromosome haplogroups of R-M12149 (within R1b), linking them to the Yamnaya populations of the Bronze Age steppe. In contrast, they lacked R1a haplogroups, such as R-Z93, associated with steppe populations ancestral to Indo-Iranian speakers. The absence of R1a haplogroups among the 16 studied males from Hasanlu, combined with their patrilineal affinity with ancient populations of Armenia, suggests that the inhabitants may have spoken either a language related to the Armenian language or a non-Indo-European language of the local region. The findings support the hypothesis that Iranian languages, associated with R1a-bearing steppe groups, may have arrived on the Iranian plateau from Central Asia only in the first millennium BCE.
The findings at Hasanlu align with broader research on Bronze and Iron Age populations of the Armenian Highlands and adjacent regions. Hasanlu’s genetic and cultural profile parallels the Trialeti-Vanadzor culture (ca. 2400–1500 BCE), often seen as a candidate for the Proto-Armenian horizon. Both show steppe-related ancestry (notably R1b lineages) and shared material traits, suggesting regional connections across the highlands. Genetic studies also confirm that modern Armenians descend from ancient groups combining steppe and local ancestries.Lazaridis, I. et al. "The genetic history of the Southern Arc: A bridge between West Asia and Europe." Science. Vol. 377, Issue 6609, 2022.Haber, M. et al. "Genetic evidence for an origin of the Armenians from Bronze Age mixing of multiple populations." Eur. J. Hum. Genet. 24, 2015. Linguistic evidence highlights Hasanlu’s role in the Proto-Armenian context. The Armenian language, a distinct branch of the Indo-European family, shares features with Greek, pointing to a contact zone within the Yamnaya horizon before the Bronze Age migrations, consistent with Hasanlu’s cultural links. Donald Ringe and Tandy Warnow propose that Pre-Armenian and Pre-Greek formed a closely related subgroup after 2500 BCE,Anthony, David W. The Horse, the Wheel, and Language. Princeton University Press, 2007, pp. 56–58. while David Anthony dates Pre-Armenian’s divergence to around 2800 BCE.Anthony, David W. The Horse, the Wheel, and Language. Princeton University Press, 2007. These findings place Hasanlu within a wider network significant for Proto-Armenian development, though exact details remain debated.
The Russian historian Igor M. Diakonov suggested that the Mannaeans, inhabitants of the region around Lake Urmia during the early first millennium BCE, were likely speakers of a Hurrian-related language.Diakonov, Igor M. "Media." In: The Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. 4: The Assyrian Empire. 3rd ed., ed. J. Boardman. Cambridge University Press, 1991, pp. 100–129. In the Hebrew Bible (Jeremiah 51:27), Mannaea is referred to as "Minni," mentioned alongside Ararat in a prophecy against Babylon. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, “Minni” is interpreted in the Targum and Peshitta as a region in Armenia. Some scholars identify Minni with the Armenian district of Manavasean (Minyas), possibly the Mannaean polity mentioned in Assyrian records. A few theories suggest that the name "Armenia" itself may derive from the phrase “ḪAR Minni,” meaning “mountains of Minni.”
Archaeology After some licensed commercial digging by dealers, the site was first dug by Aurel Stein in 1936. Aurel Stein, Old Routes of Western Iran. London: Macmillan, pp. 390–404, 1940 Excavations were conducted by the Iranian Archaeological Service in 1947 and 1949 though it appears nothing was published. The site of Hasanlu was then excavated in 10 seasons between 1956 and 1974 by a team from the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania and the Metropolitan Museum.Crawford, Vaughn E. "Hasanlu 1960." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, vol. 20, no. 3, 1961, pp. 85–94Dyson, Robert H. "The Hasanlu Project." Science, vol. 135, no. 3504, 1962, pp. 637–47Dyson, Robert H. "HASANLU AND EARLY IRAN." Archaeology, vol. 13, no. 2, 1960, pp. 118–29Mary M. Voigt, Hasanlu I: Hajji Firuz Tepe, Iran—The Neolithic Settlement, Monograph 50, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 1983, Michael D. Danti, Hasanlu II: The Ilkhanid Heartland: Hasanlu Tepe (Iran) Period I, Monograph 120, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 2004, The project was directed by Robert H. Dyson Jr. and is considered today to have been an important training ground for a generation of highly successful Near Eastern archaeologists.Oscar White Muscarella, Hasanlu 1964, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin New Series, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 121–135, 1966Oscar White Muscarella, The Excavation of Hasanlu: An Archaeological Evaluation, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 342, pp. 69–94, 2006
Originally, excavations in the Ushnu-Solduz Valley were intended to explore a series of stratified occupation levels in the area with the objective of reconstructing a regional cultural history from Neolithic times until Alexander the Great's conquest of Persia beginning in 334 BC, such that any conclusions would rely solely on material evidence from the region itself, independent of linguistic or literary evidence from adjoining regions.Dyson, Robert H (1989). "Rediscovering Hasanlu"; Expedition, Vol. 31, Nos. 2–3, pp. 3–11. (see external link, below) The unexpected discovery of the famous "Gold Bowl" at Hasanlu in 1958 led to the project shifting its focus to the Iron Age levels at this site, although several other sites in the region were also excavated in order to stay in line with the project's broader objective. A silver cup was found at the same time."THE SILVER CUP OF HASANLU." Archaeology, vol. 12, no. 3, 1959, pp. 171–171 These other excavations were conducted at Dinkha Tepe, Dalma Tepe, Hajji Firuz Tepe, Agrab Tepe, Pisdeli, and Seh Girdan.
The Hasanlu Publications Project was initiated in 2007 to produce the official monograph-length final reports on the excavation.Hasanlu Publications Project; Currently two Excavation Reports and several Special Studies volumes have been completed.Irene J. Winter, Hasanlu Special Studies I: A Decorated Breastplate from Hasanlu, Iran, Monograph 39, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 1980, Oscar White Muscarella, Hasanlu Special Studies II: The Catalogue of Ivories from Hasanlu, Iran, Monograph 40, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 1980, Michelle I. Marcus, Hasanlu Special Studies III: Emblems of Identity and Prestige—The Seals and Sealings from Hasanlu, Iran, Monograph 84, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 1996, Maude de Schauensee, Hasanlu Special Studies: Peoples and Crafts in Period IVB at Hasanlu, Iran, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 2011,
Dalma Tepe
Dalma Tepe is a small mound located about 5 km southwest of Ḥasanlū Tepe, near the modern village of Dalma, which is a type site of Dalma culture. It is approximately 50 m in diameter. It was excavated by Charles Burney and T. Cuyler Young Jr., in 1958–1961 in three seasons totally less than one month.Hamlin, Carol. “Dalma Tepe.” Iran, vol. 13, 1975, pp. 111–27.
Large quantities of handmade, chaff-tempered pottery were found.T. Cuyler Young, Jr. (1963), Cuyler Young, Jr., .T."Dalma Painted Ware" Expedition Magazine 5.2 (1963): Expedition Magazine. Penn Museum, 1963 Web. 15 Oct 2022
'Dalma painted ware' is decorated with large patterns of triangles in deep shades on red.
Similar pottery has been found at Seh Gābī and Godin Tepe, attributed to Period X. Kul Tepe Jolfa is another related site from the same period. It is located north of Lake Urmia.HENRICKSON, Elizabeth F., and Vanda VITALI. “THE DALMA TRADITION : PREHISTORIC INTER-REGIONAL CULTURAL INTEGRATION IN HIGHLAND WESTERN IRAN.” Paléorient, vol. 13, no. 2, 1987, pp. 37–45
History
The excavators originally divided the site’s occupation history into ten periods based on the nature of material finds in the different strata: the oldest, Level X, stretches back to the Neolithic period, after which there was fairly continuous occupation until the early Iron Age (ca 1250–330 BC), followed by a hiatus before subsequent reoccupation; occupation finally ends in Iran’s medieval period (Hasanlu period I). Hasanlu Publications Project: see 'overview' tab for chronology.
Middle Bronze Age (Level VI) Starting in the Middle Bronze III period or Hasanlu VIa (1600–1450 BC), there are important changes in material culture. This is best attested at the site of Dinkha Tepe, but is also present at Hasanlu. The most obvious change is the rapid abandonment of old styles of pottery, especially painted Khabur Ware, and the increased importance in producing monochrome unpainted pottery that is frequently polished or burnished. This ware is known as Monochrome Burnished Ware or, formerly, "Grey Ware"; however the ware occurs in a wide range of colors and thus is something of a misnomer.
Late Bronze Age (Level V)