Arslan Tash (Turkish; Arslan Lion, Taş Stone), ancient Hadātu, is an archaeological site in northern Syria, in Aleppo Governorate, around 30km east of the Euphrates River and nearby the town of Ain al-Arab.
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The city was the center of an Aramean Iron Age kingdom, which was conquered by Assyria in the 9th century BC. The site includes a Late Assyrian palace, an early shrine to Ishtar and a Hellenistic temple, surrounded by city walls and gates adorned with lions carved from stone.[1]
The site of Arslan Tash was first examined in 1836 by an expedition led by Francis Rawdon Chesney.[2] The first actual excavations were conducted by the French archaeologist François Thureau-Dangin for the Louvre Museum in two short seasons during 1928.[3]
In 2007 and 2008 work at the site resumed when surveys were conducted by a team from University of Bologna and Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums of the Syrian Arab Republic. The team was led by Anas al-Khabour and Serena Maria Cecchini. Each season lasted about a week, with the later one including geophysical work.
The Arslan Tash reliefs are bas-reliefs of people and animals on the gates of the city and temple. The dating of the reliefs is uncertain, though one contains an inscription of Tiglath-Pileser III|| of the Neo-Assyrian Empire[4]
The most important discoveries from Arslan Tash were, however, the ivory objects of high artistic quality which today are kept at the Archaeological Museum in Aleppo and in the Louvre.
The Arslan Tash amulets are smaller pieces whose authenticity is disputed.[5]