Arpad, Syria
Ancient city
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arpad (Old Aramaic: 𐡀𐡓𐡐𐡃, romanized: ʾrpd; Biblical Hebrew: אַרְפַּד, romanized: ʾArpaḏ or אַרְפָּד, ʾArpāḏ;[1] modern Tell Rifaat, Syria) was an ancient Aramaean Neo-Hittite city located in north-western Syria, north of Aleppo. It became the capital of the Aramaean state of Bit Agusi established by Gusi of Yakhan in the 9th century BC.[2] Bit Agusi stretched from the A'zaz area in the north to Hamath in the south.[3]
| Arpad | |
|---|---|
  Location within Syria | |
| 36.47°N 37.10°E | |
| Location | Syria |
| Region | Aleppo Governorate |
Arpad later became a major vassal city of the Kingdom of Urartu. In 743 BC, during the Urartu-Assyria War, the Neo-Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III laid siege to Arpad following the defeat of the Urartuan army of Sarduri II at Samsat. But the city of Arpad did not surrender easily. It took Tiglath-Pileser three years of siege to conquer Arpad, whereupon he massacred its inhabitants and destroyed the city.[4] Afterward Arpad served as a provincial capital.[5] Tell Rifaat, which is probably the remains of Arpad, has walls still preserved to a height of eight meters.[6]
Biblical references
The city is mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible:
- 2 Kings 18:34; 19:13
- Isaiah 10:9; 36:19; 37:13
- Jeremiah 49:23, within the oracle against Damascus, one of the poetic "oracles against foreign nations" found in the later chapters of the Book of Jeremiah.[7]
The Assyrian vizier, Rabshakeh, lists the god(s) of Arpad among those who he alleges have been unable to save their cities from Assyrian assault.[8]
Etymology
Archaeology
Tel Rifaat is an oval 250 by 233 meters. Within this, the main citadel is 142 by 142 meters with a maximum height of 30 meters. The defensive wall surrounding the site is about two miles long.
The site has been worked by a team from the Institute of Archaeology or the University of London. After a preliminary examination in 1956, Tell Rifa'at was excavated for two seasons in 1961 and 1964. The team was led by Veronica Seton-Williams.[11][12]
In 1977, an archaeological survey was conducted of the area around Tell Rifa'at, also by the Institute of Archaeology.[13]
.svg){kind=small}