Tepe Gawra (tĕ`pĕ gourä`) [Kurdish,=great mound], locality in N Iraq, 15 mi (24 km) NE of Mosul. In 1927 the archaeologist Ephraim Speiser discovered it to be the site of ancient settlements. In all, 24 levels and sublevels were unearthed; they date from the 5th millennium B.C. to the 2d millennium B.C. The levels are numbered from top to bottom. The upper levels were not very distinctive; they show a type of civilization less advanced than that found in the lower levels. In the lower levels the chronological sequence of the Halafian (c.5000 B.C.), Al Ubaid (c.4100–3500 B.C.), and Jemdet Nasr (3500–3000 B.C.) periods is well represented (see Mesopotamia Mesopotamia (mĕs'əpətā`mēə) [Gr.
..... Click the link for more information. ). The number of architectural remains from these early periods at Tepe Gawra makes it one of the most important sites of N Mesopotamia. The three monumental temple remains on an acropolis of the 13th level represent the finest architecture at the site.

Bibliography

See E. A. Speiser et al., Excavations at Tepe Gawra (2 vol., 1935–50).

Tepe Gawra

Ancient city, Mesopotamia. Located near present-day Mosul, Iraq, it was continuously occupied from the mid-6th to the mid-2nd millennium BC and gave its name to the Gawra Period (c. 3500–2900 BC). Its remains include the earliest known temple decorated with pilasters and recesses, a style that remained dominant in Mesopotamia for centuries. Its archaeological record illustrates the transition from early Stone Age farming villages to complex settlements.